Rocked & Romanced, page 49
His sweet words wash over me, and before I know it, we are both coming at the same time, and it’s just magical. This is what they truly mean by making love.
When we are done, he pulls out and scoops me up and lays me back down in bed before walking over to his bag and pulling something out. He comes back to bed and takes my left hand and places a ring on my finger. It’s a simple ring with diamonds in a swirl pattern.
“I saw this when I was overseas and bought it for you. The swirl makes me think of the time passing when we move from now to your time. I knew then I wanted to marry you, and I wanted this to be your ring.” I burst into tears, and he holds me tight as we both fall asleep.
The next morning, his parents pull me aside and say they want to do a little something for his birthday since it was a few weeks ago. They ask if I can get him out of the house for a bit, and I agree.
I find David in the piano room sitting on the bench but not playing. I sit on his lap, and he wraps his arms around me.
“So, you promised me a real date when you got home. I’d like to cash that in now.” I smile at him.
“Oh yeah, what did you have in mind?” His eyes rake over my face as though he is trying to memorize every detail.
“I was thinking of lunch at one of my favorite spots.”
“Where might that be?”
“How about you drive, and I’ll give you directions.”
He smiles. “Deal.”
We get in the car and head west out of Nashville to Loveless Café. It’s much smaller now, but it will grow over the next fifty years.
David parks the car and gets out and opens my door. He takes my hand, and we walk in. I brace myself for what I know is coming.
We step inside the door, and everyone recognizes him, asking for an autograph. He looks at me with a strained look on his face, and I just laugh. “You can do what you do because of the fans, so you better sign those autographs, buddy.”
He signs twelve autographs, and I take two photos of him with fans before we can be seated. He pulls out my chair for me and everything. Once we are seated, he just looks at me.
“What?” I ask.
“You are amazing, that’s what. I haven’t dated much, but any time I did, a situation like that didn’t end well.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, one girl wanted people to pay attention to her, and when they didn’t, she told them she was my fiancée. I corrected her real quick and left her there alone. The other girl got so mad at me for signing autographs on a date. But you get me. You were perfectly content to help them take photos and form a bit of a line so I didn’t miss anyone.”
“I guess I just see things differently. Your fans are everything. The moment they go away, you become irrelevant. I know this is your dream, so I’m going to do everything to support you in it.”
“You are amazing. I love you, beautiful.” He takes my hand with the ring he put on it last night and kisses the palm, then kisses the ring.
“I love you, baby. You have no idea how much.”
After lunch, we stop by a jewelry store to find a ring for him. Something simple but a little more than just a plain gold band. It has to be fate because we find the perfect one that kind of matches mine with the swirl design, and it’s his size so we can take it home tonight.
“I also want you to have the dream wedding dress, so I’m going to have my mom take you shopping for one, but I’ll handle everything else, okay?” he says on the way home, and I agree.
When we get home, both his parents are waiting for us by the front door, and they wish him a happy birthday. They take us out to the backyard where they have a table with gifts from family and friends and a small table with a guitar cake. They have him sit down, and they sing “Happy Birthday.”
When his mom asks me to take his photo since I’m the photographer in the bunch, I instantly know what this photo is going to look like. I’ve stared at it several times over the past two years, trying to figure out when and where it came from, but no one seemed to know. He sits down beside the cake, and I get the camera ready. He takes two fingers and tries to sneak some icing, but I catch him with his finger in his mouth, and he’s giving me my look. The one filled with love, lust, and passion. I snap what is to become an iconic photo before handing the camera to his mom and going over to sit on his lap.
I shoot up a little prayer of thanks that my grandfather taught me how to use his old cameras growing up. He instilled a love of photography in me but always preferred his old cameras to the new point and shoot ones.
“I’ve stared at the photo I just took at least a hundred times in the past two years trying to figure out when it was taken. Baby, it’s going next to my bed, and I want it blown up and on the wall in our room,” I whisper into his ear.
“Okay, beautiful, anything you want,” he says and kisses me.
A little bit later, he is off to the side, talking to his parents, and I’m just staring off to where the memorial garden will eventually be. Thinking how hard those two years were and whether I could do fifty or more with that kind of pain. How does a person put one foot in front of the other, knowing they will never see the love of their life again? At least I knew he’d be there in my arms, in my bed, in me still, at the end of the two years.
I’m pulled from my thoughts when I hear his mom give a happy squeal and hug him. When I look over at them, I see her rushing over to me, and she pulls me into a hug. “I can’t wait to take you dress shopping. I knew when I saw you that day that you were it for my David. He looks at you the same way his dad looks at me,” his mom says.
Then she pulls away and looks at my ring. “Oh, it so beautiful,” she says with tears in her eyes.
David and his dad walk over to me and hug me.
“Tomorrow, we are heading out for a few days and bringing back her family, then you can go shopping,” David says.
“Oh, I can’t wait to meet them. Please let us work on the details while you are gone!” his mom says. “Any special requests?”
“No, I just can’t wait to be married.” I smile up at David.
