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“Here. Just openthisenvelope first.”
Zac handed it to me, and I looked at the front of it but didn’t see any kind of writing. Then I flipped it over and still, there was nothing to clue me in about what was inside the envelope. I looked back over at Zac and sighed.
“Okay, you’ve got me feeling nervous about this.”
“There’s no reason to be. Just open it—and I hope you say yes.”
I kept my eyes on him while thinking about the now obvious set-up here that I recognized. Whatever this was about, Zac had planned it step by step and it included those cargo shorts of his because of the pockets, the song by Eddie Money and whatever was inside this envelope that I was still holding. As soon as I opened it, took out its contents and read what was printed on them, my jaw dropped.
“Oh my God, you did not,” I said, looking back up at Zac.
“Yeah, I did.”
He was smiling that big, dimpled smile of his while I sat in stunned silence. When I finally opened my mouth to speak, I closed it again because I still didn’t know what to say about thetwo airline tickets that I was holding in my hand. Two tickets to the paradise of Destin, Florida.
“Stevie, will you go with me?” Zac asked.
“I-I… You know I want to but I can’t take off from work next week. That’s not enough notice for Brooke. Wait. The date?” I said, looking at the tickets again. “Shit! Our flight to Destin is today!”
“I know it is.”
“Zac!”
“Stevie.”
“There’s no way that I can go. I’m gonna cry—I’ve dreamed of going to that beach with you.”
“No, no, no. Don’t cry,” he said, holding up his hands. Then he walked over and kneeled down in front of me. “Here you go.”
He was holding another envelope, and then he gave it to me. This one had a letter in it, and it was handwritten, short, sweet, to the point…and it was from Brooke. She told me to have fun in Destin with my exception and to not worry about my cases. My team had them covered.
I dropped my head when I finished reading what Brooke had written and started crying happy and grateful tears again. Zac cupped my face in his hands, then raised it up and looked straight at me.
“Beautiful mermaid of mine, will you let me take you to the ocean for a week?”
I took a deep breath, then choked out, “Yes.”
Tears were still rolling down my cheeks, my bottom lip was quivering and my body was trembling. Zac saw and felt it all, then pulled me into his arms. After a couple of minutes, I’d composed myself and sat back in my chair while Zac kneeled back down in front of me.
“I had no idea all of this would have such an effect on you, Stevie.”
“Well, it’s a dream come true. You and I get to be together. Just us for a whole week, and we get to be open about it too. We can walk up and down the beach while holding hands, we can go swimming in the ocean and kiss each other. We can sit in a restaurant, order two Hendricks and tonics with extra lime, share a delicious meal or go do anything that we wanna do without any restrictions or worry. So yes, I’m greatly affected by this gift from you. Thank you so much for doing this, Zac. I still can’t believe it.”
He smiled while wiping off my face. “I was determined to make it happen because I knew you needed this as much as I did.”
“But what about your court cases?”
“I rescheduled the hearings.”
“What are you gonna do about sweet Malcolm?”
“I talked to my parents days ago about watching him so that you and I could get away together and they were immediately on board.”
“You’ve never been away from Malcolm for a week.”
“He’ll be fine. My mom and dad love and spoil him just like I do.”
“You are something else, Buchanan.”
