My Sweet Valentine Read online

  ***

  Amber sighed as she pushed the snow down her drive way. She hefted the shovel and tossed the gathered snow into the growing pile on her lawn. She yawned hugely and waved at a neighbour as they drove past in their car. It was 9AM and she was about half way through shovelling the four inches of snow gathered on her lawn and sidewalks.

  She wasn’t complaining exactly. It was good cardio exercise plus the cold chill in the air made her feel refreshed. Plus when she was done she could curl up by the fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate and read. She frowned lightly as she pushed more snow towards her lawn. She missed Greg again.

  When they cleared the snow together they would collapse into a snowball fight sometime during the process of trying to clean snow. Then they would be soaking wet to finish the chore before running inside. Wet clothes would be flung down at the door and they would go about making hot chocolate in the light shirts and shorts they layered under the heavier clothes. Once the hot chocolate was made, they would snuggle under the big red blanket and read together by the fire.

  They would finally venture out of the cocoon around lunch time to eat before snuggling back into the warmth. Amber would reluctantly get out of the cozy position in his arms before getting ready for work or bed. It depended what time she actually worked. She was happier when she was on the day shift because then she could snuggle with Greg in front of the fire place until they went to sleep that night.

  She pushed the shovel along the driveway, her earlier enthusiasm gone with the pining for her husband. She was used to this emptiness as he had to travel a lot for the company. It never got easier the more times he did leave and she suspected it never would.

  As she piled more snow onto her lawn she heard snow being crunched under heavy boots. She peeked out from under her wool cap to see a tall slim man walking by. His brown hair was tied back in a low pony tail and he struck her as familiar. She blinked a few times as he continued down the street.

  She tried to figure out where she had seen him before but by working at a busy hospital for six years she had seen hundreds of thousands of people. Patients, visitors to patients, hundreds of people passed her on a daily bases. She frowned and shook her head at the vague feeling that she should know that particular man but pushed it aside to finish her chore.

  An hour later she was curled underneath the big red blanket with a mug of hot chocolate in front of her. She was trying to read but the words were not sticking and she found herself re-reading the same sentence over and over again. Finally Amber put down the book and stretched out to take a nap.

  Someone knocked on the door and she jolted, noting that she had in fact fallen asleep for about half an hour. She struggled to get out of the tangle of blankets and almost fell to the floor in her haste. Free from the warmth she shivered as she made her way to the door in a quick trot.

  She peered through the peep hole but again, no one was there. She scowled and opened the door. Instead of stepping out in her bare feet she peeked down in curiosity. Sitting on the clean front porch was an enormous white teddy bear clutching a sparkly red heart with the words “I love you” embroidered in white. Amber chuckled lightly and lifted the bear, noticing as she brought it close that a card was tied around its neck.

  Amber pressed the bear against her chest to remove the card and it startled her by proclaiming its love for her. Amber giggled again and pulled free the same card that had appeared on both the roses and the chocolate box. She again tried to look down the street but saw nothing but snow and empty streets.

  With a small shake of her head, Amber retreated back into the house and its offered warmth. She hugged the bear close to her chest and wondered how Greg’s delivery man was so perfectly timed to get her when she would take too long to get to the door. All of his friends had been fast runners so in retrospect, she knew they did not need her to be delayed for long to dash off before she spotted them.

  Amber settled back into the red mass of blankets and snuggled with the teddy bear as she thought of her husband’s cute little surprises. The little surprises helped her through the day when she felt as if something horrible was about to happen even when she knew that was impossible.

  The feeling of being watched had not gone completely away either. Amber looked at the bear in her arms and a smile graced her features when thoughts of her husband over-rode the depressing musings. She fell into a light sleep but still wished the house did not feel so large and empty.

  Valentine’s Day, six years prior:

  Amber rubbed her wilting eyelids for the umpteenth time as she read over her rough draft of an essay that was due. She checked the clock and saw it to be nearing 9PM. Greg was lounging around in the living room of their shared apartment and she assumed he was seeing if they could afford to live in the apartment another month.

  She massaged her temples this time as she felt the beginnings of a headache coming on. She only had five more pages to type and she could call it a night. She bleary continued on her mission and wondered how much caffeine she would need the next morning when she had to awaken early for a morning class.

  She heard shuffling from behind her and did not bother to turn. Strong hands fell upon her shoulders a moment later and begin to gently rub them. Amber smirked and leaned back into the touch as Greg leaned down and kissed her neck gently.

  “Want to go for a walk?” he questioned lightly.

  The breath against her ear made her shiver lightly in pleasure. His words hit her a moment later and she turned to stare at him incredulously. He was grinning at her and she frowned lightly. Taking a walk now would me having to stay up even later to finish her essay.

  “I can’t right now. I have to finish this,” Amber told him with a shake of her head.

  Greg scowled lightly at the statement and ran a hand through his hair. He looked at the mass of papers and books she had piled around her laptop and Amber saw a thoughtful look cross his face. She assumed the conversation was over and turned back to finish typing.

  “The air will clear your head though,” Greg pointed out from behind her.

