I explain how the course works. There are four buoys in the water, we swim out, free a bag of tiles, and bring them back to the tile board one at a time. Once we both have all four of our bags, we can empty out the tiles and start working on our word puzzle.
“Oh, man.” Avery hops from foot to foot, her excitement uncontained. “I’ve been word puzzling it up lately. You’re totally going down.”
I give her a lingering once-over. She’s in a bikini, all her athletic curves on display. “I definitely plan to do that later.”
She smacks my arm. “Seriously, Deck.”
“One hundred percent. It’s your birthday, babe, you get all the full service you can handle.”
“Sex talk distractions aren’t going to work. Prepare to have your ass handed to you.” She makes her way to the beginning of the course, and Harley counts us down, giving the signal to race to the water.
Since Avery has been spending a lot of time in the water, she’s become an incredibly strong swimmer. It doesn’t take her long to come back with the first bag, but each buoy is farther than the last, so she slows a little as she gets to the final bag, but still manages to keep up.
I’m always impressed with her tenacity and determination not to let her injury hold her back. She’s careful with her body, and some days are more difficult than others, but she doesn’t let it keep her down for long.
We make it back to the puzzle station around the same time, and she starts untying the bags and dumping out the letters to form her four-word clue that will unlock the box.
My puzzle pieces are different from hers and only contain three words. Since I created the obstacle course, I have a distinct advantage.
She shifts the letters around, her expression fierce with concentration. She looks over at me every once in a while and frowns when she glances at her own pieces, realizing our letters aren’t the same.
And then it all clicks into place as she shifts the pieces one more time to spell out the phrase:
WILL YOU MARRY ME?
Mine reads:
PLEASE SAY YES
I know London and Harley are around somewhere, probably secretly recording this. I slip my hand in my pocket and pull out a Ziploc baggie containing the small, velvet box and drop to one knee in the sand.
Avery shakes her head, but her smile is wide as I slip it free from the bag and tuck that back in my pocket.
I flip the box open. “I’ve loved you since I met you, Avery, and I tried for a long time to push those feelings down, thinking I could never be what you need, but your patience and love taught me that I can. You’re my best friend and my favorite person in the world. There’s no one else who gets me the way you do, and I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how much you mean to me every single day. Will you marry me?”
She runs her fingers through my hair, eyes soft like her smile. “You’ve been my rock for so many years, Declan. I don’t think that I realized exactly how integral you are to my life until those few months apart. And while I know we both needed it, I never want to be without you again. You’re my best friend, of course I’ll marry you.”
I slip the ring on her finger and stand. “Thank you for teaching me how to love with my whole heart. I promise I’ll take good care of yours.” I take her face between my hands and dip down so I can seal my promise with a kiss.
Avery is my best friend, my soul mate, my everything.