Page 69 of Gray Hair Don't Care
“Long story. I’ll tell you later.” He raised a finger to his lips and that was when she saw how filthy his hands were. Whatever this story was, it had better be good.
Still, she was not only happy he was there, her heart was doing a little jig. She was glad to see his messy face and smell what she thought might be motor oil mixing with his cologne. She scooted closer to him and he reached for her hand. She didn’t hesitate to wrap her fingers around his. Even when they were grubby. Even when their twined hands rested on her lap while she was wearing her most precious pink dress. He was there and it felt like they were… a couple.
At the end of the ceremony, Tammera and Delia kissed, and everyone rose from the pews, clapping as music played and they strode back down the aisle. Donovan and Lela had to wait to leave since they were seated in the back, but it didn’t take long. Outside the chapel, Tammera and Delia were engrossed with greetings from family, so Lela pulled Donovan aside.
“What happened to you?” She pushed his hair from his face, stopping herself from licking her thumb and wiping away the dirt on his cheek. “You’re a wreck.”
“I know. And I’m sorry. I just figured it was better to show up a little late as a disaster, rather than not show up at all.”
“That makes sense. But you still haven’t told me what happened.”
“Let me show you.” Donovan took her hand and walked past two parked cars. “Your chariot awaits.” With a flourish of his filthy fingers, he presented the mint green Vespa. The one she’d been riding when she fell for him the first time. And the third.
“You brought it down from your mom’s?”
“Something told me I should have it.”
“Just too big a piece of nostalgia?”
He shook his head and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close. Lela felt woozy, just like every other time Donovan had done that, which hadn’t been nearly often enough, but she hoped she had time. Maybe her whole life. He pressed a kiss against her lips and it felt like she was levitating. Were those biblical sunbeams overhead or was she hallucinating? “It’s more than that. I love you, Lela. I have always loved you. And I know you said you were in love with me once, but I need to know if you still love me.”
She wanted to slap him silly. She also wanted to kiss him again and never, ever stop. “I love you, too, Donovan. Of course I do. I never stopped loving you. Even when I was mad at you. There was always something pulling me toward you.”
His eyes shined brighter, with a look that conveyed so much happiness. “You know, the Vespa is a thread that has run through our lives together. If we’re going to move ahead, I want to start it right here and right now on this scooter, after having attended a wedding together, of course.”
If anyone had told twenty-one-year-old Lela that this would be the happy ending for her and Donovan, she never would’ve believed it. Or maybe it was better to think of it as a happy beginning. “Don’t say if.” She pressed a finger to his lips. “Don’t jinx us. You and I are moving ahead. Full stop.”
He smiled and pressed another soft kiss to her lips. “Okay. No jinx.”
“You still haven’t told me how you ended up so disheveled.”
“It was stupid. I forgot that if you lean too far to the right, the engine floods. I took a turn too fast and killed it. I pulled over, but the second I bent down to see what was going on, my phone fell out of my pocket and went into a storm drain. That’s why I didn’t call or text to say I was running late. I fixed it as fast as I could, but of course I got dirty and I couldn’t do anything about it. I just raced to the church.”
“So you’re having a great day is what you’re telling me.”
“Honestly? Best day ever.”
Lela grinned so hard her face was likely to stay that way. “We need to get you cleaned up if we’re going to go to this lunch. It’s an hour from now. I think we can make it if we’re fast.” She turned and caught Tammera’s attention. Tammera’s face lit up, perhaps with the beautiful feelings of that day, or maybe she understood how hard-won this victory was for Lela. Lela blew her a kiss, which Tammera caught with one hand before Delia grabbed her hand and pulled her into the crowd of their guests. “And I think Tammera and Delia will understand if we’re a few minutes late.”
Donovan sat on the scooter and handed Lela her helmet. “I know you don’t want to mess up your hair, but safety first.” He kick-started the engine and it rumbled to life.
“My hair is perfect. It’s not possible to mess it up.” She buckled the strap under her chin and realized she was going to have to stop wearing dresses if she wanted to ride on the scooter. It was not practical. Once she was on board, she wrapped her arms around him tight. “Your place?”
“Unless you have more of my clothes hiding in the back of your closet.”
“I really did think it was my R.E.M. T-shirt.”
“Something tells me it’s going to end up at your house again very soon.” He chuckled and revved the engine, which sputtered as he pulled away from the curb.
They whizzed through the city, past the town cars and the people flirting with death on bicycles, past hot dog vendors and pedestrians going about their day, exactly like they had all those years ago. She held on to him tight, pressing the side of her face to his back when she wanted to be even closer. So much was different and yet some things remained. He was her best friend. Again. He was the love of her life. She was his. Somehow, they’d found a way to make it work after nearly thirty years. And it had been so worth the wait.
Donovan took a tight turn, nearly clipping the back corner of a taxi. Lela’s hair swung around over her shoulder. She gasped. And then she laughed, pulling him tighter. A song popped into her head, the same earwormy delight that she’d heard in Bryant Park.You Make My Dreams Come True.It had to be for a reason. Donovan had always been her dream, and now she had him.
Apparently even Hall & Oates agreed.
Epilogue
One year later
