Chapter twenty-six

Monday Richie spent his day with his daughter, he couldn’t resist talking about their weekend and was relieved and happy to find out that she  had enjoyed it too. Sarah was his girlfriend; she’d spend a lot of time with him once they got back from Europe again.  After that, all five of them were off to Hawaii for summer vacation and he was glad to know Ava was okay with that.
He drove Ava home in the late afternoon, ready for his date with Sarah.

A little before 6pm he arrived at Sarah’s house.

 He was a little surprised when Caleb opened the door after he had ringed the doorbell.

“Oh, mum’s still getting ready.” He held the door open to let Richie into the living room where Noah and their grandmother were sitting.

Abbey looked up at him from the couch. “Come sit with us.” She patted the couch next to her. “Sarah’s been getting ready for nearly an hour now. It’s like she’s seventeen again.” She smiled as he walked over.
“Really?” He took the seat next to Abbey. “Did she go out a lot back then?”
“No, mostly with her girlfriends.” She answered him.

He started wondering if she had boyfriends back then or was Jonathan the only one?

“Would you like a cup of coffee or something?” Abbey asked gently
“No, I’m fine.” Richie politely declined.
“Nonsense.”  Abbey slowly got up from her seat. “You should have some coffee.”  She said as she walked into the kitchen.

Richie simply watched her go, he  couldn’t protest.



Instead he settled in the couch and watched tv with the boys.

Only a few minutes later Abbey walked back in with a cup of coffee and a plate of cookies. Both teenage boys jumped at the sight of cookies. She put the cup down on the coffee table in front of Richie and held the plate.
“Guests go first.” She extended her arm to hold out the cookies for Richie.

He regarded the cookies, picking the best looking one out. “My favorite.” He said before finally picking one.
“Are they? I baked these this morning.” Abbey told him as she now put the plate down too.
“Nothing better than freshly baked cookies.”  He took a bite from his cookie.  “Oooh, really good.”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Abbey scolded him, making Noah and Caleb chuckle as they got their  own cookies.
Richie swallowed his bite and apologized. “Sorry.”



Several long minutes and half a cup of coffee later Sarah finally came down the stairs, Richie looked up when the steps creaked.

She looked beautiful and in a dress, to his surprise. He got up and walked over to the stairs, his jaw dropped as Sarah got to the bottom of  the stairs and slowly walked over to him.

“It’s rude to stare.”She said gently.
Richie closed his mouth and smiled. “You look beautiful.” He took her hand an made her turn so he could have a full view of her.  Her summer dress was white and fitting, the top tight and the skirt loose with beautiful red flowers.

Sarah looked him up and down, his black jeans and red dress shirt with rolled up sleeves and a few open buttons made him look very stylish. “You look beautiful too.”  She said, and then blushed. “Handsome, I mean.” She quickly corrected herself, making Richie chuckle.

He reached in for a kiss, and then whispered, “You’re still staying at my house tonight, right?”
Sarah nodded, she wanted to see the fireworks from the balcony with him.
“Ready to go?”  He took her hand again as he asked her.
“Yes, all ready.” She smiled up at him.
“You two have fun now.” Abbey said from her spot on the couch.
“We will.”  Richie assured her before opening the door for Sarah.

He walked her down the driveway, to the car where he opened the door of the Aston Martin and helped Sarah to sit. Carefully he closed the door and got in on his own side.

“Noah would be so jealous of me now.” Sarah said as they backed out of the driveway.
Richie chuckled.  “He probably would be, maybe I should  take  him  for a drive, show him how fast it goes.”
“No!” She said shocked.
He chuckled again. “Why not?”
“I don’t want anything to happen to either of you.”
“It’s just driving.” He said matter of factly.
“It’s dangerous.”  Sarah pointed out.
“Not if you know how to drive but okay, I won’t.” He promised.



Shortly afterwards they arrived at the restaurant.

Sarah reached to open her door but Richie stopped her. “Let me do that.”  He said, and then turned to get out himself.

He walked around the car and opened the door for her, holding out  a hand for her. 

“Thank you.” She said once she stood up.

They turned to walk to the restaurant when Sarah gasped.  “Wow, this is really fancy.”
“I know.” Richie looped his arm through hers and pulled her close. “Only fancy things for my girl.”

He walked her inside where they were greeted by a host and were led to their table.

As they walked through the restaurant Sarah looked around, every table had perfectly white table cloths and two tall white candles in the middle, every waiter was dressed classy and so was everyone else at the tables.

They were handed their menus and before Sarah even opened hers, Richie told her not to look at the prices. He knew she would, she always worried about everything’s price. Sarah nodded and tried to ignore the numbers.

