DISCLAIMER - I DO NOT OWN ANY SONGS OR SONG LYRICS MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER
The Next Chapter - Chapter 8
As a soft country breeze blew in through the bedroom window, Danny opened his eyes and the sight before him, took his breath away. Riley laid with her head on the pillow, facing him, with one slender leg sticking out of the covers, and her left hand strewn across his chest. He took her hand gently in his own and gave it a soft kiss, waking her up. No words were spoken, none were needed. They simply just laid there, gazing into one another's eyes, completely wrapped up in the love they shared. They got up and prepared for their last day in paradise, before having to return the next morning. They went through their daily morning routines, still not a single word between them, just smiles, longing stares, and laughing at absolutely nothing. Danny couldn't be happier.
The first words spoken were Riley's, as she asked
"So what to do today?"
Danny had some pretty good ideas, but it seemed Riley did too.
"I thought maybe we could go horseback riding, or canoeing, or I don't know. Anything."
"Anything sounds good." he said as he made a move to push Riley's spaghetti strap off her shoulders.
"Anything but that." she said, not very convincingly.
"But why not, I mean that was the whole point of coming up here right? To reconnect." he said sliding the other one down. He could tell he was weakening Riley's resolve.
"But there is so much more to do here then, oh that feels nice." she said as he reached that tender spot between her neck and shoulder.
"No, Danny come on," she said as she pushed him away, jokingly.
"I'm serious, there is so much we haven't seen or done. I don't know when we're going to be able to come back here, and I'd like to see everything it has to offer. Not just everything you have to offer."
Danny understood completely, he had wanted to go zip lining ever since he saw that sign on the highway. He guessed not having sex for a couple of hours wouldn't kill him.
"Sure. That sounds great. I only have one, no, two conditions."
"Okay what are they?"
'One, we go zip lining, along with that other stuff."
"Sounds great. What else?" she replied.
"We finish what we were just starting, and do it one more time before we go."
Danny watched as Riley rolled her eyes, even less convincingly than before.
"Well I guess so, I mean a deals a deal." she said, as she practically lunged at him from across the breakfast table.
After their morning dalliance was over, Danny and Riley hopped in the car and were on their way. They did pretty much everything. They went horseback riding, which for Danny, ended with a very uncomfortable backside. After, they went canoeing on the lake, which ended with Riley standing up for a picture, and then falling in, that was followed by Danny jumping in to save her. They both dried off as they went zip lining through the tree tops. Danny went first, followed by Riley, and they both enjoyed it so much, they went at the same time on lines right across from each other. By mid afternoon, they had done everything on their Pocono bucket list, and decided to take a relaxing drive into the small town that sat just down the road from their temporary vacation home. As they drove through, Riley spotted a sign that said 'Flea Market' and got Danny to pull over. They walked through the makeshift isles of the flea market, hand in hand, both picking out things they liked, and things that they thought were completely ridiculous that made the other person crack up with laughter. About an hour later they were finally done. Riley
found a new scarf that matched her outfit perfectly, Danny had found a hat that looked just like one his grandpa had that he loved as a kid, as well as a new toy for baby Jamie. As they were paying for all of their great finds, Riley asked the woman if there was any good places to eat, as it was almost dinner time.
"Well if you pull out of here and make a right, a little ways down the road you'll see a sign for a place called Cappy's. That's where all the young people go to have a good time. Great food and drinks, and a different type of entertainment every night."
"Sounds perfect." Riley said to Danny as she paid the woman, and pulled him back to the car. The nice woman's directions were spot on, and in no time at all they saw the neon sign with Cappy's written on it. When they went inside, they were surprised to see the place was actually really nice. They had sports memorabilia on the walls, and a bar, and tables and booths all covered in a nice brown leather.
"Hi, welcome to Cappy's. How many?"
"Two for dinner please." Danny said.
"Okay sure, right this way." she said as she led them to a table in front of what looked like a stage.
"Your waitress will be right with you." she said as she placed the menus on the table and went back to the hostess stand.
"Wow this place is amazing." Riley exclaimed.
"I know, and we got the best seat in the house. Right by the stage." Danny added.
"I wonder what the live entertainment is?" and just as she asked that, Danny saw the girl that had just seated them, get up on stage.
"Hey how's everybody doing tonight?" Danny watched as the whole place came alive.
"Y'all are in for a treat. Cause tonight is karaoke night here at Cappy's and we invite all our guests to come up here and sing. If your interested, go up and put your name on the sign up list. Thank you." She left the stage and people started getting up to sing. Danny and Riley had a great time listening to everybody as they had their dinner.
"You know what this reminds me of?" Danny asked.
"What?" Riley responded.
"When we went to the block party on our old block and you got up and serenaded Ben."
"Oh yeah. I almost forgot about that."
"I didn't. I loved watching you up there almost as much as I love hearing you sing. I didn't even mind that it wasn't for me, well I mean I did, but still it was great."
Danny had hoped he didn't make Riley uncomfortable with all this talk of her and Ben, and he thought his fears were confirmed when she excused herself to the bathroom. Danny yelled at himself in his mind, here they were having a nice time, and he had to go ruin it with his big mouth. As he waited for Riley to come back, he heard a familiar song come on from the karaoke stage.
"And next up we have Riley Wheeler, singing a song to her husband Danny for their 1 year wedding anniversary." Danny heard them announce.
He sat in shock as Riley got on stage and started singing the Nora Jones version of 'Love Me Tender'. The same song that had played, as they shared their first dance as husband and wife.
Love me tender, love me sweet
Never let me go
You have made my life complete
And I love you so
Love me tender, love me true
All my dreams fulfill
For, my darling I love you
And I always will.
Danny watched as Riley sang, with her voice as sweet and melodic as an angels. Her eyes never left him, as she sang her declaration of love, and Danny never took his eyes off her either, thinking how lucky he was that this woman loved him.
Love me tender, love me dear
Tell me you are mine
I'll be yours through all the years
'Till the end of time
Love me tender, love me true
All my dreams fulfill
For, my darling I love you
And I always will
Love me tender, love me true
All my dreams fulfill
For, my darling I love you
And I always will
Always will
When she was finished, Danny ran up on stage and gave her a big kiss in front of the whole restaurant. When they finally noticed all the people cheering, they turned and took a bow, both embarrassed but neither of them really caring. Danny felt like he was on cloud nine for the rest of the night. When they got back to the house, Danny didn't want the night to end. He dragged Riley outside, as he took his phone and started playing the song she had just sung earlier at dinner.
"Will you dance with me?" he asked, just like he had when he made prom come alive for her in his old apartment.
"I'd love to." she responded.
As they swayed to the music, Danny felt wetness on his shirt, it was coming from Riley.
"Hey hey, no tears. This is a happy moment." he said wiping away her tears as she gave him a smile.
"I know it is. That's why I'm crying." Danny was confused.
"This trip has been so amazing, I never want it to end. I guess I'm just sad we have to leave." she confessed. Danny tried to think of what to say to make her feel better, when he thought of the best idea.
"Why don't we make a promise, that we will come back here for every anniversary. That can be our little tradition. And maybe a summer or too once Jamie gets bigger. If he's anything like me, he's gonna love that tire swing."
"That sounds perfect." Riley said with a kiss, as they finished their dance, underneath the stars.