“True,” I said. “She’s been in my corner since the beginning, even if it meant going against some of her beliefs.”
“Mmm hmm. And especially when you were a big meanie.”
“When was that?” I chuckled.
“Last year, when you added all those notches to your bedpost,” she said matter-of-factly. “When you slept with her.”
“You told your mom about that?”
“No, of course not,” Christy said. “But she figured it out anyway. She said you weren’t ready for a serious relationship.”
“I’m not surprised. She’s a very smart woman.”
“Mmm.”
“And… funny you should mention the notches in my bedpost.”
“What about them?”
“The survey equipment,” I said, deliberately cryptic. The tripod and post were leaning against a tree about ten feet away. I’d put them there with the idea that the post could hide in plain sight.
Christy rolled to her stomach and followed my gaze. “What about them?”
“That’s what I had to use. A bedpost. I needed a surveyor’s target, but I couldn’t find one. So I made it.”
“Seriously? Out of a bedpost?”
“Yep. It’s the right size and shape.” It wasn’t, but she didn’t know that.
“Oh my gosh, that’s funny.”
More than you know, I thought smugly. “Speaking of which,” I said aloud, “are you ready to do the measurements?”
“I suppose we should.” She stood, and I admired her body for a moment. She felt me staring and grew self-conscious. “What? Do I have dirt on my butt?” She turned and looked. “A piece of carrot or something?”
“No, you’re beautiful.” I stood and gathered her into my arms. “I’m lucky to have you. Lucky you’re so stubborn, that you never gave up on me.”
“I wanted to,” she admitted. “I told you, didn’t I?”
“Mmm. But I’m glad you didn’t.”
“Me too.” She closed her eyes and pressed her cheek to my chest. I kissed the top of her head, and she inhaled slowly. We stood like that for a timeless moment. Then she sighed. “I don’t even care what happens tonight.”
“With the party?”
“Ugh. You’re so infuriating sometimes.” She leaned back and glared up at me. “I’m trying to be serious, and you’re still being… cagey!”
“Sorry. I’ll behave.”
“Thank you. And you know what I’m talking about, the thing I said I wouldn’t mention again.”
“Oh, that!” I chuckled. “What about it?”
Her expression softened. “I don’t even care anymore. I love you, and I don’t need a proposal. I don’t need a ring or anything, as long as I have you.” She paused, in case I had something to add.
I didn’t, but I gave her points for trying.
“My mother warned me,” she said with a sigh.
“Oh?”
“She said I’d met my match, that I couldn’t bully you. Can you believe it? My own mother called me a bully.”
I could, but too much honesty was bad for a relationship.
“I’ll forget you said that,” she said darkly.
I nodded and decided that smirking was bad for a relationship too.
“That too.”
“Yes, dear.”
“She also said you’d make me happy. She didn’t mention how stubborn and infuriating you’d be.”
“That’s just a bonus.”
Christy looked into my eyes and said, very earnestly, “Paul Dean Hughes, I do love you. You do make me happy. And I have met my match.”
“I sense a ‘but’…”
“But if I’m not wearing my nana’s ring—my ring—by the end of the party…”
“Ha!”
“I’m serious,” she warned.
“C’mon, Little Bit, let’s get these measurements done.”
“As long as you understand.”
“Oh, I do,” I chuckled. “Believe me, I do.”
* * *
We spent fifteen minutes “taking measurements” in the clearing at the top of the falls. I asked Christy to stand in several locations with the bedpost-target, while I sighted through the brass telescope and pretended to read distances and angles. Mostly I enjoyed looking at her, my own petite Playmate.
Still, I dutifully made notes in my sketchbook, and she never suspected a thing. Why should she? The telescope was real enough, and she didn’t know the difference between it and a surveyor’s transit. I’d told her about the bedpost, too, and she didn’t have any reason to suspect that the construction-paper target might be hiding an inscription.
“One more at the bottom,” I called.
She joined me and waited as I folded the heavy tripod and heaved it onto my shoulder.
“You want me to carry the target?” I asked as nonchalantly as I could. It was a calculated risk, but she didn’t disappoint me.
“No, it isn’t heavy. I can carry it.”
“In that case,” I said, another risk, “hand me my backpack.”
“I can carry it too.”
“Are you sure?”
“It’s light. And your hands are full.”
“Thanks. Then… let’s go.”
We started around the quarry rim, and I had to suppress a smile. The backpack held her grandmother’s ring and the little heart-shaped pillow. The bedpost was the proposal itself. Christy carried them both, just like I’d planned, all without suspecting a thing.
We chatted about the quarry plans as we walked. Her excitement (and distraction) grew with every step. Then we reached the rocky beach at the bottom, where I set up and leveled the tripod.
My hands trembled as I swung the telescope and pointed it at the waterfall. My heart had begun pumping faster as well, and my breathing struggled to keep up. I took a deep breath through my nose and forced a smile.
“Where do you want me?” Christy asked. She knew what to do and didn’t have any reason to be excited. Yet.
“We only need one measurement,” I said, as calmly as I could, “but it’s the big one. Over there, by the—” My voice cracked, something it hadn’t done in years.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sorry. Frog in my throat.”
I’d rehearsed this moment a thousand times in my head, but none of it mattered. Now that it was here, I felt a rush of emotions that threatened to overwhelm me. I closed my eyes, took another deep breath, and imagined floating on a sea of calm.
I can do this, I told myself with more confidence than I actually felt.
The little head echoed the encouragement, You can do this.
“What’s so funny?”
My eyes snapped open.
“You were smiling,” Christy said. Then she read me perfectly. “What did he say?”
“Oh, the usual.”
“Does he need some attention?”
Something tells me I’m gonna have all the attention I can handle, he said smugly. Very soon.
“Maybe in a few minutes,” I said aloud. “Let’s finish this first.” I returned to the script. “Stand over there, please, on the boulders. The big flat one at the edge of the water. That’s it, perfect. Now, face me. Hold the target straight.”
My heart hadn’t slowed, although my lungs had finally caught up. I bent and peered through the telescope. It was an antique, but the lenses were still good. Christy leapt into focus when I turned the knob.
I wanted to remember this forever, so I paused to admire her. She wore her hair in a ponytail, and she’d put on makeup after her shower. She never wore much, just enough to highlight her eyes and give her lips a little gloss. Her skin was the same caramel color everywhere, including her smooth pussy.
She realized what I was doing and grinned. Then she moistened her lips, suggestive and innocent at the same time. After a moment she grew self-conscious. She blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. It was such a familiar gesture that my breath caught in my throat.