Love on the Malecon (24 page)

Derek did come across a beautiful shell and
they both decided that it would be perfect to add to her
collection. She could tell that he didn’t want to invade on her
collection from her father, but she wanted to add it because of the
meaning of their trip to the beach. Despite his broken family life,
Derek really seemed to understand the importance of it.

They stayed at the beach for the rest of the
morning, relaxing in the sun. As they both lay quietly, Derek sat
up and looked at the shoes they both had abandoned in the sand. Out
of nowhere, he said,
“
Hey, we both have running shoes. Do
you wanna take a run on one of your father’s favorite beaches?”

“That’s a great idea,” her eyes widened at
the thought.
“
With all of this eating and drinking, I could
use a run.”

They quickly put on their shoes and Nicole
could tell she was already trying to get hers on faster. Oh Lord,
Derek was going to find out how competitive she was. She usually
tried to keep it in check, but somehow it always reared its ugly
head. Maybe he’d like that about her. So far, chess was the closest
thing they’ve come to competition and she knew she was out of her
league there. But this could be different. She was pretty fast.
And not just for a girl
, she thought.

She hopped up before he did and started
jumping in place.
“
Ok, mister, what’s taking you so long?
Let’s do this.”

He looked up from his shoes with his eyebrow
raised and she knew he could already see it in her. Luckily, he was
smiling, so that helped.
“
You think you can take me, love?
Well, it’s on.” And he took off in a full sprint.

That was below the belt
, she thought
as she laughed and raced after him. Was the man good at everything?
Still, Nicole was fast and caught up rather quickly. Derek may have
slowed down, but she preferred the idea that she was quicker. When
she was next to him, she saw how hard he had been laughing and they
both slowed to a reasonable pace.

Nicole was with her favorite person, doing
one of her favorite things, on her father’s favorite beach. She
wanted to remember this feeling forever.

As they ran and talked, she couldn’t help
occasionally trying to gain a small lead. Every time she did, she
could hear him laughing at her. Fortunately, he thought this
competitiveness was an endearing quality thus far. They agreed on a
halfway point and turned back to toward the restaurant on the
beach. This was just what she needed and somehow Derek knew.

When they made it back, they stripped off
their shoes and dove into the water to cool off.

“I’m hungry after that,” Nicole said, relaxed
in the cool ocean.

“Let’s eat,” was all he said and took her
hand and they walked back onto the beach.

Nicole was disappointed to find out that the
restaurant on the water they had visited a few nights before was
not open for lunch. It was on their bus route back to the Romantic
Zone. They decided to get something to eat at the restaurant in
Conche Chinas. It was not their best meal, but it served its
purpose.

On the bus ride home, they were a bit drained
from the sun, but she was excited to mark off something else on the
list of her father’s favorites. They took the bus through the
Romantic Zone and onto the Malecon.

Her father wasn’t a religious person, but he
always told her that he felt close to God in The Church of Our Lady
of Guadalupe. It was in the center of town and felt a million years
old. Its tower seemed iconic. Whenever she had seen pictures of
Puerto Vallarta, she hadn’t realized that it was the church that
stretched up above the little sky line of the city.

Derek held the large heavy door for her and
she saw a collection box just inside. As she went to open her
purse, to look for money Derek stopped her.
“
Allow me,
love.” He took out what had to be a large amount of pesos and
slipped the folded stack into the collection box. He didn’t even
bother to count it. The gesture meant so much to her. Nicole wasn’t
a religious person and she wasn’t Catholic, but, like her father,
she did feel closer to God in such a beautiful place.

