Page 58 of Truly, Madly, Deeply
“Never My Love” played throughout the room and Tommy was singing to her.You ask me if there’ll come a time…
“Exhale. Hold your breath.” The machine’s voice was as distant as the moon.
Which was what Annalee could see now. In the cool of night, they were walking out of the reception, hand in hand, to a waiting car. And the moon had never looked more beautiful. Full and bright overhead. Then they were boarding a plane and headed to the Bahamas.
Annalee could see it all… the palm trees that lined the runway and the lyrical accent of the driver who picked them up and took them to Atlantis. They were staying at the Reef, the building where Annalee and her family had stayed. Only they were checking in to an ocean-view room and then…
Then Tommy opened the glass door and led her out onto the balcony and heaven itself seemed to spread out before them. The pale blue water and white sand, the strip of land that separated the two beaches. And the most beautiful manicured grounds that spread as far as they could see.
Their wedding had been in the evening, but it was daytime again—because why not? And the sun was setting as they walked back into the room. The bed had a ceiling-to-floor view of the water—a privacy window no one could see into. Tommy drew the sheer curtain across the patio door. Because what was going to happen next needed privacy.
Intimacy.
And they could still hear the ocean outside, one wave after another, mixing with the lilting instrumental music that played across the resort. The surf and beach sounds were like the most romantic symphony, and Tommy turned to her.
I’ve dreamed about this since the day we got engaged,he told her. And she was in his arms and they were kissing. A passionate kiss that took them slowly to the bed. More than once they had talked about this moment, the time when they could finally be together the way they wanted to be.
“I can’t wait to sleep with you,” Annalee had said on their canal walk. “If we get married… being with you—all of you—that will be the most beautiful part of living.”
Tommy’s cheeks had turned red. “Annalee!” He chuckled and pulled her into his arms. They swayed together for a few seconds. “Listen to you!”
“You’re surprised?” She stepped back, her arms still around his neck.
He thought for a second and laughed again. “I guess not.”
She had started running down the path that day and he had chased her. And before they left the park he told her something that still remained with her. “You’re one in a million, Annalee Miller. Iamgoing to marry you one day… and that honeymoon will be the highlight of my life.”
“Breathe. Hold your breath.” A series of sledgehammer sounds echoed through the tube. But not one of them interrupted Annalee.
Because this was their honeymoon. The ocean breeze dancing in the sheer curtain, the sun setting over the horizon. They were kissing again, breathing faster than before, and Tommy was whispering to her,We have all the time in the world, Annalee. All the time.
And they were taking off their shirts and the way he was looking at her made her feel like the prettiest girl alive. Then he—
The machine fell silent and the table Annalee was lying on began to slide out into the open room. Standing there was the tech. “Okay, Annalee. That’s all.” She held out her hand and helped Annalee off the table. Then she left while Annalee got dressed again.
When Annalee was back in her wheelchair, the tech patted her shoulder. “You got through it. I’ll get your boyfriend.”
Her boyfriend. Two words that reminded Annalee this wasn’t the Bahamas and she and Tommy weren’t married. She wasn’t lying on a luxurious fresh bed looking out at the ocean and she and Tommy weren’t about to—
He rushed into the room. “Hey.” He stooped down to her level. “How was it.”
“A dream.” She put her hands on his shoulders and smiled. “If you only knew.”
He stayed down at her level. “You… fell asleep?”
“Sort of.” She leaned closer and let her forehead rest on his. “It was the most beautiful dream ever.”
“Well, then…” He took gentle hold of her face. “I believe it’ll come true, love. Someday. Somewhere. Sometime away from here.”
“Yes.” She smiled at him. “I believe, too. With everything in me.”
And so she did. As they left the scan room and headed back down the hallway, Annalee was no longer thinking about her test results or whether she’d need more chemo or steroids or antinausea medication. She was back in the Bahamas.
She could practically feel the sheets on her skin.
21
For the rest of his life, Tommy was sure he would remember this Thanksgiving Day, and the sight of Annalee and her parents and brother walking up the porch of his uncle Landon and aunt Ashley’s house. She was a vision, Annalee. Her flowy skirt swished just above her ankles, and her navy sweater hid just how much weight she’d lost. She wore the blond wig, the one she loved most.
