I love you more.

“Bang!”

 My pencil rolls off the table and clatters onto the floor as Mr. Bramford slams a stack of files on the table. 

“You have to get this report done by next week! If you don’t, our investors will drop us.”

I run my fingers through my brown, wavy hair. They always said I had my mother’s hair. I thought to myself, bemused. I took a moment to consider my words.

“They want to hear from him, not me,” I said

He slams his hand on the table, making my pencil roll off the table again.

“He’s dead! He also told me to help you, but you are doing a very poor job pulling your weight. You have to step up like your father!” Mr. Bamford roars.

 4 months ago, Father had a massive stroke that ended his life. Mr. Bramford is my father’s closest advisor and was furious when he found out I had ownership of the company instead of him. Just like my Father, Joseph Dawson, I had a genius mind for business, but the idea of hundreds of people looking at me terrified me. 

“I’ll think about it,” I say as I get up to leave the room. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a stack of papers thrown in the air by Mr. Bamford. A string of profanities follows me out of the room and echoes down the hallway. I go to my office hoping to find some clarity in the situation, but every idea I could think of for a proposition is a dead end. To clear my mind, I go to the elevators and jam my finger into the GARAGE button.

 I need to get out of here.

My motor purrs to life when I crank the ignition and a cloud of smoke billows behind me as I peel out of the garage. I drive subconsciously for an hour passing the climbing skyscrapers that line the street. Women waltz out of boutiques donning the latest 70’s attire and men in crisp suits rush down the street.

 Everyone seems to have a plan, except me. I think darkly.

 Deciding to go to my apartment, I turn down the street that leads to Weirbridge Suites and gives my keys to a nearby valet. When I get into my apartment, I pack only the necessities and grab a wad of cash. Then, I go back down and start my car.

Anywhere, I don’t care.

 I drive for hours, but then I have to stop at a gas station to fill up. After regaining my composure, I motion for the gas attendant and pay him the fill up my car.

 The jingle of a bell pierces the silence when I open the door. A young woman appears from the backroom carrying several boxes to the store counter. She looks at me with a warm smile and asks,

“Whatcha need, mister?”

“A bottle of pop please.” I rasp. I didn’t realize how much dust I inhaled on the road. She moves the Fridgedare to grab Coke and a Cola. While she does this, I begin to reach into my pocket for money. 

“Don’t worry about it, it’s on the house,” she says with a wink. “Thanks,” I say, downing my drink. 

She nods her head, grabs a rag, and turns to clean around a tin can under the A/C that is catching the water. I take this moment to look at how beautiful the woman is. Strands of golden hair fall playfully out of her bun. The sunlight pouring into the store highlight the subtle curves of her body. When she turns around, My gaze whips up to her eyes to find they are a striking blue. 

“You new in town?” she curiously asks.

“No, I’m from Asheville, just a few hours north of here.”

“Can’t say the same, I’ve been in Brevard since I was a little girl.”

“Are there any nice hotels I can stay in around here?” I ask after a short pause

“We have a nice B and B near the center of town. It’s called Key Falls Inn, you would love it.” she pulls out a map and shows me how to get to it. My attention wanders to the freckles that dot her petite nose. I pull my focus back to the direction only to find, that she slides me the map, telling me to keep it.

“Thanks. My name is Jay Dawson by the way.”

“Nice to meet you! My name is Del.” She says, extending her hand for a handshake.

I shake her hand, but mine stays in hers for a little longer than necessary.

“You can stop shaking my hand now.” She says with a smile playing on her lips.

“Oh sorry,” I say as I jerk my hand away. I run my fingers through my hair with a nervous laugh.

“ No harm done.” another awkward silence falls in the store until she talks again

“If you want, I can show you around the town tomorrow?”

Even though it would go against everything Mr. Bamford or my father says about entertaining a woman like her, I reply, “Of course, I would love to.”

“Perfect! Meet me in front of the fountain at 10. There are so many places you have to see!” She says

“I’m looking forward to it!” I pause and then say, “well, I best be going. Nice meeting you.” 

“Good to meet you too! See you tomorrow” another smile flashes across her face.

I walk out of the store and tip the gas attendant finishing up my car. He thanks me with a tip of his hat and a southern “Thank yer.”. When I pull out of the gas station, I'm left with a calm, yet giddy, feeling.

