Ignite

Tilting her head to the side, Adaline asked with a smile, “What?”

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her body flush against mine. “You kissing me in front of everyone.”

Adaline chuckled as she pressed her lips against mine.

I knew the world couldn’t be shut out for long. My name was called out and Adaline took a step back to let the rest of the world invade our moment.

“Emmit, how does it feel knowing you won the last one, but you were still out of reach of that title?”

With a smile and a small shrug, I looked into the reporter’s eyes and said, “There’s always next year.”

More rounds of post race interviews took us well into the night. By the time Adaline and I made it back to the bus, I was exhausted and Lola was ready to play.

“I just want a shower and a bed,” I mumbled as I walked past Adaline and into the bathroom.

Lola had been on my heels until Adaline called her to go outside.

As I stood under the shower, I thought about this past year. So much had happened and there was still so much more to come. In five weeks was the wedding. Five weeks and Adaline would be one-hundred percent mine. My hands pressed against the shower wall as I let the water run over my body and dreamed of marrying Adaline.

“Emmit, are you hungry?” Adaline called out.

My body came to life as her voice filled the bathroom. There was only one thing I was hungry for. Turning off the shower, I wrapped a towel around my waist and set out to find the love of my life.

I stepped into the bedroom and came to a stop. A package was sitting on the bed wrapped in plain white paper.

“I’m heating up some of the lasagna I made last night,” Adaline said from the kitchen.

As I picked up the package, I said, “Okay, baby. I’ll be right there.”

There was no note or card anywhere on the package. Ripping it open, I held a box in my hand. Lifting the lid, I pinched my eyebrows together as I reached in and lifted out a picture frame. Smiling, I sat down and looked at the picture of me holding Lola when she was about twelve weeks old.

“What’s that?” Adaline asked as she walked in and sat down next to me.

I laughed as I looked at Adaline. “Like you don’t know.”

As she glanced down at the picture, she smiled and said, “Is that Lola as a puppy? Oh my gosh, she is so cute. Where did you get this picture?”

I pinched my eyebrows together and asked, “You mean you didn’t give this to me?”

Adaline wore a confused face and said, “Nope. The only pictures I’ve ever seen is the one on your mantel of you holding Lola in your arms right after you got her and the one in the living room when she was older. I’ve never seen this one.”

I shrugged as I glanced at the photo. “I wonder who put this here then?”

Adaline slapped her hands on her legs as she stood up. “Maybe your sister or mom? They were both in here earlier during the race. Wasn’t there a card?”

I shook my head. “Nope.” Standing, I walked over and placed the picture next to my bed. “It was probably, Mom. She must have found the picture.”

Adaline smiled bigger. “It sure is cute. Makes you want another puppy.”

With a laugh, I shook my head and grabbed some sweatpants. “Hell no do I want another puppy.”

Lola barked as Adaline laughed. “Seems to me like Lola is down for a friend.”

I pulled Adaline into my arms and quickly gave her a kiss. “The only baby I want in this bus is our baby.”

Adaline smiled as we made our way to the living room area.

The rest of the night was spent with Adaline curled up in my arms as Hank finally showed up and we started back for North Carolina. I couldn’t wait to get home and just relax. I kissed Adaline on the forehead and slowly let exhaustion claim me.