Chapter Two

En route, heading out of Chicago

As the weather forecasters had predicted, the snow conditions steadily worsened as the evening went on. What began as large, gently falling flakes, were now windswept, gusts of snow and sleet. Visibility on the nearly deserted highway was close to zero as David increased the speed of the Explorer’s windshield wipers.

“We shouldn’t drive in this weather,” Anna chided him, stifling a yawn as she leaned against the cool glass of the car’s window. “In Pine Valley, I’d issue a caution alert and advise motorists to stay off the road in these kind of conditions.”

“We’re almost there,” he reminded her.

“That’s what you said twenty minutes ago. I’m starving.”

“There’s a gas station just up ahead. I’ll stop and grab us some snacks.”

Anna glanced towards the back seat, staring at the plastic bags that sat there, “Don’t you have any food in those bags?”

David shook his head, “No…and don’t you peak inside them.”

“It’s killing me, not knowing what you’ve got in there.”

David rolled his eyes, “I know…you keep staring at them through the rearview mirror.”

Anna reached over and grabbed one of them, “I can’t take this anymore…I have to know.”

“Anna!” David wished he didn’t have to keep his eyes on the barely visible road; wished he didn’t have to keep both hands on the wheel to not lose the little control he still had left on the slippery road.

“Oh my…” Anna opened the bag to find a myriad of things that lit her face up into a smile.

There was a bottle of champagne. Roederer Crystal 1990, still slightly chilled.

Candles. Half a dozen scented, heart shaped candles. Vanilla, jasmine, lemon, lavender…

A book of poetry. Love sonnets by Shakespeare.

A small silk bag full of bath salts.

“You were going to read us poetry, while sipping champagne in a candle-lit bubble bath?” Anna sank back in her seat, sighed, and then laughed, “Alright turn this car around, we’re heading back to the Hyatt, and I’m going to yell at that girl at the check-in counter.” Anna looked at him in disbelief, “You know this just might be the sweetest thing you’ve ever done…or at least tried to do.”

David grinned, feeling a sudden burst of energy from the wonder in her voice. “I still want to do this…even if it’s in a motel room in a little town in the middle of nowhere.”

“How in the world did you arrange all this?”

“I gave the Concierge a credit card number and list of things to buy me. I was going to have him put it in the room while we were having dinner. You’d think he would have checked my reservation while he was at it…”

“Now I absolutely have to know what’s in the second bag…” She reached back to the passenger seat and picked up the second bag with ease, surprised at how light it was. At the same time, she noticed the corner of a sliver-coloured cardboard box peaking out from underneath the driver’s seat. It had to have been there long before they arrived at the hotel and it took a minor effort on Anna’s part to wedge it out from underneath the seat. “What’s this?” she asked David, turning on the reading light above her.

David smiled, “Open it.”

Anna’s eyes widened in the light of the car, as she carefully moved the soft, red tissue paper to reveal a tiny, perfect black dress with the most delicate straps she had ever seen, held together only by two exquisite, raindrop shaped sequins.

“This is…I don’t know what to say…it’s beautiful…gorgeous. Where in the world did you get this?”

“Last month, when I was in New York for that cardiology symposium. I saw it in a display window on Fifth Avenue and I knew I had to get for you. It looked like it was tailor made for you. The lady in the store said it was an original, and, the rest, as they say, is history.”

Anna noticed the label inside, “Narciso Rodriguez…this is a designer dress. Are you crazy? I’m scared to ask how much you spent on this.”

David laughed, “I did almost have a heart attack when I went to pay for it.”

“To think, you could have ended up a test case in your symposium…” Anna turned sideways to stare at his profile in the dimly lit car, “Thank you. Thank you so much. This is an amazing gift.”

His eyes smiled back at her, “You’re welcome.”

“Now I really, really have to know what’s in the second bag.”

A floral fragrance greeted her when she opened the bag. It was full of rose petals. Pink, red and white mixed in with the petals of yellow tulips.