Chapter 13
Ivy
The next morning, we are trying to catch our breath after coming through the rocks. We left early, so the road was deserted. We walk hand in hand to my house, and I smile up at David in his hat and sunglasses. He smiles back and runs his finger over my ring. It seems to comfort him. He has been doing it more and more since yesterday.
We walk in the door of my house, and I yell, “Honey, I’m home!”
I hear a muffled, “Oh, shit,” and two thumps as Brian and Kevin fall off the couch.
“Oh, shit.” I pull David around, so his back is to the guys. “Kevin’s here,” I whisper to David. He still has the hat and sunglasses on, so I doubt Kevin has a clue.
We stand there and don’t move until Brian comes running up. “Kevin asked me to marry him, and I said YES!!” he screams.
David and I laugh, and I hold out my left hand and say, “David asked me to marry him, and I said YES!” I say just like he had, and his face drops.
“Ivy, you can’t!” He starts, and I put my hand up.
“It won’t be legal on paper, but it will be in every way that matters. He knows about Anna, but he’ll do it. We need this,” I say more hushed. “Now, what do we do about Kevin because I came here with plans to drag you with me to be at the wedding in a few days!”
“We tell him,” David says. “He’s important to Brian, which makes him important to you, which makes him important to me,” David says to me, and I melt.
Brian’s hand goes over his heart. “He’s really amazing, isn’t he?” Brian sighs, and I laugh.
Then I take a deep breath. “Okay, let’s do this.”
The three of us walk into the living room where Kevin stands. David holds my hand in his again, rubbing his thumb over my ring.
I smile at Kevin and just dive on in. “So, other than what I’ve said, what has Brian told you about the guy I’m seeing?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Just that he’s super busy so you guys don’t get to see each other often, and he just got back from overseas. He says you are crazy in love with him, and he treats you like a princess, and that’s all I need to know.”
“What we are going to tell you cannot ever leave this house, okay?” I tell him. I give him my hard look.
“She’s not kidding. No one would believe you anyway,” Brian says.
Kevin nods and walks up to Brian. “I just asked you to spend the rest of your life with me, and you said yes. Your secrets are mine; your burdens are mine. Don’t keep me in the dark. I want all of you,” Kevin says to Brian.
I look up at David, and even though he still has his sunglasses on, I can feel his eyes on me. He leans down and whispers into my ear, “The same goes for you, beautiful. I want all of you, even the dark parts.” Those pesky butterflies are going crazy again, and I’m pretty sure I’ll need to find a new set of panties soon.
“Okay,” Brian starts off by taking a deep breath. “Well, you know my obsession with time travel, so that’s no secret. Almost three years ago now, I had a theory and wanted to test it. Ivy, being the kick-ass friend she is, agreed with my crazy plan. In the process, she met the love of her life.”
Kevin nods and looks at David. “And that would be you?” he asks, and David nods.
“The thing is they can’t ever truly be together because my theory worked,” Brian says, and Kevin starts to look confused.
“Kevin, do you believe in fate?” I ask.
“Of course, I do. It brought me Brian and you.”
“I didn’t until that day Brian is talking about. Do you know why my parents named me Ivy?”
He shakes his head, so I continue. “They named me after Ivy Hill,” I say.
He smiles. “I guess they are huge David Miller fans, huh? But I mean, who around here isn’t?” Kevin says.
“It’s okay, baby, take off the hat and sunglasses,” I look over at David and say. He nods, and ever so carefully, David removes his hat and then his sunglasses and looks up into Kevin’s eyes. We all watch Kevin. At first, he doesn’t react, then he laughs.
“Oh, this is a good joke, guys. He looks so much like David too. You guys did good on this joke.”
Not one of us moves or laughs, and Kevin notices that.
“It’s not easy to wrap your head around it. I get it. I couldn’t until Ivy brought me here the first time,” David says, and Kevin’s eyes go wide. David has a classic voice that is very recognizable.
“It’s hard when Ivy tells me things that will happen that I don’t like, but she always soothes it over with the good that comes after. I don’t know if I truly die on that August day or if I find a way to be here with my heart and soul, but I plan on fighting until my last breath to do so.”
“When I stepped through the rocks that day, I ended up in 1957. Fate took hold of me, and before I knew it, there was David. We spent ten days together, and when I had to come back home, my heart and soul stayed in 1957. Shortly after I left, he named the house Ivy Hill. Brian and I spent hours making sure there were no ripples in history, and seven months later, I got the chance to go back. We got to spend a whole month together between my time there and him coming here. I came home, and a day later, he got his Army orders.”
I pause and take a deep breath before continuing. “He got back just a few days ago, and he asked me to marry him. It won’t be legal. It will just be us and our vows and our rings, but I need you both there. You are the only family I have, and that means everything to me.”
Kevin finally turns and sits down, and Brian sits beside him on the couch, rubbing his arm. “But he gets married and has a kid?” Kevin asks.
David sits down and pulls me on to his lap. “I promised Ivy I won’t do anything to change history, so I will marry her on paper only. My son will be born, and the second she is pregnant, the marriage is done. I won’t touch her again. I’ll do what history says and head to California and make movies to keep busy until she files for divorce. The only thing that I still need to work out is Ivy. She is refusing to see me for those four years, but I don’t know if I can take it,” he says and gets choked up.
