Chapter 4
Four weeks later.
Galena sat on the sofa curled up in Jesse's arms as they watched Dawson's Creek. The girl had her head close against his shoulder and he had his arm wrapped tight around her waist.
Galena tilted her head back so she could look up at Jesse and smiled brightly. For the last few weeks she had found Brennan being a lot more relaxed about her time with Jesse. The time with the man she had previously wished for was now a part of her daily life, but she still held each second precious.
Jesse looked down at her and gently pressed a kiss to her nose. Although he was still extremely guarded in his interactions with the girl, he had started to allow himself to enjoy her gentle innocence. Holding her in his arms as they watched their show, he had truly began to appreciate the show. Gently he took her hand and lightly rubbed her palm with his fingertips.
Brennan stepped in just as the last few seconds of the show ended. He stood near the door way, watching the two curled up together. As much as he did not want to admit it, he knew that in two weeks he would have to give his blessing for Jesse to start a relationship with Galena. The small girl had grown in confidence at an amazingly rapid pace since she had been allowed to spend more time with Jesse.
The changes he had seen in his best friend also surprised Brennan. The young blonde was no longer tied up with the computer, but now found teaching Galena to drive or fly the Helix. On clubbing nights Jesse stayed on the dance floor with Galena until the night's end, and almost never picked up a single drink.
He hated the fact that he had counted on Jesse messing up. He knew that the girl was too important to Jesse for the molecular to make a mistake. He was not sure what upset him more; the fact that Jesse had not made any mistakes or the honest truth that he had hoped for Jesse to mess up.
"Adam wants to see you in the lab, Gal." Brennan said as he walked over to the sofa and sat down.
"Alright." Galena turned to face Jesse. "I'll meet you in the dojo so you can help me with that training program I'm working on."
Jesse softly kissed her forehead and brushed back one of the girl's loose curls. "See you then."
Both men sat in silence for a moment as they watched the girl leave the room.
"You've got two more weeks left before I make my decision." Brennan sighed.
"Do I get any indication of how I'm doing so far?"
"Unless you seriously mess up in the next two weeks she's yours."
"She'd hate us talking like one of us owned her."
"Gal's a tough girl. I just don't want to see her get hurt, I've lost enough people over the years and I'm not willing to let anything happen to her."
"I know that it's not easy for you to let go of her." Jesse turned off the television. "I promise that I wont do anything to hurt her."
"If you will make me a promise I'll let you have her now."
"What kind of promise?"
"Don't ask her for anything physical. Let her do what she feels comfortable with but nothing more."
"I'd never ask anything of her." Jesse shook his head. "Are you and I ever going to get past the Juliet thing?"
"I don't know, Jess. I still think that she would be here if it wasn't for the fight you two had, and that fight would have never taken place if you hadn't agreed to sleep with her."
"It wasn't about me sleeping with her, it was about me asking her not to tell Ashleigh."
"Either way it resulted in her leaving and getting killed." Brennan shook his head and took a breath. "It doesn't matter right now. You can ask her out whenever you want."
"I'll make sure that you don't regret this." Jesse got up. "I'm going to meet her in the dojo."
"Take her somewhere nice for the first date."
"I've got a place that I could take her." Jesse walked out of the room. When he got to the dojo he picked Galena up and spun her around. "How would you like to go out to dinner?"
"Brennan would kill us." Galena laughed. "I wish we could."
Jesse pulled her to him and kissed her. "I've got his permission to take you out."
Galena's eyes lit up and she kissed him again. "Then I want to go out with you. When do you want to go?"
"We've got a night off day after tomorrow if you want to go then." He cupped her chin with his hand and kissed her forehead. "I'm thinking about this Italian place I know, Bella Noche, it's formal but I think you would like it."
"I could wear that dress I wore to the dinner in honor of Adam's friend last week." she laid her head down on his shoulder and smiled. "I think that the day after tomorrow sounds perfect."
"I'll make the reservation for seven and we'll leave around six-thirty. We can come back and watch a movie or talk after we eat."
"Thank you, Jess." Galena put her arms around him and hugged him. "It means a whole lot
to me that you managed to convince Brennan to let us be together."
"I love you, Gal." he gently stroked her back. "I'll do what ever I have to so I can have you."
She cuddled into him and closed her eyes. "I love you too, Jesse."
From the hall Adam stood watching the two. He smiled slightly, knowing that the first steps to the young couples relationship had been taken. It was a relief after such a long wait.
"It's not nice to spy." Emma said quietly as she walked over to Adam.
