Page 20 of Dragon Daddy’s Second Chance (Mysteries of Dragon’s Island #5)
CHAPTER 19
***BLAKE***
B lake didn’t want to move, wasn’t ready to give up his connection to Wren, but he felt her skin begin to cool in the breeze and reluctantly shifted position so that he could shelter her body. “This wasn’t the sunset picnic I was expecting,” he said, smiling down at her. “It was even better, but you’re getting cold and it’s dark. I suppose we should think about heading back.”
“I wish we could stay here forever, sheltered from world, just the two of us, but I would miss Theo,” Wren said, with a sigh. “Susan took Theo back to your cabin for the night, but I guess we can’t stay here all night.”
“It’s a beautiful place, I wish we’d come prepared,” he said. “Some food and a couple of sleeping bags are all we would have needed; there’s plenty of wood around here for a fire.”
“Umm…that would have been nice,” she said. “Just the two of us all night in this beautiful place.”
Remembering the ring in the pocket of his shorts, Blake felt a moment of regret and decided to wait to propose; he wanted it to be special, and as wonderful as the night had been, it didn’t feel right. The breeze began to pick up as he lay there trying to decide, and he started to get up, thinking that it was time to go home; he’d just have to wait. But before he could sit up, the wind began to swirl around them, getting stronger and stronger, and he rolled over on top of Wren to shield her with his body.
Almost as quickly as it had come, the wind died away, and he picked his head up to look around. “Blake, that was strange,” Wren said, her voice shaking slightly. “Where did that wind come from?”
“I don’t know, maybe the temperature is dropping or something,” he said, sitting up and looking around. “Everything looks normal now.”
Wren sat up next to him and looked around, then pointed across the clearing at a dark lump on the ground. “What’s that?” she asked. “I don’t remember seeing it there before.”
“Me either,” he said, looking around for his shorts. “You stay here. I’m going to go investigate; it’s probably nothing.”
He found his clothes scattered on the shore, picked up Wren’s and handed them to her, got dressed, and pulled the flashlight he’d stuffed in his pocket earlier that night out. Flipping it on, he walked over to the lump, then stood staring down at it, not quite believing what he was seeing. Then, he turned back to Wren and signaled that it was safe.
“What’s under there?” she asked after studying the lump for a second. “Should we take the tarp off?”
“I don’t see why not,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I can’t imagine it’s anything that would hurt us. I’ll take a corner, and you take a corner, and we’ll pull it back on the count of three.”
Wren rolled her eyes at him. “Let’s just pull it off,” she said. “You’re making me even more nervous.”
They pulled the tarp back, revealing two sleeping bags, a stack of pillows, a big wicker basket, and a lantern. Then, they stood staring at the supplies for several minutes in silence, both shocked. “Maybe this was here before,” Wren finally said. “We might not have seen it.”
Blake looked at her. “You don’t believe that, and neither do I,” he said, walking over to the basket. “What do you want to bet that this is full of food?”
“Open it and see,” she said, trembling a little. “Isn’t this freaking you out a little?”
He reached down and lifted the lid off the basket, then let it fall with a bang before stepping back and pulling Wren into his arms. “Well, maybe a little,” he said. “But magic is real. It’s everywhere around us. I don’t know where this came from, but it’s just what we asked for; maybe it’s a reward for everything we’ve been through.”
Wren looked up at him, then sighed. “Well, in that case, it’s about time,” she said. “I’m starving. Let’s see what there is to eat.”
He laughed, realizing that he could still propose, and said a silent thank you for the gift they’d received. “I’ll get a fire started,” he said, giving her a quick kiss. “Why don’t you set up camp.”
“That’s a deal,” she said, kissing him back.
It wasn’t long before he had a cozy fire burning next to the comfortable bed Wren had created from the sleeping bags. “Let’s see what’s for dinner,” Wren said, opening the basket and peering inside. “There’s enough food for a week in here. We’ll never be able to eat it all.”
“But we can sure try,” he said, grinning at her. “I’m starving.”
By the time Wren packed away the last of the leftovers, the fire had begun to burn down, the moon had begun to rise in the sky, but the stars still shone brightly. When she was finished, he pulled Wren into his arms and settled her there, his heart suddenly pounding. The moment had come. Six years in the making and long overdue, he was finally going to slip a ring onto Wren’s finger.
“I don’t think that I’ve ever been happier,” he said. “This has been a wonderful night.”
“Considering how it started, I would have to agree,” Wren said, smiling up at him. “I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.”
“Good, because I want you right by my side for a long time,” he said, pulling the ring box out of his pocket and flipping it open. “I want you to marry me, Wren. I want you to be my wife, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Please say yes.”
