Promise You’ll Come Back

“I can’t believe tonight is my last night here.” he said.
She looked at him in surprise. “If tonight is your last night, why are you with me? You should be with your family.”
He smiled at her, as they held hands. “I wanted to be with you.”
She looked down at their hands. “What are we doing, Jack?”
He looked at her strangely. “We’re waiting for the fireworks to start.”
She smiled. “No, I know that, but what are we doing? Are we just friends or are you just expecting someone here when you come back into town, or are we seriously dating?” He smiled. “I’ve been jerked around by plenty of men. For once, I want an up front, no BS answer.”
He smiled as he touched her shoulder and twisted a strand of her curled hair around his finger. “You’re the woman I want. You’re real. I love your sense of humor and personality. You’re not afraid to get your hands dirty or sweat. You’re independent. I love your country girl attitude. You’re stunningly gorgeous, you’re sweet, funny, a Christian, family oriented and I love that we have so much in common. When we’re together, I like that I can be myself. I have so much fun with you. When we’re apart, I can’t stop thinking about you and I want to be with you as much as possible. Does that answer your question? That was a no BS answer.”
She smiled up at him. “Yeah, thank you.”
“How do you feel about me?”
The lightening bugs were twinkling around them. The wild honeysuckle fragrance filled the summer air.
She smiled at him. She was beginning to blush. “You’re everything I’ve always wanted in a man. You’re charming, sweet and extremely good looking. I love your smile. I love that you’re a strong Christian and that your faith means a lot to you. I love that you’re family oriented. When I’m with you, I love that I can smile and laugh and feel things I’ve never felt with anyone else. I think about you all the time and I don’t want you to leave tomorrow, but I know you have to.”
“I don’t want to leave tomorrow either.”
“What are your terms in this relationship?”
He laughed. “My terms, uh, I don’t know. I didn’t know I had to have any.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“You make this sound like a business transaction.”
“I need to know what you expect from this relationship.”
“Okay, I expect you to be strong, unselfish, understanding, faithful and patient. I need you to know how much my career means to me. I need you to be able to handle all that comes with my career, the separations, the stress, demands, limitations as well as the rewards. I expect you to not ask me to choose between you and my career. I need you to understand why I do it, respect that I love it and realize how hard I’ve worked to get to where I am. I’m hoping you can be faithful, even if I’m gone for a year. I need you to understand that even though I may not be able to see you or talk to you whenever I want, that I’m always thinking about you. What are your terms?”
She smiled while holding his hand. “I need you to understand I do not trust easy. If you want a relationship with me, I will make you work for it and earn my trust. I’m not just going to hand my heart over to you. It may not be fair, but I need you to respect that. I will not be your consolation prize, so if there is some other girl back at Bragg, you are more attracted to, then please date her because I can’t and won’t get involved with someone who is just going to break my heart like my ex did. I want to be truly loved, appreciated, respected and wanted. I’m tired of feeling empty and hurt. I want to feel safe.”
He looked into her eyes. He saw the pain Kyle had caused. He held her hand in his. The warm summer breeze swept through her hair. He moved a strand off her face and tucked it behind her ear. “First of all, you are and always will be safe with me, Kate. I’ll never hurt you and I will not let anything or anyone hurt you. Second, you could never be my consolation prize. You’re my prize. And thirdly, I have no problem working to earn your trust and your heart. I like to work for what I earn, not have anything handed to me. But I can tell you right now, that you can trust me.”
She smiled. “So, do you agree to my terms?”
He smiled. “Yes, I agree to your terms. Do you agree to mine? This isn’t going to be a cake walk, Kate. It’s going to be very hard. We’ll rarely get to see each other and we may not even get to talk to each other for long periods of time. At times we may get frustrated, but I need to know right now can you handle it? …Because my ex couldn’t?”
She smiled at him. She held his hand tightly. “Jack, I’m not her. I want to be with you. Not only can I handle your career, but I respect it. I’d never ask you to choose between me and the Army. Remember, I’m an Army brat? I know the drill. I promise you right now that I’ll be faithful and that I’ll be here waiting for you, but I need you to promise me one thing.”
He smiled at her. “I’ll promise you anything.”
She looked into his eyes. “Promise me you’ll come back.”
He smiled down at her. “I promise.” He kissed her lips. They were kissing on the quilt. The fireworks show was beginning. The whistle and the explosion didn’t scare Jack or Kate. They continued to kiss as red, white and blue fireworks exploded over them against a velvet summer sky. The stars were twinkling brilliantly.