We talked on the phone more and more and one night in late October it happened. As I was falling asleep during one of our marathon bedtime talks, instead of just saying goodbye, I had the undeniable desire to say, I love you. Wow. There it was. How had this happened? It had snuck up on me without me knowing...no effort, no soul searching..it just ...was. And it was so easy and FUN. I wasn't brave enough to say it the first time I felt it, but the silence was so loud on both ends of the phone, that I know he felt it too.
So, here it was. I was in love with a man that lived thousands of miles away from me. I had never felt more secure or more loved and I sure as hell had never felt so tingly. So now what?
Project Redwood and I set up a time for me to fly out to see him in November. I remember all my friends being worried about me, where was I going to stay, what was I going to do if he was crazy, blah, blah, blah...... For some reason, I had no fear about flying to somewhere I had never been to stay with a man I was just getting to know. The night before I left, my mom called me and I asked her if she thought I was crazy. She said no, that she thought I was brave enough to listen to my heart, to take a chance and see what happened, she was proud of me for having courage and wished me the best of luck.
As I flew over, I couldn't help but feel excited. In truth, I only knew what he had told me, so my friends had a point that he could be a serial killer with a motor home, but I had faith. As I came down the escalator at the Sacramento airport, I scanned the crowd to see where he was.
I found him.
Leaning against a Starbucks with his arms folded and a half smile on his face and his hazel eyes shining. He actually took my breath away with how sexy he looked. So smug, so confidant, so inviting. When I got to the bottom, we approached each other slowly, both of us sensing this was the real, true beginning of something that would change both our paths forever. He wrapped me in his big, burly arms and kissed me....I melted right there. Any shadow of a doubt was removed and I held hands and walked to his truck with him, this man who was becoming my everything.
The drive to his house was almost an hour away, so we settled in together and talked, laughed and joked all the way to Ione. I had been up since 4:30am that morning and here it was, 11pm, so I was getting sleepy. We arrived at his lovely home...and I was shocked. His doors were unlocked and open! I was sure he had been robbed and assumed we would call the police, but he laughed and told me he hadn't locked his doors since he had lived there. Talk about arriving in Mayberry. :)
His home was warm and inviting, with cinnamon roll candles burning, and soft music playing, I felt at ease immediately. (Well, OK, as soon as he locked the doors.) I unpacked, took a shower, washed my makeup off and brushed my teeth to get ready for bed because I was exhausted. When I came out in my jammies, he looked at me kind of funny, but told me later that he loved that I was so at home and not one of those girls who had to be "done up" to be comfortable.
I slept great that night, ready for the adventure of tomorrow and the promise of Lake Tahoe.
