Page 117 of The Right Garza

Except shedoesknow me. Knows me too damn well, as a matter of fact.

Then it hits me. She knew telling me not to open it would only make me want to open it.

That damn Hellcat. Shewantsme to open it early.

Running against time, I untie the bow and flip the cover off.

On a wave of red satin cloth rests...adog-tag?

Yep. A dog-tag. White-gold and lined with diamonds.

Whatever I was expecting, it wasn’t this. Disappointment sinks like a sea-rock in my stomach. Anticlimactic to say the least.

To be honest, I was kind of hoping to find a positive pregnancy test. Granted, we aren’t trying and she’s still on the Pill, but miracles do happen.

I lift the tag out of the box and brush my thumb across the diamonds.

Why would she want me to have this early, though?

Or maybe shedidn’t. Might just be wishful thinking on my part, to justify opening the damn thing.

I’m about to drop the tag back into the box when I feel light grooves on the back. I flip it over, and only then do I see therealgift.

Spelled out in cursive.

YES

A kind of never-before-experienced sensation bursts in my veins like fireworks, every nerve within me sparking to life.

Patience, especially for the things we want more than anything in this world, is hard.

HARD.

But the rewards of it are worth itevery. single. time.

It’s a virtue all right.

A victorious sound rips up my throat and explodes into the confinements of the jeep.

And then, I motherfucking fist pump.