"I love you"

Our adventures continued from spring break towards the summer. We were trying to keep our relationship under wraps as much as possible at Webb to avoid unnecessary attention from the kids and the other dorm parents, especially if things didn't work out with us, so we basically ignored each other during the day and went for long wandering conversation-filled walks in the dark. I'm pretty sure everyone saw right through it, but the adults were too polite to say much and the kids always reveled in speculation about every teacher's love life, so they didn't give many more signs of awareness than usual.

By this time I was studying frantically for the quantitative section of the GMAT, and Doug (who was completely dismayed by my general lack of math talent) would sit with me while I studied. One night he and some of his dorm "sons" baked cookies and brought them over to my dorm, which provoked much cooing from my dorm "daughters." It felt even more like a high school romance than ever...only we were apparently the parents.

Summer was approaching. Doug had signed up for a couple of summer Latin classes at UT Knoxville, which is 3 hours away, and so I wondered how our budding relationship would fare once Webb classes were over and he went out to Knoxville. We were getting closer and sweeter and I kept waiting for something to go wrong, but it didn't.

The last weekend before summer break and Doug's departure to Knoxville, two of the other dorm parents (who had met and fallen in love at Webb) got married. Doug and I attended the wedding together, sparking whispers and giggles amongst the students who were present, and then we split up during the reception so we wouldn't seem to be REALLY together.

I knew something was bothering Doug on the drive home. After some conversation about weddings and relationships, he told me that he wanted to be more open and serious about our relationship. We had a wonderful talk. It took his sincere honesty about how he felt for me to help me realize just how much I was growing to care for him.

That Monday he left for Knoxville, with no particular plans about keeping in touch. I missed him so much that week, which once again made me realize how important his friendship and company was becoming to me.

As it turned out, he drove back to Nashville to see me every weekend in June. He had classes every weekday, but on Friday afternoons he would text me as he was leaving and I'd look forward to seeing him a few hours later.

For the long weekend of July 4th, we decided that I should drive to meet him in Knoxville, and that we would go from there on a little road trip to Asheville, NC by way of the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway. I was so happy to see him when I got to Knoxville, and as usual we didn't stop talking as we drove up into the Smokies. We camped up in the mountains on the evening of July 4th -- fireflies, the milky way, shooting stars, and lazy satellites are much more exciting than fireworks!

That night, under millions and millions of stars in the cool night air up in the Smoky Mountains, Doug told me he loved me.

And I loved him, too.