Clandestine Confessions

We were in Park City walking into the restaurant he chose for lunch.
The same one he used to frequent with his students back when he was a ski instructor.
I was told the story as we approached the building of how eager the kids would get at the end of the lesson to race back down the slope to eat there.
He expressed missing the simplicity of those days.
And the purpose you feel when your career and passion collide.
–
He held the door open for a woman exiting and for me entering.
The woman looked my way.
“My goodness, you are stunning!”
She turned to him.
“Did you tell her today she looks beautiful?!” (She is very animated at this point.) “Please tell me you did! Very lucky! Oh, my so beautiful!”
I kept thanking her, at a loss of how else to contribute to this conversation, and glanced over at him.
He was smiling – perhaps more of a grimace…
Clearly just as taken aback by this random encounter as I was.
She walked away as we walked inside.
“Well…. that was…something,” he said with a chuckle. “I had no idea what to say. So sorry I did not tell you that today.”
I laughed as I turned to look his way.
“Please know there was no expectation of that.”
–
For it was only three hours prior that we had seen each other for the first time since the wedding.
When I dashed off like Cinderella as the clock struck midnight.
Preparing to return to my ordinary life as if the most magical night did not happen.
–
I had run out the door to catch my ride after saying my goodbyes.
Only to be stopped seconds later dead in my tracks.
Right as I landed on one of the last steps outside of the hotel…about the same place a glass slipper would have been left…
Halted by the realization there was something I would forever regret never doing.
I turned around and quickly ran back inside…
–
He was still standing right where I last left him.
“You are back! Change your mind on my offer?”
A couple songs before the end of the reception he asked me if I wanted to take his hotel room.
“I am worried about you driving for that long through the night. I can easily find another place to sleep.”
“I will be okay, but I so appreciate it. I will just play a lot of Whitney Houston loudly to keep me awake.”
A reference to my shoutout by the DJ earlier in the night.
And I would actually end up doing just that…well, partly…Halsey played instead of Whitney.
A past writing will help you connect the dots as to why…
–
“No, I have to get home. But I just needed to come back to say thank you.”
I gave him a hug as those last few words escaped my lips.
Hoping he could feel the depth of gratitude in which they were spoken…
“Okay, I am officially going now.”
I pulled away and made my exit before he had the chance to say anything in return.
–
And those would be the last words I would speak to him until August 28th…
Exactly three months later.
–
I would wake up in my car at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming to a text from my friend.
One sent to me at 8:28AM her time.
One that included his phone number.
And it would be at 5:28PM on that same day, while standing at the Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park, that I would finally text him.
The outcome of that courage being me standing in that restaurant beside him three days later…
About to speak one of my most life changing yeses.