“Skittery ‘n’ me are heading to Tibby’s.” Aki announced. “Anyone wanna come with us?”
“Are you sure about this?” Blizzard wondered. “I thought you two would wanna be alone.”
“It was Skittery’s idea. He said to invite anyone to come along. Wanna come?”
“No thanks.”
“Princess, how ‘bout you?”
“Swifty and I are going somewhere tonight.” Princess replied. “He said it was a surprise.”
“Okay.” She shrugged. “Seven, you’ve been pretty inactive lately. How ‘bout joining Skittery ‘n’ me tonight?”
“No thanks.” She muttered.
“Why not?”
“I’m not in the mood. But thanks anyway.”
“Alright. Well then, since no one wants to come, I guess it’ll just be Skittery and me. Bye guys!”
She left the bunkroom, and Seven slid down from her bunk. Snatching up her light coat, she trudged toward the door. Princess noticed and wondered where she was going.
“Hey, Seven!” she called. “Are you gonna join Aki after all?”
“No.” she responded. “I’m going for a walk.”
“This late?”
“I need a walk. I’ve got a lot of stuff on my mind right now.”
“But it could rain.”
“The sky’s only half-cloudy. I doubt it’ll rain.”
“Suit yourself. Have fun.”
She nodded, then exited the bunkroom and headed down the stairs. After leaving the lodging house, she strode along the empty sidewalk, sorting out her feelings. So much had happened since Bumlets had to her about Mary. And it did nothing to allow her heart to discern whether or not she still loved him.
‘I know I have, and that I still do,’ she thought, ‘but now that I know about what he did…could I live with myself, knowing I love a man who used to be like that?’
Her heart was aching for him. She thought that a week would be a short amount of time, but it was much longer than she had anticipated. And it was much harder. She missed him so much. And where had he been while he was away?
She cast her sight to the sky, gazing at the half cloudy sky and the stars that were peeping through. They twinkled brightly, despite the clouds that came by and blocked them from view. Sighing, she looked ahead of her and continued walking.
Bumlets had told her he would be gone for a week. The week had passed, and he still hadn’t returned. She released a despairing sigh. Could he have lied to her? Or was he giving her more time to sort out her feelings?
She began to long for his embrace. Whenever he held her, she felt so safe and protected. And when he kissed her, she could swear that she could touch heaven. And even when he touched her, even just the slightest bit, she could feel tremors in her heart. He made her feel like no other man did or ever would. She wondered if she did the same to him.
Time was passing by quickly. Where was she now? She glanced at her surroundings. Somehow, she found herself at the square, facing toward the direction of Tibby’s. She began to realize how late it was, and that Tibby’s must be closed by now. She turned toward the direction of the lodging house, ready to return home.
Turning two corners, she began to hear footsteps behind her. She sped up a bit, hearing these steps slowing somewhat. She ignored the steps until she could hear a soft voice.
“Seven.”
She halted at the voice. To make sure she wasn’t imagining things, she glanced over her shoulder. Bumlets was standing there, smiling. Impulsively, she rushed to him and embraced him, overjoyed that he was back. Then she thought of what he had told her and forced herself away.
“Where were you?” she wondered. “I was worried.”
“I stayed with a friend. But I got a place ‘f my own now. An’ a job.”
She nodded. “I’m glad to hear that.”
He came toward her, and she withdrew further. When she saw the look on his face, she could see understanding. Her heart pounded fiercely.
“I know what you’re thinkin’ about.” He murmured.
“I know.”
He came to her again, but kept his distance. He took her hand in his, then gazed at her face.
“Are ya angry at me?”
“No.”
“But what I told ya is hard t’ swallow.”
She swallowed. “Yes.”
“Is it gonna put a damper on what we got?”
She sighed heavily. “I don’t know. I’ve been so messed up over this past week. I can’t figure out what I feel. Sometimes I feel like I can’t live without you, and other times I don’t want you near me.”
“Which do ya feel now?”
“I…I do want you near me, but…I still don’t know.”
The words were formulating in his head. He knew that now was the time. He had to say what he had wanted to say for so long, or his truth would keep a divider in between them forever. But he needed a sign first.
‘God,’ he prayed, ‘I’ve been praying all day and I still don’t know if this is what you want me to do.’ He gazed into the heavens. ‘I know that if I’m gonna do what I’m gonna, I need to know that it’s the right time. So please, if you want this to happen, just do one thing for me. Let it rain. Let it rain, just like it did when we shared our first kiss.’
He looked away from the sky and back at Seven. Then, without warning, he felt something land in his hair. Reaching up, he could feel where a droplet of water had landed. Then another fell. And another. The sky was still halfway clouded over, but rain was falling. He burst into exuberant joy.
“Thank you!” he shrieked to the sky, raising his hands. “Thank you God, thank you Jesus, thank you!”
“Bumlets, what’s going on?” Seven demanded, shocked at his behavior.
“Something that’s tellin’ me what t’ do.” He replied.
Before Seven could make a response of any kind, he pulled her to him and kissed her. Though their kiss was short, it was satisfying enough for him. It was time.
As he drew away from her, he sank to one knee and took her other hand in his. Then he kissed her hands and let the enormous smile spread across his face.
“Seven…” he began, “Rachel…I told ya ‘bout what I did because I wanted t’ see if you’d still love me, even though what I did was wrong. Tell me now, Rachel, please. Do you still love me?”
Her heart was racing. She had the word on her tongue, but her voice could not break past her tightened throat. She nodded instead, and that was enough for him.
“Then listen t’ what I got t’ say. I wanna marry ya.”
She gasped loudly, and yanked one of her hands from his to cover her mouth. He smiled again and continued.
“I do. I wanna marry ya. Th’ first time I saw ya, I knew you was th’ girl I wanted t’ spend th’ rest of my life with. You’re th’ reason why Mary ‘n’ me only spent five minutes together. I know that what I did was wrong, but I’m askin’ ya t’ look past that in me. Everythin’ I got, I’m givin’ to you. It ain’t much, I know, but it’s love.
“I’ve loved ya for so long. An’ I know I’ll never love anyone else. I want th’ first thing I see when I wake up in th’ morning an’ go t’ bed at night t’ be your face. An’ I wanna be th’ father of your kids. I wanna grow old with ya, an’ live with ya till th’ day I die. An’ so I’m askin’ ya now, will ya marry me?”
The tears she had kept bottled for a week were now mixing with the raindrops that pelted her face. She had never felt this way before. She felt as though heaven itself was presenting her with a gift that she was always intended, and all she needed to do was accept it. But would she?
All of the sudden, what he had done with Mary seemed completely irrelevant to her. Everyone made mistakes. He just so happened to make one that she had never even considered making. But she knew that despite his faults, even one made with another woman, she loved him.
She bent down to his size, then gripped his shoulders and lifted him to his feet along with herself. Then, she pressed herself against him and kissed him. Once again, it was a simple kiss. When they parted, he touched her face tenderly.
“If that’s a no, I’m afraid I ain’t convinced.”
Giggling softly, she brushed her fingers through his hair. “If my answer was a no, would I be doing this?”
She released all of the pent-up love she had felt for so long and kissed him again, this time with full passion of knowing that she loved him. He too released everything he had, making everything of this event something to remember.
Both were breathless when they parted again. Then he reached up and touched face again, stroking her skin with his fingertips.
“I love you.” He said, loud and clear for her to believe.
A smile crossed her face as she touched his face as well. And before she kissed him again, she gave him her response.
“You too.”
