Galveston, Texas

There was a limousine waiting for them at the airport and she didn't question JR's plan, this was already better than she'd expected. In her whole twenty years of life, she'd only been to the Gulf Coast three times, once when she was very young, before Kristin was born and her parents were still together. The second time when she was about thirteen and Kristin was just a baby, it was the first vacation they'd been on since her father left. The third time was in her senior year of high school, her geography class had taken a trip to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, it had been a three and a half hour bus journey each way, but the scenery was beautiful and much different to that in Austin. She imagined that today would bring her a completely new set of memories to attach to the Gulf Coast location in her mind.

JR observed Sue Ellen as they were flying; she was almost childlike as he could see her mind working to define their location. As the plane descended to land, she looked pleased with herself; she'd obviously guessed they were heading down to the coast. There was a comfortable silence in the limo as they drove toward their first stop; JR hoped that she wouldn't be disappointed with his arrangements, though from the look on her face, nothing could disappoint her today. They stopped near a pier and Sue Ellen saw a large white 1800's replica paddlewheel boat, they were taking a harbour cruise this morning. The boat looked big enough to hold hundreds of people, but they were the only two guests on-board, apart from the crew, the boat was all theirs; their private cruise must have cost JR thousands, especially on Valentine's Day. "JR, this is wonderful, it's so beautiful out here" she commented as they stood on the open deck and admired the harbour. They had a tour guide for part of the cruise, explaining the historic sights and marine life as the boat passed by; the narrated tour was only for main sights and was unobtrusive, giving JR and Sue Ellen time to enjoy the experience together. The boat moved along the coastline, "look over there!" she pointed at the pod of dolphins jumping out of the water, JR liked seeing the dolphins, but he liked seeing how giddy Sue Ellen was even more; they watched the dolphins swim before disappearing under the water.

As they stood outside, Sue Ellen started to get cold, it was still technically winter and though the weather was sunny, it was still chilly outside. "You're shivering, let's go inside" he ushered her away from the deck and they sat down on a small couch facing a large window, perfect for viewing the harbour from inside. JR sat in a relaxed position while Sue Ellen leaned into him, she loved being close to him and right now it had the added benefit of mutual warmth. A well-prepared crewmember arrived with a blanket and two mugs of hot chocolate, JR hadn't even planned that to happen, they were obviously good at their job. JR and Sue Ellen sat and talked, not about anything memorable or spectacular, just a comfortable conversation between two people who cared about each other. They came to a relaxed and content silence as they enjoyed the view out the window and Sue Ellen contemplated how wonderful she felt in this moment, she loved JR and if this was their relationship after only a few months, she couldn't wait to see it develop over a lifetime. JR held her close, he didn't want to let her go, it still surprised him how different he felt with her; he was never a romantic, not long-term anyway. He always had game, but he used it to charm women into bed and satisfy his own interests rather than anything else, he never cared before whether women were actually having a good time or not. A woman like Sue Ellen wouldn't normally be worth the effort he was putting in, she wasn't giving him the reward he was looking for and wasn't giving in to his persuasion, the strong feelings he had for her was what was saving their relationship. It also helped a lot that his family adored her, she would be the perfect wife and his parents would finally stop lecturing him about finding the right woman. There were a few personal drawbacks of marriage though; fidelity and personal taste were the big ones. He didn't know whether he could commit to just one woman for the rest of his life; before Sue Ellen, he hadn't even had to commit to women to get what he wanted, the idea of never having another woman again was one that scared him. At the moment, he didn't really think of Julie as the woman he was cheating with, because he wasn't choosing her over Sue Ellen, he was just respecting the boundaries set in place by Sue Ellen while also satisfying his own needs. He didn't have the self-control that Sue Ellen did, he wondered how she did it, he could barely last two days without companionship or self-satisfaction. Sue Ellen was much too proper be was solving her problem the same way he was. He admired what a perfect lady she was, he was far from the perfect gentleman, but her being so ladylike and pure made him concerned that with marriage came a lifetime of frustration, the way a husband treated his wife was much different to the way he treated his mistress. He would never ask or expect Sue Ellen to behave in the way other women did; she would never do the things they did, the things JR was used to and enjoyed. It concerned him that if he married her, he'd be locked into a lifetime of unhappiness in the one area that he needed to stay sane. It wasn't a conscious battle he was having with himself, it was deep in his subconscious, he didn't know exactly why he was so hesitant about asking her to marry him, he just knew that in the back of his mind, something was holding him back. The one thing he did know was that he loved her and if she wanted to wait, then he would wait; he was smarter than to ruin a good thing because he was impatient. "I love you," he whispered, making it known that he really did care and that although he wasn't quite ready to fully commit, he was emotionally invested. Sue Ellen smiled at his words, this was not a position many women had ever been in with him and she felt privileged and honoured to be the chosen one, she had a feeling that his romantic state was build-up toward the four little words that everyone wanted him to ask.

The boat tour ended and they disembarked, Sue Ellen was enamoured with JR and pleased with the way their day had turned out so far. It was only lunchtime and she already felt like she'd made some memories to last a lifetime, she hoped that by the end of the day, she would have one big memory to associate with the date and location. "JR, I don't think I compliment you enough, you have excellent date planning skills" she smiled to herself as she thought about their first date and how she'd been disappointed, doubting that his date could match the way he'd pursued her. She had been wrong and she felt silly for thinking that JR didn't have a plan, everything figured out exactly the way he wanted it; JR always had a plan and everyone else was just a pawn. "Thank you, a lot of people underestimate me. They shouldn't" he grinned and she laughed, he was talking about more than just her compliment. The limousine stopped outside a beautiful, large building and the driver opened their door, JR took her hand and led her inside. They made their way toward the Galvez Bar & Grill inside the historic Hotel Galvez, Sue Ellen admired the architecture and decoration while visualizing the ways a possible proposal could take place. She blamed her mother for all of this, she couldn't get marriage off her mind and was expecting more than she rationally believed she would get, she couldn't stop thinking about it and it was ruining the moment. She couldn't even enjoy what was happening now because she was thinking about what was to come in the future. They ate lunch and JR noticed that she seemed distracted, "did something happen?" she looked at him confusedly, "no. Why?" she didn't know what he was referring to, they'd just been talking like they normally did, or she thought they had. "Well, I mentioned your birthday and asked you if you had any plans and you didn't respond. That is highly unusual; normally you'd be eager to talk about an exciting event like that. Are you sure nothing is wrong?" she blushed, had she really ignored him like that? She didn't even remember hearing him mention her birthday. "Well, no, not wrong. I just have something running through my mind and it won't go away. It's not important though. As for the answer to your question, no, I hadn't planned anything yet. Why? Do you have something special in the works?" She tried to deflect the attention from what was bothering her; she didn't want to have another conversation about how they were waiting for the right time, her mother had successfully infiltrated her thoughts and she wasn't sure she would be able to stop herself from asking about his intentions, exactly what he didn't need to hear from her. JR could almost read her thoughts, he knew that she was thinking about marriage, but he didn't want to disappoint her by bringing it up; a proposal was not part of today's plan and he'd rather not deal with another conversation about 'the right time', they were finally free of their families and the question was still hanging over them. "I may have a little something planned, but no hints" he grinned and she smiled, this was the kind of conversation she liked, playful and not pressured.

To be continued…