"I've been watching them for as long as she's been here. This is the first time one of them has made a move."
"Brennan never wanted Jesse to have the opportunity to make any advance towards her. He's still scared that she's going to wind up getting hurt."
"She's delicate enough, but I think that Jesse will be good for her." he sighed. "He managed to save Juliet from her past, and now he is saving Galena. He gives her security and she's brought back the man he was before Juliet died."
"Just don't start planning for their wedding. I don't think Brennan will be willing to let her go if the relationship becomes serious."
"Hopefully by that time Galena will feel like she can make her own decisions."
That evening.
Galena walked into garage where Brennan was changing the oil in his car. She sat down quietly beside the car.
"What's going on, Gal?" Brennan asked as he slid out from under the car.
Galena smiled and started twisting one of her curls around her finger. "Jesse asked me to go out." she blushed. "He wants to take me to Bella Noche."
"I did tell him to take you some place nice." Brennan shook his head. "Do you want to go with him?"
"Of course I do." Galena looked down at her shoes. "I love him."
"Don't say that yet, Galena. You haven't even gone on a date with him yet."
"I cant change it, Brennan. I really do love him." She felt tears begin to form in her eyes and she fell into Brennan's arms. "He doesn't love me does he? He was lying when he told me that he did wasn't he?"
Brennan pulled her tight into his arms. "I'm pretty sure he does love you, especially if he told you that he did. He wouldn't have gone through all that he has to get you if he didn't. No man would go through what he has to get you if they didn't love you. Just be careful with him, he's still not completely over Juliet. If you go in there and make him think that you are already planning the wedding he'll break it off."
Galena pulled back from him and wiped off her tears. "I'd better go. Emma and I are going to work on what I should do with my hair and make up."
"Don't let him talk you into anything." Brennan cautioned. "I don't think he will, but I'd rather have said something."
Galena stood up. "I'll be alright. I told you I was going to wait until I knew for sure I'd found the right one."
"I know what you said, but I know the affect he has on you."
"I'm a big girl, Bren. I can tell him no, and I can hurt him pretty badly if he doesn't listen."
"I guess you can, kiddo." Brennan smiled and leaned back against the car as he watched her walk out of the room.
"You're letting him take her out?" Shalimar asked as she stepped out of the shadows.
"I don't really have much choice. She's in love and my guess would be that he feels the same. It's not going to be easy, but I guess I have to do it."
Shalimar sat down in his lap and put an arm around his neck. "He wont let anything happen to her. He'd kill himself first. I'm pretty sure that we'll be planning a wedding in a few more months."
"She'll make a beautiful bride. Do you really think that they are going to go that far?"
"The way they talk about each other makes me pretty sure, and she's told me a few things in confidence that make me pretty sure."
"He hasn't slept with her has he?"
"No." Shalimar laughed. "You can't assume the worst about him when it comes to her. I think that he'd rather wait till their wedding night. She's the one to worry about."
"The girl has changed over the last few weeks. Do you think they can handle it?"
"They've been acting like a couple of over a month now, ever since that day they went to the beach. They just try to make sure that you don't see them."
"I've only seen them watch that teenage soap opera and him kiss her on the forehead and maybe once or twice he's stolen a quick kiss from her, but that's it. I'd hardly consider them to be acting like a couple."
"While you were gone on that weekend trip it was different. We did a girls night and Jess decided to invade the party, just like he did in the old days. She curled up into his arms and stayed there the whole time. When we all went to sleep they were spooning. She couldn't stop kissing him that weekend either." Shalimar smiled as she thought back. "He stopped it every time she tried to heat it up. He'd let her kiss him, but if she tried to turn it into a make out session he stopped it."
"I don't know which is harder to believe. Her trying to lock him into a make out session or him putting a stop to it. And why didn't Adam tell me about this? He was supposed to be watching them for me that weekend."
"He's been waiting for them to hook up ever since she got here. Do you really think that Adam is going to let you interfere in something that he thinks will work out for the best? Besides, they are in love and there is nothing that any of us can do about it." Shalimar smiled and gently kissed him. "You remember what that is like don't you?"
"It's just different when it comes to Gal. I've always been the one protecting her and I'm not sure that I'm ready to give that up."
"Jesse is the best guy to pick up that responsibility. As long as they are together you wont have to worry about her. Lets go get a shower before bed." she got up and took Brennan's hand to pull him up.
Two days later.