The walls were white and scalloped at the
ceiling. There were large columns and gold trim everywhere. The
floors were a gorgeous marble that could easily have been brought
over from Italy. The wooden pews looked like they were made from
the most magnificent trees. The altar itself was adorned entirely
in gold. Nicole sat down in a pew and scooted down far enough for
Derek to sit next to her. He rested his arm on the pew behind her
and sat in silence. Nicole immediately wanted to visit some of the
famous churches in Chicago. She felt bad that she never had before.
She didn’t even know the denomination of the church that she passed
on Michigan Avenue all the time. What if she had walked pass such a
gorgeous place all the time and never realized the beauty that was
inside? Her dad had told her this is where he would come to think.
She could see why. She was ready to ponder the reason for
existence.

Derek didn’t say a word to her while they
were inside. He was letting her have her moment. They stayed maybe
twenty minutes. Nicole remembered times with her father. She
thought of times when she was a little girl and they’d play at the
park. She remembered crying together when her mother was very sick.
They were both so helpless; they couldn’t do anything to make her
better. She looked over at the empty part of the pew next to her
and wondered if her parents were sitting there. She liked the
thought of them together. Bill had his true love back and maybe
they worked together to bring her to Derek. She felt a little sad
that it hadn’t occurred to her that her mother had taken a part in
the plan. Maybe it was because Derek was so similar to her father
that she thought he had chosen him. But her mother chose her
father, so it would make sense that she helped find Derek as well.
She was glad she had this time to work through that idea. It made
her smile.

She leaned over to Derek because she felt the
need to whisper.
“
Let’s go,” she said.

Wordlessly, he took her hand and they walked
back out into the bright sun. She loved sharing that time with him.
Of everything that day, having Derek sit next to her in the church
had the biggest impact on her. Something about him solidified
inside of her.

The next day, they wandered through the
Romantic Zone on their way toward the Malecon. She wanted to find
the little jewelry store where her father would bring her charms
for her bracelet. She still had the bracelet in her jewelry box,
which had filled up more with each of his trips to Vallarta.

First, she and Derek had another little
restaurant to visit. The restaurant served authentic Mexican food
and they had her father’s favorite fajitas. It sat on a corner and
was only large enough to hold eight tables and a small bar big
enough for five bar stools. It was outside, with a trellis to
enclose the area from the street. The kitchen behind the bar was
inside a small building. Nicole was hungry, yet again. She couldn’t
wait to try the fajitas. They sat down at the bar and waited for
the bartender to appear from the kitchen.

Derek started looking at the wall and began
to laugh with surprise.

“Come and check out all of these pictures.”
He motioned for Nicole to look at the wall.
“
I had forgotten
about this. A few years back, they took a picture of me with a guy
I chatted with all afternoon. Look, they have pictures of guests
all along the wall.”

Nicole glanced over and saw a wall covered
with photos of guests dining and drinking. They ranged from old
tattered prints to glossy new ones, all showing families and
friends, raising their glasses arm-in-arm, sitting in this very
restaurant. She leaned in closer, excited to see a picture of Derek
on the wall.

As it came into focus, her heart leapt from
her chest and she found she couldn’t breathe. She sat there and
stared at her boyfriend, lifting his beer with her father. Bill was
leaned toward Derek with his arm on the younger man’s shoulder. He
had a huge smile on his face. Tears instantly began falling down
her cheeks.

“He looks so happy,” she whispered through
deep breaths as she tried to keep it together.

Still lost in looking at the pictures, Derek
hadn’t noticed Nicole’s reaction.
“
Yes, I was. It was a
great day. That old guy had some amazing stories to tell. He even
gave me business advice,” he said with a smile, remembering. Then
he turned to face her and seemed to figure it all out.
“
Are
you telling me...It can’t be!” It was like he couldn’t quite grasp
onto a complete thought in his head. His eyes widened even more, if
that was even possible, and he said,
“
You’re the
daughter!”

Nicole smiled as he wiped away her tears,
“
You met him! Nothing could be more perfect.”

“I did, love, and he was such an interesting
man. He was very proud of you. He went on and on about your
intelligence and maturity. Even then, I could see how much he loved
you. I never realized that you have his eyes.”

