“And I love you too.Having you in my life has been the best thing that has ever happened to me.I can’t wait to see what the rest of our lives will be like.I love you so much.”
She was on her way to work when she realized that she had plenty to do to keep herself busy at work.There were the end-of-year things that had to be filed, as well as the things that the agents had for her to do.Just as she was ready for lunch, Gleason came by with something for them to share.It was subs again, but he’d gotten her favorite meatball, so she was all right with that.After cleaning up, she set back to work when he left and got all the paperwork filed by the time she was ready to leave for the day.Going home that night, she could barely keep her eyes open; she was so tired.It might well have been stress, too, but she wanted to lie down.
Exhausted, she was ready to take a nap on the couch.Just as she was dozing off, her cell phone rang, and she sat up to answer it.Just as she was going to tell the caller that they had the wrong number, she heard Wylie talking.He said that he’d been in an accident and was all right, but he was headed to the hospital.
“Don’t drive.”She said that she was coming to see him.“I want you here, but you’re going to be driving too fast and have an accident, so don’t drive.I’m sending Kinsey to get you so that he’ll drive you here.I’m all right.”
“What does that mean?Have you had your head bashed in or something?Tell me what happened.”
“Someone ran a red light and got me in the side.My airbag went off, so I was saved from having to hit the windshield.I am truly all right.I just have a couple of hurts that they said would heal, but I’m all right.Tell me that you understand that.”She said it back to him.“Good.Kinsey should be there soon.Tell him, too, that you talked to me and that things are going to be just fine.”
“I’m going to murder you if you’re hurt worse than you’re telling me.”He promised her that he was fine and that he only hurt a little.“Kinsey is here now.I’m going to let you talk to him while Ichange.I’m still in my uniform.”
“I’m fine.I promise.”He kept telling her that when she handed the phone off to his brother.After getting dressed, she made her way to the hospital with Kinsey, and they drove there in one piece.The man was going to drive her crazy, she just knew it.
~*~
“I was wondering if you’d sleep with me tonight?”Hailey said that she wasn’t ready for sex just yet.“Neither am I, to be honest.I just want you to be beside me when I go to sleep and there when I wake up.I thought that it would do us both some good to get a good night’s sleep tonight.”
“You think that sleeping together will solve that problem?”He said that it couldn’t hurt.“I guess not.I’d love to just sleep with you.Perhaps it will be the best thing that has happened to me in a while, too.Besides falling in love with you.I think that’s the best of all the worlds to have you beside me when I go to sleep.”
She didn’t know what to do about sleeping with him.He was a large man, but she was sure that his bed was going to be big enough for the two of them to get a good night’s sleep.Even if they didn’t touch, it would be nice to know that he was right there beside her.
After dinner, they sat in the living room and watched the news.It was sort of depressing to see what was going on around the world, so they didn’t watch it for long.As soon as it was over, they turned it to something more interesting and decided that they were too young to be watching game shows.Not that they minded it.But it was kind of nice to have something to share with each other.
At eleven, they were headed up to bed.It had been an extremely long day, it felt like, and she was ready for some good sleep.As soon as she got out of the bathroom, having put on a shirt of Gleason’s to wear to bed, she was ready to go to sleep.Getting into bed, she was amazed at how exhausted she was right then.Cuddling up to Gleason, she was asleep in no time at all.
Waking in the middle of the night, she had no idea where she was.It was then that she realized that she was alone in the big bed, but the side that Gleason had been sleeping on was still warm.When he came out of the bathroom, she noticed that he’d put on some pajama bottoms at some point, and she loved him for that.She was still tired, and after snuggling up against his warm body, she was back to sleep.
When she woke in the morning, she was alone again.She knew that he’d been up for a while; he was an early riser, but she laid there thinking about what she’d been dreaming.They’d been married and had three children.There was more to it than that, but that was all she could focus on right now.Three children were something that she’d love to have and more if he was willing.They could well afford them, and she was happy to be a would-be mom.Getting up, she took a long, hot shower and made the bed.After getting dressed, she decided that she needed more clothing and pulled out her phone to order something else she could wear besides jeans and sweatshirts.
Going to the kitchen to get something to eat, she noticed that Gleason had already eaten.His plate was still in front of him, so it hadn’t been all that long.When she was handed a plate of food, it all smelled so delicious that she didn’t know where to begin.Starting with the creamy scrambled eggs, she moaned when her taste buds seemed to wake up.It was like having a bit of heaven on a fork.
“I had the strangest dream last night.”She told him about how she’d had three children with him and that they were so happy.“I don’t know why I’d dream something like that.I’ve never thought of having children before in my life.”
“I had a dream that the two of us were married at the courthouse today.So I made it happen.”She looked at him when he stood up.Getting down on one knee, he pulled out the little blue box that was in his pocket and smiled at her.“Hailey Sheppard, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?Will you put up with me throughout our natural life?Will you have those three children with me and raise them to know that they’re loved and cherished?Will you be my wife forever and a day?”
“Yes.”She smiled at him when he opened the box.“Oh, Gleason, it’s more than I could have hoped for.It’s beautiful.”
It was too.The large diamond was set in a Tiffany setting that made it look larger than it was.Not that it was all that small.She looked at the band that went with it and marveled at the beauty that the set made.Just as he slipped it on her finger, she heard a popping sound, and Mae had opened them a bottle of champagne.
“He told me when you said yes that I could open the bottle.I love the sound of the cork being popped.”They shared a glass with Mae, and she started crying.“I’ve never been so happy about two people getting married as I am right now.Not even my own proposal was this nice for me.”
They shared a second glass while she ate her breakfast.Gleason told her that he’d made arrangements at the courthouse for the two of them to get married today, and he was going to have his brothers stand up for him.
“The women are going to be your bridesmaids.”She thought that was perfect.“I thought you’d say that.I’m so happy right now that I could bust.We’ll be married by noon, and Kinsey and Meggie are going to have us a reception.It’s amazing to me what having money can do for you.”
“I’m beginning to see that.”She kissed him several times on the mouth and face and told him how much she loved him.“We should get going.I don’t want to be late for my own wedding.”Both their cell phone rang at the same time.“I wonder what’s going on.”
It was Meggie.She was calling to tell them that Wylie had been in a car accident last night, but that he was all right.Someone had run a red light, and he’d been in the intersection.She kept telling her that he was all right, but she had a feeling that it was more than that.When she took a breath to no doubt say more, she asked her where he was.
“In the hospital emergency room.They’re going to admit him soon.It happened at about eight last night, just as he was coming home from the meeting at our house.He’s fine.”She asked why they were keeping him.“He bumped his head pretty good.No stitches, but they want to make sure he doesn’t have any concussion.”
“He didn’t break anything?No ribs or his arms?”She said that they’d x-rayed his entire body and nothing was broken.“I’m glad that they’re keeping him overnight.Or should we say all day?Gleason and I are getting married at noon.”
“Everything is all planned out.Nothing to worry about there.”She asked if they could do it another day.“I’m afraid that the caterers are here now.To cancel would be expensive.Not that I can’t afford it, but I don’t want to have to do this another day.Is that all right with you?”
“Yes, of course.He’ll just not be there.I don’t imagine that Roise will be either.”She told her that she was staying with Wylie.“Good.That’s where she should be.We can take them in some food after the ceremony.Is that all right?”