I casually lounge on a bench in front of a beautiful fountain. I glance at my watch and it reads 9:45. While I wait, I watch the bustle of the quaint country life these people lead. Unlike Asheville, only about 4 cars pass my way in 10 minutes. The pedestrians calmly stroll in and out of the small pop-up store that lines the pavement. I could get used to this life. I mentally reprimanded myself for my wishful thinking Mr.Bramford, the business, and my “friends” would never be allowed me to leave. My thoughts are interrupted by someone faintly calling my name. I look over to the sound to find Del walking towards me, with yet another smile across her face. 

“Hey Jay, sorry to keep you waiting.”

“No problem, I people-watched to pass the time,” I say with a friendly smile.

“Alright! The first place I wanna take you is the market. It's right over here.” I follow her to a large area with numerous stalls and continue perusing the several others. Beautiful hand-crafted jewelry covers a table. After I saw Del admire a necklace with a blue jewel, I purchased the necklace to surprise her later. When we leave the market, we go to a bakery that Del said was making ice cream today. I felt completely at ease as we walked down the streets eating our ice cream with the sun on our shoulders. We talk casually about what we like to do and what our hobbies are and I accidentally mention I love photography.

"That's an amazing gift, why don't you start a business with it?"

"Well, I have Father's business and Mr. Bamford would be furious."

"Don't worry about what they say, do what you love."

"Yeah..." I say, trailing my words out.

"Seriously! Promise you'll think about it?" she says holding out her pinky.

Could I really do it? break the tradition of the generation of Dawsons before me?"

Deciding to trust Del, I link my pinky with hers.

"Promise," I say.

We finish our icy treat and throw the paper in a nearby bin.

“Do I have any ice cream on my face?” Del asks looking at me.

I notice a little ice cream on her cheek. Without thinking, I reach over to wipe it off. My hand lingers on her face longer than usual and she gives me a dreamy, perplexed look. I jerk my hand back, embarrassed, and mutter sorry under my breath.

“At least you got it,” Del says chuckling, attempting to lighten the mood.

Neither of us speaks until Del, out of the blue, says 

“I almost forgot! There is this beautiful waterfall just a mile away from the town. If we start now we can make it.”

As we walk, Del regales me with her glorious childhood at the waterfall. I attempt to tell her about my experiences with nature, but they seem insignificant to hers. In the distance, I hear a faint white noise, and the closer we get, the louder we have to talk. Del walks in front of me and pushes aside a big leaf to reveal a huge waterfall. Water cascades down the 60ft cliff into a sparkly creek. Del grabs my hand and leads me towards it.

“Come on! It's gorgeous at the top!” Del yells.

We walk towards the side of the cliff and begin the climb of the slippery rocks. Finally, we make it to the top and sit looking over the waterfall at all of Brevard. 

“It's beautiful isn't it,” Del says breathlessly. I look over at her and gaze longingly at her.

“It is,” I say in a husky voice. After a few seconds of silence, Del looks back at me and blushes; but looks away with a sheepish smile.

“Follow me, there's a bridge just down here that overlooks the calmer part of the creek.” She says.

I walk with her through the thick undergrowth and try and push away branches in our way. We get far enough away to where the waterfall is a distant sound and step onto a long, old bridge.

“ I promise it's safe,” Del says with a mischievous smile, looking back at me.

When we finally get settled in the middle, I reach back into my pocket and pull out the necklace I bought her. A silence falls between us, signaling my opportunity to give her the necklace.

“I got something for you, just a way of saying thank you.”

“Oh?” she says, excitement lacing the edge of her voice.

I pull out the necklace a let it dangle in front of her. 

“It's the necklace from the market!” she gasps. I unhook the latch and motion to put it on. In turn, she lifts up her hair and turns around and I put it on her. She turns around and lifts the necklace off her chest, admiring it with childlike fascination. 

“I love it,” she says as she throws her arms around me.

And I love you. I think to myself, longing to say it out loud. After a few more hours of talking and walking around the creek, we finally head back to the town. The sun is almost below the horizon but still casts its golden rays upon every object. We stop in front of the B and B and look into each other's eyes. Neither of us says anything but seems to be saying a thousand words of love to each other. Del finally speaks and says 

“Good night Jay.”

“Good night,” I reply. Neither of us wants to leave, we remain standing in front of the B and B. Suddenly, Del’s face lights up as though she remembers something.

“Come to the station tomorrow at 5:30, after we close. I have a surprise for you.” Del says excitingly.

“Okay! I'll be there.” I reply cooly, masking the happiness threatening to spill over. We hear Mrs. Debbie, the owner of the B and B, call to see who's out there. I call back saying I will be in soon.

