Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Wow. What a day,” Summer said, practically falling down onto the swing from sheer exhaustion.
“I know my family can be a little much,” Gilbert said as he sat down beside her, a good six inches or so away.
She appreciated him putting down some guidelines and following them, but right now was one of those times where she would like to just crawl into his side and cuddle there.
She was so tired her bones ached, but after they put the kids to bed, he had suggested that they come down and sit on the swing for a bit, and she had consented immediately. Anything to be able to spend some time with him. They hadn’t been alone together all day.
“Do you think you’re going to be able to handle that?” he asked easily.
He didn’t tell her, but she saw it as an opening to conversation.
“I know I am. You’re well-liked among your siblings.”
“And I like them. And they loved you.”
“They just like teasing you about me putting up with you. That seemed to be the favorite subject of the day.”
“Maybe you should take it a little more seriously than what you are. I might be harder to get along with than what you think.”
“I’ll take my chances. I appreciate your character and your integrity. If you’re a little bit stubborn or grumpy, I’ll handle that and take that over a cheater any day.”
“You will never have cause to call me a cheater,” Gilbert said with certainty.
She knew that was true. Everyone had their faults, but that was not one of his, and it wasn’t one of hers either.
“Do you think you’re going to have enough energy to put the tree up tomorrow?” he asked.
“I think after I have a good night’s sleep, I’ll be able to be more enthusiastic about my yes.”
He laughed. “I can do it, or we can wait. I don’t want to force you into something you don’t want.”
“Oh, I definitely want it. This is a fun time of year, and I know the kids are going to enjoy it.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you if you left decorations up in the attic.
I had seen there was a whole pile of stuff up there but didn’t go through any of it.
And I know this is terrible, but I left all the decorations I had with Desire in the house when I sold it.
I just didn’t have the gumption to go through all that stuff, not to mention I didn’t have anywhere to keep it. ”
“Well, that’s a good thing, because I did the same thing when I sold the house. I left all the Christmas decorations right where they are. Up in the attic, packed away.”
“Perfect. I think you and I are more alike than what we think.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” she said, her eyes twinkling at him. He seemed to see that in the dark, and he laughed. She was thinking about the fact that they weren’t the slightest bit alike, since he was a man and she was a woman, and maybe he didn’t get that, but he got the gist of it.
“Daddy?” a voice said, and Summer squinted through the darkness to the door as a white figure came out.
Larissa in her nightgown.
“Can I sit with you guys for a little bit?”
“You sure can,” he said, and Summer slid over so that Larissa could climb up between them.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Is it bad that I was happier today, with the horse rides and with helping Summer cook, than I was the last time we had Thanksgiving with Mommy?”
Gilbert was quiet for a moment, and Summer waited to see what he would say. Sure, she had some counseling training, but at times like this, there might not be any right answer, or there might be several. But the idea was to let her feel what she needed to feel while knowing how to act correctly.
“I think that’s just fine,” Gilbert said. “I don’t want you to take this wrong, but I like today better too. Although, maybe it’s something that happens as you get older, but every year, I think on Thanksgiving that it’s my favorite Thanksgiving ever. Does that make sense?”
“Not really,” Larissa said, scrunching up her nose and wiggling deeper between them.
Summer reached over and took a hold of her hand, and Larissa grabbed it back, threading their fingers together and holding tight.
“Summer is nice to snuggle with.”
“I agree with that,” Gilbert said, sounding cautious.
“But I still miss Mommy,” Larissa said.
“I think that’s normal,” Gilbert said.
Summer noticed that he didn’t say that he missed her too. He’d already told her more than once that he really didn’t, although he wasn’t glad she had died. Of course not. And he felt guilty because at times he thought that that would have been a good solution. But he didn’t mean to make it so.
She knew that the guilt would probably be with him forever. After all, when a person wished something horrible, and then that horrible thing came to pass, the person couldn’t help but feel guilty and somehow responsible. It was human nature.
That’s why Summer would always caution people to be very careful about what they wish for, because a person never knew when it might actually happen.
They sat on the swing, pushing back and forth, and finally Larissa said, sounding a little bit more sleepy, “I want to keep taking therapy from Summer. Even though she lives with us. I liked it when she let us work with horses.”
