Page 61 of Cabin Fever
Sure enough, the back of the envelope was stuck tight, Maria’s signature scrawled across the seal. “Why did you do that?”
“Because sometimes I see you thinking, and I know you’re feeling like you still haven’t done enough to make up for your supposed sins. I need you to forgive yourself completely, to believe that you’re as good inside as you tell me I am. Otherwise, I don’t know if we can take this next step.”
She stared at him, feeling a bit like she’d stepped off a cliff. “What next step?”
He took her hand. “Come outside for a minute. I want to show you something.”
“What did you do?”
Alex’s eyes widened in innocence. “Nothing.” He led her through the downstairs to the back door and paused before sliding it open. “Close your eyes.”
Genevieve complied, though the envelope was burning in her hand. He grasped her and led her outside a couple of steps. “Okay. Open.”
She opened her eyes and promptly gasped, her hand covering her mouth.
The backyard had been transformed. Where before there had been only lawn, rosebushes had been planted everywhere. The more mature plants had already started to bloom, splashes of color releasing a heady fragrance. “I have the plans drawn up to put out a covered patio here. You can take a look at them and tell me what you think. That way we can sit out here and enjoy the flowers when they bloom.”
She couldn’t speak.
“Genevieve? You like them? I’ve read up on taking care of them, and I got seven of the hardiest varieties, and they seem like they should be impossible to kill. Seven’s supposed to be a good number, right? I remember you saying something about it.”
She managed to nod.
“Genevieve?” His voice was anxious now.
He staggered back only a step when she threw herself at him, and his arms came up in an automatic embrace. He chuckled. “I guess you like them.”
She nodded against his chest.
“There’s one more surprise.” His voice sounded more cautious now, not his usual confident self. He disengaged from her arms, turned her around and nodded to the closest bush. Genevieve approached slowly, confused by the flash of white.
There, on a little picnic blanket, sat her old doll, gowned in a haphazardly made white silk dress. Alex cleared his throat behind her. “I framed the scrap of silk from your mom’s dress in a shadow box, but this is supposed to be symbolic. I have a lot of respect for my mom’s sewing now, I’ll tell you that much. She dumbed down the instructions for me, but even then it wasn’t easy.”
Genevieve traced the painstaking, uneven stitches. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes and she blinked rapidly.
He cleared his throat again. “I put the terrycloth dress in plastic. I figured you might want to hand them down someday. But now Betty Lou has a change of clothes.”
And the battle with the tears was lost. They coursed down her cheeks.
“There’s something else next to her.” His voice was low.
She brushed aside a fold of silk to reveal a small black box. With shaking hands, she opened the lid to behold a simple diamond solitaire ring with two winking amethysts flanking either side.
“Genevieve? You haven’t said anything since we came out here.”
She pulled the ring out and placed it on her ring finger before she turned to look at him. She straightened to her full height and gripped the envelope in two hands, not even hesitating before she ripped it apart. “I don’t need anyone to confirm that I’m pure enough for you. When I’m with you, I feel beautiful inside and out. That’s good enough for me.” Honestly, whether she was good enough for him or not, they were meant to be together.
He relaxed and nodded to her hand. “And the other?”
A smile beamed through her tears. “Yes.”
