Lulu's Loves (27 page)

The date finally ended on Monday morning. Micah went off to work and I headed for the university. Keelin was waiting in the break room when I arrived.

“Ah, Ms. Welk. I see the sparkly lights are still shining in your eyes.”

“I’m in love, Keelin,” I said with a gleeful voice. I felt happy.

“This is obvious,” he smiled. “I think I am, too.”

“Aaron?” I asked, sipping my coffee.

“Yes. I like him. He likes me. We have a lot in common, but I want to talk about you.”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Because you’re happy. I love it when you’re happy. It makes everything else seem to sync. I don’t know why, but it seems like everything is right with the world. Does he know you’re in love?”

I nodded. “I met his family.”

“And?” His curious smile made me giggle.

“And it was overwhelming–big Irish clan full of loud talkers.”

“And you loved it,” he said with a smile.

“I did. Once I got used to it I did. Keelin.” I set my coffee cup aside. “I really am in love. Not just words. I feel it in every part of me. I found the one. ‘Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.’”

“Oscar Wilde,” he replied.

My heart felt full of love. Keelin left for class. I pulled out my phone and typed out a text.

You make the butterflies in my stomach go crazy.

I’m coming over after work,
was his response.

Bring clothes for tomorrow.

On Thursday, I was in the kitchen when my dad came home.

“I’m always glad when Thursday comes around.” He kissed my cheek and noticed three plates at the table. “Keelin?”

I shook my head no and the doorbell rang. I smiled and nodded to him to go answer the door.

“Mr. Welk?”

“Yes? Can I help you?”

“I’m here for Lulu,” I heard Micah’s reply.

“Come in.”

Dad entered the kitchen with a puzzled look; Micah was beaming.

“Dad, this is Micah Flinn.”

Micah reached for his hand to shake it. “I’m pleased to meet you. I’m kind of crazy about this woman.”

“Lulu?”

“I’m kind of crazy about him,” I replied with a smile. “At this time in my life, the word ‘boyfriend’ sounds awkward. I think I’ll introduce him as my soul mate. Dad, this is Micah Flinn, my soul mate.”

“Wow. Well, Mr. Flinn, it’s a pleasure meeting a man who makes my daughter happy. How long has this been going on, Lulu?”

“We’ll talk over dinner. It’ll be ready in ten minutes.”

Finally, we joined at the table and Micah started the conversation.

“I’ve known her for a while, but about two months ago I decided that if I didn’t make a move, I’d lose her to some other lucky guy.”

The smile on my dad’s face was priceless.

“Daddy, I’ve been bowling. I’ve batted baseballs. I’ve gone fishing. I think I’m kind of crazy about this guy,” I told him again.

“Fishing?”

“She can cast a line like a pro, but I’ve got to bait her hook and grab the pole when something hits because she jumps up and down, and screams like a girl. And the Lord knows, I have to take anything she catches off her hook. I’m working on that.”

“Fishing?” my dad said again, shaking his head in disbelief.

As I cleaned up the kitchen, the two of them sat in the living room. I could hear them talking. Micah was talking to my dad about me. I heard the words beautiful, special, and charming. I felt like I needed to pinch myself.

Later, Micah said ‘good night’ and thanked my dad.

When he leaned to kiss me, he whispered in my ear. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You’re not coming to my house?” I felt my shoulders slump. I was disappointed.

“I didn’t know how late you’d be here with your dad. I figured you’d want to talk to him for a while.”

“I will, I do, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be with you, for you to be with me. Please come to my house. I’ll be there in an hour.”

“I’ll be there. I love you, Lulu.”

“Oh my gosh,” I said and put my arms around his neck to kiss him. “I never thought I’d ever fall in love again. I love you, Micah Flinn.”

As he let me go, I saw my dad out of the corner of my eye, smiling. When Micah was gone, I went in and sat beside my dad on the sofa. He picked my hand up and squeezed it.

“You don’t need to say a word. Your face says everything I ever wanted to hear from you. You are in love with that man.” He squeezed my hand again.

“I’ve never felt anything like it. I thought I’d been in love, but never have I ever felt anything like this. Ever.”

“I read this book a while back and a quote from the book stayed in my heart.” I turned to look at him, to pay attention to what he was telling me. “The book was,
The Pillars of the Earth
.”

“Ken Follett,” I said, and he nodded.

“She loved him because he had brought her back to life. She had been like a caterpillar in a cocoon, and he had drawn her out and shown her that she was a butterfly.”

I felt tears in my eyes. It was true. I’d been hiding my heart because I didn’t want it to hurt again. He pulled me close and kissed the top of my head.

“He’s waiting for you, Lulu. Go.”

“I love you, Dad.”

“You are my heart, Louisa.”

I leaned into his arms and he held me.

Days passed, turning into weeks. Weeks became months and before I knew it, Micah and I had been an inseparable couple for over a year. In him, I found a lover and a friend. When we were apart, I couldn’t wait until we’d be together. We worked on projects at the house. He taught me how to do things on my own. His patience with me was praiseworthy; he had a black thumbnail from a nail I missed and he didn’t pull away quick enough. Every minute with him made me happy.