  “I know but I can’t take an hour out. I’ll be up past midnight if I do. You know I have to be up early tomorrow morning,” Amber rebutted.

  “It won’t be that long a walk. I just want to go down to the lake and back, half hour tops,” Greg refuted.

  “Greg,” Amber whined with a little sigh.

  Greg laughed lightly at the whine in her throat then began rubbing her shoulders and neck again. Amber huffed lightly and shook her head, breaking out of his touch. She rolled her shoulders and went back to the work in front of her.

  “Come on, you love walking in the snow. Look it’s even snowing those big fluffy flakes you love. It’s a sign,” Greg piped up.

  Amber looked out the window in front of her and saw that he was right. Big clumps of snow were cascading down in a swirl of sparkling white flakes. Amber bit her lip and began calculating out how much time it would actually take them on the little walk. She finally sighed and heaved herself out of the chair.

  “Fine, but we can’t stay out there too long. I want to be in bed before 1AM tonight,” Amber relented.

  Greg let out a little whoop of excitement and rushed to pull on boots, a winter jacket, a scarf and gloves in no particular order. Amber chuckled at his enthusiasm and tugged on her winter boots. She wound a scarf around her neck next then donned her winter coat. She tugged on a winter hat before shoving her hands into gloves.

  Greg placed his keys in his winter coat and Amber made sure she had hers. Greg oft times forgot where he put his keys then could not find them. Amber swore there was some kind of black hole in his coats that swallowed up his keys at the worst possible moments and spit them out when he was about to get a new set.

  They strode out of the modest apartment and took the elevator down to the main floor. Greg wrapped an arm around her shoulders to hold her close as they stepped into the snowy weather.

  The cold air washed over
her, chilling her cheeks instantly and tousling the loose hair she had not managed to tuck into her hat. She shivered slightly but a smile came to her lips and she snuggled closer into Greg. Their footsteps crunched in the freshly fallen snow and Amber noticed theirs were the only set of tracks. No one else loved winter as much as she did to brave the snow after 9PM.

  The walk to the lake was brisk and only took about ten minutes. The lake itself was situation in a park that was normally filled with children. Tonight there were only a few teens gathered in a group beside the swing set. Amber peered at them and noted that they were actually swinging and not doing anything illegal as she had first thought.

  The view of the teens disappeared as they stepped onto the path that would lead to the man-made lake. It only took a few more minutes before the water appeared and Greg stopped on the path to look into the depths. Amber cuddled into him and in the distance saw the other side of the half frozen water.

  Suddenly Greg pulled away and Amber blinked in confusion. She turned to ask him what was going on but found him kneeling on one leg in the snow. Her heart leaped into her chest and her throat tightened. Greg smiled at her and she felt heat rising to her cheeks as he pulled a little blue box from a pocket in his coat.

  He fumbled with it a bit because of his gloves but finally got it open to reveal a slim gold band with interlocking hearts. The middle of the hearts was empty, as if a diamond should be sitting there but there was no sparkling gem.

  It finally clued into Amber that today was Valentine’s Day. She had not noticed before as all her attention had been focused on classes. It made her feel silly when she had replied in the negative to the questions about what she was doing tonight. Her friends had looked so upset for her and she had not been sure why at the time.

  “Amber,” Greg said her name lightly; reverently as if it was a prayer he was sending up to God.

  “Oh Greg,” Amber muttered back and wondered if he even heard her.

  “You’ve made me so happy these past four years. I want to keep being as happy as I have been. I want to be with you until we both grow so old we have to shout to hear each other. I know there’s no diamond in this ring because you know neither of us could have afforded it. But I still want you to be my wife and I promise that we’ll never have to think about surviving month to month. So, will you be my Valentine forever?” Greg uttered quickly.

  Amber felt tears welling up in her eyes and found that her voice did not seem to want to work. She swallowed hard a few times and nodded quickly.

  “Yes, yes, yes,” she finally exclaimed in a laugh as the tears tumbled down her cheeks.

  Greg stood and kissed her before pulling off her left glove and reverently sliding the ring without its diamond onto her finger. Amber let out a little yelp of excitement and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him heatedly on the lips. He wrapped her in his arms and they stood there kissing for a few long moments.

  Finally they pulled away and Amber looked down at the ring on her finger with a mixture of awe and joy. The lack of a diamond had not surprised her. Whatever Greg had in his personal savings account would have been completely demolished on the band alone, never mind affording a diamond.

  “It’s perfect, even without a diamond,” Amber told him and reluctantly pulled her glove back on.

  “You’ll get a diamond for it, I promise. It may take a few years but I won’t leave it bare like that,” Greg assured her and wrapped her in a hug again.

  Amber nodded and decided against arguing with him about the need of a diamond. She would much rather stay cuddled in his arms for the moment. He pulled away slightly but Amber realized it was only to guide them back down the path towards home. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed happily.

  She touched the ring through her glove and grinned again as the snow fell around them. Someone shouted and Amber noticed it was the teens. They were looking over at them with curious grins. Amber laughed and waved as Greg chuckled along with her when she shouted out:

  “We’re engaged!”