“There’s no cold water,” Eliot said. “The bottles are all in the car.”
“Then just go outside and stick it in the rain, silly!”
Eliot strode outside onto the porch and I followed. He leaned against the porch rail as far as he could, reaching his finger into the rain.
“The wind is blowing it the other way,” Eliot said, leaning farther over. “It’s not—ahh!”
A gust of wind in the opposite direction had decided to prove him wrong. He stepped back, but not in time to keep the sweeping rain from dousing him head to toe. I couldn’t help but giggle at his hair flopping wetly over his forehead.
“You look kind of like a wet rat,” I said.
“Ahh!” He shook his head like a dog, spraying me with flying droplets.
“Stop!” I cried, laughing. “Eliot, you’re getting me wet!”
“That will teach you to laugh at me!” Eliot said. He grabbed me around the waist and lifted me up off of the ground.
“Eliot, you’re SOAKED!” I kicked out with my feet helplessly, and he carried me down the steps and right into the middle of the rainstorm. I had forgotten how strong he was, but he picked me up with ease. The air was filled with rain as soon as we left the shelter of the roof. I squealed as the cold water hit me, clenching my eyes shut.
The dress I had just put on for our dinner clung to my knees, the wet fabric tight against my skin.
“There,” he said. “Now we’re both soaked.”
And then he kissed me.
Before Eliot, I had not known true warmth. The searing heat that spread through my body with the simple press of his lips on mine was incomparable to any sunlit day in California. Even with rain streaking down my back, my longing for him burned so that I thought steam would come off of my skin. He kissed me and kissed me, and water ran through my hair and down my skin, washing me clean.
“Brynn!”
“What?!” I tugged away from his grip, but he held me tight.
“I love you!” Eliot was grinning like a crazy person, and his smile was infectious; I couldn’t help but laugh. His white shirt was soaked all the way through now, and I could see the muscles of his broad chest through the wet fabric.
“I love you too!” I cried out. He took my hands and pulled me closer. I wriggled happily in his embrace. He placed his hand on my cheeks and looked me from eye to eye, his face inches from mine.
“Brynn, you are the most wonderful person I have ever met. Do you know that?”
If I blushed, I hoped the rain would hide it. The bright love in his eyes warmed me as he continued.
“You inspire me, Brynn. You keep me sane and you drive me wild. I did not want to be part of the world anymore...not until I met you.”
“Eliot—” I wanted to stop his words. Compliments always made me a bit itchy. But Eliot would not stop.
“Let me finish,” he said, kissing my nose and smiling at me. Water trickled down my face and he brushed a droplet from my cheek. “Don’t worry, I know not to lecture you for too long.”
“I was scared when I met you, Brynn,” Eliot said. I looked up to see if he was joking, but his face was completely serious.
“Scared?” I whispered.
“I was frightened by how much I wanted you. After years of keeping to myself, you showed up and… and I couldn’t keep to myself anymore. I had hidden my loneliness for so long that I had forgotten what it was like to feel longing. I wanted you so badly, Brynn.”
Now I was blushing for sure, but Eliot continued as though he didn’t notice.
“I know that things won’t always be perfect, but I am going to try my damndest. I’m going to try because you deserve nothing but happiness.”
Tears rose to my eyes. My life had been one sorrow after another for so long. And now, thinking of my grandmother, I knew that she would want me to try to be happy too. Thinking back over the past year, there were so many bright spots of happiness, and all of them happened with Eliot.
“I love you more than anything,” Eliot said. “Of all of the infinities I know, there is not one that comes close to describing how much I love you.”
He knelt in front of me then, one knee to the muddy ground, and I forgot how to breathe.
“Marry me, Brynn,” he said. “Make me the happiest man in the whole world.”
My hand lifted up as if of its own volition, and when he kissed it the earth itself seemed to shiver, wind tossing the branches wildly overhead. Rain streaked down and mixed with my tears as Eliot slid the ring onto my finger. The center diamond sparkled brightly against my skin, but I couldn’t even see the rest of the ring, I was crying so hard.
“Yes,” I whispered through my tears. “Oh, Eliot, yes, yes, with all my heart yes!”
I threw my arms around him as he was standing and almost knocked him over. Eliot laughed and spun me around, the rain pouring down all around us. He kissed me deeply and then pulled back, his thumb brushing my lip, his dazzling blue eyes locked on mine.
“I am so lucky to have found you,” he said.
“Luck?” I said, arching my eyebrow. “As I remember, I found you, and luck had nothing to do with it.”
“Didn’t you tell me once that you only bought me a coffee because you found the money on the ground?”
“Oh. Well, yeah, I suppose,” I said. “But secretly it was all just part of my master plan to marry a brilliant Hungarian prince.”
“Not a prince,” Eliot said, shaking his head.
“You’re a prince to me.”
“Then you’re my princess,” he said, leaning forward to kiss me again. “And really this was all part of my master plan to marry an American citizen so I could stay in California.”
“Oh! So I’m only good to you as an immigration ticket. Is that it?”
“Would you do that for me?” Eliot said, a twinkle in his eye. “It would be a wonderful marriage of convenience.”
“Convenient for you! Well, I’ve already said yes,” I said, pretending to pout, “but now I’m having second thoughts.”
“I could also kidnap you and take you back to my castle with me,” Eliot said. “We can go anywhere now that you’re my queen.”
“Princess,” I corrected. “Queen sounds too old.”
“Princess, yes, of course. A mathematical princess.”
“The best kind,” I said.
Eliot looked up at the sky, his hand shielding his eyes from the spray of rain. The dampness made the scent of pine even stronger here in the middle of the forest, and I inhaled deeply, leaning against Eliot’s chest.
“I wanted everything to be perfect so I could propose on the beach, but I guess the weather had different plans.”
“This is perfect,” I said, looking up to caress his face with my hands. It had taken me some time before I was able to look at Eliot without shame, to indulge in the sight of his face. He, too, had been reserved at first, and did not want me to look at his scars.
“You’re right,” Eliot said, his eyes gazing at my figure appreciatively. “It will be fun to get all of these wet clothes off of you!”
“You planned this,” I teased, backing up toward the cabin. “Even the rain.”
“I’m just lucky,” Eliot said. “So very, very lucky.”
“We both are,” I said. I didn’t know whether I believed in luck or fate, or maybe both. What I did know was that I had been given too many second chances with Eliot, and I wasn’t ever going to lose him again.