An Early Spring

by Ann Lister

  She pulled onto the highway heading north east away from Los Angeles and followed the directions to the cemetery Maryann had supplied. It had been many years since Colby had made this trip. After correcting one wrong turn, she found the cemetery sitting high up on the bluff she remembered, overlooking the small town where Wayne had grown up.

  She parked the car and began walking across the freshly mowed lawn toward Wayne's headstone. How many years had it been since her last visit, she wondered. She estimated at least seven and tried not to feel bad about that. She turned the corner around a marble mausoleum and saw Wayne's gray granite stone about twenty feet away, surrounded by a handful of his deceased relatives.

  The surname of Masters was neatly carved and centered across the top of the stone; the dates of his birth and death below it. A small bed of colorful flowers in shades of blue, purple, white and pink grew at the base. She stopped for a moment and inhaled deeply, then walked the last few feet to stand beside it.

  Colby dropped to her knees in the grass covering Wayne's grave. She smoothed down her skirt and tried to collect her thoughts. Tears were once again burning at her lids, as her fingers traced his name in the stone.

  “Its been awhile since I've been here,” she whispered.

  Her eyes spotted two small sea shells sitting on the flat base of the headstone, a couple of other trinkets that she didn't know what they were or the connection to Wayne, and a smooth oval shaped rock.

  “There's someone in my life,” she said, nervously wiping her palms off on the skirt fabric covering her thighs. “I think you'd really like him. He's strong and genuine; totally different from the others.”

  Colby stroked the blades of grass covering his grave, then pushed her fingers into the warm, soft soil. “I'd like to believe you picked Nick out for me; maybe put him in my path that day, and I want to thank you for that. He's perfect; everything I was looking for. I think he's the one, Wayne, the one I'm meant to be with.”

  She choked on a sob. “I wanted that to be you, but I guess that wasn't meant to happen,” she said. “Nick wants to marry me. Can you believe that?” she tried to force a laugh, that came out sounding more like a croaking toad. “And I really want to marry him; maybe have a couple of babies before I get too old. I bet you never thought you'd hear me say that, did you?”

  Colby glanced around at the surrounding grave markers; watched the small veteran flags waving in the gentle breeze beside a few of the headstones. “I've given this a lot of thought lately and I think it's time,” she said. “I'm finally ready to do this, but I can't unless you give me your blessings, give me a sign that shows me Nick is the one.”

  She scooted closer to the stone and leaned her head against it. Her eyes cast upward and the puffs of cotton like clouds passing by. “Can you do that for me - show me a sign so I can move on?”

  Colby dug into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out a gold necklace with a seagull in flight pendant attached. She touched the detail of the bird's wings with her finger tip, then slowly pooled the necklace onto the base of the headstone. The sun started glinting off the gold metal.

  “Do you remember when you bought that for me? It's from the trip we took to San Francisco. We walked along the wharf there and I nearly got attacked by the sea gulls wanting to eat the food in my hand. You bought the necklace as a joke to remind me of that Alfred Hitchcock moment in my life and I ended up wearing it simply because I loved the memory of being in that magical place with you.”

  Colby sniffed and wiped the tears from her face with the tissue the necklace had been wrapped in. “I'm giving it back to you, symbolic of me moving forward with my life. I hope that's okay.”

  She stood up and brushed the tiny pieces of grass from her knees and shins, then kissed her fingertips and pressed them to the engraved surname on his stone.

  “There will always be a place for you in my heart.”

  Colby smoothed down her skirt and started walking back toward her car. A shadow moving overhead caught her attention and her eyes rose to take a look. It was a sea gull, soaring high, many miles away from the ocean. Colby smiled and turned around to face Wayne's grave.

  “Thank you,” she said. “I needed that.”

  He was staring at the dark, amber liquid in the shot glass; his index finger circling the rim, when he felt the bump into his shoulder.

  “Is this seat taken?” she asked.

  Nick glanced over his shoulder and saw Colby standing there. Relief washed over him. “I didn't think you were coming.”

  She stepped closer and ran a tentative hand across his shoulder.

  “Why would you think that?” she asked.

  He held her gaze; the liquor in his system making him disbelieve for a moment she was really standing beside him. He felt her squeeze the tight muscles at the back of his neck and snapped out of his trance.

  “It was getting so late,” he said.

  Colby took another step and Nick slid an arm around her waist; gripping her hip. She bent to kiss his forehead and he tipped his head and caught her mouth. The kiss started sweet, then progressed into something with much more meaning.

  “I have so much to tell you,” she said, leaning back from his lips. She ran her finger through the moisture just below his bottom lip.

  Nick took her hand and checked for the diamond ring, then pressed his lips to the gem. “Well, you're still wearing my ring, so I guess that's a good sign.”

  She entwined her fingers with his. “You're the one, Nick, the one I know I'm meant to be with.”

  “You sound like you're just realizing that today for the first time.”

  “I think I believed it all along, but today I really felt it. Being with you is where I belong; where I want to be.”

  “Did something happen?”