Kevin nods. “I get it. She doesn’t want to be the other woman, and it will be too hard to see her in any way. Think about how you would feel if the situation was flipped? Would you be able to see her and act like she isn’t the love of your life?” Kevin says.
“No, I wouldn’t,” David answers, taking in a shaky breath, and he starts rubbing my ring again.
“Please, will you guys come to the wedding? It’s just a few days, and it might help with the final plans. It’s going to be small, just you guys and his parents in his backyard, but you can see Ivy Hill in the before state of what it is now.”
“I’m pretty sure this is still some massive joke, but I’ll go along with this. I’m okay to be proven wrong.” Kevin nods, but I can only imagine the conversation he and Brian will have tonight.
I jump up and hug him. “Okay, now so Brian, the cake photo? It was celebrating his birthday a little late just yesterday. Oh, and I was the one who took that photo.”
Brian laughs. “That explains the look on his face!”
“Yes, I want it printed out for my collection. Now I’m going to feed you all while Kevin and David get to know each other, and then tomorrow, I am stealing Brian to help with some super-secret wedding-related things.”
“Sounds good. When are we planning to go?” Kevin asks.
“Day after tomorrow. We will leave once it’s dark,” I say. “Also, Brian, did you find out who owns that lot with the stones?”
Brian and I had a last-minute thought before I left this time. We wanted to buy the lot with the stone and the time door so we could be sure it was left untouched. Brian promised to do some digging while I was gone.
Brian’s face goes pale. “You won’t believe me.”
“Just tell me.”
“I do,” says David. “I bought it after I got home from visiting you here. I wanted to make sure there wasn’t ever anything to stop you from visiting me.”
“Okay, then what happened to it after he died?” I ask, cringing.
“Well, it was placed in the trust with all his other assets. I did a little digging, and apparently, there are strict orders that it is never to be sold or even touched. They have no idea why, but I guess they plan to honor David’s wishes.”
“Well, that’s good.” I turn to David. “I had planned to buy it, but I guess you beat me to it.” I laugh.
We spend the rest of the evening talking and laughing. I look around, really taking it in. Everyone important to me is in one room, and I never want this day to end.
The next morning, Brian and I get ready to head out. “Are you sure you will be okay?” I ask David for the third time.
“I promise, beautiful. I won’t leave the house. Kevin and I are going to talk and watch some TV.” I see the twinkle in his eyes.
“Men and their TVs,” I grumble playfully.
I take a deep breath and hand David a cell phone. It’s a prepaid phone Brian and I keep in the house for emergencies ever since he dropped his and ran over it with his car.
“What’s this?” he asks.
“It’s a phone. It has my number, Brian’s, and Kevin’s in it. I want you to keep this on you at all times, okay? And when I text you, please answer back. Kevin can give you a rundown of how it works.”
Pulling out my phone, I send him a quick I love you text. His phone dings, and he looks at it, and his eyes soften. “I love you too. I know you and Brian are going to be out doing wedding stuff, but having this link to you still means everything.” He leans in and kisses me. “Thank you.”
Then Brian pulls me away, and we get in the car. “Where to?” he asks.
“I need the sexiest white lingerie for my wedding night we can find. And then I need to have something custom made from a friend of mine.”
“On it,” he says, and we head to the store.
Then I text David.
Me: God, baby, I miss you so much already!
I wait to see those three little dots come up and let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding when they do.
David: Me too, beautiful. Kevin and I are watching some show called American Pickers.
Me: Oh yeah, we are all kind of obsessed with that show. The stuff they find would be new to you.
David: Yeah, it’s amusing to watch.
Me: I love you. We are pulling into the store now. I’ll text you again in a bit.
David: I love you too, please stay safe.
Me: I will. I promise.
As we walk in, Brian asks, “Looking for anything specific?”
“Well, I want it to be white, and I want it to be super sexy. Not like anything he would see back home. I did a quick online search, and the lingerie in the 1960s looks like what we’d wear as nightgowns now. Not what we consider sexy.”
It only takes us thirty minutes to find the perfect outfit. It’s a white lace bra and thong that leaves nothing to the imagination. It has a matching see-through lace, what they call a nightgown that goes to the floor. You can see through the whole thing, and it’s open in the front with a belt kind of like a robe that hides nothing.
We grab some lunch. Then we head over to my friend Ginger’s place. I’ve worked with her a few times over the years doing photos for her websites. Ginger makes custom wood signs and always has a section of finished wood on hand and a steady hand, so I know she can pull this off today.
I tell her what I want and that it’s a gift for someone but more of a private joke. She shrugs and gets to work. It only takes her an hour to get it done, and then she uses a hair dryer to set and dry the paint.
When we are heading out, Ginger wraps the sign up in some burlap for me, and I pay her double. She starts to refuse, but I insist. It’s my way of saying thank you.
We head home and spend the evening with our men. David makes love to me that night, and something just feels different. It feels right and perfect.
