"You can say that again," she says with a grin.
"Hot damn," I say, wrapping my arms around her and burying my face in her sweet-smelling hair.
10
Bellamy
Garen and I sit on his back patio, full from the pizza he made in his stone oven. My bare feet rest in his lap as he rubs the soles, and I sip my Duskwood Winery Pinot Grigio with a contented sigh. He looks over at me with a mischievous grin.
"It's almost your birthday," he says with his sexy, lopsided smile.
True. Last year when I turned 49, 50 seemed so far away. Now it's just a couple of weeks out. A Steller's jay lands on a branch nearby, crying out and telling us what's what. I giggle and say, "I love coming here. I love your place."
"Yeah?" Garen says, stopping mid-massage.
Looking over at him, I smile.
"Well, for one, it has the world's most handsome mountain man living inside," I say, poking his washboard abs with my foot.
"Move in with me," he blurts out.
"What?" I say with surprise.
"Move in with me. You already need a bigger place for your studio, and we're together all the time, anyway."
"Are you being serious?" I say, slipping my feet off his lap and sitting up straighter.
"100% serious."
My heart hammers against my chest as I take in his words. Living with Garen in this beautiful house in this beautiful setting would be a dream.
"Where would I work?"
"Glad you asked," Garen says, standing and offering his hand. I take it, holding my wineglass in the other, and he leads me inside. We climb to the second floor, where he opens the attic door and pulls down the ladder. I follow him up and gasp.
"I assumed this was storage," I say, looking around at the furnished attic.
"Well, I did have some things up here, but I've been cleaning it out. And brainstorming what this space could turn into. I was thinking over here could be your wall of customized shelves."
"Garen, are you being serious?" I breathe, my heart hammering.
"Totally. This attic could be the perfect place for your studio. And it gets great light, well, for an attic in the woods."
He turns to me, his brown eyes studying my face. I choke back tears of joy.
"I'm in shock," I finally say.
Taking two long strides toward me, Garen wraps his muscular arms around me.
"Does this mean you're saying yes? That you'll move in?"
"Yes," I say, tears falling down my cheeks. "Yes. I would love to move in here with you."
"What are you thinking about, birthday girl?" the love of my life asks, sitting across from me at our table at Mare Pacificum. I pull my eyes away from the sun setting over the ocean's horizon and look at the handsome mountain man.
"I was just thinking how this is the last spring sunset of the year."
"And the first sunset of your fiftieth year," Garen adds, reaching across and placing his large hand on top of mine, giving it a squeeze.
