My brother joined the Marines a few years ago, and is shipping off to Japan for three years. It wasn’t until he finished boot camp that we even found out he was in the military, but the look of pride on my father’s face said it all. As much as him taking off changed the dynamics, I think it was the best thing possible for everyone.
I can only hope my mother is at peace with how I’m living as well. The first year after my giant mistake was rocky, but we found our way. I struggled with the guilt, secrets, and trying to build a new foundation with Westin. He grappled with trusting me, but through a lot of talking, we were able to learn the power of forgiveness.
The more I held onto my past, the more it was dragging me down. It wasn’t until my first trial patient’s tumor shrunk and I saw that I could do good things, that I was able to heal a little.
Arms wrap around me from behind, and Westin’s chin rests on my shoulder. “What are you smiling about?”
“My family, work, you.” I lean my head against his.
“Me?”
“Yeah, I guess I like you.”
His arms tighten and he kisses my cheek. “I guess that’s a good thing, huh?”
“I tend to think so.” I smile a little bigger.
He turns me around and I wrap my arms around his neck.
I more than like him. I’m so madly in love with this man I can’t see straight. Westin saved me in so many ways, and I’ll never be able to thank him for it. He loved me when I didn’t even realize I needed to be loved. He was always supportive, emboldened me, and then, when I fell from grace, he lifted me back up. Each time I ran, he chased me until it was my turn to stand and face life.
“Let’s go for a walk,” he suggests.
“Okay?”
He kisses my nose, and takes my hand, leading me outside. I wrap my arms around his middle as we stroll down the little dirt path that goes to the tire swing.
“You know I fall in love with you a little more each day?” he says it as both a statement and a question.
“Is that a good thing?”
He laughs. “I tend to think so,” Westin repeats the words I used a few minutes ago.
“Are you happy, Wes?”
His green eyes stare down at me and his grin is warm. “Yes. I’m happy.”
“Good.”
“You make me happy,” he adds on.
I’m glad, because I’m not the easiest person in the world. We work together, live together, and take care of my father; it’s not always sunshine and roses. Which is why the farm trips are never missed. When we’re here, it’s like life slows down. We’re able to breathe, and not be two insanely busy doctors, trying to save the world. We’re two people.
Life is simpler here.
Love lives here.
My parents built this place with their hearts and souls. You can feel it as soon as you step in the door. It’s like taking a breath, and when you exhale, all the bad things leave your body.
“I love you very much,” I tell him.
“I know and I love you,” he says before kissing me.
We make it to the swing, and he gets behind it as I climb up.
“Did you want to talk?”
Westin lets out a short laugh. “You can’t handle the quiet, can you?”
“You usually want to talk when we come out here,” I remind him.
Over the last few years, this has been what he does. We come here, go for a walk, and he reveals something that’s on his mind. I’m just wondering what it could be this time.
“I’m getting that predictable?”
“No, I just can see there’s something going on in that head of yours.”
I look back from over my shoulder and he holds the tire still and then comes around to face me. Westin squats down in front of me, caging me in.
“Do you still love being a doctor?” he asks.
“Most days. Do you?”
“If I was one, I would say yes,” he sighs.
In the last few months, he’s pulled back a bit. As chief, his days are filled with paperwork, complaints, and cleaning up messes. He’s almost never in the operating room, and for a surgeon, that’s home. It’s where you feel alive, and it feeds your soul.
“You are a doctor, Westin,” I remind him.
“What if I asked you to move out here? Would you give it up? We could come live on the farm with your dad, work a little less, and just relax more.”
I won’t lie and say I haven’t thought about it. Especially each time we drive away from here. I find myself looking forward to the next visit.
“Would you really be happy with that?” My hand touches his cheek, and he leans into my touch.
“I’d be happy with you no matter where we were.”
I can’t stop the smile that forms at how sweet he is. Westin says what he feels, no matter what, when it comes to me. I’ve learned over time to do the same. I show him, but sometimes, it’s nice for him to hear the words as well.
“I feel the same way, but I don’t know that we could go from living a life at a hundred miles per hour down to ten and be happy. What happens when all the projects we do every other week here are done? How would you fill your time?”
He wiggles his brows with a mischievous grin. “I can think of one.”
I shake my head with a laugh. “You’re ridiculous.”
“I want to marry you, Serenity. I want to live the rest of our days together and not just passing each other in the hallways. I want to wrap my arms around you at night and know you’ll be there when I wake up. We’ve lived our lives for everyone else, now it’s time for us to live for ourselves.”
My heart races as he reaches into his pocket, drops to one knee, and looks into my eyes.
He’s going to propose. All this time we’ve kind of swept it under the rug because we’ve been happy.
He removes a diamond ring, holding it between his fingers, and takes my hand.
“I know we’ve said we didn’t need a ring, a wedding, and all of that, but I need you. I don’t want any regrets, and not making you my wife would be one of them. I’m asking you to be my partner all the days of our lives. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
The butterflies in my belly flutter, making me feel dizzy. I nod quickly, tears falling down my cheeks.
“Yes, yes, I’ll marry you!”
He stands, lifting me in his arms and spinning me around. I take his face in my hands and kiss him.
“She said yes!” he yells behind me, and my father and brother come out of the house.
He pulls me to his chest. “Thank you for being my reason for living.”
I rub his cheek. “No, you’re mine. You gave me everything and then somehow managed to give me even more.”
I’ll never get back the time I spent pushing Wes away, but I’ll spend the rest of my life cherishing each day we have from now until forever.
Thank you for reading You Loved Me Once!
I hope you enjoyed it. I wish I could sit here and tell you the adventure it was to publish it, but that would be an entirely new story. Serenity was a voice I heard back in 2014. I kept writing, stopping, writing again. Honestly, I don’t know how it’s actually in your hands right now. I swore it would be that book that just sat on my computer, never to be seen.