His beautiful smile deepens. He reaches out and gathers me into the circle of his warm, strong arms. “And I should’ve known you’d be wearing this dress that almost gave me a heart attack the first time I saw you in it, sweetheart.”
Gazing up into his eyes, I wind my arms around the breadth of his shoulders and smile.
The rain tapers off. Overhead, the sun breaks through the clouds. I hear the low drone of worker bees busily gathering nectar and smell the heady scent of the lavender fields rising up from the fertile earth all around.
Behind James, their military-straight rows stretch off into the distance, glowing unearthly purple and blue in the slanting sunlight until swallowed by mist.
He whispers, “I am thee and thou art me and all of one is the other. And feel now. Thou hast no heart but mine.”
Euphoric, I laugh softly. “You need to come up with some original lines, pal. Are your script writers on vacation? You can’t rely on Hemingway forever.”
He chuckles. “Oh, yes I can.” His smile fades, and his blue eyes start to burn. In a voice thick with emotion, he says, “Forever and ever, sweetheart.”
He cradles my head in his hands and kisses me.
I don’t look over to see myself lying frail and motionless in my hospital bed in the living room, staring out into the falling rain. I simply close my eyes and lose myself in my lover’s kiss, whispering the words I know he’s waiting to hear against the smiling curve of his mouth.
“I love you.”
James whispers, “I love you, too. Until the end of time.”
It’s a vow, a solemn promise, and the fulfillment of every dream I dared to dream.
Hand in hand, we turn our backs on the melancholy rain and walk into the waiting warmth of the lavender fields.