A calm assurance came over her that it wasn’t Peter who was in trouble. When the worry for him began to subside, she lifted the other part of her heavy heart to God.
Do I know Peter well enough to agree to marry him? Should we wait until sometime next year? Peter said he didn’t want to be rational about this, but is that foolish? Are we setting ourselves up for big problems down the road?
Again God spoke to her praying heart: Look at the lilies and how they grow. If I care so wonderfully for flowers, will I not care even more for you? Where’s your faith, Lily? Seek Me first, and all these things will be taken care of. Don’t worry, Lily. Don’t worry.
Taking several deep breaths, she released her heavy burdens to God and felt her heart fill with peace. A peace that couldn’t be described. A peace that made no sense given her current circumstances. But it was there, and her heart began to beat normally again along with her breathing.
Moments later she saw him. He appeared relieved to see her too as he spotted her in the expansive area that wasn’t crowded at the moment, and she rose from the chair to meet him.
“Sorry about the wait,” he said, holding her close. “Some guy passed out on the plane.”
“I know,” she said. “I thought maybe it was you.”
“Not me, baby. I’m right here. I was on my way off the plane when I saw him slumped in his seat. I had to stop and see if he needed help. Sorry to worry you.”
“It’s all right,” she said. “I’m glad it wasn’t you.”
Looking into his loving green eyes, she knew she couldn’t possibly know all there was to know about this man right now, even if she stayed up all night asking him questions. But she was looking forward to finding out in the months and years to come.
Without a large crowd surrounding them to stop him from doing so, Peter kissed her like the first time they had met here, only longer and with an increased level of intimacy. Not so much physical intimacy, but emotional and spiritual. They had been through a lot together in the last several months and especially the last few weeks. She may not know all the little details about him, but she knew his heart, and she knew their love was real and unstoppable.
“No more good-byes,” he said. “From now on we’ll always be close enough to say, see you later, or see you tomorrow.”
“That’s a good thing,” she said. “I couldn’t even make it five days without you this time.”
They turned to head for the escalators. “Uh-oh. What crazy thoughts did you have this time? Did you think I was going to change my mind?”
“No,” she said, taking his hand and looking up at him as they walked at a relaxed pace. “I need to ask you something.”
“What’s that?”
“When is your birthday?”
He seemed to think that was a strange question to ask.
“And, how old are you?”
He laughed. “What? Are you afraid I’m too old for you?”
“No,” she laughed. “I think I should know these things about my fiancé. Don’t you want to know these things about me?”
“Yes,” he said, squeezing her fingers and leaning to whisper in her ear. “But I already do.”
“You do?” she said, looking up at his teasing smile. “I don’t remember telling you.”
“I knew before I ever met you.”
She stared at him in disbelief. “How?”
“When Mark and Josie set us up for the concert I asked how old you were. Josie told me you were twenty-seven. She knew because your birthday is one week before hers: September twenty-first.”
Lily knew her mouth was gaping.
“I remember every detail about that night, sweetheart.”
“When is yours?”
“May fifteenth, and this year I turned thirty.”
“May? You mean I missed it?”
“No. That was the day I first came to see you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“My mind was sort of on other things,” he said, bringing them to a brief halt and wrapping his arms around her waist to give her a light kiss. “And you were all the birthday present I needed, baby.”
Feeling lighthearted once again and knowing they had some time to spare before they needed to be at Rose’s wedding rehearsal this evening, she decided to drive to the mall and take Peter along to show him her ring design idea. She didn’t know if Cameron would be working today or if she would have to start the entire process over again, but she didn’t care. She knew exactly what she wanted this time.
In a way she hoped Cameron wouldn’t be there. She felt embarrassed about what had happened and would prefer to start fresh with someone new. But when they walked into the vacant store, he was there.
“Lily,” he said. “Nice to see you again.”
Did I make that much of a fool of myself that he remembered my name out of all the customers he had yesterday?
“Hi, Cameron. You remembered me.”
“Of course,” he said, smiling politely. “Come, sit down.”
“This is my fiancé, Peter,” she said, walking to the same bench she had been sitting on yesterday. “I decided to come back and show him what we were thinking of. Do you remember that too?”
He nodded and disappeared into the back. Lily glanced at Peter. He didn’t look nervous about this. She wondered how much this custom-designed ring was going to end up costing him but decided to not worry about it and take Peter at his word that he would buy the whole store for her if necessary. Since she wasn’t a big jewelry girl, she knew this would be one of the few times he’d be dishing out money on diamonds.
He leaned over and kissed her hair. “Sounds like you made quite the impression here. Is there something you want to tell me about all this?”
Unsure of why Cameron had disappeared instead of sitting down to discuss details, she simply said, “You’ll see.”
Cameron returned with a plush display tray in his hand. Lily watched as he set the tray in front of her. On the red velvet fabric lay a ring similar to Rose’s with a slightly larger diamond in the center and small sapphires on either side. She noticed two empty spaces beside the smaller stones.
Lily gasped. Is this my ring?
