Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 216(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 216(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
“I’ll get you your own ring when we’re back home,” I say, not bothering to refer to it as ‘my place’ since she hasn’t left yet. In fact, she’s moved almost all of her things over from her college dorm since we set our plan in motion. “Something with a nice big diamond.”
“I don’t need a diamond,” she says, throwing her arms around my neck as I get up, nuzzling her face against my neck for the intimacy of an embrace that doesn’t need the heat of kisses. “I just need you.”
“And that’s why you’re getting a diamond anyway,” I tell her, closing my eyes against the happy tears that threaten to spill.
EPILOGUE
TWO MONTHS LATER
Jenna
“Hunter,” I manage to gasp out. “Pull over!”
“What?” he asks, but he does as I say anyway, driving the car to the side of the road so he can park. As soon as he stops moving, I jump out, taking a few steps away onto the grass so that I can throw up.
“Oh, god,” I murmur, wiping a hand across my mouth. Why did this sickness have to happen now when we are in a rush to get to the airport?
“Are you alright?”
I look up and realize Hunter is standing beside me – he must have gotten out of the car and followed me while I was distracted. He has a look of such concern on his face that I reach up to touch his arm and reassure him. “Just a bit of travel sickness,” I say. “It’ll pass.”
“Are you sure?” he asks. I can see the worry written all over him – he barely knows what to do with himself. “You look pale.”
“I’ll be fine once we get to the airport and actually get on the plane. I’m just nervous about missing it or something going wrong,” I tell him, hoping it will be true.
I stand up on shaky legs. I don’t think there’s anything left in my stomach, so at least there’s that. “We should get back into the car. We don’t have time for this delay.”
“Right,” he says, but he lingers. “Are you sure? I can call and try to get us on a later flight.”
“No,” I say, waving a hand. I know it’s nothing to him to pay the fee to reschedule our booking, and probably pay an extra price hike on a same-day flight, but it’s still something to me.
I’d rather we get out there and go. And besides, if we can’t get a flight until much later on, we’ll end up sitting in the airport with nothing to do.
I take the lead and demonstrate my own words by getting right back into the car. I didn’t even manage to close the passenger side door beside me in my haste – and soon enough, Hunter was beside me, and we were back on the road.
“Some end to our honeymoon,” I mutter, covering my face. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s not your fault if you’re sick,” he says, glancing over at me. “You really sure you’re okay to fly? We could always get a hotel nearby for a couple of days.”
“I’ve got school on Monday,” I point out. “And you’ve got clients waiting for you. Come on, let’s go. I’ll be fine. It was just a little moment of sickness, and it’s passed.”
Even as I speak, my stomach roils again, but I try to ignore it. I know it’s not going to get better on its own, but I hope I can hold it together now there’s nothing left to bring up. So long as I don’t eat anything on the plane, I think I’ll be able to make it all the way home.
Hunter drives us as fast as he can to the airport, and we manage to get there just in time. It’s a whirlwind of rushing across the whole airport, handing in our bags and checking in, making it to the gate in time to walk right to our seats, and finally having the plane take off what feels like thirty seconds after we sit down. I’m sure it was longer, but everything was so fast.
Mostly because my mind is whirling, trying to think about what I’m going to say when we get back.
I didn’t want to do it earlier. Our honeymoon was, well, our honeymoon. It’s a time to celebrate our wedding, explore one another in even more depth, lounge beside the pool, and relax with good food. Now we’re on the way home, and I want to wait until we’re there to have the next conversation.
The next part of our lives.
I close my eyes for a minute on the plane, and the next thing I know, Hunter wakes me up to tell me that we’re landing. I think it’s probably a good thing I slept through the entire flight because it meant I didn’t end up having to run and throw up again.