Galena sat in front of her computer trying to finish the assignments that Adam had given her. He excitement over the idea of going out with Jesse that night made it impossible to concentrate for more than a couple of minutes at a time. In two hours she had only completed what would have normally been thirty minutes of work, and she still had a normal hour's worth to go.
Emma walked into the room and stood watching the girl for a minute before she spoke. "Do you want me to finish that up for you so you can go ahead and get ready for your date tonight?"
"That would be so great!" Galena got out of her chair and hugged Emma. "I'm way too nervous to work."
"You'll be alright. You and Jesse have been talking for so long that this should be no trouble for either of you. The only problem that I can imagine is your cousin waiting up for you. It would ruin any 'after date' plans that you two have make if that were to happen."
"It's not an issue. Shal is going to have him distracted so Jess and I can have some extra time together."
"Why don't you run on and get ready? You don't want to be late for your first date with him do you?"
"That would be horrible! Thank you!" she quickly left the computer lab and headed to her room.
Looking over at the clock Galena tried to figure exactly how long it would take her to get ready. She finally decided that she could spare a few minutes. She left her room and crossed the hall to Jesse's room. Adam had mandated that the younger man had to go through some of his back logged computer discs, a task that would easily become tedious.
She stepped into the room and walked over to stand by Jesse. "Having any fun?"
"Not really." Jesse pushed his chair back and reached to take the girl's wrist. "You want to stay and distract me for a minute?"
"Sounds like fun." she sat down on his lap and put one arm around him. "Are you ready for tonight?"
"If I can get this done in time I will be."
She put her hand on his face and gently kissed him. "You've got to get things finished then, Brennan will kill you if you stand me up on our first date."
"Why don't you stay for a while longer. You can sit in my lap while I finish this up, be a living reminder of why I have to get this done."
"I guess that I can spare a few minutes to help you get this finished." She laid her head on his shoulder as he slid slightly closer to the desk. "How do you want me to do my hair?"
"Wear it loose like you are now. I like the look, always have."
"If that is what you want it is what you will get." Her eyes slipped closed.
"You alright, baby?"
"I'm just tired. I haven't slept well in the last couple of nights."
Jesse put down the box of computer discs he was about to go through and turned his attention completely to the girl. "Are you too nervous or too excited?"
"Both I guess. I'm really excited about going on a date with you, but I guess I'm a little nervous about what will happen."
"Let's talk for a while." Jesse put his free arm under her legs and stood up. He carried her over to the bed and laid her down before laying down himself. He put one arm under her head and one around her waist as she cuddled close to him. "What's bothering you about tonight?"
"I guess all the horror stories my friends told me about some of their dates. I know you are nothing like those guys, but you are a guy."
Jesse gently pressed a kiss to her forehead and held her close. "Galena, don't worry about that. It's our first date and I'm not expecting anything from you. We'll wait a while before we start talking about sex, and we are going to talk before we do anything."
"I just don't want any part of tonight to disappoint you."
"Do you really mean it when you say that you love me?"
"Yes. I wouldn't say it if I didn't."
"Then there is nothing that you can do to disappoint me. Now settle down and take a short nap, I'll stay with you."
"You have your work." Galena whispered as her eyes fluttered close. "I don't want you in trouble."
"I can give you half an hour. I love you, Gal."
"I love you too." Galena whispered as she fell asleep.
Jesse glanced over at the clock so he could check the time and then stared at the woman lying in his arms. He could not count the times he had dreamed about waking up with her with him, and this was only the second time that he had gotten the pleasure. The weekend when Brennan had been gone was enough to make him crazy. It had been nearly impossible for him to stop the girl from taking their kissing to something else. He was still convinced that if he had not have stopped her when he did they would have some how wound up going all the way, a place he did not want to go with her yet.
She was his baby, and the thought of taking advantage of her innocent eagerness to please him was not something that he could bear. It was easy for him to understand why Brennan worried that something would happen with Galena, she was too quick to give in and too quick to try to do what she thought would make people happy.
He did have to admit that he had thought about what it could be like. He had thought about it many more times that he cared to admit to himself. There had been nights when he had dreamed each step in seducing her, and each touch he would use when they made love. It scared him that he could see it all in such clarity and detail. The idea of making love with the girl was still heavy on his mind most of the time, but he knew that it was something that he could not allow himself. If anything, it was something that he might never be able to allow himself. He had too much at risk when it came to that one subject.
