Page 52 of Destiny

“Oh.” I suppose that’s a reasonable thing for a small child to think. “And what did you say?”

“Well, I know Marco doesn’t want to tell them that you’re together yet.”

Don’t remind me.

“So, I just said that you were their dad’s special friend who liked to be around the whole family.”

That wasn’t the most inaccurate way to classify me.

“Did they seem okay with that?”

“I think so.”

Before we can continue talking, we arrive.

“Please just stay back there. I’m going to get you a wheelchair.”

I walk inside, request one from the man standing at the reception desk, and then go out and help her into it.

When I come back, I let Caroline introduce herself—partly because I have no idea what her last name is.

“Caroline Kressly.”

“Okay, and what are you in the ER for today, ma’am?”

I jump in to answer. “Um, she had a fall in the closet. She was playing hide and seek with her grandkids—”

He looks up at me slowly and then back at her. “Is that an accurate account of what happened?” By his tone, he’s skeptical of the story I told. It’s like he suspects me of pushing this little old lady down the stairs or something.

“I guess so.”

He types something on the computer and then asks us to wait for a nurse to call her name.

“Okay, thank you,” I say in the sweetest way I can.

I wouldn’t hurt a fly, buddy. Nevertheless, this innocent woman, I think as I grind my teeth and push her to an empty part of the waiting room.

We sit and watch the infomercials on the TV before she pulls something out of her pocket.

“Look what I found in the closet.”

She opens the box to reveal a gorgeous diamond ring inside.

My jaw drops, and my hands raise to cover it. “Oh, my—”

“Do you think it’s for you?”

“Um . . .” I take it from her and inspect it. “I, I don’t know.”

“I don’t see who else it would be for.”

I’m speechless. I never considered that he’d want to ask me to marry him. Heck, he hasn’t even told his daughters about our relationship yet, and although incredibly important, that feels like less of a milestone than an engagement.

But then the reality of the situation hits me. “Wait? Why do you have this?”

“Well, I was looking at it before I fell, and I wanted to make sure it didn’t get lost. So, I slid it in my pocket.”

It isn’t the most sensical explanation, but she did hit her head, so who knows what her logic was telling her at the time.

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