* * *
" . thought that it'd be nice to catch up with them in a couple of weeks or so." said Josie.
Sam was staring absently at the way Josie's hair caught the light, when he realized there was an expectant silence. He started and looked sheepishly at her. "I'm sorry Josie, I was miles away. What did you say?"
Josie smiled. "I said that I got an email from Aldys at work today. She's doing really well at Northwestern. I've suggested that maybe we go out for dinner or she and Guy come over here sometime."
"Mmmm-hmmmm." Sam was staring again.
"Sam!"
He blinked, and shook his head. "Sorry. What? Oh right, yeah, it'd be good to see her and Guy. Things seem to be going well between them."
Josie nodded, but looked a little concerned. "Sam, you've been really abstracted lately. Are you okay?"
Sam nodded. "Sure, I'm fine. I've just had a few things on my mind lately. I'll be okay." Josie looked at him with a concerned expression, then she smiled and shrugged lightly and turned her attention back to her book. It was Saturday, and whenever the weather permitted, Sam and Josie had taken to spending a lot of time on their back porch. Josie was reading a book and Sam was trying to do the same, but without much success.
"Hellllooooooo!"
They both looked up to see Cliff leaning on the gate that separated their backyards from each other. He waved when he saw he had their attention.
"Hi Cliff- what's up?" called Sam.
"Nothing in particular. The sun's over the yardarm, so how about a gin and tonic with me over here?" he answered.
Sam looked at Josie, who nodded. He turned back to Cliff and raised his voice to answer. "Sounds great Cliff we'll be over there in a sec!" Cliff nodded and headed back towards his kitchen door. Josie marked her place in her book, and stood up and stretched. Sam watched her stretch, and swallowed hard. He wasn't sure he was going to make it through the day. Something had to give, but he had to make himself hold out. There was too much careful planning to jeopardize by blurting it out at an inopportune moment.
Josie turned to Sam and held out her hand. He took it and they strolled down their back steps, and across to Cliff's place. When they entered Cliff's kitchen, he was standing at his kitchen bench, carefully slicing a lemon on a large old wooden chopping board. He looked up and beamed at them both.
"Hello my dears, I'll be ready in a moment. Make yourselves at home."
Josie promptly flopped into the old armchair that Cliff kept in the kitchen. "Cliff, this chair is a great idea we ought to do it at our place, too."
Cliff's eyes twinkled as he looked at her. "Oh I know. Sometimes I feel terribly decadent sitting in it with a glass of wine of an evening while dinner cooks." He broadened his English accent, "Oooh, it's sheer lookshury.", making Josie and Sam laugh. Cliff fetched three crystal tumblers out of his cupboard, added ice, a generous splash of gin and topped them up with tonic water. Lastly, he added a slice of lemon to each.
"There you go," he said, handing them each a glass, then picking up his own and raising it in a toast. "Cheers." Josie and Sam raised their glasses. "Cheers." They both said. They all took a sip, and sighed.
"Eh bah gum, that's lovely," sighed Cliff.
Josie shook her head, laughing. "Cliff, I won't even pretend to understand what you're saying."
"Well at my age it makes a refreshing change to keep someone else on their toes," he said.
"You keep coming out with comments like that Cliff, but how old are you?" asked Sam.
Cliff assumed an innocently bland expression. "It's a lovely Saturday afternoon, why don't we take our drinks outside?" and with that, led the way out through the French doors and onto his back porch. Sam and Josie looked at each other with wry grins - try as they might, they couldn't seem to find out how old he was. They walked outside and settled themselves on the large cane couch that Cliff had outside. Cliff sat in the matching armchair regarding them with a droll smile.
"So, what do you two have planned for today?"
Josie glanced at Sam, then back at Cliff. "Not a lot really. Our shopping is done; the house is clean. We're just relaxing at the moment."
Sam cleared his throat. "Well actually, Josie, I was thinking of taking you out somewhere this afternoon."
Josie's face lit up. "Really? That sounds like a lovely idea. Where shall we go?"
Sam settled back on the couch, elaborately casual. 'Oh here and there I suppose. I've got a place in mind, but you'll just have to wait to find out."
"Oh!" said Josie, surprised at Sam's elusiveness. She winked at Cliff, then put her hand on Sam's knee and cooing at him in an over the top baby doll voice "but honey baby can't you tell little ole me now?" This was said with much eyelash fluttering, making Cliff chuckle.
Sam grinned. Oh, he was going to enjoy this. "Nope. You'll find out soon enough."
"Meanie," pouted Josie.
* * *
Sam parked the car, turned off the ignition and turned to look at Josie. His stomach fluttered with nerves, but he couldn't help but smile at the image she presented. About an hour after they'd caught up with Cliff, Sam had decided that it was time to go to the mystery destination. The only thing that he would tell Josie was that it was a dressy occasion. With that in mind, Josie had showed and carefully changed into what she knew was Sam's favorite dress. It was a powder blue slip dress, with spaghetti straps and a long fluted skirt. She had added her sparkly gold heels, and a light application of makeup. Sam had changed into his black soft linen pants, and a pale blue linen shirt. His eyes and glowed with approval when she had made her appearance. Much to her bemusement, Sam had insisted on blindfolding her and leading her carefully down the front steps of the house and into his car.
Josie cocked her head as she heard the car stop. "Are we there yet?" she asked.
"We sure are. Wait there for a sec, I'll help you out." Sam got out, and opened the rear passenger door on his side to get out the items that he had carefully stowed there earlier. Carrying them carefully, he walked around the car to open Josie's door, and helped her out of the car. He let her stand still for a moment, so that she could get her balance.
