Hopeless Love

The Story

Chapter Thirty-Four
"All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I am
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don't mean anything
when you've got no one to tell them to
It's true, I was made for you."
The Story, Brandy Carlisle

"I have to stop here before we head back to the station," Daniel said to Officer Dietrich that was sitting in the passenger seat of his squad car.

"Why do you need to stop at the park?" He asked.

"I have to check something, stay here," Daniel instructed.

He got out and headed toward he and Cordelia's special spot. She made it a point to leave him at least one note a week there and he just knew that today was going to be one of those days because of what they had planned later in the day. He reached the brick and saw the corner of a white piece of paper sticking out. His heart still got as excited as it did when he would receive a note from her when they were teenagers.

He lifted the brick from its spot and unfolded the note:
"I'll be waiting for you, Captain. I'll have our usual.
-Delia"

He smiled and thought about the progress she had made in the last three months since her treatments were completed.

He got back into his police cruiser, note tucked safely in his pocket, with the biggest grin on his face.

"You telling yourself jokes?" Officer Dietrich commented.

Daniel rolled his eyes.

"Say, how's Delia doing? I saw her at the hospital the other day and she looked so happy."

"Yeah, she's actually volunteering there now," Daniel replied. "She thought she needed to give back after everything they did for her. She's really doing great-happier than I've ever seen her," he beamed.

After he dropped Officer Dietrich off at the station, he headed to the docks to grab biscuits and orange juice from the bakery for their breakfast. This is what Cordelia referred to as "her usual" because this was what they had been getting before they set sail since they were teenagers.

Daniel's heart swelled when the clerk handed him their order and said, "Tell Mrs. Delia I put extra in for her; she spent all afternoon coloring with my little brother at the hospital last week. He's talked about "Princess Delia" ever since."

Daniel raised the orange juice container up as if giving a "cheers", "I'll tell her, Gabe."

Daniel went down to where his boat, The North Star, was docked. He had to get everything ready because he knew Cordelia would come skipping down to greet him at any minute. He stowed away the food under in the hatch and began to work on his latest surprise. He laid out a blue and white checkered blanket so they could eat on it and made sure the champagne was chilling in the cooler. He checked the tie on his boat- a perfect chain splice that he was sure Cordelia wouldn't be able to master. They had years of experience in playing this game, Lord knows why Daniel ever thought he could beat that determined woman; she could eye ball any knot and know how to tie or untie it in a cinch.

"Ahoy, there," Cordelia said as she approached the boat from the long dock. Her hair had grown out some and was in a short bob that was tucked behind her ears. She was wearing navy capris with a white roped belt and a white, v-neck blouse that was tucked in. Her nails were painted oxblood red and she had gained her weight back to be able to wear her wedding band and engagement ring. Her daily jewelry routine also included Daniel's mother's ring. Gregory might have given her a five caret beauty of a ring, but he didn't give her love. The rings she wore now, the North Star and her 1 caret was enough for her because they had came from Daniel.