A Silken Thread - Brenda Jackson [67]
She swallowed tightly. “Yes.”
He took her hand in his and led her to his car. And as she walked beside him, she released a low sigh. Starting tonight she was going to show Wilson Sanders just what love was all about.
Chapter Seventeen
“Can I take the blindfold off now, Brian?”
“No, not yet. Where do you think you are?”
Erica sniffed the air. “The beach, of course.”
He laughed. “Of course.”
She had arrived at Myrtle Beach a few hours ago. Brian had picked her up from the airport, and had taken her to the private beach house where they would spend the weekend. Walking through the doors was like déjà vu. It was the same beach house where he’d stayed last summer when they’d met. It was his godmother Lori’s place. Erica had barely had time to put her luggage down when he’d blindfolded her and walked her back out the door.
“I know we walked through sand because I can feel it in my sandals.”
“Yes,” he chuckled. “We walked through plenty of sand.”
“And we walked up a couple of steps,” she added.
“True. So where do you think you are?”
“On a boat. That’s it, isn’t it, Brian? We’re having dinner on a boat.”
“Umm, not quite.”
He removed her blindfold and she gasped, almost losing her breath at the sight before her. They were standing at the base of the pier, the same one they’d met on last year. Both sides of the pier were lined with beautiful lit candles and there at the very end, overlooking the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, was a candlelit table set for two.
The sun was just setting on the horizon and it was such a romantic sight that it actually brought tears to her eyes. Her gaze swung to Brian. “Oh, Brian, I can’t believe you did this. It’s so romantic,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and smothering her face in his chest. She was deeply touched at how he had gone all out to make their weekend together special.
He knew this was the last weekend before the craziness started. She had decided against moving to Dallas a month early after the wedding planner had shown her all she had on the calendar. It was hard to believe this was the Fourth of July weekend. She had begun counting and they had less than five weeks left.
“Hey, sweetheart, I didn’t bring you here to cry,” he said, gently stroking her back. “It’s a time of celebration for the beginning of our life together. It was here on this pier where you captured my heart when you stood in this very spot and told me I was wasting my time since the fish weren’t biting.”
She tilted her head back and laughed, remembering. “That was my way of hitting on you.”
Somehow she’d known he was special even from a distance. And after they began dating he always treated her like she was the most precious thing in the world to him.
She glanced around. “I see the table. Where’s the food?”
And then, as if by magic several uniformed servers appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. But as she looked further, she saw the two catering vans parked nearby. She smiled up at Brian. “You’ve thought of everything.”
“For you, always.”
Taking her hand they walked the pier toward the table, and Erica couldn’t help gazing at the candles and the ocean water surrounding them. Everything was perfect, even the gentle breeze in the air. Her hair was blowing in the wind and she couldn’t help but laugh with happiness.
When they reached the table he presented her with two beautiful roses—one red and one white—that were held together by a piece of silken thread. “Together, these roses represent unity and love, and the silken thread holding them together represents the strong bond between us that can never be broken,” he told her in a deep, husky voice.
She gazed down at the roses and the thread that held them together. What he’d said was beautiful and touched her deeply. “Yes, it can never be broken.”
“And I can’t wait for August to get here to make you mine and share my love with you for the rest of my life,” he whispered.
She leaned up and captured his jaw gently in her hands. “In my heart