Cameron appeared to notice her shock and explained. “Your sister called last night after you left. She said to go ahead and start designing the ring we had talked about, that you would be back sometime today or this weekend to take a look. Is this to your liking?”
She picked up the band and felt tears stinging her eyes. She couldn’t say anything. Rosie. You dear, sweet sister. What would have I done without you these last few months?
Cameron began sharing details about the quality of the gold, the diamond, and the sapphires the gemologist had selected, explaining she could make any changes. But she thought it was perfect.
“That’s nice,” Peter said, reaching out to take it from her. “What goes there?”
She saw him pointing at the empty space beside the small sapphires. Looking up into his questioning eyes, she smiled and took his free hand. “Your birthstone,” she said. “Mine is sapphires. Do you know what yours is?”
He shook his head. “Sorry. They don’t teach us that in the Air Force.”
“That’s okay,” she said. Turning to Cameron, she asked what the birthstone was for May.
Cameron smiled and took the ring from Peter. “Ah, we can go with the emeralds after all,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”
She glanced at Peter and leaned against him. “That’s why I needed to know when your birthday was.”
Cameron returned a few minutes later with two small emeralds in place beside the sapphires. “We will need to set them better, but you can try it on and see what you think.”
Taking the ring from Cameron, she handed it to Peter and asked him to put it on her finger. He smiled and slipped it on. It fit perfectly and looked exquisite, even better than she had imagined. She couldn’t hold back the tears and wrapped her arms around Peter’s neck.<
br />
“It’s perfect,” she said. “Thank you.”
Peter kissed her and spoke softly. “You’re the one who designed it.”
“And you’re the one who gave me a reason to have one designed.”
Cameron set a box of tissue on the counter, and she thanked him for his contribution to her perfect engagement ring.
“Would you like to wait and have the stones set and tightened now or come back and pick it up tomorrow?”
“We’ll wait,” she said. Cameron said he would be a few minutes and left them alone once again.
“I don’t have any idea what it’s going to cost,” she told Peter. “There wasn’t even a tag for me to look at.”
“Why don’t you go and get us some sodas or something and let me take care of that little detail.”
“Okay,” she said, preferring not to know. “But honestly, Peter. If it’s too much, I don’t mind having a smaller diamond or only two side stones instead of four.”
“Get out of here,” he said. “You think a thirty-year-old bachelor has anything better to spend money on than his beautiful fiancée?”
She smiled and enjoyed a tender kiss.
“I want everyone to know that you’re mine, Lily. Money is here today and gone tomorrow, but you, Lily Renae Sullivan, are my priceless treasure.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Lily woke to the morning light and stretched like a lazy cat. Rolling onto her side, she glanced at the digital clock and decided she could afford to stay snuggled under the cozy blankets for another ten or fifteen minutes. She didn’t need to be ready for another hour. Peter had said he would drop by at about ten.
Catching sight of the engagement ring on her left hand, she fingered the center diamond and smaller green and blue stones. She had been wearing the gorgeous band for six weeks now and still got goose bumps every time she looked at it. Closing her eyes once again, she imagined Peter waking beside her and wrapping his arms around her. She enjoyed the imaginary sensation of being held in his arms first thing in the morning. She found herself longing for that to be a reality. And it would be: One month from today.
Other than when Peter was working, she had seen him every day for the last month and a half, and every moment had been wonderful. She had not regretted her decision to spend the summer with him here in California, and he had seemed equally thrilled to have her here.
When she pried herself from the cozy bed some ten minutes later, she showered and dressed, choosing her cool, yellow tank top and her white capri pants from the closet. With the clear blue sky visible from the bedroom window, she knew it would be another hot summer day in the Sacramento Valley. After drying her hair that had lightened somewhat in the summer sun, she decided to let it hang freely and only applied some moisturizer with sunscreen to her lightly freckled face.
The first two weeks after her arrival, the heat had almost been unbearable, but she had slowly gotten used to the scorching days. Of the forty-some days she’d been here, she could recall it raining once. She looked forward to going to Tahoe tomorrow, knowing it should be sunny in the mountains but noticeably cooler. She was glad Peter wanted them to live in Portland once they were married.
Peter arrived a few minutes before ten and greeted her with an enjoyable morning kiss. “Good morning, beautiful.”
“Good morning,” she echoed, accepting one more kiss before they left the apartment to get some breakfast. They went to their usual place and sat at their usual table. They came here at least three times a week. Lily knew in the future she would always cherish these leisurely days of being engaged to Peter. This ordinary family restaurant, this table, and their usual waitress would be forever etched into her memory as one of the places she had spent countless hours talking to Peter and getting to know him.
She had discovered a few surprising things about him, but nothing too shocking. She had also learned to read his personality and moods and could usually tell when something was bothering him or he had something on his mind. This morning he seemed to be looking at her in a way she couldn’t quite put her finger on. He didn’t appear burdened by anything, but he definitely had something to tell her.
“Are you going to tell me what that sparkle in your eye is for, or am I going to have to guess?”
He smiled. “I’ll tell you when the time is right.”
“You mean I have to wait?”
