The Choice - Nicholas Sparks [73]
His mouth met hers with controlled passion. Her body felt right against his, more right than anything she’d ever known, like missing pieces in a puzzle finally coming together.
Afterward, he lay beside her and said the words that had been echoing inside his head all night.
“I love you, Gabby,” he whispered. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
He felt her reach out for him.
“I love you, too, Travis,” she whispered, and upon hearing her words, he knew that the solitary journey he’d been on for years had somehow reached its end.
With the moon still high in the sky and the silver light illuminating the bedroom, Travis rolled over, knowing instantly that Gabby was gone. It was almost four in the morning, and after noting that she wasn’t in the bathroom, he got up and slipped on his jeans. He walked down the hall and peeked into the guest bedroom before poking his head into the kitchen. All the lights were off, and he hesitated for a moment before noticing that the sliding glass door was cracked open.
He stepped out onto the small deck, catching sight of a shadowed figure leaning against the deck railing off to the side of the house. He took a hesitant step toward her, unsure if she wanted to be alone.
“Hey,” he heard a voice call out in the darkness. Travis saw she was wearing the bathrobe that had been hanging in the bathroom.
“Hey there,” he answered quietly. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. I woke up and tossed and turned for a while, but I didn’t want to wake you.”
Stopping just short of her, he leaned against the rail as well, neither of them speaking. Instead, they simply watched the sky. Nothing seemed to be stirring; even the crickets and frogs were silent.
“It’s so lovely out here,” she finally said.
“Yes, it is,” he answered.
“I love nights like this.”
When she said nothing else, he moved closer and reached for her hand. “Are you upset by what happened?”
“Not at all,” she said, her voice clear. “I don’t regret any of it.”
He smiled. “What are you thinking about?”
“I was thinking about my dad,” she mused, leaning into him. “In a lot of ways, he reminds me of you. You’d like him.”
“I’m sure I would,” he said, uncertain where the conversation was going.
“I was thinking about the way he must have felt when he met my mom for the first time. What was going through his mind when he saw her, whether he was nervous, what he said when he approached her.”
Travis stared at her. “And?”
“I have no idea.”
When he laughed, she looped her arm through his. “Is the hot tub at your place still warm?” she asked.
“Should be. I haven’t checked it, but I’m sure it’s okay.”
“Do you want to go for a dip?”
“I’d have to get my suit, but that sounds great.”
She squeezed him tight against her, then leaned toward his ear. “Who said you needed a suit?”
Travis said nothing as they crossed the yard to his hot tub. As he lifted off the cover, he saw her bathrobe slip from her shoulders and glimpsed her naked body, knowing how much he loved her and that these last couple of days were somehow going to mark his life forever.
Fourteen
Though they both returned to work on Monday, over the next two days Travis and Gabby spent every free moment together. They made love on Monday morning before work, had lunch together at a small, family-owned café in Morehead City, and that evening, with Molly feeling better, they took both dogs for a walk on the beach near Fort Macon. As they walked, holding hands, Moby and Molly wandered the beach ahead like two old friends who’d grown used to their differences. When Moby chased terns and charged toward flocks of seagulls, Molly would hold her course, acting as if she wanted no part of it. After a while, Moby would realize that Molly was no longer alongside him and would bound back to her, and the two would trot happily together until Moby went nuts again and the whole thing repeated itself.