I'll Be

Chapter Fourteen: Exclusive

It was Sunday again, and Sawyer’s show was three and a half weeks away.

            They left town last weekend, and he’d looked especially tired all week. Sidda had given me her number to text her updates on how he was doing throughout the day.

            Which led to the most awkward conversation in history.

            We were in the car, and it was colder today than it had been the last few weeks. We were looking over the lake, and my phone buzzed.

            Not looking up, I sent a message to Sidda letting her know that Sawyer was fine, and that we’d be back before it got too dark.

            “Mom checking up on me?” He asked, and I nearly threw my phone out the window.

            I looked up, shocked. I could’ve lied, but I was never any good at that; not that Sawyer knew when I was lying, but I knew myself better than that. I cleared my throat, “She wanted me to let her know how you were, yeah.”

            He smirked, “She’s been worried lately. I mean, no more than usual, but worried nonetheless. Tell her I’m fine, and that we’ll be home before dark.”

            The sun was a finely dressed English woman, hiding behind a parasol of clouds and paper fans of trees.

            I typed back, and hummed under my breath, “Pretty soon she’ll think I’m your girlfriend or something.”

            “I don’t need your sass.” He took my hand, “Come on.”

            We walked, and Sawyer’s hand was cool in mine. I looked up, his smile soft when he leaned down, kissed my cheek, and pulled me closer.

            We wound around Lake Loveland, and I could feel the wind whistle through the trees.

            Sawyer breathed in, and I watched the air cloud when he let it out slowly.

            “Tell me something.” He said, and I rolled my eyes. That was his favorite way to instigate; he’d say ‘tell me something’, I’d wait for him to ask a question that (more often than not) required a long-winded answer, and I’d try to find a way to get straight to the point after rambling for all of eternity.

            “You know I will.” I replied.

            He stopped, “Did you think that we were just hanging out, all this time?”

            I shook my head, “No.” My voice was caught by the wind, coming out much softer than I had intended.

            “Well,” He reached into his pocket, “I know you think this is because of what you said in the car, and if you think that I haven’t been planning this for weeks, you would be sorely mistaken.” He opened my palm, placing a…

            A ring. Sterling silver, but something about it felt heavier. Or maybe it wasn’t the ring at all.

            “Sawyer.” I gasped, and he plucked it from my palm, and I turned my hand over.

            “I searched every store for something that looked like you.” He said, shaking his head “But nothing was…right. So, what does one raised in the twenty-first century do, you may ask?”

            I smiled, “Internet.”

            “Indeed.” He laughed nervously, raising a finger “But do not let that sway you from the sentimental value this ring holds.” He returned to his previously serious state, “You said, in the car, that people will start thinking you’re my girlfriend. I was thinking that, well, that you already were.”