“Ah… tulips, my favourite…”

David grinned when he saw her delight, “There were going to be hundreds of flower petals scattered across the floor of the penthouse suite…a feast for the eyes, flowers on the bed, fireworks over the skyline, champagne in our hands, and the most beautiful sight of all…you in that dress.”

Anna sighed, “Oh stop it…I can’t believe you did all this.”

“And I can’t believe none of it worked out.”

Anna took out a fist full of flower petals and threw them up in the air, laughing out loud when a pink rose petal settled itself in David’s black hair.

“Stop that…” he groaned, unable to hide a smile as she filled the dashboard and seats with dozens and dozens of flower petals. He almost missed the sign for the gas station and felt the car swerve to make the turn.

“Do we need gas again?” Anna asked eyeing, the half empty fuel gauge.

“Gas and snacks…you said you were starving, remember?”

“Right…I guess we can’t live on love and flower petals alone…” She gave him mischievous look and put a red rose petal in her mouth. “We could try…”

David pulled the car into the gas station, taking off his seatbelt, laughing when he saw her make a face once when she tasted the bitterness of the rose petal.

His face moved towards hers, his tongue deftly removing the flower petal from her lips, before venturing further and deeper. Anna hungrily returned his kiss, realizing then that she couldn’t remember the last time they had been truly alone. Her tongue searched for the flower petal in his mouth and she giggled when she couldn’t find it.

“You didn’t?”

His lips parted from hers and Anna watched him cringe as he swallowed the red rose petal. “I did.”

She shook her head in disbelief, staring after him as he left the car.

A few minutes later

When David came back from the gas station store, he was surprised to find that Anna had moved into the driver’s seat. He jumped into passenger’s seat, “I don’t think so…I’m not letting you drive in this weather.”

Anna chuckled, “I’m not asking for permission.”

She turned the engine back on, to re-heat the car whose inside temperatures had already plummeted. She rubbed her hands together, “So what goodies did you get us?”

“Here,” he handed her the plastic bag.

“Sodas, marshmallows, and potato crisps?”

“Chips…potato chips.”

She had already opened the bag, filling his nostrils with the artificial aroma of sour cream and bacon, “I don’t suppose they had something in that store that doesn’t have a shelf life of a hundred and fifty years?”

David smirked, biting into a potato chip, “Good old American roadside fare. They had milk. I think those had an expiry date.”

Anna pushed down on the gas and started to maneuver the car out of the gas station. “That reminds me, I wonder if Trey went to pick up the milk I left behind…”

“I’m sure he did…” David assured her. “I wonder how our little angel is doing.”

“Angel?” Anna grinned, “Our daughter? Last time Greenlee came to look after her, she said the experience convinced her never to have children.”

David bit into another chip, “Leora was teething that night…no wonder she didn’t show Greenlee her best side.” His words were interrupted when he saw Anna’s hands tighten on the steering wheel. He didn’t spot the oncoming tractor trailer heading towards them until it was close enough for him to see the Atlanta Braves logo on the truck driver’s cap.

“Anna!” He yelled, moving his arms over his head in an instinctive gesture of protection, “Oh god…”

He watched her swerve the Explorer onto the shoulder lane, in order to avoid the truck that took up half of their lane.

From the shoulder lane, the Explorer shook violently when the truck passed them by, scratching the car’s side view mirror as it did.

Anna lowered her head, onto the steering wheel and David noticed her hands were shaking. “That was damn close,” she whispered.

“Half of his truck was in our lane…” David agreed, taking a deep breath to steady himself. It was completely dark outside; the only visible light coming from the whiteness of the falling snow.

“We almost didn’t see him, because of the snow…”

David put his hand on her arm. “You’re shaking. Let me drive…” Yet even as he said the words, he wondered what would have happened had he been behind the wheel five seconds ago. He hadn't seen the truck coming at all.

“No. I’m good,” she insisted. She began turning the wheel and brought the car back out onto the deserted highway.

“Anna, baby, come on this is insane. At this rate, we’re not going to live to see the next year. Let’s pull over for the night.”

“Pull over where exactly? We’re in the middle of nowhere, god knows how many miles north of Chicago. And I’m absolutely certain we missed that town of yours.”

