Chapter 14

As Taylor left the UCAN office, she noticed Joe coming toward her carrying a bouquet of flowers.

"Hi," he said as he gave her a hug and a kiss.

"Hi," she greeted, surprised by both his presence and the flowers.

Embarrassed, he handed her the flowers. "Happy Thanksgiving."

"Happy Thanksgiving. I didn't expect you to come and pick me up."

"I wanted to."

She smiled. "I'm glad you did. So what's the plan?"

"I made reservations for 2:00. I figured that would give you time to go home and shower. We can go to the Navy Pier after. Is that okay?"

"Of course it's okay. But the golf course is closed."

Joe led her to his car and opened the door for her. Closing her door, he walked around to his side and got in. "Yeah, darn it. I was in the mood to beat your ass too."

She laughed. "I was hoping since the weather was so nice that maybe they would stay open longer, but not this year."

"It's nice to not have snow on Thanksgiving. It doesn't happen often."

"No, it doesn't." Chicago was having an unseasonably warm autumn. "But it makes work a lot easier."

"You fly in the winter?"

"If it gets too bad, we don't, but yes, for the most part we do."

"Doesn't it get scary?"

"Sometimes, but we have good pilots. They don't risk anything."

As they walked along the Navy Pier, Taylor was regretting eating so much. Dinner had been a delicious feast of turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, cranberry sauce, and a ton of gravy. Generally, she ate healthy, but did allow herself to cheat on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

"Ferris Wheel?" Joe asked, knowing her answer would be an easy yes. Taylor loved the Ferris Wheel. The first time they went to Navy Pier, he got up the nerve to kiss her for the first time on the top of the Ferris Wheel.

"Of course. You don't think you're going to get away with taking me to the Navy Pier and not kiss me do you?"

Joe chuckled. "You'll get kissed. Sooner or later," he promised.

"Yeah, I know. I'm too easy."

"I wouldn't say that. Seems to me you held out for two months before you let me kiss you."

"That didn't mean I didn't want you to," she admitted.

"And I wanted to."

They got on the ride and Taylor snuggled in to Joe. As they climbed higher, Joe felt a knot in his stomach, and he felt nauseated. Sensing the change, Taylor looked up at him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just ate too much," he lied.

"I have some Tums if you need them," she offered.

"Thanks, but I think I'll be okay."

Reaching the top, Taylor expected Joe to kiss her. When it wasn't forthcoming, she started to worry. Instead, Joe took her hand.

"Joe?" she asked, worried that he still wasn't feeling well.

"Taylor," he started.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. I think." He took a deep breath and let it out. "Taylor, marry me."

She looked at him, eyes wide open, her breath coming in shallow puffs. She nodded, not able to trust her voice.

Joe slipped the ring on her finger. She looked down at it, then up at him. "Is this-?"

He nodded. "It's the one I bought you all those years ago."

"Oh, Joe," she said as she hugged him. "I love you so much."