He hadn’t given up the apartment, but he was living at my house. Sundays were filled with family dinners at Fiona’s, or we’d take an excursion somewhere. I loved every moment we were together.

September 2010

Micah told me that he’d planned a vacation for us. It was September and I packed from the list of things he’d given me to take for our surprise getaway.

“Where are we going?” I asked as we got in the car.

“Really, Lulu–it’s a surprise.”

I pouted.

“I’ll only tell you this. A while back when I was fixing that shelf in the book cabinet, I picked up a book and a paper fell to the floor. It was a paper about your desire to go to this place. I tucked it back into the book when I was done, but your words moved me. So, Googled pictures and found the same beauty you wrote of. I knew I had to take you there.”

I tried to think of every paper I’d ever written and couldn’t settle on a place that I wanted to go. He noticed.

“Just let me surprise you.” He picked up my hand and brought it to his lips.

We arrived at the airport and made our way to the gate telling me we were flying to Atlanta.

“Atlanta?” I asked.

“Nope.”

“Are you going to tell me anything?” I asked, as we waited to board.

“Nope.” He looked at me and smiled. The look on his face warmed my heart in a way I can’t explain.

When we arrived in Atlanta, he hurried me to a gate that said Boston.

“Boston!”

“For a minute,” he chuckled.

When we finally arrived, he led me to the car rental desk to pick up a car.

The clerk leaned forward and spoke softly. “The address is programmed in and you’re ready to go.”

We loaded our things and hit the road. “Are you ever going to tell me where we’re going?”

“You’ll know soon enough. It’s not that far.” He reached over and squeezed my knee. “I really want this to be a surprise.”

We pulled up in front of a large white house, and then I saw it: Walden Pond Bed and Breakfast. 

“Walden Pond! Thoreau…oh my goodness! This
is
a beautiful surprise! I love it. Micah, this is so sweet.” I leaned across the seat to kiss him.

It was cool when we stepped out of the car. I looked to the house and an older woman stepped out on the porch to greet us.

“Mr. Flinn?” she asked.

“Yes ma’am, Micah and this is Louisa.”

Hearing him use my given name felt so different. I don’t think he’d ever used it before, but at this moment, Lulu didn’t seem appropriate.

“Welcome to the Inn.”

I looked around as Micah took care of checking us in.

“You’ll be staying in the room I have that looks toward the woods. I understand that this is something special for you,” she said to me. She led us up the stairs to the room, proudly opening the door when we got there.

“It’s beautiful,” I said.

“Dinner will be in an hour. At your suggestion I made what I would eat for my own dinner. You’re my only guests this weekend, so I’ll enjoy your company.”

She turned to go. “Wait. Please,” I said. “What’s your name?”

She smiled. “Pardon my manners, Estelle Walden, coincidence, no relation.”

After she left, I looked around the room. It was decorated with antique furnishings, and there was a quilt on the bed. I went to the window where I observed the sun setting below the trees. I couldn’t wait to see the morning in the pond.

“Are you happy?”

There was a chair in the corner; I motioned for him to have a seat. I joined him. Sitting on his lap, I draped my arms around his neck and whispered in his ear.

“I couldn’t be happier.”

“I hope you can.” He seemed reflective.

“What does that mean?” I laughed.

“I was going to ask you when we went to the woods in the morning, but I can’t stand it any longer. I have to know. Now.”

He lifted me from his lap and went to his bag and dug to pull something out. As soon as he had the box in his hands, I knew. I knew that my life with Micah Flinn was about to change. I felt my heart slam against my chest.

“I wanted it to be special. I know what those woods mean to you, because I read your heart in that paper. I can’t wait. I’m praying that this goes the way I hope.” He took a deep breath. It seemed he needed to calm himself. At last, he continued.

“Louisa, my heart hasn’t beat the same since you agreed to go out with me the first time. I’ve loved you since the night you let me stay when I followed you home from the bar; the night my dad died. I had lunch with your dad the other day to ask him for his blessing. Lulu, he cried. I cried.”

He took another deep breath to continue. “I can’t imagine another day, or night, without knowing that you will be my wife. I need you. I need you to share your life with me. I need you for however long forever can be. I love you so much.”

He opened the box and my tears came in a flood. “Louisa, will you marry me?”

He wrapped me in his arms. With my head on his chest, I felt his heart beat. It was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. I curled tighter and he held me closer in his arms.

“Yes. Yes, Micah. Being your wife would make me happier than anything I can imagine. You were right. I could be happier.”

He looked at the clock. “We have forty minutes. Can you just lay here with me and let me hold you while we drink all of this in?”

We lay on the bed. Micah put his arms around me and held me close. His face buried in my neck, his breath warm, I felt myself wrapped in his love.

“Micah,” he squeezed me. “When?”

“You call this, no matter what my sisters say,” he laughed. “They’ll try hard to wrangle this up and make it a big hoo-ha. But this is our forever. Whatever you want, as long as you say yes when they ask ‘Do you take this man to be your husband?’”

We cleaned up for dinner. Ms. Walden had Yankee pot roast waiting.