It was his only lie to the girl that now laid asleep in his arms. Of all the concerns about their relationship that he had come up with over the last forty-eight hours, how he was going to tell Galena the truth about Juliet was the biggest. There was no delicate way to tell the girl what had happened between himself and the woman that was supposed to be only his best friend. She had asked him so many times to tell her about the woman who haunted him, but each time he avoided the subject. Even after a year it was too painful to talk about
Jesse glanced back over at the clock, his thoughts had taken up the thirty minutes he had allotted for Galena's nap, and although he wanted to spend more time with her, he knew that he would have to wait. He softly kissed Galena's forehead as he sat up. He could not help but watch her for a couple of minutes longer before waking her up. "Gal, we'd better get up."
Galena slowly opened her eyes but did not move to get up. "Can't I stay with you here?'
"Don't you want to go out tonight?"
"Alright." She carefully sat up and lightly kissed Jesse. "Thanks for making me take a nap. I feel a whole lot better now."
"Good. Now you go get ready. I'll be picking you up around six twenty."
"Six twenty. Love you."
"Love you too." he hesitated for a minute but then pulled her to him for a long slow kiss.
"I could easily be convinced to stay a while longer for a few more kisses like that."
"We'll see about that after dinner." He lightly kissed her on the forehead. "Now go do all that hair and make up stuff."
"I'll see you when you pick me up tonight." she quickly left the room knowing that if she did not leave then she never would.
Once back in her room Galena laid out her clothes and got a shower. After her shower she ran anti-frizz serum through her hair so that it would stay smooth and silky. She let her hair dry naturally while she did her make up. As her hair finished drying Galena set out the jewelry that she was going to wear that night.
She checked the clock to see how much longer she had until Jesse was going to pick her up. Since she still has almost two hours left she pulled out her nail polish and set out to give herself a French manicure.
Exactly at six-nineteen she pulled on her shoes and picked up her hand bag. When she heard Jesse knocking on the door her heart jumped. She quickly walked over to the door and opened it. She stood in front of him for a moment, waiting to see his reaction.
Jesse stared at Galena, his eyes drinking in Galena's image. Her dress was pure white with a full skirt that reached the floor. The neck line was low cut and the full length sleeves were off the shoulders. Her silver necklace had a tired diamond pendant that just touched the top of her neck line.
"You look gorgeous, Galena." Jesse whispered as he leaned in to gently kiss her.
"You look great too." she answered him, looking at his black suit. "I guess we go on to the restaurant now."
"If we want to make our reservation we need to." He took her hand and led her down the hall. "If the road is empty enough I'll let you drive on the way back home."
"Are we taking Brennan's spare car?"
"I'm not talking about the old Mustang." he held up a set of car keys. "I was thinking you'd want to drive my Lexus."
"Your brand new car!" Galena looked at him in disbelief. "You'd actually let me drive it?"
"On the way home." he let go of her hand and put his arm around her waist. "I'm starting to think that you could actually be a better driver than me."
"I don't think that is possible." she leaned into him and put her arm around him. "How is the food at this place?"
"You'll love it. It is the only place that can compare to how my grandmother cooked. My father's side is English, but my mother's side is pure Italian."
"Irish, English, and Native American. My mother was half Native American and when my father married her his parents disowned him. It made him pretty bitter and I guess when I was born things only got worse. My grandparents tried to talk my father into letting them make things up to him."
"They wanted you but not your mother." Jesse shook his head. "That sounds so much like my old life."
"I'm glad that I wasn't raised as a rich kid. My life would have been too boring."
"It is a boring life. So where does your uncle fit into the whole scheme?"
"He got into trouble as a teen and was disowned then. He's my father's little brother. I've actually got an aunt out there somewhere."
"What about your mother's side?" Jesse asked as they reached the garage. He unlocked the car and held the door open for Galena.
She sat down and waited for Jesse to go around the car and get in. "I don't know anything about her side. I only know a little about her from what my god mother told me. I wish that I knew more."
"Do you know anything about how you got involved with Genomex?"
"They were using a cheap fertility clinic as a cover. I think they were trying to get a bunch of people with out the money to sue them." she shook her hair back. "Can we talk about something happier?"
"Sorry, I shouldn't have pushed the issue. I'm just so curious about you past."
"It's alright. I guess that this is the one thing that We've never talked about." she smiled brightly. "My parent were so in love with each other. My god mother, Jane Crastlof, told me so much about what they were like before I was born. My mother was only seventeen years old when she married my father and he was twenty nine. I think her youth and lack of social standing is what bothered my grand parents.