She stood up and threw her arms around him.
They stayed quiet for a few minutes. She had desperately wanted her
father to meet Derek and now she knew he had. After she had
collected herself, she sat back on her barstool. The bartender
decided to approach them and Derek pointed to the picture.
“
What will it take to get this picture?”

“
Por qué
,
amigo
?” the bartender
asked.

“This picture is of her father and me and
we’d like to take it home and frame it.”

“
Sí
, of course, friend,” he
smiled.

Derek carefully loosened the staple from the
wall and removed the picture. When he handed it to Nicole, she
looked at her father smiling and touched his face with her fingers.
She smiled and a final tear appeared. She kissed his face in the
picture and slipped it into her purse.
“
I don’t want to risk
ruining this. It’s my most prized possession now.”

They stayed at the bar for an hour or so,
talking about every detail that Derek could remember about that
day. They shared her father’s favorite beef fajitas with poblano
peppers. The bartender came out of the kitchen with a camera and
asked to take their picture to fill the open space on the wall.
Nicole stood in front of Derek and leaned back into his chest. He
wrapped his arms around her and they both smiled for the
camera.

Nicole was in a bit of a daze when they
walked back out onto the sidewalk. She still couldn’t wrap her head
around the fact that Derek and her father had met. Derek took her
hand.
“
The universe works in mysterious ways, love.” How did
he always know what she was thinking?

“It does,” she agreed.

They made their way to the Malecon and began
window shopping.
“
I hope the jewelry store is still open,”
she said.

“I already checked to make sure and the owner
is expecting us today,” Derek replied and he led her in what had to
be the direction of the store.

“Thanks. I’m hoping I can find another charm
for my bracelet. Even though I don’t wear it, I’d like to add one
for Dad.” She leaned into him. She loved doing this, but it was
still difficult to process.

Within no time, they reached the entrance to
the jewelry store. The place was tiny and cold from the air
conditioning, with large jewelry cases in a big U shape around the
edges of the space. There was just enough room to fit a few
customers at a time. The jewelry actually looked rather expensive.
Everywhere Nicole looked, she saw the sparkle of diamonds. She did
see a small case to the right of the door that held the little
charms that her father had brought back to her. She smiled when she
saw them and tears welled up in her eyes again. Fighting them back,
she walked over for a closer look.

Derek walked over and spoke to the owner
while Nicole looked through the options. She wasn’t sure what she
wanted, but hoped she would know it when she saw it. There were
anchors and flowers and starfish. Many were focused on beach
themes. That’s not what she was looking for. Others looked like
birth stones. She did see a few with baby themes. She already had
many very similar to the selection there. And then she saw the
perfect one- a thick silver charm with
“
Daddy’s Little Girl”
carved inside. She didn’t have one like it yet and now it was
exactly what she wanted.

“I’ll take this one,” she said out loud to
whomever was listening. Both men walked over to her, Derek leaning
over her shoulder to see what she had found.

“That’s perfect, love,” was all he said.
Nicole leaned her body back into him in agreement.

“Can I show you something else as well?” he
said sweetly.

“What did you find?” she asked.

“I’ve been speaking with this nice man and he
has informed me that he has the best selection of diamonds in
Puerto Vallarta. Plus, I thought that you would love to have an
engagement ring from the same place your father shopped for you.
What do you say?”

She stopped breathing for a second and stared
at him. She couldn’t think. She immediately knew in her heart that
nothing would make her happier than being his wife, but she
couldn’t believe he had asked her the question.

He dropped down to one knee in the tiny
little store where he father used to shop for her.
“
Will you
marry me?”

She fell down on her knees as well and threw
her arms around him.
“
Yes, Derek, I’ll marry you!” she
laughed and cried while she kissed him quickly on the lips. He
hugged her tightly. They stayed there for a few moments and she was
overwhelmed with the feeling that her mother and father were both
there. It felt like their souls traveled through her body. She knew
this was the right thing for her. Derek was her family now and all
of a sudden, she felt completely whole again.