Doug is Back

“Oh, my God. Is it really you?”

Even as I said the words, my arms reached out to hug him. I was stunned. But more than that, I was incredibly happy.

And he was hugging me back. My Doug, the man who disappeared one day, was hugging me back.

After a huge bear hug, I pulled back the top part of my torso. The bottom was still firmly in his embrace.

“I don’t understand. My mother told me you were dead. Where’ve you been?”

His eyes told me he hadn’t heard what I said. He raised his hands from my waist to place them on either side of my face.

“God, I’ve missed you,” and with those words, he kissed me.

This was the kiss I’d been dreaming about for the past three years.

In my sleep, I refused to believe he was truly gone. It was only during the waking hours that I dealt with my grief.

But that was all over now. My heart was no longer in pieces. He brought the missing pieces with him when he showed up.

The kiss was over way too soon, but I think we were both suddenly aware we were standing in the middle of the sidewalk on Main Street. His hands didn’t leave the sides of my head, and the material of our clothing was the only thing that separated our loins.

“How?”

“Let’s go get a cup of coffee and talk it out, okay?”

I wondered what that meant, but I just said, “Okay.”

He hooked his arm through mine, and we headed towards the little diner at the end of the street. I was too stunned to say anything more. My head was swimming, and I was much too much aware of the chapping of my lips.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss from my dreams nor ignore the feel of his hand in mine or keep from wanting to inhale deeply. The smell of his familiar cologne filled my senses, and I only knew I’d missed him for too long.

Was this a dream? I hoped not, but if it was, I never wanted to wake up.

&&&&

We slid into the booth we’d fondly referred to as ours for years.

There were too many times during high school, and a few months before I’d heard he was dead. Too many times where we’d drank coffee together, laughing, telling stories, and sharing our thoughts about life – our future together.

“I know I owe you an explanation, Beth.”

“Yes, somebody certainly does. I’ve been in mourning for the past three years. Everyone told me I needed to move on, and I just couldn’t. I didn’t want to believe what they said. I couldn’t accept your death.

“Maybe this is why. So, what did happen? Where were you all this time?”

“Let’s wait a minute until we get our coffee. I’d rather not be interrupted once I start explaining,” he said as he raised his arm to call the waitress.

While waiting, I greedily stared. He hadn’t changed very much in these three years. Though he didn’t have the tan he’d normally sported, it seemed he’d had from the time we were kids; he looked just the same.

The stubborn cowlick still bobbed when he moved his head, and the scar on his forehead from when Jack Stubbins in high school threw a rock at him was still there, though it might have faded just a bit. I tried to drink him in. I memorized every curve and angle of his face. I wondered if his beard came in darker and stiffer now.

Would it be possible for us to just go back to how we were before everything changed?

When the waitress brought the two steaming mugs, she brought a fresh pitcher of creamer and put six packets of Sweet & Low in front of me.

“Aha, I guess you still come here a lot, huh?”

“I come here every day. It’s the one place I have always felt you with me. I even sit in this booth unless someone else was sitting here. But most people in town know all about me. About us, I mean.”

“Damn it, Beth. I can only imagine what you’ve been through. And you have to believe me when I say I’m sorry. The worst part about this whole thing was I knew you’d be devastated, but it was the best thing to do.”

“What whole thing? Can you explain, please?”

“Go ahead and stir all that stuff in your coffee. We’re both going to need something strong. If I thought I could’ve waited until the evening to see you, I would’ve taken you to Gilley’s, but I had to see you. Now.”

My hands shook as I poured the cream. I grasped the pink packages and snapped them back and forth. He was watching me with a stupid grin on his face. The grin I’d missed more than I ever thought possible.

“Doug, please tell me. I can’t understand this at all.”

“I’ve been going over what I would say for months now. I hoped I could come home when things changed, but I didn’t know for sure that they would. But then, yesterday, it happened.”

“Why don’t you start at the beginning and bring me up to speed, K?”

I mentally braced myself. I had zero ideas of what was coming, but I knew it couldn’t be good.

“Do you remember Salvatore De Maria from school?”

“Yeah, I do. He was the kid who always sat in the back of the class. He had long black hair, and he wore biker boots from the time we were in eighth grade. Right?”

“That’s the guy. Well, as it turns out, he got himself into some trouble back in 2017. And he got killed for it. And unfortunately, I saw him get killed.”

“What? You’re kidding!”

“No, I wish I were. If I hadn’t seen anything that night, none of this would ever have happened. But everything in our lives changed because of it.”

Doug reached across the table and grasped my left hand in his. He turned it over and stared at my ring finger for a long time.

“You’re still wearing it?”

“I couldn’t take it off. You’d only given it to me three days before you died—disappeared. It was my one tangible link to you.”

Suddenly, he stood up and slid in my side of the booth. His arms wrapped around me as his lips pressed onto mine. I felt his tongue open my mouth, and I lost myself in the moment. I didn’t care who was in the diner with us. Nothing else in the world mattered.

After what seemed like forever, he pulled back. “Do you want to know the rest of it?”

“Not that it really matters in the big scheme of things, but yeah, I want to know.”

“It seems that Sal’s killer was some connected guy. I’d seen his face, so some people were looking for me. And, your dad didn’t think they were planning on giving me some reward.”

“You mean, he thought they would kill you?” I felt my eyes go wide, and my stomach clench.

“Are you still in danger? Did you just come back to get me? Let’s go. Let’s get out of here,” I was whispering loudly. Panic filled my blood with adrenaline, and I felt my instinct for flight take over my being.

“Calm down. It’s okay. It’s all over.”

“Wait. You said my dad thought . . . so, my father knew you weren’t dead?”

“Yeah. Both of your parents did. But we all thought you’d only be safe if that’s what you thought. It was for your own good.”

My head was swimming. How on earth could anyone think this was for my good? I’d been in pain for so long.

“So, how is it all over? Did the contract go away?”

Doug laughed a bit. It sounded like a laugh of irony. “Turns out the guy pissed off the head of the whole thing. He got himself killed last week, and your dad sent me a plane ticket.”

“You’re home for good?”

“Yeah. And if you’ll have me, I would like to start dating again.”

“Dating? What about our engagement?”

“You and I both have grown up and changed in the last three years, don’t you think? Let’s take the time to get to know who we are now. I’m pretty sure neither of us could’ve changed into people we wouldn’t still be in love with, but I never, ever want to take the chance of hurting you again.

I couldn’t help but smile.

“So, does this mean I have to pay half the check?”

And with our laughter, I felt the last three years melt away.