“I’m sorry. That’s my fault. The horses came back this week, and I was busy with other things.
But I’ll make sure that we have therapy at least once a week, because I think the horses missed you guys too.
Especially Cricket.” Summer spoke softly, knowing what she said was true.
Cricket did really seem to be happy to see Larissa when she got off the trailer.
“If I save up my money, can I buy Cricket?”
“Yes,” Summer said before Gilbert could say anything.
“We’ll have to be careful. Summer might not be able to sell her therapy horses. She might need them to give other little girls therapy.”
“I have other horses, and maybe it’s about time that I buy another one and work on training it to be good with little girls. I think Cricket has almost earned her retirement from therapy, and she would like to be your horse forever.”
“How long do horses live?” Larissa asked, her voice slurring a bit.
“They can live to be in their twenties. Some horses even live to be thirty.”
“How old is Cricket?”
“The vet said she’s about 18 or so. It’s hard to tell for sure, and I didn’t have her when she was born, so I don’t know. Just like you can’t know how old I am by looking at me. You can make a guess, but unless you know my birthday, you don’t know for sure.”
Larissa’s deep breathing showed that she had fallen asleep while Summer was talking.
Summer met Gilbert’s eyes over the head of their little girl. They smiled at each other, and they sat on the swing for another few minutes until they were sure that she was asleep.
“I’ll be right back,” Gilbert said, picking her up and having Larissa stir a little before she snuggled into his arms, and he carried her into the house.
Summer had gotten up to hold the screen door so that it didn’t slam shut behind him.
The warm weather had held, and it was a beautiful night to be outside. A beautiful night to be with people she loved, a beautiful night to be alive. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever been happier in her life before.
It seemed like no time at all that Gilbert came back down, but instead of settling himself back on the swing, he knelt on one knee in front of her, holding a little box.
“I know I said I was going to wait, but I saw this in the window of the jewelry store when I was with Darla, and I sent her in for ice cream while I picked it out and paid for it. I…was still going to wait, but today was a perfect day for me. I couldn’t have said it better than Larissa.
Being with you is so much better than being with Desire.
I…don’t want to talk badly about her, and you know that, but I know that I’m older, and wiser, and I love you, and I’m messing this up terribly, but would you marry me? ”
He was quiet after that, and Summer wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.
He was so sweet, so perfect. Sure, he didn’t exactly have a great speech planned, and maybe he was doing this spur of the moment, but there was nothing she would rather have than a starry night, the warm satisfaction of spending time with family, eating good food, having good fellowship, and knowing that the man she loved loved her and wanted to marry her.
“Yes,” she said.
“Thank you. You’re giving me a heart attack there. I thought you were trying to figure out a nice way of letting me down.”
“Never. I was just thinking about how perfect this is.”
“That was the worst marriage proposal ever. I just…didn’t want to wait. I want to get married as soon as you are willing.”
“I think it would be sweet to have a small wedding, because I think Larissa would love being a bridesmaid, and I would love having her.”
“And how long do you think it’s going to take to put something like that together?” he asked, pulling the ring out of the box and sliding it onto her finger.
She admired it in the moonlight and shook her head. “No time at all. We don’t have to have anything fancy for it. Just…some flowers, I guess.”
“If you want a bigger wedding, we can do it. I know it’s my second wedding, but you only get one first wedding, and I want it to be everything you want.”
“I have dreams about Christmas. Dreams about having a big family together and enjoying all the hubbub and craziness that big families have on Christmas. But those are the only dreams I have. Christmas dreams. Not wedding dreams.”
“All right then. You name the day, and I’ll be there.”
“Two weeks?”
“That sounds good to me.”
She figured out what day that would be and what the date would be. A Thursday evening seemed perfect. “All right then. I’ll get everything together, and you just need to show up.”
“May I kiss you, to celebrate our engagement?”
“You can kiss me anytime,” she said, the warmth and love that she felt practically bursting from her.
“Well, I think it might be a good idea to be careful, but I think a small kiss to celebrate our engagement might be in line.”
“I think I can be ready to be married next week this time,” she said, after he had kissed her for what felt like forever but not nearly long enough.
“Hmm. Maybe a second kiss will convince her that tomorrow is better.”
“How about you kiss me and see if that works?” she said with a smile as his lips descended on hers once more.