“This isn’t the kind of thing you want to hear over French toast and sausage. Trust me.”
“Is it something you will find the right time for sometime today, or something good enough to save for Tahoe tomorrow?”
“Definitely Tahoe material,” he said, finishing off his orange juice. “If I can wait that long to tell you.”
“So, if I tried hard enough, I might get it out of you today?”
“Possibly.”
She decided to let it drop for now. She had a few secret weapons at her disposal that she may choose to implement later in the day if she got too impatient, but for now she liked the idea of waiting until the perfect time.
After breakfast they headed for the airport. Mark was flying in today to spend a few days with his family. They were picking him up and driving out to Placerville this afternoon where she and Peter would spend the night at his parents’ house, and then drive up to Tahoe in the morning for a full day of relaxing at the mountain lake while Mark spent the day with his mom and dad.
With a little time to spare before Mark’s plane would be arriving, they remained in the air conditioned truck, and Peter kissed her for a few minutes. He was always careful about not getting carried away with his physical affection for her when they were at the apartment, but kissing her like this in a public setting wasn’t his style. She felt amazed at Peter’s intense desire for her, and she knew her own desire for him went far beyond anything she had ever felt for Marty or Devin.
“I should have told Mark to come find us,” Peter said. “He’d be wandering this lot for a good long time before I had to pull myself away from you.”
She smiled. “We could make him wait and then tell him we had a flat tire or something.”
He laughed. “That’s tempting, baby.”
Peter reluctantly drew away from her and opened his door. On the walk across the sun-baked parking lot, Lily wished that Josie was going to be coming too. She had gone home for two days last week, but she hadn’t had a chance to see her. She had hoped Josie would come down with Mark this week, but her work schedule hadn’t coincided with his.
“I wish Josie was coming too,” Lily voiced her thoughts to Peter. “I’ve missed her.”
Peter took her hand and kissed her fingers. “I hope you haven’t been too homesick down here these last six weeks.”
“I haven’t been homesick,” she said. “If we were planning to live down here permanently, I might be getting to that point about now. I mean, I’d be happy with you here, but there’s a part of me that’s glad you insisted on us living in Oregon.”
“I’m glad too,” he said, releasing her hand and pulling her close to him. “Are you ready to marry me in a month?”
“Yes,” she replied. “Are you ready?”
He stopped her before they crossed the street and gave her a tender kiss. “Yes, Lily. I’m ready.”
Once they were inside and waiting for Mark to come meet them, she told Peter something else that had been on her mind in the car. “I will miss you when I go home in two weeks. I know I need to go and make sure Mom and Cami don’t turn my wedding into something my father can’t afford, but even two weeks away from you is going to be difficult.”
He didn’t respond, and she felt determined to keep the impending separation far from her mind until the day Peter drove her to this very place two weeks before their scheduled wedding date. She had decided she needed that time in Portland to make some final wedding preparations and decisions. She had stayed out of it as much as possible, letting Mom and Cami make decisions about the reception, the photographer, the church arrangeme
nts, the flowers, and all the other details she wasn’t even aware of. She had found a dress here that she liked and had it shipped to her parents’ house along with the bridesmaids’ dresses that could be altered for the appropriate people up there.
They had been corresponding with the pastor via email and phone calls. They’d had their premarital counseling sessions online, which had been sort of fun and definitely unique. Her wedding may not be coming together exactly the way she had planned it in her head for so many years, but Peter, the man she was going to marry, had exceeded her wildest dreams. She was more interested in their upcoming marriage than their wedding, but she did want it to be a romantic day she would never forget, so there were some details she needed to take care of herself.
When she had first made the decision to go back two weeks early, she had suggested to Peter that he come with her, leaving his current job and using those extra days to find something in Portland if there weren’t any firefighter positions available yet. Peter had said he would think about it, but she had gotten the impression he wanted to stay here until the end of August as originally planned.
She had decided not to beg him to do things as she would prefer. If he wanted to move up to Portland the same weekend she returned, he would. If he wanted to stick to the original plan, she would give him that freedom. She would survive. She would miss him, but she’d live. It wasn’t worth an argument or talking Peter into something he didn’t want to do.
They stepped over to meet Mark when they saw him, and Mark and Peter exchanged a warm, brotherly hug. Mark hugged her as well. One of the greatest blessings of their engagement had been how welcoming Peter’s family had been to her. She had met his other brother, Tony, and his wife and children back when their dad had his heart attack, and then they had gone to see them in San Jose last weekend, and she had gotten to know them better.
Heading east into the Sierra Foothills, they reached the house about an hour later and found Marie and Lawrence on the back patio sipping lemonade. She and Peter had seen them many times during the weeks she had been here. Lawrence had recovered well from his heart surgery and had begun seeing patients again on a limited basis. They had also been attending a local church they seemed to like well. Lily could see some changes in the way Peter and his dad interacted with one another, and Marie was like a completely different person. Not that she wasn’t being herself, but more open and sincere, and she asked a lot of questions about God that she seemed hungry to know the answers to.
Lily Fields (Garden of Love 1) Page 27
