Chapter 36 - Ride That Rollercoaster

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Later they lay quietly in bed, spooning, looking out at the moon. This was their last night at the Hall, the last night of the conditions of the will, and now it could pass to George and his partners legally, free and clear, and the charity would receive it's hefty bequest from the estate as planned. Tomorrow, they would leave, and in the afternoon the workmen would return to convert the hall to the main buildings of the new luxury hotel.

Shawn sat up. "Camila, are you awake?"

"Yes, of course," she said.

He climbed out of bed and held out his hand. "Come with me?"

She didn't hesitate, she took his hand. It was still a month or so until summer but the air was unseasonably warm and they just wore their kimonos, and ran in bare feet across the dew-dampened grass to the secret garden. It looked ethereal in the moonlight, otherworldly, as if they'd stepped through the veil into a place out of time, between dimensions, an everlasting place. Nightbirds called and insects chirped. The night was alive in the most beautiful of ways. Shawn held a blanket over his arm and now he laid it in their place beneath the tree. The leaves had sprouted thickly on the branches creating a canopy that made them feel as if they were protected from the world, from the people who worked to keep them apart, to cause them ill, and those who wanted more from them than they were sometimes able to give. It was all forgotten and far from here at this moment and Camila sat beside him like his queen, the two of them perched on their grass thrones.

He pushed her hair behind her ear and cupped her head in his large hand, pulling her towards him and kissing her deeply, completely, joining their souls in startling perfection. They kissed for an eternity and then he pulled away and touched her forehead with his, his hand still holding her head gently.

"Do you know how much I love and adore you Camilita?" he whispered.

"Tell me. Tell me every day. Show me in all the ways you can. I love you too, you are my everything." She said, a tear slipping down her cheek.

He pulled away and fumbled a little then he took her hand.

"This past year has been a rollercoaster, a ride to the heights, plunges to the depths, and then out of the darkest tunnel to the light again. I don't expect our life together to be any different, but who wants to live on a straight line? I want to ride that rollercoaster with you every day of our lives. Will you have me?" Her eyes were glued to his but now she looked down and saw glinting in the moonlight a beautiful diamond ring. "Will you marry me?"

***

Camila stared at the ring. She remembered when they had been in bed in their room in LA, watching some stupid dating show on Netflix, and discussing the rings that the couples were choosing and she had been very particular and very vehement about what she would or wouldn't like. He had teased her for having spent so much time thinking about it. But here it was, reality direct from her imagination. The dream ring as she had described it. He had remembered every detail. 

"Yes, oh yes," she whispered brokenly. She let him slip the ring onto the ring finger on her left hand and both their hands shook with emotion. He picked up her hand and kissed her palm, and she touched his dear face with her other hand.

"Do you like it?" he asked, staring into her eyes, and she was surprised to see he really was a little concerned.

"I love it, it's so perfect I could cry," she said, touching it with awe. "But baby, how long ago did you get this?"

"I've had it for months, I was going to ask you on your birthday, but it turned out to be a flying visit and all your family was there and so I decided to ask you here, but we changed all the rules, and then...."

"Ssssssh," she placed her finger against his lips.

She stood up and let the kimono drop and he did the same, then he sat on the grass and she climbed into his lap, pressing herself against him, her arms tight around his neck and she kissed his ear, his throat and then his lips. His hands roamed up and down the sensual curve of her naked back. She closed her eyes and felt the electric touch of his lips as they explored her and then he lifted her and lowered her slowly down onto him. She lost her breath for a moment, thinking how perfect it was, how incredibly perfect. They both barely moved but the friction was intense and he lowered his head into her shoulder, moaning and whimpering as he neared the end. It was enough to lift her to new heights, she thought she would pass out from the intensity and then as he called out, she exploded into a million tiny shards of light. She felt she had become one with the universe, a tiny speck in life's existence, and then she was pulled down to the corporeal reality, every nerve of her body alive. How had she become so lucky? She knew some couples that had this type of connection, but they were few and very far between. She had been ready to settle for less but in the end, she had found what she wanted was waiting only inches away, all the time.

They fell back into the grass and pulled their kimonos over them, murmuring to each other, making plans for the future, touching each other with love and awe. As they did so, the little one eared cat sat staring intently from the gateway, then it turned and sauntered out toward the lawn and as it did so, it disappeared and instead, the misty shape of a long haired young man in bell bottom jeans and a fringed vest lingered on the threshold, looking back at the couple entwined beneath the tree with a satisfied smile, before walking on, floating above the grass, toward the gardens and the lake, until he became one with the lowering mist.

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