Chapter 39
HENRY
“I’m just gonna stay at my buddy's house tonight, I’ll meet you at the Inn tomorrow whenever, no rush.” Miles grabs his wallet and keys as I set up the table for dinner with Maisie.
I won’t lie, I’m pretty nervous. This feels like our first real date and I really don’t want anything to go wrong.
“Are you sure this isn’t too much for her list item?” I look to Miles for reassurance.
“You’re a fool if you think you’re doing this just so she can check something off a list.” He scoffs.
“You two clearly like each other, so treat this as the real date that it is. The real date you want.” He grabs his hat, throwing it on his head.
“Don’t get too into your head, she likes you, you like her and what is meant to be, will be, okay? ”
“Yeah. Okay.” I nervously nod. “Thank you. Just let me know if you’re coming home early for any reason, okay?”
“I know better than to show up unannounced,” he says and the next thing I know, he’s out the door.
I check my phone for the time and it’s 4:45 PM. I told Maisie to come anytime around five in her favorite dress. Since leaving work early, I've spent the day getting everything ready to make this the blueprint to all her dates in the future.
I want her to remember this moment with me.
Part one of the date is making dinner. I set the table with candles and reached out to Elaine to make Maisie’s favorite dish from her grandma’s cookbook—homemade fettuccine Alfredo. She also let me know her favorite drink is a Shirley Temple so I bought everything needed for that.
Part two to the date is a movie night in the living room. I hung the fairy lights I used for camping and grabbed every pillow and blanket in this house—and the few I bought the other day when I went into town—to create a cozy oasis for us to watch her favorite movie, The Princess Diaries.
I asked Wren for help and though I’ve never seen the movie, just knowing it’s her favorite will make it the greatest film I’ve ever seen.
Seeing the clock hit 4:50 PM reminds me that I need to go get myself ready.
I laid out my outfit this morning—a white button down and dark denim jeans.
Miles and I actually dug through the few clothes I brought for the summer after I begged him for help.
Luckily he had a shirt that was too small for him that ended up being perfect for me.
I spray a little bit of the cologne I know Maisie loves since it’s an important night and I want to make a good impression—also to remind Maisie that this is more than a friendly “let me help you with your fuck it list” gesture.
Miles was right that this is more than that, I just need to figure out how to make Maisie mine without taking her away from what she knows.
Especially when I don’t even know where I belong.
I’ve been searching for jobs high and low but the thought of settling down in a cubicle in a city I’ve lived in my whole life sounds miserable.
Being here in Ruby Lake all summer has shown me that I enjoy the simplicity and flow of a small town.
The way everyone knows everyone. If you need help, there’s always someone waiting for you to ask.
Ruby Lake is a place where I could see myself spending the rest of my life, building a home, starting a family, growing old… I just don’t know how to make myself fit here.
I’ve looked for finance jobs here, literally anything I can use my degree on, and nothing has popped up within a 60-mile radius the whole summer.
A knock sounds at the door, clearing my head of what feels like a mid-life crisis. Now my mind is full of sunshine in human form that’s standing on the other side of the door.
I smooth down my shirt and take one last glance around the house to make sure it’s perfect. I have her favorite candle lit as well as light music playing from the TV. I don’t think I’ll ever be fully ready but I have to be for now.
I walk to the door and take a deep breath before I turn the knob. What’s on the other side when the door fully opens makes me feel like I’m in a day dream because there’s no way the perfect woman in front of me is real.
“Wow,” is all I can muster up, nearly speechless.
“Hi,” she speaks so softly.
“You look breathtaking, Maisie.” I look her up and down, my hands itching to trace her body. “You look… ethereal,” I confess. “If I touch you, I’m afraid you’re going to disappear.”
“Henry,” she whispers, wrapping her delicate fingers around my wrist. “You dress up pretty nice yourself.” It’s now her turn to look over my body. Her eyes gazing over me gives me the same tingling feeling in my stomach that conspires every time she’s near.
“You still give me butterflies, just like the first time I saw you.” I break my hand away, claiming her wrist now and pulling her in the doorway. “I think if I don’t kiss you right now, I might die.” My hand cups her jaw. “Can I please kiss you?”
