Loose Ends

Chapter 34: His Heart's Keeper

Ricky jumped in the shower the second he closed the door of his apartment. He toweled himself off while walking into his bedroom to get dressed. He tossed the towel on the floor, making a mental note to pick it up later, and opened his closet. He laid out his outfit and started to get dressed. Back at Amy's house she had just stepped out of the shower. She wrapped a bath towel around her and headed back to her bedroom. Nice but not too dressy, nice but not too dressy she said over and over in her head as she browsed through her closet for what to wear. She knew she couldn't spend a lot of time deciding because she still had to blow-dry and style her hair as well as do her makeup. She found the perfect dress and tossed it, still on its hanger, onto the bed and made a beeline for her dresser to select makeup colors to compliment it while deciding what she wanted to do with her hair. She glanced at her alarm clock and sighed with relief when she found that it was only 5:20; she still had plenty of time to finish getting ready.

Back at his apartment Ricky gave himself a once-over in the mirror. He had chosen to wear a crimson, long sleeved, button-up shirt with a red tie in a slightly lighter shade with black slacks. He gave his black suit jacket a quick tug to straighten it. He's put on a slight amount of Calvin Klein Eternity cologne and brushed a few strands of hair that had decided to misbehave. He checked his watch and saw that it was 6:30. He put on black dress shoes, grabbed a small giftwrapped present from the coffee table, grabbed his keys and phone, and headed to Amy's. He decided to change things up and ring the front doorbell instead of going up to the kitchen door. Ashley opened the door carrying Robbie on her hip.

"Hi!" Robbie greeted him happily. Ricky and Ashley both smiled at him.

"Hey little man." Ashley stepped aside so Ricky could enter and then closed the door.

"Amy will be done in a minute or two," Ashley informed him. He nodded and headed into the living room to wait on the couch while Ashley headed back to the kitchen. Ricky heard footsteps a few moments later and turned to see Amy dressed in a black trench coat that went down to her shins. Since he didn't see any dressy material he figured her dress was shorter than the coat but the coat didn't give him any clue as to what it looked like. Her hair was styled in large, loose curls that cascaded around her with some strands of hair pulled back at the sides and held together in the back by a hair clip that, not surprisingly, had a large butterfly on it. She had earrings that resembled strands of tinsel in her ears and was wearing makeup that brought out the color of her eyes. She was carrying a small, black clutch purse. Ricky was drawn to her dark red lipstick, mainly because she was smiling at him. He stood up from the couch and smiled back.

"Ready?" he asked her, walking to the front door. He opened it for her when she nodded. He walked her to his car but stopped and turned to face her when they reached it. "I want it to be a surprise. So….." he paused to take a scarf out of the inner pocket of his suit jacket. Amy arched an eyebrow and gave him a questioning look when she saw what he was holding. He smiled at her and made a hand motion signaling she needed to turn around. She shrugged and decided to play along. She turned around and let Ricky blindfold her. "How many fingers am I holding up?" he asked her once the blindfold was on. He wasn't holding up any fingers and wanted to make sure the blindfold was snug enough.

"Two," Amy replied. Satisfied she couldn't see, Ricky carefully opened the car door and guided her into her seat. He closed her door while she felt around for her seatbelt and buckled herself in. He jogged around to the driver's side with a smile on his face and got in. Ricky started the car and turned up their favorite smooth jazz station. Amy relaxed into her seat to enjoy the ride. "So how far away is this place?" she asked as a way to make conversation. Ricky chuckled.

"It's a little bit of a drive. Just relax." Amy did as he instructed. Twenty-five minutes later Ricky pulled into a restaurant parking lot and turned off the engine. Amy reached up to undo the blindfold but Ricky grabbed her hand to stop her. "Not yet." He got out of the car and went around to her side to help her out of the car and Amy couldn't help but giggle at how mysterious Ricky was being. Once she was standing he shut her door and locked the car. He stood behind her and put one arm around her waist to guide her into the restaurant. Amy suddenly felt warmed as they entered the restaurant and the front door closed behind them. Amy's nostrils were assaulted by the aroma of a type of cuisine she couldn't place. Ricky moved to stand behind her and began to untie the blindfold. He spoke just before he lowered it. "Amy, welcome to Butterfly Bonanza." The blindfold fell away and Amy gasped in amazement.