Tears fill my eyes. “You really mean it?”
“I do. I’m not asking you to marry me right now. But I’m telling you that’s my intention someday, and that day will come sooner rather than later. Does that work for you?”
I swallow the lump in my throat and nod. “Yes. I love you so much, Ponyboy.”
“I love you so much more, my gorgeous Glinda.”
fifty-seven
“Idon’t want to go back to the real world,” Wendy says against my chest, where she’s draped in her usual spider-monkey fashion.
“I know, babe. I don’t either.” I smooth my hand over her hip. “But we have to.”
“That was by far the best night of my life.”
I can’t stop my grin. “Oh, yeah?”
“Best sleep I’ve ever gotten,” she teases.
“I don’t recall you doing much sleeping.”
She lifts her head to peer at me through a curtain of red hair. “Sleep is overrated.”
“It definitely was last night.” I move her hair out of the way so I can see her beautiful face, and then I turn my head to check the alarm clock. “All right, enough stalling. We can’t miss our plane. I’ve got a lot of stuff to help Ash get done this afternoon.”
I push myself up into a sitting position, thinking she’ll remove herself from me in the process, but she doesn’t. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I told you I wasn’t going to leave your side the next few days.” She wraps her arms more tightly around my neck. “I meant that literally.”
“This should be fun, then.” I swing my legs over the side of the bed and stand, but I don’t hold onto her, so she quickly grapples for a hold on me but is unsuccessful at everything other than scratching the back of my neck. I grab her before she hits the floor and set her solidly on her feet.
She fists her hands on her hips. “You were going to let me fall?”
“Um, no. I caught you, remember? It happened five seconds ago?”
“Whatever.”
She stomps off to the bathroom, and I follow in her wake.
“You gonna watch me brush my teeth again, like the psycho you are?” she asks as she squeezes toothpaste onto her brush.
I circle my arms around her from behind, set my chin on the top of her head, and gaze at her in the mirror. “I intend to watch you brush your teeth as often as I possibly can for the rest of my life.”
* * *
We go directly to my parents’ house from the airport. When we enter the front door, my sisters pounce on Wendy and drag her off to who knows where.
My brother claps his hand on my shoulder and gives me a knowing look. “I hope you had your fun, because we have a few days of not-so-fun tasks ahead of us.”
“Best fun I’ve ever had, and I’m ready for whatever you throw at me. Let’s get to it.”
As he leads the way to Dad’s office, I ask him how Leslie’s doing.
“Better. Still not fully back to herself, but she should be okay tomorrow. The girls spent the morning at her place while Mom and I went to the funeral home to make the arrangements. None of the rest of us got sick, so we figured it would be safe for them to spend some time with her.”
While he pulls some files out of a drawer, I ask him, “Would you be upset if Wendy and I get married before you and Leslie do?”
The file folders fall to the floor, papers scattering everywhere, but my usually meticulous brother pays no attention to them.