“I saw a sign for a campground a little ways back.”

“A campground? What are we going to do in a campground?” The exasperation in her voice was starting to show.

“There’s a tent and sleeping bag in the back of the car.”

Anna looked at him incredulously, “A tent? Why is there a tent in the car? We’ve never gone camping before.”

“I got it when we bought the car, thinking since we have a four-wheel drive now, we could head off into the trails on the mountain one of these days and spend a night under the stars.” He leaned back in his seat and sighed, “But with Leora and both of us working, we never got around to it.”

Anna noticed the turn-off for the campground and followed it. “We can sit out the blizzard here, hopefully without freezing to death. Thank god we gassed up the car only a few miles back.”

As expected, the campground was dark and silent; devoid of both traffic and human life.

“Look…” David pointed to the left, “They have portable toilet facilities.”

“Great…they’re probably locked up for the winter.”

David chuckled, “Surely you can pick a toilet lock?”

“That's a great idea. I can see the headlines now, ‘Pine Valley Police Chief arrested for breaking into outdoor toilet on New Years Eve.’” The car’s headlights illuminated the edge of a forest, “Look!” David pointed out, to their right this time.

“What?”

“Those trees over there…they’re pine trees, dozens of them close together and they’re full of needles. The space beneath them might very well be dry.”

Anna looked at him in disbelief when she realized what he was suggesting. “I am not going camping.”

“If I could make a fire…it could be downright cozy.”

“No way.”

“Did I mention it’s a huge, thermal sleeping bag?”

“It’s freezing outside!”

“I’ll make a fire…”

Anna raised her eyebrows, “In this weather…where are you going to find dry wood?”

“I can do this, don’t worry.”

“Pocahontas couldn’t make a fire in this…”

David put on his coat and moved a finger to her lips, “Stay right here. Leave the engine on to keep the car warm and I’ll come and get you when I’m done.”

Anna rolled her eyes, “I’ll see you back in twenty minutes, when you’ve either given up or frozen your butt off.” She glanced at her watch, “In less than two hours, it’ll be midnight and we’ll be ringing in the New Year fighting over whether it’s possible to build a fire here…in a deserted campground north of Chicago.”

David zipped up his coat and flashed her a smile, “No we won’t, because by then I’ll have a fire going.”

“I can’t wait to say I told you so,” she muttered under her breath after he slammed the car door shut. She watched him head into the supposed dry area he had spotted from afar, carrying a flashlight in his hands.

He came back twenty minutes later, the hood of his jacket covered in snow.

“I take it you’re ready to call it quits and head back on the highway?” she gloated. The weather had changed; the fierce, earlier snowfall replaced by gentle, sporadic flakes.

David should his head, “No…I came to get the bags. Pass them to me, will you?”

“You’re kidding.”

He couldn’t resist a smile, “Do I look like I’m kidding?”

“You set up a tent?”

“Uh huh.”

“And built a fire?”

“It’s more smoke than fire right now…but it will be a fire soon.”

Anna put on her jacket; “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

David held up his hand, “Hang on, and stay here for another five minutes.”

“What?”

“Five minutes,” he gestured, already closing the car door behind him, bags in hand.

When he came back again, Anna saw a glimmer of light in the distance. It was a fire.

David held out his hand, “It’s ready now…”

Anna held on to his arm as she followed him to the tent, smiling when she spotted not only the fire he had made, but also the dozen or so scented candles that surrounded the tent, bathing it in a surreal glow of warmth and light.

“This looks incredible,” she admitted. When she opened the tent flap, she saw blankets and the thermal sleeping bag inside, as well as rose and tulip petals spread everywhere. Anna laughed, “And that… that’s beyond incredible.”

“Have a seat,” David gestured to one of the rocks next to the fire. He smiled when a large snowflake landed on her face, “Did you know no two snowflakes are alike?”

Anna brushed it off, “How exactly do they know that? No one’s ever seen them all…” She picked up a handful of snow, “For instance, I could be a holding a pair of completely identical twin snowflakes in this ball of snow.”