She nods into my hand and I don’t waste a second before my mouth is on hers. The kiss is deep and needy, hands don’t wander, hair doesn’t tangle. This is the kiss of someone who wants to hold on and never let go.
I never want to let her go.
Eventually my hand does wander and grips the hair at the base of her neck, pulling her in deeper; I want to devour her and let her know she’s mine for as long as she’ll let me be hers.
Before I get carried away, I break the kiss. “I missed you,” I say and the words feel like they aren’t enough for how much I wished she was by my side all the time.
“I missed you, too.” She presses a kiss to my cheek. “It smells amazing in here,” she looks toward the kitchen, “like mine and my grandma’s favorite dinner growing up.”
“It is, I asked your mom for the recipe. I hope that’s okay.” I take her hand and guide her into the dining room. “I wanted to make tonight memorable.”
I want to be memorable.
She spins around, looking at the room, then to the living room where our movie night is set up. “Did you do this all… for me?” Her eyes glisten as she asks. “Even my favorite candle is burning, Henry."
“I pay attention to everything about you.”
“I-I feel like I’m going to tear up. No one has ever done anything like this for me. No one has ever paid this much… attention.”
“Maisie, I don’t think you understand how much I like being around you.
I want you all to myself but I know that’s not fair,” I confess.
“I can’t ask you to be mine, but I want you to know I’m trying to find a way to be yours.
” I wipe a tear with my thumb that runs down her cheek.
“Only you could still be the most beautiful woman even when you’re crying. ”
“I’m not crying, I have allergies.” She wipes away at her eyes.
“I’ll wipe your allergy tears away too.” I smile softly. “Come on, let’s have our first real date.” I gently pull her close to me, my hand on her back and guide her toward the table.
She tries to pull out the chair herself but I grasp her wrist. “Absolutely not. I didn’t put on this button down shirt for you to pull out your own chair.” I wink so she knows I’m playing with her. “Let me be the gentleman you deserve.”
I want to be what you deserve.
“Thank you, my favorite gentleman.” She laughs as I push her seat in. “What’s on the agenda for tonight?”
I lean down behind her, my mouth level to her ear.
“First, I plan to wine and dine you with Shirley Temple’s and Grandma Winslow’s fettuccine Alfredo,” I move to her other ear, “then I set up the living room for us to watch your favorite movie with all your favorite snacks. If I’m lucky, you’ll want to stay the night and I’ll get the privilege of making you breakfast again in the morning. ”
“You sure know how to woo a lady, Bellwood.”
“Not for just any lady, for you.” I kiss the top of her head. “Now let’s get my favorite lady a grenadine drenched Shirley Temple.”
“There’s no way Miles pushed you off the dock to teach you how to swim!” Maisie has tears in her eyes from laughing so hard. “That’s so cruel! He and my mom are more alike than I would’ve thought.”
“Cruel, yes, but I’m not sure I ever would’ve learned how to swim if not. I had no choice if I wanted to live.” I laugh at her tear streaked happy face.
“I’m glad you lived to tell the story.”
“That night, I snuck downstairs to grab a bowl of warm water and when I got back to our room, I stuck Miles’ hand in it. Safe to say he was quite embarrassed he peed the bed at eleven years old.”
Maisie's laughter fills the room and it brings a smile to my face to see her this way.
We’ve spent the last hour eating away at our dinner telling each other embarrassing stories from our childhood. Who knew someone could be so deathly terrified of peacocks?
Sitting across from her, having a nonstop conversation makes me realize how badly I want this.
I want to sit down with her every night eating dinner across from one another until we’re old and gray.
I want to hear about her good days and bad days.
I want to know every story from her childhood. I want to know her inside and out.
“You’re so beautiful,” my eyes flicker across her face, “I feel so lucky.”
“Thank you for dinner,” she smiles, “the best Shirley Temple I’ve ever had… and dare I say the best pasta?”
I look to the ceiling. “You hear that, Grandma? I’m doing good on your recipes!” We both laugh and I stand to clean up the table, taking our dishes to the sink in one swoop.
Maisie watches me as I move throughout the kitchen, want and pure happiness roaming across her features. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to understand how lucky I got walking into Ruby’s Diner that first day.
