Page 87 of Home Again
“Baby...”
“Huh?”
“Baby, what’s wrong?” Joel said.
We’d come to Fonte Da Telha, our beach, for a walk, or so he thought.
“Your hands are all clammy, and you’re very quiet. Are you feeling okay? Maybe we should go back home.”
“No.” This was it. I had to do this now before I had a coronary. He wasn’t going to say no, was he? No, he loved me.Jesus.
“David, you’re worrying me.”
I kissed him like it was going to be our last kiss, which, if this proposal failed, it was.
“Mmm, Christ, David. You can’t kiss me like that in public, baby. And definitely not when I’m wearing beach shorts.”
I put my arms around his waist to keep him close and to hide the erection I could feel against me.
“Joel, I wanted to bring you here because this is our beach. We spent so many days here pretending we were so grown up because we could come here on our own. It was on this beach that we kissed for the first time. As confused as I was about liking that kiss, I also felt very comfortable knowing I liked you. Our childhood friendship became more that day.”
“David,” he choked.
“I lost you, but then I got you back, and then I nearly lost you again out of my own fear and stupidity. Two amazing women brought us back together. They may not be with us physically, but they are with us in everything we do. Every kid I help at the center, every cake I bake, every word you write, every minute you spend with your grandparents. It’s all on them.
We’ve had the most amazing year together. I wouldn’t change a second of it, but there is a small change I would like to make to our lives.”
I paused and took two white-gold bands out of the hidden pocket in my beach shorts.
When I went down on one knee, I knew he’d guess what I was about to do, so I just said it.
“Joel Peterson, will you marry me?”
Joel gasped and then kneeled to my level. Our magnetic pendants joined together, as they always did when we were so close to each other.
“Yes, I... you, fuck, yes.” He kissed me with the promise of a life together, like there was never any doubt about that particular aspect of our future lives.
I put the band on his finger, and it looked perfect. Then I put mine on my finger and interlaced our hands.
“I love you so much, David.”
“I love you too, sweetheart.”
I saw a glint of something in his eyes and smiled at the man who was going to be my husband.
“Baby, we need to go home because I need to make love to my fiancé.”
“Actually,” I laughed. “We can’t.”
“Why?”
I pointed up the length of the beach. “Because about five hundred meters that way, there’s a whole family waiting for us to celebrate,” I said.
“A whole family?”
“Yup. The whole lot.”
When we got close enough to the group, they all cheered and congratulated us.
I’d left the arrangements of this part of the day to my uncle, who’d become my partner in crime, and in true Portuguese fashion, there was more food than anyone could eat, plenty of drink, and a lot of loud celebration.
Four hours later, the sun had disappeared behind the horizon, but the party was still going strong. Apart from Joel’s grandparents, who’d gone home, everybody was still here talking about wedding arrangements.
I was chatting with Joel’s cousin when I saw him walk toward the water. I got up and joined him.
“Hey, gorgeous,” I whispered in his ear as I worked my arms around his waist, “do you come here often?” I asked, repeating the same words he’d said at the club.
“No, but I think I’ll change my mind.”
* * *