MS RIGHT~

We walked hand in hand along the sandy shore. The nearly full moon glimmered on the water. It was unseasonably warm, so even the breeze off the water wasn't too chilly. I was pleasantly tipsy and happier than I ever remembered being in my entire life.

I was in my own world with Devin and barely took notice of the couple walking towards us, until the man spoke. I would have recognized his voice immediately, even if he hadn't called me by the nickname he had used the entire time that we were married, despite the fact that I didn't care for it.

"Surprise." He drew the word out. "Working your magic on a new fellow, I see."

Devin smiled and introduced himself, extending his arm to shake hands.

I almost felt sorry for Tiffany when Richard introduced himself as my husband. "Ex-husband," she and I interjected simultaneously.

"Right, of course, we all knew that. What good fortune, to run into you on our little weekend getaway." I had to force myself to refrain from rolling my eyes at his broad interpretation of the words 'good fortune.'

"Well, as you can see," Richard said loudly and with a big smile as he patted Tiffany's slightly protruding belly, "I've been busy since the divorce. My Little Love Muffin and I are going to be the proud parents of Richard Jr. in a few months."

I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Not because I still cared about Richard, but because this pregnancy proved that I was barren. Throughout our marriage, I had longed for a child. I wanted to be a mother more than anything. Richard had been agreeable from the start, and we had never used birth control. As one year rolled into two, it became apparent that something was wrong.

I had always believed, deep down, that he was the one with the fertility issue. Whenever I broached the subject with him to be tested, he became irate and insisted that I was the one whose equipment didn't work, so I was probably the one who couldn't conceive.

I had never gone for the testing because I wanted to hold on to the hope that I could conceive a child. The baby bump protruding from Tiffany's too tight, leopard print mini-dress was proof that I had been the reason we couldn't get pregnant. Not only did my lady parts not know how to have fun, they didn't even know how to do what they were made to do. I felt broken and sad, and I wanted to get away from these two.

I didn't even know what had been said as I stood there reeling, and I didn't care. "Okay, take care. Buh-bye." I grabbed Devin's arm and stalked off, wondering how Richard was still able to ruin things for me.

Devin waited until we were a safe distance away before saying, "You still care about him, huh?"

"Richard? Ick, no! I just was caught off-guard with the whole baby thing." I was determined not to let Richard and Tiffany ruin my wonderful date with Devin. I would think about the dire implications of Richard being able to impregnate Tiffany later. Tonight was about Devin, and I wasn't ready for it to end. I wanted to forget all about Richard and his baby momma and thoroughly enjoy my time with Devin.

In what was likely the boldest statement of my life, I turned to him and said, "How about showing me your place?"

Devin was clearly surprised, but he smiled. "It's not much, but I do have big plans for it someday."

"I'm sure it's great," I said as I locked arms with him and marched him back up the gravel path to the parking lot of Biggie's.

He showed me to a dark green Jeep Wrangler with no doors and helped me climb in. As we drove, I cleared my mind as the wind whipped through my hair. It was a clear night and there seemed to be a million stars twinkling above us.

I was surprised when he turned down a wooded lane that angled towards the lake. Devin seemed almost nervous as he parked the Jeep. "I told you it wasn't anything special."

I don't know what I had expected, but it wasn't the Airstream trailer that sat before me. "Oh," I gulped. "It's nice." It came out almost like a question, even though I hadn't meant for it to.

Once the surprise wore off, and I began to look around, I realized that this was the perfect spot for Devin. The lot was full of trees and had a beautiful view of the lake. At the edge of his land was a huge pole barn where Devin built his boats. It was an ideal place for Buddy to roam "I noted", as he came over to greet me with a sniff before taking off to chase a leaf.

Devin had built an amazing cedar deck on the front of the trailer, so we sat down to relax and talk in his rocking chairs. I looked out over the water and said, "Okay, this is really nice," with more conviction this time.

"The trailer is temporary. I just fell in love with the location, so I'm going to build here one day," he told me.

"Will you build it yourself?" I asked. "Do you already have plans? How exciting to be able to make it exactly how you want."

"No plans yet." He became quiet, and I wondered if he was going to elaborate. He looked right at me with those gorgeous green eyes and said, "I've been waiting for the right woman to come along, so we can decide on our dream house together."

I almost melted on the spot. What wouldn't I give to be his 'Ms. Right.' He was absolutely ideal, and I didn't feel worthy of being with him, but I decided to enjoy every moment I had with him, even if it meant I was his 'Ms. Right' for now.