David saw that she was about to throw it at him, and ducked in time to avoid it hitting his face. “You're so predictable,” he chuckled.

She smiled sweetly at him, “That’s what you think.” Sitting down on the rock, Anna marveled at the champagne that was chilling in the snow next to her. “And now?” she asked.

David pulled out two wooden sticks, “Now we’re going to roast marshmallows.”

Anna moved to uncork the champagne, “Marshmallows and champagne? We're probably offending some culinary god ith that...”

“They’ll understand. It’s either that or bacon and sour cream chips.”

Anna watched him turn sideways, away from her, as he carefully, meticulously stuck the marshmallows onto the stick, hiding the process from her.

“Hey, it’s not heart surgery…just hold it up and push the little buggers down on the stick.”

David grinned, and Anna could have sworn she saw him blush in the light of the fire.

“There’s more to it than that.” He handed her a stick, rubbing his hands together in the cold. “Here’s yours.”

“American cuisine, huh?”

“Did you know there's a specific way to eat these?”

Anna shook her head, “Really?”

David shook his head, still smiling, his dark yes fixed on her. “No…watch.” He bit into his own roasted marshmallow. “You have to make sure you don’t eat the whole thing all at once…only half.”

“Half?”

“Yes, half.”

Anna imitated him, as she bit into her marshmallow, “You’re crazy…” she managed as her teeth dug into the sticky, white substance, suddenly hindered by a hard object beneath. “There’s something in this…”

She held the stick up against the flames of the fire and saw a tiny, crystal-clear object shine back at her with unexpected brightness. “David…?” Anna's fingers pulled apart the half melted marshmallow, slowly coming to the realization of what it was.

A ring.

It was the most beautiful diamond ring she had ever seen; its heart shaped stone delicately enmeshed in a platinum band.

“David…?” Anna felt sudden, hot tears run down her face as she realized not only what it was, but also what it meant.

David knelt down next to her, on the snow, running his free hand along her cheek, along the path of her tears. “I’ve waited a long time to ask you this…and this is definitely not how I planned to ask you.” He nervously checked his watch; relieved to find its longest hand still a full five minutes before midnight. “But I swore to myself I wouldn’t wait another whole year…”

He took a deep breath, shocked at how nervous he suddenly was, at how much this moment meant. A few years ago he couldn't have imagined the contentment he now felt, much less believed it was possible.

He took her hands in his, holding them next to the fire. “Everything I have today, everything that makes my life worth living, I have because of you, Anna. You made me believe in love and you made me believe in me.” The sight of her and the love he saw in her eyes, even after all this time, could still take his breath away. “Have I ever told you how blessed I feel that our little girl has your smile? That every time I look at her, I see the love that created her…”

Anna took his hand and kissed it, “And did you know that every time I see you look at her like that, it makes me love you a little more?”

“Will you marry me, Anna? Will you spend the rest of my life with me?”

“The way you make feel, I’ll never leave your side,” she bit her lips, smiling. “That's a yes. Yes, yes I’ll marry you, you crazy, unpredictable man!”

She pulled the ring from the stick, trying to free it from the sticky, sugary substance that coated it, wiping away her tears. “This really is the sweetest thing you’ve ever done…”

David held onto her hand helping her slide the sticky ring on her finger, “Literally.”

Anna smiled as he kissed her hand, “Yeah…literally.”

A sudden blaring of truck horns echoed from the highway, shattering the silence of the campground.

Anna looked at David, “I wonder what’s going on?”

David glanced at his watch, “It’s midnight.”

It had stopped snowing, and the sky filled with snowflakes earlier was now a clear, crisp blanket of darkness, alight with a million stars.

Anna eyes locked into his, “Of course…Happy New Year, Doctor Hayward.”

David moved his arms around her, leaning in for a kiss, “Happy New Year, Chief Devane…soon to be Chief Hayward.”

She squealed when she felt his arms lift her up and carry her into the tiny tent next the fire.

A tent in the middle of nowhere, underneath the stars, filled with a thermal sleeping bag, blankets, and flower petals.

And love.

THE END