Chapter
Fifty-Six
Soren
In the last week with the help of Lane, Jonah, and Travis we moved Sawyer into her studio apartment above the restored hardware store on Main Street. After meeting, we determined that Sawyer was by far the best candidate to be the director of The Hope Center. She was passionate about making a difference and had the qualifications and experience to execute it. Jonah had said he wouldn’t consider anyone else. Her eyes shone with excitement every time she talked about ideas she planned to implement once it was open. When I showed her the blueprints for the two acres of land next door to The Hope Center, she cried. We had worked with a team to design a top of the line playground structure with modifications for those in wheelchairs. The walking trail was complete with benches that could be accessed from the sidewalk that ran along the front of the street. To enter the park, you had to walk under a metal arch that read The Abel Roberts Community Park.
In the last three weeks, we had met with Sawyer’s therapist weekly and had lunch with George who, interestingly enough, had a date with Tina later that night. Rob, Talia, and their adorable daughter, Ava, had also come out to visit. I would forever be grateful for Talia’s book recommendations on how to navigate the challenges of loving someone from a difficult background. Talia had been expecting my call and texted me a list of her recommendations.
Most nights, Sawyer and I would end the night falling asleep while talking on the phone. Something shifted in those weeks we were apart, and now, Sawyer told me that she loved me daily. I answered back enthusiastically, which often ended with us kissing. That had been another huge change since the beginning of our relationship. Sawyer was a complete cuddle bug. We rarely weren’t touching if we were in a room together, which I loved, but even more than that, I loved that she loved it too.
She shifted beside me on the porch swing, reminding me precisely how true that was. Her head was lying on my thigh as she laid on her back reading, one knee crossed over the other, her cute bare feet on full display. My hand was threaded through her soft hair.
“Enjoying your book?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’ve read it at least a dozen times, but I still love it,” she declared, bookmarking a beloved edition of Anne of Green Gables and laying it on her stomach. “I thought of something to disagree about.” Her tone was playful.
“Oh yeah? Let’s hear it.” I quipped.
“I think you owe me a kiss,” she teased, laying the book on the table and sitting up. Her blonde hair spilled over her shoulder.
“Is that so?” My lips tugged into a smile. “But how exactly is this a disagreement?”
“That you didn’t kiss me sooner, and now the kiss is late.”
She smirked, knowing exactly how ridiculous it sounded. I found her waist and tugged her until her knees were straddling my hips.
“So now I owe a late fee for kisses with more kisses?” I clarified as I kissed her smooth skin below her left ear. Her involuntary shiver lit a fire in me.
“Yep,” she attempted to quip, but her breath caught as my lips skimmed her neck.
“You win. I’m a man that always pays his dues.” I kissed the pulse point at her neck.
I kissed one eyelid, then the other as her soft hands glided across my shoulders, pulling me closer.
“I love your eyes.”
I kissed her chin.
“I love your chin.”
I kissed her nose.
“I love your adorable nose.”
She smiled, completely lost in my touch as her eyes fell shut.
“I love your lips,” I said before my lips found hers. I moved my left hand from her waist to her hair as the other hand grasped her waist. My thumb slid under the hem of her shirt to her soft skin as I tugged her closer. I was never letting her go. She didn’t know it yet, but there was an engagement ring in my top dresser drawer that I was holding for the right moment. When you found someone like Sawyer, you didn’t let them go. I would spend my life showing her, in big ways and small ways, exactly how much she was cherished and adored.
Abel had shared his light with Sawyer decades ago, but no matter the distance, light did what it always does. It traveled the vastness of time, no matter the expanse, and was still creating luminosity years later because in the end, that was the magic of light. The ability to go the distance for the ones that we love. Regardless of the hurdles of our pasts or our fears of the future, we were determined that light would always lead the way.