And with that, I kiss her knuckles on both hands and look into her eyes. “Our love will last forever,” I tell her.
She slides her arms around my neck and tugs me in for a hug that I want to last forever. I grab hold of her hips and pull her in even closer. This moment reflects our love. We are meant to be together, and she knows it too. I wipe away her tears with the pads of my thumbs.
There are things that are holding her back. She wants to give her complete self to me, yet we stand here as doubt and worry lines her face. Reluctantly, I move away from her so she can finish packing up her bag and gather the last of her things.
“I’ll walk you to the lobby, if you’ll let me.”
She gets her luggage zipped and onto the floor. I take it from her and walk to the door. We quietly make our way to the lobby. I push her luggage with one hand while threading my fingers through hers with the other. Thankfully, she doesn’t pull it away. My thumb circles the top of her hand to let her know I’m here and there’s no way in hell I’m giving up on us. I did that once, and it ended badly. I vow to myself that I won’t let that happen again—not this time.
The lobby is bustling with people this morning; I can only assume most are getting ready for the airport shuttles. Faith’s friends are already waiting for her. With everything I can gather, I plaster a smile on my face for her. I glance over to see a small smile when she sees her friends. I sense she is struggling with all of this.
There’s been a lot of raw emotions this week, but it’s also been filled with times of pure happiness with a touch ofnostalgia. As I hold onto those memories, I release her hand. Losing her touch leaves a cold emptiness in the pit of my stomach. I’m saying goodbye to her, but I don’t want to. What I really want to be doing is getting on that plane with her. I also know her, and she needs her space right now. Her friends are amazing, so I’m hopeful they will take care of her and help her through this time of uncertainty.
I have zero doubt and all the faith and hope that this will work out in the end. The love of my life will be on the other side of the country, and I’m going to close the distance as quickly as possible.
Her fingers wrap around my bicep, and she says, “I had an amazing time with you this week. Thank you for sharing the deepest parts of you. It healed something inside of me and I hope it did the same for you.” She moves her hand to my heart. “I’ll be looking forward to our date next Saturday, and we can talk some more then. Does that work for you?”
What she doesn’t realize is that I will go to the ends of the earth for her. “That works. I’ll take whatever amount of time you will give me.”
“I still don’t know what we’re doing,” she says, shaking her head.
I know exactly what I’m doing and hope she will catch up to what I see for our future together. “I know, Faith. I heard you. Just remember that I love you.”
The soft look in her eyes tells me she wants to say it back, but she’s holding out on me.
“Have a safe trip,” I say as I nod to her friends.
I don’t expect a kiss, but her reaching up to hold my face takes me aback. She kisses my cheek and whispers, “I’ll see you soon.”
My heart jumps out of my chest, and it’s abundantly clear she has all of me. I stand there for a second and then wave bye. As I walk away, I hear Kendall behind me.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I know that face of hers. She’s scared. Give her some time. You still have my card, right? Call me anytime. For the record, we’ve never seen Faith this happy. Word of advice? Show up for her this time.”
Her words hit me with some guilt for not showing up for her twelve years ago. And they also give me hope. With her encouragement, I will stay the course and get home after the wedding. The sooner I get Colorado taken care of, the sooner I arrive in Massachusetts to be there for her.
I stand in the lobby, watching the shuttle leave the resort with her on it. My feet feel frozen to the ground until the shuttle is out of sight.
Max comes up to me and grabs my shoulder and says, “Everything good?”
“It’s almost your wedding day. The only thing you should be concerned about is your soon-to-be wife!”
He stares at me with an eyebrow arched before saying, “Are you going to tell me, or do I need to drag it out of you?”
I’m shifting back and forth on my feet as I realize there’s nervous energy coursing through my veins. I start to ramble. “Faith just left. She’s worried and has doubts about us and how our lives will fit together. She doesn’t know if we can make things work.”
“Dude, you have loved that girl long before I ever met you.” He slaps my shoulder and holds it, reassuring me I’m making the right decision. “You’ve got this.”
I groan. “She said she needs time and space to figure things out.”
“Then you’ll give it to her. You have a lot on your plate right now. This will give you time to do what you need to do.”
“Yeah, I know, but I don’t want to let her go.”
“It’s written all over your face, man—determination. What are you going to do?” he asks.
I will do whatever it takes to show her I love her like she is the center of my universe. Well, she has become that very quickly these past few days, and it’s not over. “I’m packing up my Colorado house and moving home as quickly as I can. It’s the one thing that will prove to her I’m not taking this lightly. I’m serious.”
“You’ve had one foot in Colorado and one foot in Massachusetts for almost two years now. This is the push you need to pull the trigger on the move. That’s amazing news. What else happened?”
