Page 45 of One-Star Romance

Rob glanced over at Natalie, a few pews over, as Jeff kept showing her pictures on his phone. Yes, good for her, ghostwriting at such a high level. The book wasn’t to his taste, but it was selling, so maybe that would open up some doors. And good for her, moving in with her boyfriend, who seemed competent and devoted, if exhaustingly so. And good for her, wearing dresses that were formfitting but not inappropriate for church, although said dress was getting less appropriate as she crossed one leg over the other and the fabric inched up her thigh, and—

Zuri took his hand in hers and squeezed, and the anxious, unsettled feeling in Rob drained away, replaced by the sensation of her warm palm in his. He squeezed back, grateful, as the christening ceremony began.

•••

After Christina had been sprinkled with water—looking none too pleased about it—and the godparents had done their duties (half-heartedly in Melinda’s case, and the godfather was some cousin on Gabby’s side that Rob had never seen before. Rob couldn’t help feeling that he and Natalie would have done a better job of everything except the religious part), the guests milled around in the receiving line. After, they’d go to Gabby’s parents’ house for a small reception, a fifteen-minute drive away.

As Rob and Zuri waited their turn to exclaim over an older and wiser Christina, Rob spied Angus’s parents. “I should introduce you to the Futon King and Queen,” he said to Zuri.

She was worrying at her back tooth with her tongue, face furrowed. “Sorry, I’ve had something stuck in my teeth ever since the ride over. Let me run out to the car. Then I’ll meet the royalty.”

“Sure,” he said, his attention half on Angus’s mother, who had spotted him and was waving him over.

“Be right back.” Zuri disappeared as Angus’s mom poked her husband, then pointed to Rob, and the two of them came bustling over for a hug.

“Robert! Who was that beautiful creature on your arm?” Angus’s mom shouted as she wrapped her leopard-print-clad arms around him. “Is she running away from us?”

“No, I think she just had to grab something from the car—” he began. But a thought struck him. If she had something in her teeth, she’d want the dental floss. Rob always packed the dental floss in his toiletry bag for them to share when they went on trips together. He extricated himself in a panic. “I’m sorry, I also need to run out to the car for a moment!”

Stomach plummeting, he raced into the parking lot after Zuri. She had the trunk open, looking into the mouth of his suitcase, bracing herself with one hand on the car’s back bumper. No, no, no.

“I’ll find the floss for you!” he called. “It’s deep in there, and…”

But he was too late. Wordlessly, she turned around, her hand clasped around the ring box he’d hidden next to his toiletry bag. She held it up and slowly raised one eyebrow.

“Huh. What…what could that be?” he stammered.

“You tell me.”

He hadn’t had much doubt about her answer when he’d bought the ring. After all, they’d talked timeline. They would move in together, and then if that went well, they’d get engaged within the year. “I wouldn’t mind being surprised,” she’d said once when they discussed the issue. “Though certainly not in public. If you propose to me on a Jumbotron, I will have to say no.” This was on the earlier side of their year deadline, but there was no denying that the move-in had gone well, right?

Zuri wasn’t one to shy from honest conversations. Still, it could be hard to tell what was roiling beneath her placid, slightly cool exterior. Sometimes, he’d catch her staring off into the distance, her expression impenetrable, and he’d worry that he didn’t actually know her at all. What if, all this time, she’d been feeling that their move-in hadn’t met her expectations? That the twenty-four seven version of Rob was too much? He did grind his teeth at night, and sometimes during the day too without realizing it. A bad habit he was trying to break. Perhaps the noise of it was too loud when she was trying to concentrate on her work, and she could not sign up for a lifetime of that. Or maybe it was that he’d been uninspired in his research lately, had been having trouble mustering up enthusiasm for his lectures, and she was losing respect for him. Perhaps it was simply too soon, or perhaps the idea of forever was already unpalatable to her, and her mind was scrambling for the kindest way to let him down.

He looked at her more closely. She was very still, barely blinking as she waited for him to respond. But there. There was a tiny curl at the edge of her mouth, a hint of amusement that he’d seen before, watching her teach classes, when a promising student was so close to giving the right answer and Zuri knew they were going to figure it out. It gave Rob hope, even if he was furious with himself for ruining the surprise of it all. He was supposed to present the ring during a stroll on the beach, after dinner at a seaside restaurant with flickering candles that people had rated highly for the romance factor.

“It’s not supposed to happen like this. Not in a parking lot—” He cut himself off. “Can you pretend, for another day or two, that you didn’t see that?”

“Yes,” she said. Her tone was level, but her eyes were shining.

Rob cleared his throat, shifted side to side, and couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Yes to what? Pretending you didn’t see it or marrying me?”

“Well,” she said. She looked down at the ring box again, then back up at him, her mouth turning, finally, into the widest smile he’d ever seen her give. “To both.”

His irritation at the ruined surprise disappeared immediately. Overcome, he stepped forward and kissed her then, the two of them holding tight to each other in the parking lot. A gust of wind kicked up around them, pulling some of the blossoms from the trees, and Rob thought that he’d never been happier. Everything that had happened in his life up until this point made sense, had been lighting his way to her. He’d had to go to Arizona, a place he did not love, to find the woman he did.

Momentarily, an image of Natalie floated into his mind. Because he was grateful for how that had turned out too. Thank God he hadn’t given in to his momentary impulses with her back on that lake trip. He had protected this relationship when it was delicate so it could grow into the steady, sturdy thing it had become. Now, the life that he and Zuri were going to have together unfurled before them, the future bright and harmonious.

“I’m going to do a very nice proposal overlooking the water,” he said. “This doesn’t count.”

She laughed then. A Zuri laugh was precious, not given out lightly, throaty and beautiful.

“All right. I’ll wipe this from my memory.” She tucked her head into the crook of his neck while blossoms swirled around them. They stood there together, their hearts beating against each other as the church doors opened and people began to make their way toward the reception. “But first, give me a few more seconds to enjoy it.”

18

Back at Gabby’s parents’ house, Natalie could feel her pulse spiking each time Jeff told her a new detail about the apartment into which he wanted the two of them to move. “It’s only a five-minute walk to an amazing bagel shop,” he gushed, and her heart rammed itself against her throat. “One of the top-ten-ranked bagels in the city. I checked. And their smoked salmon cream cheese gets great reviews, so you can get your favorite flavor all the time.”

She poured herself a glass of white wine and gulped from it while he found himself a beer, and just as she’d managed to take a deep breath, he returned to her side, enthusing, “And did I mention that it’s only a third-floor walk-up? Third floor is perfect in my opinion because you’re still far enough above the street that people can’t see into your windows, but you’re not exhausted each time you try to reach your door.”

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