“You can really see the stars here, not like in California where the smog covers them,” Matty noted as he looked up at the clear sky. “It’s so peaceful here. Hey, let’s put our seats back so we can look up at the stars properly,” and before I could reply, Matty had popped his seat back into a reclining position, gesturing for me to do the same. My seat swung back so fast that I lost my balance and fell back with a thud, causing both of us to break into laughter. The funny moment was just what I needed to distract me from my nerves and to remember that I was here with Matty; there was nothing to be anxious about.
We both relaxed into our reclined seats and looked up at the night sky. Matty was right: it was peaceful. Quiet and calm surrounded us, with the only the noise being that of the water lapping against the shore and the faint sound of the radio as a backdrop. We laid back in silence for what seemed like a long time but was probably only a few minutes when Matty spoke.
“My meeting at the Miller Sports Foundation went really well today,” he said.
“That’s great. Are they going to partner with your company, then?”
“I think so, but we actually ended up talking about some other things.”
“Oh, like what?” I asked, waving a hand over my face to swat away a bug.
“Well, they offered me a position at their office. They said they’d love to have me join their team if I was willing to relocate here.”
My heart nearly stopped and I held my breath a moment before responding, “Relocate to Lincoln?” which was the city that Miller Sports was based. Lincoln was next to Lakeview, with Lakeview considered somewhat a suburb to the larger municipality.
“Lincoln. Or Lakeview,” Matty said, and I could tell he was looking at my side profile as I continued to look up at the sky. “They mandate that their employees live within a forty-five-mile radius of the office.”
“So,” I said slowly, “you’ve been offered a job that would move you here. You would quit your job in California. The job at your dad’s firm, where you have always worked. You would give up your place there and leave your family to move…. here? Is that right?”
“Yes, Leah,” Matthew said softly, rolling onto his side to face me and reaching out his hand to gently turn my face towards his. “I’d leave everything behind in California to move here to work. I would leave everything behind to move here even without the job. I would leave everything to move here to be with you, Leah. I love you.”
And at hearing that, my face crumbled and tears starting pouring down my cheeks. Whether from shock or pure joy, I didn’t know which. I just knew that never in my life had I been so happy. And that manifested itself in me turning into a red, blotchy, runny-nosed mess.
“What? Leah, don’t you…. don’t you want me here? I mean, I thought…” I stopped Matty in mid-sentence by pulling his face to mine and kissing his mouth hard. I could feel my salt water tears soaking into his face, but I didn’t care. I held his mouth to mine for several moments before letting him go and taking in a huge breath.
“I do want you here, Matty. Job or no job. I want you here. I want you! I have always wanted you. I just can’t believe that I actually get to have you.”
“Oh, Leah, of course you get to have me. Don’t you know that you’ve always had me? From the moment we met in sixth grade, you have had me wrapped around your finger. I didn’t know how to show it back then, and then we were ripped apart. But I have a second chance. We have a second chance. The only thing I want is for us to be together.” Matty leaned over and began kissing me, putting his hands on my cheeks, and using his fingers to wipe away my tears.
“This is crazy,” I said between kisses. “We’ve only been back together for a few days. You can’t uproot your life for me.”
Matty laughed quietly and stocked my face with both of his thumbs. “These three days might as well have been three years, Leah. I never stopped loving you, ever. I didn’t know that I was in love with you all those years ago. I didn’t understand it until you were gone. But I have known for many years now; and I knew it immediately when I first saw you again the other night. I have missed you so much since the moment I climbed out your window that last time. I have been so lost for so many years. But being back with you again,” he paused for a moment before continuing, “well, it has made me whole, Leah. You are a part of me, and I don’t want to live without you anymore. I can’t.”
I sat in disbelief, utterly speechless. In all my fantasies of being with Matty again someday, I had never, ever thought he would say such things.
“I want you to come home with me, Matty. Tonight.” My shyness gone, I was instead emboldened and determined to not let this moment go.
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Matty said, grinning at me with a suggestive look in his eyes. “And if you didn’t, I was going to take you back to my hotel room.” We kissed again before we both pulled our seats up from their reclining positions. We buckled our seat belts, and Matty started the car. I don’t even remember the drive back to my house, or getting into the front door. I was glad that my dogs barely lifted their heads when we walked in as they were already in a deep sleep. To be