  Colby nodded. “I had a heart-to-heart with Maryann. I told her all about you and she was thrilled to hear I am finally...”

  “Moving on,” he said, finishing her thought.

  “Life is for the living,” she said. “And I can't have a future with you unless I leave the past behind, so that's what I did.”

  “How'd you do it?”

  “I went to the cemetery and got...closure.” A big smile lifted her lips; her eyes glistened with love. “I am so in love with you and ready to be your wife and I can't wait to start making those babies you've talked about.”

  Nick's other arm surrounded her and turned her toward him. He stood up and lifted her off the floor in a tight embrace. “Woman, hearing you say things like that makes me want to pound on my chest like a caveman.”

  “Or a mountain man?”

  “Baby, I love you,” he said. His lips grazed hers, then he took her mouth again; her beautifully wet, soulful mouth. Tasting every corner and flat plane of her tongue. He didn't care who was watching or if his action was offending anyone. He was simply loving her and wanted the world to know she was his.

  It felt like home.

  Epilogue

  Two months later, beneath a clear autumn sky, the trees displaying their full, golden Fall foliage, Colby met Nick on the expansive deck surrounding the Summit Lodge and exchanged wedding vows in front of sixty-five invited guests.

  Colby wore a simple cream colored suit with short skirt and flowers in her up-turned hair. Nick wore a cappuccino colored suit with a crisp shirt that matched the color of Colby’s outfit. The flower on his lapel matched the bouquet Colby carried in her hands.

  Nick saw her slowly cross the wooden deck to the soft strains of a string quartet playing nearby, her arm hooked loosely around her father's elbow. The sight made his eyes fill with tears. He had never seen her look more beautiful. He swallowed hard around the lump of emotion in his throat, disbelieving in a matter of minutes, they would be married. Husband and wife.

  Jesus- my wife!

  What the hell was he thinking? Actually, he knew exactly what he was thinking and he’d never been more sure of a decision in his entire life. Being with Colby was as right
as right could be. He was certain of it with every fiber of his being, and yet, it still seemed surreal to him. Surreal, that someone as beautiful as Colby would love him as completely as he loved her.

  Looking back at the ten months that had passed since they’d met, he remembered there were long stretches of time that were a blur of sensual bliss; days they hardly seemed to leave bed at all. Then there were the unending, late night conversations that were so personal and deeply intimate, with each sharing things they’d never revealed before, and he couldn’t believe the connection they had forged. It had happened in the blink of an eye and hitting him when he least expected it.

  It was unreal. She was unreal.

  Unreal, and yet, as he looked around the deck at all the smiling faces in attendance, listened to the minister as he began the short civil service that would join him and Colby together forever, it was all very real and so was she.

  How much his life had changed since he had met her, and now, here they were, exchanging vows and rings in front of family and friends and he felt no hesitation at all, only love. A deeply committed, soul binding love, that he didn’t know existed, until he met Colby.

  Nick studied her flawless face, saw the tears building in her eyes, and the slight quiver in her lips. Without much thought he bent forward and kissed her.

  “Nick, we haven’t gotten to that part of the ceremony,” the minister whispered, making those within earshot chuckle.

  “Sorry. I couldn’t resist,” Nick said, even though he had no remorse at all.

  Colby smiled up at him, thankful for the brief moment of levity to keep her emotions in check. Everything was perfect, exactly as they had planned. She had never been happier or more certain of her choice in a partner. Nick was more of a man than she had ever dreamed of finding. He was her best friend, her partner, lover, and now he was about to become her husband.

  She felt Nick reach for her left hand and slide on the wedding band they had picked out together only two weeks before. She could hear the minister talking, but his words were muffled inside her head, much like the sound was resonating inside a tin can.

  She heard Nick recite his vows to her, beautiful thoughtful words, that made everyone cry, including himself. She reached to wipe the moisture from his cheeks and realized she wasn’t nervous or scared at all. She had never felt such immense love or felt more prepared to fully commit in her life. She was ready and it was time.

  “I take you, Nicholas Philip Gaffney, to be my lawfully wedded husband…”

  A moment later, the minister pronounced them husband and wife and loud cheers erupted from their guests. Nick’s arms wrapped around Colby’s waist. He lifted her off the deck and held her to him and kissed her with such passion, some of his friends started whistling and clapping their hands.

  “We did it,” he said.

  “Je t’aime,” she whispered, clasping his face in her hands.

  “Always and forever.”

  About the Author

  Ann Lister is a native New Englander currently living on the island of Martha's Vineyard with her husband. She has pulled details from her years living in the New England area and uses many local settings and landmarks in her novels.

  After graduating art school, marrying, and raising two daughters, she established her own video production company. Her nearly two decades working in video production included work within the music industry and won her a coveted Telly Award. Her 'behind-the-scenes' exposure to the music world and her love for music was the inspiration for her first two novels, Sheet Music: A Rock 'n' Roll Love Story and For All The Right Reasons. Her next musically themed novel, Covered In Lace: The Lacey Sheridan Story, will release soon.