I wash my hands and go back to where Maisie waits for me. “So there’s one date night festivity that I didn’t tell you about and I’ll be so sad if you hate it, so please lie to me if you do.” I take her hand and scoop her up over my shoulder and straight to my bedroom.
“Brave to take me right to bed after we’ve eaten.” I feel her chuckle against my back and I smack her butt at that remark only to make her cause even more commotion.
“Actually, it’s better.” I plop her down on the bed, her hair falling across her shoulders.
“Better than sex with me?” She mock gasps.
“You know what,” I stand and position myself to tower over her, “you deserve another spanking for that.”
She looks up at me with a pouting face. “Oh, nooooo,” she draws out sarcastically.
Without a word, I grab her hips, turning her around and she immediately goes on all fours. I suck in a breath at the peak of her asscheeks under her dress.
I lean over her body and whisper in her ear, “Even good girls have to be punished from time to time.”
I stand back up and slap my palm against her asscheek and swear she wants me dead as she juts her ass out more.
“One more so I really learn my lesson, Henry?” she teases.
The way she says my name has my cock wide awake but I ignore that for now. “Who am I to say no?” My hands massage her ass before slapping her one more time.
I want her sitting back on my face but I want to be a good boy and at least get to the second part of the date first.
“Alright, punishment over, baby.” I take one last look at the sight in front of me before spinning her back around, her legs dangling off the bed.. “Want to know what else I have in store for us?” I ask as I turn around to head to my closet where I hid the surprise.
“Should I close my eyes?”
“Yes,” I turn back to eye her with a stern look on my face, “no peeking.”
Hiding in my closet are two matching sweatshirts that say Maisie’s Fuck It List Finisher for Maisie and Maisie’s Fuck It List Cheerleader for myself.
After the camping date, I tracked down Wren and asked her if she’d help me make them since Maisie said she was crafty. She wasted no time and they were literally done the next day.
I remove my button up shirt and throw on my cheerleader sweatshirt—the same color yellow as her dress she wore at the fair with navy letters. I walk out holding up Maisie’s as she sits on my bed with her eyes closed.
I love seeing her take up my space.
“Okay,” I stand in front of her, “open your eyes.”
She slowly opens her eyes and I watch her look back and forth, reading what each one says and see her eyes start to turn glossy. “Henry,” her voice cracks, “I-I don’t expect to be so teary today. You made these? For us?”
“I’m not crafty enough to have made them but I did think of the idea.” I sit next to her. “I love being your cheerleader and I want to celebrate all your accomplishments.”
“I want to put mine on but I didn’t bring other clothes,” she laughs through her misty eyes, “I don’t have pants.”
I shake my head with a grin and walk back to my closet grabbing a pair of sweatpants for her to wear. “Stand up and let’s get you comfy.”
She raises her hands just like every other time we’ve done this. Without words being spoken, I grab the hem of her dress pulling it up, exposing all the skin that lies underneath.
Maisie’s body is a dream that I don’t want to wake up from.
Every centimeter I pull the dress up, I feel my cock hardening.
This wholesome moment is not the time.
I bring the dress past her hips and over her chest to see she’s not wearing a bra. “Maisie.” I suck in a breath. Losing all sense of control I lean forward and lick her nipple that’s begging to be sucked, allowing myself just a taste before I go back to being a good boy.
She giggles and that noise has easily become my favorite sound in the world.
As the dress comes off, she’s standing in front of me nearly naked, goosebumps covering her skin.
“Tonight is about you, and I will be a gentleman, but just know the thoughts in my head right now are not very gentlemanly when you’re standing in front of me like this.”
As much as I don’t want to cover up the body in front of me, I help her get into the sweatshirt and sweatpants.
My dick is still hard as a rock even with her like this.
“Wait there.” I don’t want to forget this moment so I run to the kitchen where I left my phone and sprint back to Maisie sitting patiently on the bed. “Smile,” I say as I bring my phone up to take a photo of her.
Beautiful.
“Your turn.” She stands, taking my phone from my hands without hesitation. “Stay right there where you are.” She backs up a bit. “Smile.” And when I do, I see her smile beaming on the other side.
I’m not falling in love with Maisie, I’ve already fallen.