"Okay?" he asked. At Josie's nod, he began to lead her to his chosen destination. Josie smiled to herself as she felt the ground become a little yielding. It felt like she was walking on grass. She smiled. Sam must have her at a park somewhere.
"Right, now I want you to stand here for a sec, I've just got to set something up." He looked at her for a moment. "Are you sure you can't see anything?"
Josie laughed. "Sam, did you see how thick this blindfold is? I'm as blind as a bat!" Sam waved his hand a couple of times in front of her face. Satisfied that he saw no response, he backed away a few steps and began to assemble the items he was carrying. He had his father's old instamatic camera, and after scouring a few camera shops, he had found a tripod stand for it. He finished setting up the camera, then walked back towards Josie with a broad smile and carefully untied the blindfold. Josie blinked quickly a few times to let her eyes adjust to the light, then looked around her, gasping when she realized where she was. She was standing on the pitchers' mound at the high school where they had shared their first kiss.
She looked around her wonderingly, then at Sam, who stood beaming at her. "Happy anniversary, sweetheart," he said softly.
"Oh my goodness," Josie stared around her again, then back at Sam who walked towards her. He tucked a curl of hair behind her ear, and cupped her face in his hands to brush his lips over hers.
"I thought it would be nice to came back to where it all began," he said softly. Josie raised her hands to cover his with her own.
"Sam it 's perfect. Thank you."
Sam rested his forehead on hers. "Josie, this has been the happiest year of my life. Being with you has been incredible it seems to get better and better with each passing day."
Josie nodded, tears of happiness shimmering in her eyes. "I know exactly what you mean," she said. Sam smiled and kissed her again. When they parted, Josie saw something behind Sam. Sam saw the direction of her gaze and stepped aside to show her.
"Isn't that your dad's old camera?" she asked. Sam nodded happily.
"Yep. It's got a timer on it, so I thought we could have our picture taken here on the mound together. The only other pictures we've got of us here are all the press ones. This could be one just for the two of us. What do you think?"
Josie clapped her hands delightedly. "It's a great idea!"
"Okay, let's set this up." Sam fussed with the timer for a moment, then peered through the sight to make sure the camera was at the right angle. He then hurried back to Josie's side, and put his left arm around her shoulders. Josie snuggled happily against his chest. Sam then verrrrry carefully reached into his right pocket to get something that he had hidden there earlier. Hoping Josie wouldn't notice, he flipped out the item so that it unraveled out of Josie's line of sight, and held it up in front of his right shoulder. The timer light on top of the camera was flashing.
"Smile!" he said, although there was no need. Josie had a dreamy smile on her face, and Sam felt like he was grinning like an idiot.
The camera flash went off, leaving them both blinking for a few seconds as the photo whirred out of the bottom of the camera.
"I'll get it!" said Josie excitedly. Sam took the opportunity to quickly stash what he had been holding into the carry bag that had held the camera and tripod. He turned to see Josie fanning the photo.
"Has it developed yet?" he asked, walking towards her.
"Starting to it looks very fuzzy at the moment." Sam stood behind Josie and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against his chest, and resting his chin on her shoulder. They both watched the photo, with Sam dropping occasional kisses on the side of Josie's neck, making her shiver.
"Here we go oh, it looks like you're holding something," commented Josie. Sam hid a grin and kissed her neck again. A few seconds later, as Sam was nuzzling, he heard Josie gasp, and knew that she had seen the surprise. He looked over her shoulder to look at the photo. It had worked perfect. Josie and Sam were standing arm in arm, smiling happily at the camera, and Sam was holding a long scroll up to the camera. What had made Josie gasp was the scroll itself. In large Elizabethan letting were the words 'Josie, I love you. Will you marry me?'
"Sam ." Josie whispered. She turned to face him, and Sam dropped to one knee in front of her.
"Josie, you complete me I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"
Josie couldn't speak, but nodded fervently. She swallowed, then whispered "Yes." Then more clearly. "Yes!" Sam stood up, and she threw her arms around him, laughing and crying at the same time. "Yes! Yes! Yes!". Sam wrapped his arms around her and looked up at the sky. A dizzying mix of emotions were racing through him. Elation that she had said yes, fear that she might have said no, but above all, love for the incredible woman and he held in his arms.
Sam reached into his other pocket and pulled out a small velvet box to remove a simple band. It was brushed gold, with diamonds set into the band, dotted with seed pearls and ornate engraving. It looked like something from a bygone age. Josie was too happy to speak, but held out her left hand to him, fingers trembling. The ring slipped cool and bright over her knuckle and rested snug at the base of her finger. It was a good fit.
Josie looked at the ring, then back at Sam. He twined one hand in her hair and caught her chin with the other, turning her face to his, and slowly lowered his face to hers. He touched her mouth with an exquisite gentleness that stunned her to stillness. His mouth brushed back and forth over her lips, coaxing, shaping, and fitting them to his own while his hand loosened on her hair and slowly slid downward, curling around her nape, stroking it sensually. Slowly his hand traveled down her arm and caught her left hand. His fingers traced her hand until they found the ring, and circled it, feeling the shape of it on her finger.
Wrapped snugly in his arms, his mouth caressing hers, Josie shuddered as warmth swept through her body. Sam broke off the kiss and looked deeply into Josie's eyes. He reached up and with a shaking hand gently tucked a curl of hair behind her ear. He then cupped her face with his hand as he gently kissed her again. When they parted, Sam took a deep breath and sighed, feeling the nervous tension drain out of him. "Come on," he said gently. "Let's go out to dinner." He beamed at her. "Let's celebrate!"
* * *