"They'd been married for two years when they decided that they wanted to have a baby, but they were having trouble. My mother had two miscarriages before she had me. She was only twenty one. They had gone to the clinic while they were trying for me and the people there told them that Mama just needed a simple procedure and things would be fine. I guess it worked because they managed to have me, but it is also what caused her cancer and my powers.
"Aunt Jane said that my father cried the first time he held me. He thought I was the most beautiful baby in the hospital. My mother couldn't be convinced to let them keep me in the nursery. It was all good until Mama got sick. After that my father couldn't stand to look at me. He knew that the treatment was responsible for Mama being sick.
"Mama kept me out of school the whole time she was sick. Aunt Jane came over and taught me while she took care of Mama, she was a certified teacher and a nurse. I think that Aunt Jane was about three years older than my mother, but they both still dressed and acted like they were teenagers. I absolutely loved being around them. They both played with me, even Mama till the day she died. She'd play with me no matter how sick the chemo made her or how much pain she was in. It felt like my whole world had been ripped apart. Right after Mama died my father accused Aunt Jane of doing something to kill Mama and molesting me. She had never done anything wrong and the charges didn't stick, but it was enough to get a restraining order against her. I couldn't see her until I was eighteen and had the order removed. She gave me a lot of Mom's old clothes and books then, and a cross necklace that matched the ones she and Mama always wore. My father took my necklace and Mom's necklace from me a couple of days later, and I never found out what happened to them. It was a very hard time for me.
"The only thing that helped me hold on was Brennan. I don't know why he took to me, but he did. He'd come stay at the trailer during the week while my father was out of town for work. He cooked for me, helped me with my homework and made sure that I did everything that I was supposed to. He was barely a teenager, but he was doing all of the things that my father should have been doing. I didn't know at the time, but when my father came back on the weekends Brennan would go back out with his 'friends' and get into trouble.
"I was probably about fourteen when he left. No warning, no note, nothing. He was gone when I woke up. At my birthday and Christmas a package would arrive with my name on it in some girl's hand writing, but the card inside was from him. He always said that he was on his way back, but he never made it. Then a few years ago the card included an e-mail address. We swapped a few messages, and every time He'd beg me to run away and meet him. I just couldn't do it. I still cared too much for my father. It wasn't until the day I met you guys that I decided enough was enough."
Jesse pulled into the parking space of the florist that he had been heading for and then parked the car. "That is a lot to deal with." he took a breath. "You always manage to knock the wind out of me with your stories."
"It's alright." she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "I just get on a roll and forget to stop."
"You are something else." He unbuckled his seat belt and turned to Galena. He softly kissed her and then cupped her cheek with his hand, staring into her eyes. "I love you."
"I love you too." she bit her lip. "Are we stopping here for some reason?"
"Yeah." He kissed her forehead. "Let me go get your flowers and then we'll be on the way."
"Alright." she smiled and watched him go into the florist. She flipped down the sun visor so she could check her lipstick in the mirror.
"You look perfect." Jesse said as he got back in the car with the flowers. "Be still for a minute." He opened a medium sized square box and pulled out a thin circlet of flowers made with pale pink rosebuds and white jasmine. He put the circlet on her head, fished a few hair pins out of his jacket pocket where he had put them for this purpose, and pinned it into her hair. "A crown of flowers for my fairy princess and a matching bouquet for her to carry." he handed her the bouquet and lightly kissed her cheek. "Now you know why I told you to wear your hair down."
"Jesse, the flowers are perfect!" she smiled brightly at him. "Thank you. I will always remember tonight. This is the first time that a guy has bought me flowers."
Jesse gently cupped her chin and kissed her. "I'd buy you flowers everyday if I could."
"I don't want you to buy me flowers everyday. I'd never be able to breath with that many flowers around." she laughed and kissed him again. "You are the only thing that I need."
"Why don't we go to the restaurant and we can have a little time alone when we get back home. Maybe find away to forget about everyone else being around."
"Alright." Galena smiled and nodded. She quickly kissed him and sat back so she could buckle up again.
Jesse started the car, backed out of the parking space, and pulled out of the lot. As he eased the car back onto the street he reached over and took her hand. "Brennan thinks we're crazy. He wants me to forget about the whole dating thing and just pretend that I'm happy with just being your friend."
"He doesn't like the way we already say 'I love you' to each other. He thinks that I should have waited for a long time before I told you that, and probably that you should have never told me."
"We've waited long enough. It was hard to sneak any kind of relationship with you around him. He'll get used to the idea and then he'll get over it."
"Jess, even though we are sure about this I still want to take things slow. I've never really done much dating or had many long term relationships. I know that there will be times that you are going to want me to catch up with you, but I'm scared to do this unless we go very slowly."