“So… see you tomorrow?” I say

“See you tomorrow” she confirms as she turns to leave, but halfway down the sidewalk she suddenly stops. Then, she turns around and runs toward me. Throwing her arms around my neck, she kisses me on the cheek. Just as quickly as she came back she began to walk away. Turning her head around she gives me a small wave and a tiny smile. I return it, still stunned by the kiss. I gently touch my cheek to find a smile spread wide across my face. 

After waiting anxiously in my hotel room for 30 minutes reading, looking out the window, or drinking coffee, I finally leave at 5:00. I head to the gas station not but 15 minutes away on my bike. The only time I left the room was to eat lunch and explore the town to kill time. On the way to the gas station, I notice faint, gray clouds swirling in the far distance. Just another summer shower. Arriving at 5:20, I casually walk up the steps, even though I, ve been waiting all day just to see what Del has for me, I maintain my well-practiced composure. The familiar bell jingles upon my arrival, but no one is here to greet me. Disappointed, I walk to the back of the store and peek through the door.

“Del?” I tentatively call.

“Back here!” she replies.

I follow the voice to a room filled with lots of car parts, bottles of oil, and heavy machinery. I see Del screwing a side mirror onto a car lifted several inches off the ground. She's wearing denim coveralls smeared with dirt and oil. She lifts her head when I let out a whistle and say,

 “Impressive setup you got here.”

“ Yeah, Pa built the gas station on the garage in ‘58”

“What are you working on?”

“ This fella hit a mailbox and knocked off his side mirror, he also wanted an oil change too, not a very hard job,” she says shrugging.

“What is it you wanted to show me?” I ask casually.

“Oh! Wait on the porch over there. Let me change and grab the gift for ya.” she walks over to a door on the side of the garage and I go out to the small, screened-in porch. I notice an old gramophone sitting on a side table next to a wicker loveseat. Instinctively, I reach out to drop the needle on the record already on it. A slow, jazzy melody begins playing and I immediately recognize the tune as “At Last.” by Etta James. My parents danced to this on their wedding day. 

“ Ah, Etta James, one of my favorites,” Del says, stepping onto the porch.

“ Me too, my parents danced to this at their reception.” we exchange smiles and we fondly look at each other

“Alright close your eyes! I got a surprise,” she says excitingly.

I close my eyes and feel her hand grab my shoulders, leading me to sit on the wicker couch. I then hear the music turned off and her sitting next to me.

“ Okay, so this was my sister's, she moved out years ago so she doesn't want it anymore. So open your eyes in three, two, one!” 

I open my eyes to find a black Nikon F401 held out in her hands. I reach to take it from her hands to find it's in amazing condition.

" Del, thank you so much. It's perfect!” I say with an evident smile on my face.

“ I knew you would like it! Now you can go off and be a famous photographer and take pictures of the world!” 

“That seems like a wonderful idea,” I reply sincerely. 

A gentle rain begins falling, making a pitter patter on the tin rook above us.”

“ you know, this reminds me, I know what I'm going to do with the business,” I say, breaking the hiatus in the conversation. Del sidles closer to me and says.

“And what's that?”

“I've decided to sell the business. I knew Father well enough to know he would want me to be happy. So I will use the money to jumpstart a photography company.”

“Wow! That's amazing Jay. I'm so proud of you.”

“I'm going to head back tomorrow to get everything sorted out.” 

“Then what?” I notice a hint of sadness in her voice when she said that.

“I've been looking at a few places in town and found an empty building for sale. I'm thinking of starting there, maybe get a few people to invest, really get the name JD’s Photography out there.” I say with a flourish of my hand.

“You've got it all figured out, I'm so happy for you.”

“I'm missing one thing though.”

“What?” she asks, her doe eyes looking back at me

“You.” using her moment of stunned silence, I reach over and drop the needle again.

Etta James's silky voice surrounds us in blissful romance. Grabbing her hand I lean down and whisper in her ear.

“Dance with me, Del.” 

I lift her with me and lead her off the porch into the heavy shower. Cold rain soaks us both, but we are so enamored with each other, that we hardly notice. Lifting her hand, I wrap my arm around her waist. We sway to the bluesy melody coming from the gramophone, never once taking our eyes off each other. I lift her arm above her head and spin her. Her hair flings water into the moist ground beneath us. I reach up to cup her face,and slowly lean down; but Del fills the gap and presses her lips to mine. Raindrops slide down and coat our lips as we deepen our kiss. She leans back and stares passionately into my face.

“I love you, Jay.”

“I love you more Del.” 

 Resting her head on my chest we slowly dance until the rain ceases to fall and Etta sings her last song on the record.