The Wedding Wish

certain.
    “Can I pour you a drink?”
    “A drink would be great.”
    To her surprise, he extracted a bottle of expensive champagne. “Really going high-class tonight, huh?”
    “Only the best for the best,” he said, popping the bottle open.
    The cork arced through the air and flew off the rock, catapulting into the valley below them. Isabel giggled. “You’re a lot of good fun, you know that?”
    “Good fun?”
    “Yeah,” she said, feeling her face warm all over. “Great to be with. I don’t know… It’s like… Like I never have to worry too much about what to do or say. All I have to do is be myself.”
    He filled a plastic cup with bubbly and handed it to her. “That’s the way I like you.”
    After he filled his own cup, she raised hers in a toast. “That’s the way I like you too.”
    “Chips?” he offered, pulling out a bag.
    “I’m glad you didn’t worry about packing healthy.”
    “Hey!” he protested. “These are all natural . See?”
    Isabel felt as light and breezy as the late August winds blowing around them. She’d had the very best summer with Robert. One she’d never forget. They sat in companionable silence, both enjoying their food and the view. After a while, Robert packed away the remnants of their dinner, but not the champagne.
    “You know what I like about this spot?” he asked her. “I like the fact that it’s always been here for me.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “If these hills had ears…” he said with a laugh.
    “Oh?” she asked, looking over at him. “What would they hear?”
    “Probably an earful about one special girl.” He looked wistfully over the valley. “ Isabel… Isabel… Isabel… That was her name. If you listen closely enough, you can probably still hear the echo.”
    “Go on,” she said, nudging his arm.
    “Okay, I will.” He swallowed hard and set down his champagne. “Isabel,” he said as night grew nigh. “I have something to tell you. A confession to make.”
    She watched his eyes, dark embers in the lengthening dusk. “Yes?”
    “When I was, oh, about…” He stretched his hand high above the rock in front of him. “Yay high.”
    “What?”
    “Okay,” he admitted. “Maybe I was a little taller. But, hey, the important thing is it was a long time ago.”
    Isabel’s heart skipped a beat as she wondered where this was going.
    “I was thirteen, in any case.”
    “I liked you a lot at thirteen,” she said in a low whisper.
    “Yeah,” he answered. “I liked you a lot too. We shared a lot of things between us, kept some pretty good secrets. But there’s one thing I never told you.”
    She looked at him expectantly.
    “I never told you about this.”
    “This place? No, you didn’t.” She looked around at the gorgeous scenery. “Why not?”
    He pursed his lips a beat, then sweetly stroked back her hair. “Because…this is where I’d planned to take you.”
    “Take me?”
    “Once I’d saved up enough money…and grown into a man, I suppose. I couldn’t think of a quicker way to do it. But I did know I’d want to. The fact of the matter is, I spent a hell of a lot of time practicing up.”
    To her amazement, Robert pulled a small box from the picnic basket.
    “I want you to know that it’s true. You’re the first girl I loved and actually wanted to marry. I asked you over and over again… Right up here on this rock.”
    “What did I say?”
    His eyes twinkled. “You always said yes.”
    He flipped open the ring box, and Isabel covered her mouth with a gasp. A beautiful solitaire glistened in the rising moonlight. “Isabel Miller,” he said, taking her hand, “my sweet, long-lost Izzy. Swear to me you’ll never be lost again. We fell away from each other one time, through no fault of our own. But now that fate has brought us back together, I can’t imagine my life going on without you.” He took the ring and positioned it over her finger. “Say that you’ll be mine. For as long as we both shall live.”
    He met her eyes, and Isabel’s heart rose in her throat.
    “Be my bride.”
    Isabel didn’t know if it had started to rain or whether those were tears streaming down her cheeks. She nodded, and Robert’s face opened up in a rainbow. He slid the ring on her finger and kissed her soundly. “I love you, baby,” he said in a husky whisper. “I always will.”
    “I’ll always love you too,” she returned. “I probably always have.”
    He took her in his arms then, knocking over the