"We can take this as slow as you want." his fingers rubbed against hers. "I'm not here to rush you into anything, and I'd rather keep this low key until we work out the kinks of the relationship. Not having to hide this from your cousin is going to make things different for us, and I don't want to cause you to worry about anything. In our situation there is no room for us hating each other."
"One step at a time and one day at a time." she squeezed his hand. "We can make this work if we take it slow. And if we respect each other's wishes."
"What wishes do you have?' Jesse glanced over at her for a second.
"It's too early to talk about most of them." She looked down at the floor. "Far too early."
"If these wishes are about engagement and marriage it isn't too early." he took a breath, silently praying that she would accept what he was about to say. "I'm not dating you for a fun time. This relationship is about far more than that to me, and to be fair with you I should make my intentions clear now."
"Just let me have one night of fun before you make some big confession to me."
"I can't do that, Gal." He pulled into the restaurant's parking lot. "The fact is I intend to marry you." he parked the car and looked over at her.
"Are you really that serious about me?"
"I wouldn't have started a relationship with you if I wasn't. We have too much at stake since we work and live together, and a break up could make our situation very tense." He got out of the car, walked around, and opened her door. "If you don't see us together in the future we probably don't need to mess things up by forcing the issue with a romantic relationship that could end in heartbreak and trouble."
"Alright, our intentions are to marry each other eventually." she took a breath. "Please tell me that I'm going to get a better proposal than that."
"You will." Jesse laughed and pulled her to him. "I told you, we're taking this slow. We may be perfect for each other, but we need a chance to figure this whole thing out before we start planning a wedding."
"And you will need some time to work on Brennan. I wont marry you with out his blessing. You have ask him if you can marry me before you buy the ring and pop the question."
"You aren't going to make this easy on me are you?"
"Since I moved in I've done nothing but complicate your life. Why would you think that a
romantic relationship with me would be easy?"?
"Good point. Now why don't we go inside so you can tell me about what you are looking for in this relationship."
"That sounds good." she rested her head on his shoulder as they walked into the restaurant.
A few minutes after stepping into the restaurant they were seated in a quite corner at a tiny table for two. In the center of the table was a single candle and a bucket of ice that already held a bottle of the finest Merlot.
"This is so nice." Galena whispered as the waiter handed them menus. When he walked off Galena looked over the meals. "Jess, there are no prices listed."
"Just get whatever you want. It looks like the prices here would be horrible, but they really aren't. My parents' favorite place in New York cost almost a hundred dollars a person."
"On the rare occasion my dad chose to be nice and take me out we went to a place where the meals didn't go over six dollars each. I was just grateful that he wasn't drunk and that he was kind of listening to me for once." she half smiled thinking about it. "I never had steak until this guy got me one hoping a fancy meal would get me to do what he wanted. The second he made his proposition I poured a cup of steaming coffee on him and left." she laughed and took a sip of her wine. "You'd better make sure that I don't have more than a glass or two of this. We both know that I cant hold my liquor."
"I'll watch you closely." he reached over the table and took her hand. "You really look stunning tonight."
"I don't know, I feel under dressed for a place like this."
"You look perfect, like a fairy tale princess." he smiled as he looked into her eyes. "There is no one here who cold look better than you do tonight."
Galena blushed and gave him a bright smile. "You really know how to sweep a girl off her feet."
They both laughed and talked quietly as they waited for the waiter to come take their order.
They continued to talk long after they had finished eating, their earlier worries long gone.
Jesse signaled the waiter for their check. For a moment he sat quietly staring at Galena.
"Penny for your thoughts." she said with a gentle smile.
"I was just thinking how beautiful you are." he picked up his wine glass and held it up. "To us."
Galena held hers up as well. "To us." she whispered.
The glasses clinked together just a little too hard sending a wave of wine over the glasses and onto the dress Galena wore. For a moment neither of them knew how to react, but Galena began to giggle and soon they were both laughing.
"I cant believe that just happened." Galena said, her hazel eyes sparkling.
"It's all my fault." Jesse apologized. "I should have been more careful."
"Don't worry about it. This wasn't my favorite dress anyway." she blotted at the spreading stain with her napkin. "Lets just go home and I'll see what can be done to get it out."
"You're really not upset?"
"Not the least bit." she smiled at him. "I've got a great story to tell Shal and Em tomorrow when we discuss how the date went."
"You are something else, Miss Varren. Definitely something else."