Tessie D

For New Year’s Eve, Angel said that he had a surprise for me. I thought we might be going to a party with some of his friends, and I wanted to look pretty, so I’d borrowed a black velvet dress with silver rhinestones and a white angora cardigan. Instead, we went out for drinks and dinner at the nicest restaurant in town. Angel had made reservations, and while the restaurant was crowded, the decor was intimate and cozy. The lights were dimmed, and candles glowed on each table throughout the restaurant. Angel ordered steak with red wine for both of us. I’d only had wine a few times before, but nothing like this wine. It was dark and thick, coating the glass when I tilted it to my mouth. I liked how the taste settled on my tongue and lingered long after I’d swallowed.

Over dinner, we talked about our resolutions for next year and what we were most looking forward to. Angel wanted to save more money to put down a down payment on some land and a house outside of town. I hadn’t thought about a resolution — just getting by, much less trying to accomplish anything, seemed like such a monumental task some days.

I took a moment and finally said, “I’d like to write more. I’ve been writing some, but I’d like to do more. Maybe some stories that I’ve been thinking about.”

Angel smiled, “Sounds like you just need a little more time so that you’re not working so much.”

“I suppose that might help. I was thinking that I could write more on the weekends. Get a journal and carve out more time on Saturday and Sunday mornings.”

Angel’s eyes lit up at the suggestion, “I think that’s a great plan,” he said, nodding slowly.

I felt a wave of relief and recognition. I’d never told anyone before about my desire to write. I was pulled closer toward him by the intimacy of this secret that he knew.

After we left the restaurant, we drove out to Lake Brownwood. Angel pulled up to a small parking lot near the water’s edge and parked the truck. A few picnic tables and barbecue grills were near the shoreline. A boat ramp and a small dock were just a little way over.

“Come on,” he said and got out.

I got out of the truck and watched him pull from behind the driver’s seat an oversized bag, a blanket, and the rolled-up mat that we’d used the other night.

He closed the truck door, and the lights in the cab went dark. The night sky was dark and clear. The moon was a crescent sliver in the sky, and every star in the galaxy seemed visible all at once. Looking up, I felt dizzy, the sky circling around us from every vantage point.

I followed him down to the lake’s edge and watched him spread the mat on the ground, then drape the blanket over it. He opened the bag and pulled out a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a little portable radio. He pulled up the radio antenna, turned it on, and tuned it to one of the three stations we had in town.

I sat down next to him on the blanket, careful to make sure that my dress didn’t blow up.

It was not terribly cold but a gust of wind blew and I shivered for a moment. Angel took off his jacket and draped it across my shoulders

A few quiet moments passed, us looking out at the water and across the lake, the radio playing softly in the background. Angel reached for my hand and pulled my body in closer to his.

I gazed up toward him and he gently wrapped his hand around my back of my neck, pulling my face closer to his. He looked down into my eyes and his lids began to close as he leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips. I felt my mouth open and his tounge brush against mine. An urgency, a need began to swell in me. My heart began to beat faster and I raised my hands toward his face, running my fingers back and into his hair. Angel leaned over me and I slowly began to sink back onto the mat. He rested on his elbow but he still leaned most of his body on top of me. His breath was heavy and warm, and I was snug, safe beheath him. He moved away from mine and began to kiss behind me ear and then down my neck. One of his hands moved up my side and began cupping the curve of my breast. His touch was so soft and gentle and I could feel every small, whispy hair on my body start to come alive and stand on end.

“Tess,” Angel whispered.

“Yes,” I said, my eyes closed and my mind floating elsewhere.

Angel stopped kissing me and raised up a bit. I could feel his gaze on my face, looking down at me. I felt his hand come up to my forehead where he moved a tendril of my hair from my face before running his finger along my cheekbone and resting on my lower lip. I opened my eyes, as if I’d been resting and this was just a wonderful dream. “Tess,” his voice was so soft, as if he were afraid to frighten me, “I think we should get married.”

I crooked my head a bit and looked more closely at him.

“Are you proposing?” I asked softly.

“Yes. I think I am. I know I don’t have a ring and I’m probably not doing it right. I should had flowers and candles and all that. But, laying here with you, feeling like we’re the only two people in the world, I just feel that we should get married.”

“But, we have only been dating for a month,” I said.

“Yes, I know. But, I don’t need any more time. I know that you’re the one.”

“And, you don’t think we’re too young?”

He traced the edges of my mouth with his thumb and then moved it down my chin, along my neck before stroking along the edge of my collar bone. How could someone’s hands feel both so strong and so delicate at the same time? Why did his touch feel so good at that moment?

Angel looked down at me, staring at the rise and fall of my breath. “People get married at our age all the time. Some of them even younger than us. My parents were teenagers and we’re older than them. And, we’ve known each other long enough to know that this is right. I know that this is right. That you’re a beautiful, prized possession that I want only for myself. I don’t want you to belong to anyone else. Only to me. And, I will belong only to you.”

I wanted to be his and only his. And, for him to be just mine. I wanted to erase everything that had ever happened and begin the new year by starting a new life. I wanted to belong to someone who would love and cherish me. I wanted to be with someone who’d see me the way that I’d always wanted to be seen. Angel was offering me all of that.

“I’ve known that we were moving toward this destiny since the first moment I saw you all those years ago at the carnival.”

“Yes, I think we should get married, too.”