I glanced over my shoulder toward the beach front. I thought I heard a voice that sounded familiar, but, I must have been mistaken. Who would know we had gone on vacation to this part of Greece?
“What’s wrong?” he asked, his eyes locked on me.
“Nothing, I just thought I heard a familiar voice,” I said as I turned back toward the ocean and took a deep breath. The wind and waves were calming, and after all we had been through individually and collective, we needed this. Both of us.
“It must just be the sea,” he said. “It can make you hear things.”
“So, you were saying,” I said as I looked back toward Elijah. His hair blew in the wind, forcing me to reach up and run my fingers through it. The way he watched me left my heart on fire even more for him. It’s like he’d found something precious and wasn’t every going to be willing to give it up.
“I was saying, you mean the world to me and I cannot imagine my life without you being in it, and I was wondering…” he started to add before I cut him short.
“Yes, keep going. I like this!” I replied with a huge grin on my face.
“Well I love you dearly, and I know you feel the same way about me, we make a good team, and I hope it never ends,” he continued to say.
“Go on. There must be more?” Kendall asked as she gazed into my eyes.
“I would love for you to remain in my life and I would love for you to be my wife,” Elijah said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a box.
I stood and looked at the sea, I raised my eyes and looked to Elijah, and placed my hand on the box.
“Elijah, it’s, it’s…” I started to say, but I lost my voice. The air was suddenly so hard to breathe, and I felt a little faint. Was he really going to ask me to be his? Could I really have been that lucky?
I knew what he was asking, and I knew exactly what was in the box, but I had always wished my mom could be with me when my perfect man asked me to marry him. The place was as I had always dreamed and the location was more than ideal. It was as if Elijah had read my mind and put all the pieces together to make it perfect, but there was one thing, and it was this one thing that he couldn’t know.
I had seen the chairs and tables on the sidewalk and had wished it would be that special night, but my mom was missing, and as much as I loved Elijah I couldn’t do it without her. I loved my mom dearly, and the thought of doing this alone didn’t complete the picture I had in my mind.
“Elijah, I would love, too but my mom isn’t here, and that was the one thing I wanted more than anything. I have never asked for anything in my life, but that is the one thing I would…” I explained as I could feel tears building up in my eyes.
I was beyond sad. I wanted to say yes right then and there, but I had to restrain myself. I had to wait until mom was there or I would regret it for the rest of my life. Elijah may not really understand the true feeling and the extent that this would make me eternally happy.
“It’s, okay Kendall, every woman has her dream, and what sort of man would I be if I couldn’t help you to live your dream?” he asked.
“Yes but, it’s not...” I started to say as Elijah cut me short.
“I’ll ask you one more time, Kendall, will you be my wife, and before you answer, turn around,” he whispered into my ear.
I turned around, and I stood in shock, my mom was there with everyone. I could feel the tears as they flooded down my face. Elijah had fulfilled all of my dreams in a way that I could never have imagined. He had somehow picked the ideal location and setting and finally, he had got the one thing that would make me happier than saying “yes.”
Elijah coughed. “Have you forgotten something?”
“Oh, sorry! Yes, yes, yes! I would love to be your wife,” I shouted as I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. The moment couldn’t have more perfect. To know that he took the time to plan it out for me left me breathless. The man was my forever, the one he was before, the one he was now, and most certainly, the one he would grow to be.
Elijah slowly opened the box and removed the most gorgeous ring I had ever seen. It was made by Tiffany and had handset stones around a central diamond. The design was vintage, and there was no better ring to celebrate a timeless love story, our story.
I turned back to my mom and could see her face was full of tears as she approached us, I gave her a big hug, “Mom, you are here, how did you…?” I said as I had so much to ask.
“Don’t thank me, you just take care of that fine young gentleman over there who has made all your dreams come true,” she said as she wiped the tears from her face.
Mom walked up to Elijah and threw her arms around him. She smiled and looked into his beautiful, genuine eyes.
“I was very wrong about you for a long time, so I just have one thing to say,” she said quietly. “Thank you for making my baby’s dreams come true.”
The perfect ending to a perfect day!
Bo ran up to me with Mandy with Peter and Jefferson too.
“Oh, alright, girl. He’s a keeper,” said Mandy in a white bikini as we smiled at each other.