Love You More Than...

Hello. My name is Joshua Abbott, and the date is September 28, 2012. If I could have a bit of your time, I would like to tell you about this amazing woman that I loved. Well, love. I will love her far beyond the end of time. Death didn't stand a chance of changing that.

Five years, next month.  It was almost five years that I've been fortunate enough to have her in my life, and the day I met her would forever be branded in my mind.  The moment I gazed upon those chestnut eyes, I was certain that she was the woman I was destined to spend the remainder of my days with.  Observing her, the feeling I had was akin to a child discovering that Santa had left a bicycle underneath their tree. 

By the time I gathered the courage to walk up to her, she had settled at one of the library's many tables with books and papers surrounding her. I thought it adorable that those soft and kissable lips slightly moved as she inwardly read, brow furrowed in concentration. When I cleared my throat, she looked up, one carefully tweezed eyebrow raising while she expectantly and wordlessly stared.

"Do you have change for a dollar?" I revealed the wrinkled dollar bill in my hand. The radiant brunette glanced toward it and then reached for her purse, again without comment. Seconds later, I was holding four quarters as she tucked the dollar bill inside her purse. When I thanked her and she just offered a faint smile, I began to wonder if something impeded her ability to speak. Laryngitis? Mute? Swollen tongue? Severe stutter? Just not that into you, Josh?

"You know what I need these for?" Following her shrug, I wrapped my hand around the coins and nervously shook them. "To call my mom. Promised I'd let her know when I located her future daughter-in-law." The bad news? She still neglected to speak. The good news? That faint smile was a bit more discernible.

"What's your first name, Mrs. Abbott to be?"

She smirked, lifting her left hand to wiggle a naked ring finger. "That's Ms. Boomer to you, considering I don't see a band on this digit."

She speaks! "Well, I haven't proposed yet. We should go out on a date first, don't you think?"

"Oh, yes. I think on a regular basis."

I tossed that smirk back in her direction. "Your first name?"

She seemed to weigh whether she would tell me or not. "Bridget."

I smiled with a heaping dose of triumph. "Bridget Boomer. I like it." My future spouse just smiled back. "So, Bridget, could I take you out? Maybe this Friday?"

Sitting back in her seat, Bridget folded her arms across her chest while regarding me, those chestnut eyes dancing with mirth. "I dunno, Mr. Abbott. Can you afford it? Since you needed change to call your mom, I'm going to assume you don't even own a phone. Who doesn't own a cell these days? My five-year-old niece has a cell phone! It's pink with teddy bear stickers on the back of it." Before I could respond, Bridget tore a clean sheet of paper from her notebook and slid it across the table with a pen. "I better take you out instead. Write down your contact information and I'll pick you up at 8:00 p.m. this Friday." The grin she offered made me want to jump across the table to kiss those lips.

"Mrs. Abbott, I--" She interrupted with a clearing of her throat. "Ms. Boomer, I do have a cell. I just brought up needing change for my um...pick up line."

When she giggled, I found myself wanting to record it so I could listen to again and again. God, I could already be wrapped around her little finger and given enough time, Bridget could have me wrapped around all ten. "I know," she responded in a teasing tone. "And just so you know, even if you didn't have a cell, I wouldn't care. Whether you had forty bucks or forty-thousand in the bank doesn't matter to me."