The man’s eyes widened a little when he saw the young serviceman in his dress uniform, decorated with cords, pins, and all the bright formal trim. He stepped aside at once to let him pass. Mike nodded his thanks and hurried inside.
As he climbed the stairs, Mike found himself thinking about how the white lilies in Annie’s bouquet matched the white cord on his uniform. Annie would notice that—she always appreciated little details like that. At last he reached her door, rang the bell, and when Annie opened it, she froze for half a second before throwing her arms around him.
“You idiot,” she whispered, tears running down her face. “I thought I was going to lose my mind waiting for you. Every day felt like a week.” “Believe me, same here,” Mike said with a grin.
Then Annie pulled back, frowned, and lightly smacked his shoulder. “What were you thinking?” she said. “I wanted to set the table, open some champagne, have you over with both our parents.”
“What am I supposed to do now, feed you frozen dumplings? I didn’t have time to get ready.” “You don’t need to do a thing,” Mike said, a little taken aback by her energy. “I’m heading home now, and in a couple hours I’ll come back for you. We’ll go out somewhere—just the two of us.”
“I don’t want anybody interrupting us. We can have dinner with your folks and mine tomorrow, okay?” “Okay,” Annie said, smiling, and hugged him one more time. Back at home, Mike finally changed out of the sharp but uncomfortable dress uniform and pulled on jeans and a lightweight hoodie.
“Take a jacket,” his mother said. “It’ll cool off tonight. It’s not summer yet.” “Mom, it’s May,” Mike said with a smile as he tied his boots.
“May can still be chilly. Did you at least stop by and see your friends?” she asked. “They’ll still be there tomorrow,” Mike said. “Tonight I just want to be with Annie.”
“I bet your Annie’s on cloud nine,” his mother said, narrowing one eye with a knowing look. “You bet,” Mike said. He kissed her on the cheek and headed out the door. “I’ll be back late.”
If Mike had known how true those words would turn out to be, he might have said goodbye to his mother—whom he hadn’t seen in a year—with a little more warmth and care. But that’s life: we rarely know where we’ll be tomorrow or how fast things can change. That night Mike took Annie to the most romantic restaurant in town…
