Crystal was surprised to hear that it was mine, too. “Hey, I thought that was just MY favorite dessert.”
“It only became my favorite because of you, sweetheart.”
The server sat us down at a table for two by one of the windows that overlooked the city. It reminded me of a picture out of a travel magazine. Romance was definitely all around us, and inside us, as we sipped on a bottle of champagne and waited for our dinner.
I decided it was time to mention what was planned for the next day.
“Are you feeling better about tomorrow, Crystal?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure. I guess I won’t know until tomorrow morning. My biggest concern is that I’ll get there and I won’t be able to speak. I’m not sure if I ever told you, but sometimes I have debilitating panic attacks.”
“When did they start?”
“As soon as my mother died. Up until then, I had always been a hippie yoga instructor who lived life day by day. I never got upset over anything. In fact, if you had hit my car back when I was in Hawaii, I would have reacted much differently. To me, a car is just a car. It can be replaced, but people can’t. When Mom passed, it kinda changed my heart and definitely my attitude. I became angry for some reason and tried controlling every aspect of my life.”
I reached my hand across the table and rubbed hers. “You can’t control every part of your life, Crystal. Granted, I never knew your mother, but based on what I’ve heard, I’m sure this isn’t how she’d want you to live. She’d tell you to relax and enjoy life more, and not get hung up about all of the little details.”
“I know you’re right, Gavin. I do. It’s just hard sometimes, and now when I’m stressed out, I just freeze. My body goes numb, and I can’t even move my arms. That’s what I’m afraid will happen tomorrow.”
“I’ll make sure that doesn’t. Stop worrying yourself over this. It will all be over soon.”
I could see the apprehension in her eyes. “I don’t know if that’s possible, Gavin. I’m the one who has to appear before the judge. They probably won’t even talk to you, except to verify your identity. Plus, I’ve never been good at lying.”
I wished I could do all of the talking for her tomorrow. Crystal’s anxiety had been taking an emotional toll on her even before we met. Now that we had come into each other’s lives, I wanted to see Crystal be her carefree self.
“When you go up to the judge tomorrow, remember I’ll be sitting nearby. If you get nervous at any point, find you can’t speak, or just need reassurance of any kind, all you have to do is turn around and reach out to me.”
She rubbed my hand as a few tears ran down her cheeks, and something told me that everything would be just fine. But I had to ask the question that I had been avoiding for a long time. I didn’t want to appear to be nosey, or misunderstood for a person who would ask for a piece of her inheritance eventually for helping her.
“Crystal, sweetie, I hope you aren’t offended.”
“Are you kidding? I got off twice. You know just how to make me —“
“No, not that. I’m just curious. What exactly are you looking to inherit, a home, property here in Moldova, or something else?”
Crystal propped herself up on her elbow. “It’s… it’s ten million dollars.”
“Damn, double damn… I had no idea you are about to be a millionaire, Crystal. This will change your life forever.”
And maybe mine, too, if she doesn’t need me anymore.
17
Crystal
Gavin and I got back to the hotel after having an awesome dinner. The entire day had been so romantic. From the moment we landed, I felt as though he had gone out of his way to make sure that I was enjoying myself. He knew just how nervous I was about us pretending to be married that he had allowed me to relax for a change.
It was the first time in a long time that someone else had taken care of me.
As we opened the door to our apartment, I felt a nervousness in my chest. It wasn’t the wrong type of nervousness, though. It was the complete opposite. There was something about walking into that apartment with Gavin after our day together that caused my nipples to pucker.
It felt like our first night together, all over again. I had the same feeling I did when I was on the floor in my apartment, when I reached up and pulled him down to kiss me. This was odd since we had made love many times since then. I suspected that our lovemaking tonight, however, would be our most intense one yet.
Outside of our windows, the lights of Moldova lit up the sky. Gavin poured us some champagne, and we enjoyed it along with strawberries. We sat that way, looking out at the nighttime sky for about an hour, not saying a word to each other, just as we had done earlier at the beach.
After we finished the champagne, Gavin helped me take off my necklace. It was one that my mother had given me many years ago and consisted of bright red rubies. I also had matching earrings and a ring to go with it, but I had left that back in River Valley. Whenever I wanted to feel connected to my mother, I wore this jewelry.
Gavin held it up to the light after he took it off. “I can’t get over how much these match your hair, Crystal.”
