All I care about right now is getting Eli to turn around.
As much as I can with my bad leg, I run like a crazy person, my arms practically flailing as I run out of breath.
“Eli!” I scream again, getting closer enough for him to hear me.
Just as I hoped, Eli stops in his tracks and turns around in time for me to catch up with him, his head cocked to the side in expectation.
Yes, I remember!my head shouts to him like he’ll somehow hear me.
Max momentarily takes my attention off Eli by running towards me, his excitable tail wagging a million miles an hour as I pick him up and let him lick my face.
“I missed you too, little scamp,” I coo, my eyes beginning to water as I giggle at all his attention.
Knowing that Eli has been patiently waiting, I place Max down for a moment and glance up, noticing the excitement and hope shining in Eli’s eyes. I bite my lip, trying to suppress my smile as I grab his free hand and pull his palm to me. With my finger, I write the letter I, then a heart, then lastly U before gazing back up at him. Eli’s smile is as big as a whale as he places the coffee cup on the ledge of a nearby shop’s window and scoops me into his arms for a big kiss.
My lips touch his and the sparks I remember from the first time reignite so violently it takes my breath away.
“I thought you had forgotten again,” he whispers against my lips, my heart soaring a million miles an hour.
“How could I ever forget you?” I reply, landing him another passionate, but tender kiss.
When we pull away, smiling, I realize that we’ve amassed quite the audience. Trent is smiling and Victoria is simply standing there, mouth wide open, speechless.
Well, that’s a first.
“Everyone’s watching,” I whisper as I flit my head back, my eyes immediately landing on Eli’s lips again.
“I don’t care. I love you and I want the world to know it.” He kisses me again, and I can’t stop smiling against his lips. Despite people watching and no doubt recording this exchange, I don’t care either. It will just be something I will replay later. No doubt several times over.
Realizing something, I say, “You waited ’til you got divorced to come visit me.”
“Trent told me you had forgotten me, so I used that time to make sure I had everything in order before I came to get you. I didn’t know how I was going to make you remember, but I was determined to stay here until you did.”
Kissing him again, I say, “Thankfully, you only needed to do it once.”
Eli laughs against my chest, the vibrations causing butterflies to rise in my stomach.
“I think Max had a helping hand in that, didn’t you, bud?”
We both glance down at him and Max replies with a swift wag of his tail and a sharp bark, causing us to laugh.
Eli grips my hand and our eyes meet, my head dizzying with an overwhelming sense of happiness. Now, it all makes sense. The loneliness, the heartache, the feeling of loss. I was missing Eli. It was all because of Eli.
My eyes get lost inside those beautiful light green eyes of his, but when voices surround us it causes me to address the fact that we’re being watched.
“As much as I love standing here with you, I would really like to get you alone,” I whisper, needing desperately for us to have some privacy.
“That, I can definitely arrange,” Eli replies, kissing me again and taking my breath away.
And it’s in that precious moment I realize: my invisible genie may have only granted me that one wish. But, in doing so, he granted me more wishes than I could possibly dream of.