***Wren***
Wren had been waiting for this moment, knew that it was coming, but was still overwhelmed with emotion and couldn’t answer for several long seconds. “Yes, I’ll marry you,” she finally managed to croak, tears blurring her eyes. “I can’t think of anything that would make me happier than to be your wife. I love you, Blake, so much that sometimes it scares me.”
“I love you too, Wren,” he said. “And I always will. I can’t live without you. I don’t want to wait to get married, I want to do it before we leave the island. Max can arrange everything, the ceremony, the reception, all of it. We can get married on the beach or on a boat or on the top of the mountain; I don’t care; I just want to do it before we leave.”
“Blake, that’s so fast,” she said, her head spinning. But then she looked into his eyes and saw love shining in them. It instantly grounded her. “Why not?” she asked, knowing that it was the right decision. “The island is the perfect place to get married. I think a beach wedding would be perfect. ”
“Really?” Blake asked, his face filling with excitement and a little relief. “Do you mean it?”
She laughed, “Of course I mean it,” she said. “I would marry you right now if I could. I don’t want to wait either, Blake. We can start our lives together before we even leave the island.”
He reached up and stroked her cheek. “Sweetheart, we began our lives together six years ago; our son is proof of that,” he said. “We just lost track of each other for a while, but that’s never going to happen again. I’m sticking by your side for the rest of our lives, and you’ll never be able to get rid of me.”
“That sounds pretty good to me,” she said, fighting back the tears. “I was so lost without you, Blake. Now I feel like I’m complete for the first time in a long time, and it’s because of you. I’ll never let anything come between us again, I’ll never run away from you, I trust the love we share, and I can’t wait to see where life takes us.”
Blake slipped the ring on her finger, then kissed her until conversation was no longer possible, and she gave herself over completely to the love and passion they shared. The moon had risen high in the sky before they fell asleep by the dying fire, wrapped in each other’s arms, bodies and minds in perfect harmony. Around them, a breeze stirred the trees as the island absorbed more of the powerful emotions they shared, and deep in the cave behind the waterfall, the glowing stone became brighter, giving off a glow that illuminated the stone walls around it.
The first rays of sunshine woke them the next morning, but they snuggled deeper into the sleeping bag for a long time, neither ready to give up the spell of the night. But eventually, it was impossible to avoid the start of the day, and they rose, both still warmed by the heat of the passion between them. A hot pot of coffee and sweet rolls was waiting next to the cold campfire, but they didn’t comment on the bounty; they just enjoyed their breakfast by the waterfall and making plans for the wedding.
When they turned to clean up camp, with only their empty coffee cups in their hands, everything was gone, and they looked at each other and then started laughing. “I guess it’s time for us to go home,” she said. “I wonder what we’re supposed to do with these.”
A second later, the cups disappeared, leaving them standing empty-handed, staring at each other. “Okay, that was a little weird,” Blake said, looking around the clearing. “Maybe we should head home.”
She took his hand. “We have to tell everyone the good news,” she said. “We should do something to celebrate.”
“How does a big lunch in the village sound?” Blake asked, leading her over to the opening in the bushes. “That will give us time to shower and get everyone together.”
“That sounds perfect,” she said, following him through. “Now we just have to figure out which way the village is. I was so mad last night that I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”
“Don’t worry, I was,” Blake said, grinning at her. “I’ve got your back, sweetheart, now and forever.”
Susan and Theo were just sitting down to breakfast when they knocked on the door. “What happened to you two?” Susan asked when she saw them. “You look like you slept on the ground last night. Get in here.”
They looked at each other and started laughing. “We did,” they said together, then laughed again.
“Mom, Dad, you’re here,” Theo said, running out of the little kitchen, then skidding to a halt. “What happened to you?”
“I asked your mom to marry me, that’s what happened,” Blake said, grabbing Theo and picking him up. “And it was a big surprise. You did a great job keeping our secret.”
Theo puffed up his chest. “I told you I wouldn’t tell,” he said, a proud look on his face. “Now I get to be your best man.”
“You bet, kiddo,” Blake said. “I know you can handle the responsibility.”
“And since I’m the maid of honor, that makes us a pair,” Susan said, taking Theo from Blake and setting him down on the floor. “Let’s you and I go have our breakfast so these two can get cleaned up. There’s more to this story, and I want to hear it, but not until the both of you are presentable.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Blake said, saluting Susan with a grin on his face. “But just so you know, the wedding is in three days, so we have a lot of planning to do.”
Susan froze. “Did you just say three days?” she asked, then looked over at Wren. “He’s kidding, right?”
“Nope, three days,” she said. “We don’t want to wait.”