After they ordered, they talked about their day. Finally Richie couldn’t help himself anymore and needed to know where she got  that pretty dress from. He was amazed to hear her mom had given it to her when she asked for something  pretty.

The white color of her dress, made her blond locks look lighter and her green eyes sparkle even brighter.

Sarah was thinking the same about him, the red shirt made his skin look tan and made his dark features even more handsome. The bit of his chest that she could see through his open buttons made her want to reach in and touch him.  Surprised with that idea, she blushed, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

Richie did notice and wondered what she was thinking, hoping she was thinking the same as he was thinking about her in her pretty dress. How much more perfect could she look right now?

Dinner was shared with a few laughs, smiles and easy talks.

For dessert Richie suggested something else, telling Sarah it was a surprise and to wait and find out.



Once they got out of the car, Sarah could smell where they were. “The beach?” There weren’t many other places where the air had that salty smell.
“Yeah, thought we’d go for a walk on the beach.”  He smiled gently.
“That sounds perfect.” Sarah smiled back and looped her arm through his like he had done earlier and let Richie lead the way.

For once in the last few weeks Sarah was glad she didn’t own anything fancy, even though Richie had bought her high heels, she didn’t feel sure enough yet to wear them, instead she had worn her red ballerina flats.

Richie led them through the dunes to the beach.

When Sarah saw the water, she stopped, watched and listened to the waves, taking it all in.

“What’s wrong?” Richie asked, confused at why she had stopped, he studied her face.
“I haven’t been to the beach in such a long time.” Sarah said, thankful he had taken her there.

It was nice to hear the waves crashing on the sandy beach and smelling the cooler ocean salty air again.

Unknowingly Richie had brought her to a place she longed to be again.

“Thank you so much for taking me here.” She said.

Richie could see how much she appreciated it and how happy she was to be there. In turn, it gave him the happy feeling of doing something for someone else.

“My pleasure.”  He took a step, pulling Sarah with him.  “Let’s go for a walk.”



They walked the sandy beach, arm in arm, leaving foot prints behind them, until Sarah broke the silence.

“Can I tell you something silly?”  She asked unsure of breaking the peaceful silence and of telling him.
“The sillier, the better.” He joked, turning to smile at here.
Sarah smiled back, it was impossible not to smile when he did. “I always wanted  a beach wedding.”

Richie stopped, momentarily surprised by the word wedding but more by what popped into his mind.

“That’s not silly.” He finally said.  A beach wedding would be romantic according to him.
“Why are you surprised then?”  She asked confused at why he had stopped and turned to her. He had told her she could tell him everything…

He looked over her shoulder, seeing their foot prints in the dark. “We should go back before the fireworks start.” He avoided her question.

Sarah assumed he was right, it was getting dark, she didn’t ask him again and walked back with him, noticing they had gone quite a long way.



Not much later after getting in the car they drove through the gate of the community Richie lived in. Sarah watched the houses until Richie parked in his driveway.

Sarah thought he had one of the most beautiful houses she had ever seen. The entrance was bright and big, she loved the hallway with the double staircase it lead to, opposite of the living room but Richie took her to the kitchen.

“Ready for dessert?”  He asked, pulling open the freezer.
“Are you making dessert?”
“Kinda.” He got a box of ice cream out, along with a bag of frozen fruits, then opened a cupboard for bowls.

He made them both a bowl of ice cream with fruit before taking Sarah  up to his bedroom and out to the terrace. From here they would have a perfect view of all the fireworks, he knew from experience. It had gotten darker and he couldn’t point out the ocean in the distance for Sarah anymore.


When they finished their ice cream Richie sat down in one of the lounge chairs, sitting with his legs open so Sarah could sit in front of him.

Once she sat, he wrapped his arms around her and lay back, pulling her with him.

Sarah rested back on his solid, hard chest as she put her legs up; making Richie put his up too. He held her firmly and once again they were in silence, waiting for the fireworks to start.

The starry sky made Sarah feel at ease and she remembered what she had said at the beach.

“Sweetie?” She turned a bit to able to look at him.
“Yes honey?”  He asked back.
“You didn’t answer my question earlier.”
“Which question?” He asked honestly unknowing.
“Why what I said at the beach surprised you.” She reminded him.
“It wasn’t really that it surprised me.”  He hesitated to continue, unsure of telling her.
“Then what was it?” Sarah pressed on, she needed to know if she was wrong by  telling him.
“It was that the first thing to pop in my mind was to give you that wedding.” He said as the first piece of firework loudly popped in the air, making bright green sparks rain down in the dark night’s sky.