he saw Elizabeth come to the door and holler that lunch was ready. Moments later, Ben and Marcie walked from the barn to the house.
Thumper went back to a small dirt road where a van was parked amongst the trees. Rolly, T-Bone, and Booger were waiting inside. All three had sawed-off shotguns on their laps.
“Well?” asked Rolly.
“All three of ’em are in the house havin’ lunch right now. Give Wiz a call and tell him we’re ready to rock an’ roll.”
Jack glanced at Natasha as he took the exit off the main highway and onto Capilano Road. She was wearing a new dress and looked particularly ravishing. “Have you ever been here before?” he asked.
“The Capilano Suspension Bridge? No, but I looked it up on the Net once. The view looked beautiful.”
“You’re right about that. Stretches out over 450 feet and hangs 230 feet above the river. Hope you’re not afraid of heights.”
“No, it sounds like a fun place for a walk. Just make sure we don’t miss our dinner reservation. I’ve been looking forward to that all afternoon.”
“The park closes at five. That gives us lots of time to get to the restaurant.”
“Only gives us half an hour here, though,” said Natasha, looking at her watch.
Jack didn’t respond. With what he had to say, she might decide never to see him again. He parked the car and adjusted his tie and straightened his suit jacket as he walked around to open her door.
After passing a cluster of totem poles, they made their way onto the suspension bridge. There were few tourists this time of year. Jack noticed one solitary figure carrying a cooler in one hand and a large bag in the other hand as he trudged across the bridge far ahead of them.
“My God, it’s high!” said Natasha, putting one hand on the railing.
“Are you scared?”
“No … not with you here. Just excited! This is absolutely breathtaking!”
Jack held her hand as they walked toward the centre. He found himself unable to appreciate or study his surroundings. He looked at Natasha and knew that her excitement was waning as she glanced periodically at his face. They stopped to admire the view from the centre of the bridge, and Jack stood with his arm around her.
“Look! Someone left a cooler,” observed Natasha.
“I saw someone ahead of us leave it there a moment ago,” replied Jack. “Probably heavy. Bet he plans on picking it up on the way back.”
Jack glanced around. They were alone on the bridge. He didn’t see the figure hidden amongst the trees at the far end of the bridge. The man used binoculars to spot his cohort hiding on the opposite side. A portable radio hanging from his belt crackled. “Got your charges set?”
“All set,” he replied.
Out in the middle of the bridge, Natasha turned to Jack and abruptly said, “Okay, what is it? You’re not looking at the view and when you look at me it’s like you’re someplace else. What happened? Something this afternoon? What’s going on?”
Jack’s mind went numb. His carefully planned words escaped him. He felt like someone had ripped his tongue out.
“Jack! What is it?”
He reached in his suit pocket and handed Natasha the small velvet box.
“Oh … Jack,” whispered Natasha.
She carefully opened the box and looked at the engagement and wedding rings. The engagement ring was made of yellow gold with three small diamonds imbedded in a V at the top. The V fit into the wedding ring, which had a large diamond in the centre with three smaller diamonds in an opposite V behind the centre diamond.
“I take it you’re asking me to marry you?”
Jack nodded his head. He knew he had a goofy grin on his face, but he was so consumed by anticipating what Natasha’s response would be that he was at a loss for words.
Tears welled up in Natasha’s eyes, but she chose her words carefully and spoke firmly. “Jack, you know I love you, but I want more out of life than that. Someday I want to have children.”
“I want children, too. That’s why —”
“Let me finish. I want someone who will be around to be a husband and father forever.”
“You’re doubting my loyalty? I can’t believe that you would think —”
“I’m not doubting your loyalty! I believe you keep your promises. Which is what I’m afraid of. I’ve seen your eyes when you talk about Maggie and Ben Junior. It’s that loyalty that scares me! I can accept that your job is dangerous. What I can’t accept is you committing … some act that would see you taken away from me. I’d make a lousy pen pal!”
Jack felt his eyes water. “Give me a minute, please.” He turned and walked to the opposite side of the bridge and stared out over the abyss. He wondered if he would ever be able to sort out his thoughts. After a couple of seconds, he realized that the answer was really very simple. The most important thing in my life is standing right behind me.
He turned to face Natasha. “I promise you that from this moment forward, I will not do anything that … that would jeopardize my future with you.”
Natasha was silent for only a moment, and then she started to cry. “In that case, I would be very pleased to marry you.”
They kissed and hugged for several moments before Jack remembered to take the champagne from the cooler.
“What? This is yours?” Natasha asked, as Jack popped the cork and filled two glasses.
Neither one had time to say a toast. Explosions at both ends of the bridge lit up the evening sky over their heads with fireworks.
“Jack!”
“Danny is at one end. A good friend by the name of Louie is at the other.”
Natasha looked in awe at the fireworks and said, “This is so beautiful.” She raised her glass and said, “To spending the rest of our lives together.”
“As long as we both shall live.”
chapter thirty-eight
On Sunday morning, Jack felt the warmth from the sun shining through Natasha’s patio doors as he ate his breakfast.
Natasha smiled at him and said, “You’re a man full of surprises, Jack.”
Jack swallowed the last of his toast and said, “You didn’t see it coming?”
“No. I didn’t see any of it coming. Yesterday was like a dream.”
“I’m glad it was a dream and not a nightmare. I was pretty nervous.”
“You
