Waiting for Her Soldier (16 page)

I was speechless. I knew this was always a possibility, but I thought it was months, maybe even over a year before I’d really have to confront it.

“Well, what do you want me to do?” I asked, my voice giving off a sort of annoyed tone. I was stressed. What did this mean for us?

“I want you to come with me,” said Darren, pressing my hand and looking into my eyes. He nodded down toward my head, indicating the ring he’d given me last night. “I thought I’d made that clear.”

“But what about the shop?” I asked.

“Have Betsy run it. You know she’s capable. You can drive down once or twice a month to check on things.”

“I know Betsy can do it. But what will I do? That shop is my life, Darren. It’s my baby. I’d be terribly bored if I didn’t have my business.”

“Then open another one near DC.”

“Darren,” I said reproachfully. “How am I going to do that?”

“I don’t know. You’ll figure it out. You’re up for the challenge, right?”

“It’s not a matter of being up for the challenge. It’s a matter of money. Where the hell am I going to get the money for rent and equipment, all that stuff. DC is an expensive place to run a business.”

“Well, you’ve got some money from the shop saved up, right? And you kept good business records. The shop has been very profitable, right”

“That’s true, I guess.”

“That should be enough to get a loan. You’ve got enough collateral. I don’t really see anything stopping you.”

“I don’t have that much saved up, though. A lot of it is still tied up in the business.”

“I’ve got some money saved up, too. I can be one of the investors.”

“Darren, I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“Why not? I’m asking you to move all the way to DC. And besides, I know the business is going to be successful up there, too. Why wouldn’t I want to invest?”

“You really believe that?”

“Yes.”

“Well,” I hesitated. I was shocked, I couldn’t believe I was really considering this. “I haven’t even asked Betsy, we don’t even know that she’d be interested in that.”

“So, ask her.”

“I’m not going to lie, I kind of like the idea of expansion, the challenge of starting over again.”

“It’s going to be a fresh start for both of us, but this time we’ll at least be together.”

“I do like DC… hmm,” I said. I was really going to do this. I was already getting so excited about the possibilities before me.

“So, you’re in?” asked Darren.

“Yes, I’m in. I’m totally in,” I said, pulling him into me and giving him a deep, wet kiss.

“Good, let’s celebrate then,” said Darren, giving me a wink as he moved his body on top of mine. You can guess what happened next.

I smiled, allowing my body to give itself over completely as Darren’s touched reawakened the desire that burned between us. This was my life with Darren, full of passion and opportunity and endless possibilities. So, in the end, the nurse at the hospital was right: Darren was one of the lucky ones. We were both the lucky ones.