Page 30 of Miles. Alton & The 9:04
“That is truly unprofessional.I can't do that,” she said.
“You can and you should.What is unprofessional is allowing the staff to bully you, and no one, no one, not even the people you've personally picked and trained to do their jobs, have your back.Fuck'em,” he said.“You owe them nothing else.”
“And how am I supposed to live?How am I going to support myself after I walk away from this job?”
“Dunno; you will be too busy planning a honeymoon,” he said.“After the honeymoon to some little island retreat, we come back and you start your own company or non-profit.Call it the Weston Institute or the Weston Brown Philanthropy Association or something equally clever.”
Mae got to her feet.She looked at Thom and the mouth that kept saying words she liked.She liked him a great deal.
“I can't marry you, Thom.I don't know you,” she said, shaking her head.
“Yet in your hour of distress, the first person you came to wasn't your mom, your dad, or even your plant watering brother, but a three-hour train ride to a man you claim you don't know to seek solace,” he said, looking at her.
“I am so confused right now.I want to make out with you, but I also want to grab my shit and run,” she said, sitting back down.
“Listen, everything you need to know about me is sitting in a folder on the corner of my desk.That folder has all of my financials, my colon screening, blood type, and even the motility rates of my swimmers,” he said.“If you need to know the percentage of my fella making you a mother, it is in the folder too, along with my severe allergic reaction to shellfish.Everything you need to know is there, Mary.So, I am asking you, marry me, Mary; let's begin a new life together.”
“What?What about our families?I don't know your family, and my family, dear God, they are not ready for you,” she said.“Hell, I don't think I'm ready for you.”
“Then might I suggest you start getting ready?”he said, offering that same smile that had her taking off her underwear and throwing them at the man.It was the same smile he gave her after making her toes curl.“In the morning, I have to head home to Kansas to help Aunt Sue with the Spring planting.Come along.My sister will be there, and she's an accountant.Talk to her about starting an S Corp, a non-profit, a for profit, or whatever is in that brilliant mind of yours.”
“Kansas?We're heading to Kansas.In the morning.I don't have any clothes,” she told him.
“We'll stop and grab some stuff,” he said.“Call your folks and let them know where you are, and by Sunday evening, you'll have a plan.You take the 3:30 train and will arrive home by 8:00.Go in on Monday, quit, and then we set a wedding date, and get on with our lives.”
Mae sat staring at him.She was single because most men she met were indecisive and non-committal.Here she sat on a couch in a house ready to be decorated by his wife, and he was offering her the position.The past year, her mind had been riddled with ways to leave her job and do something different, something fun, but no one could see the vision she had or understand wanting to leave a cushy, well-paying job.He got it.Thom Brown got her.
“Tomorrow, I'm meeting your family,” she said.
“Yeah, and I have for you, uhm, let me see what I did with it,” he said, rising, going to his bedroom, and coming back.
In front of her, Thom Brown took to one knee.He opened a little black box with a shiny little ring inside.Mae leaned forward, looking at the yellow and white gold bands with a ruby in the center.She'd never seen anything like it.
“Thom?”
“It is your birthstone, seated in white and yellow gold railroad tracks,” he said, offering her that boyish smile.“Do you like it?I mean it's not a traditional engagement ring, but we aren't traditional people.If you want a solitaire, I can...I guess...we can stop at a jewelry store to get one.”
“I love it,” she said.“Wait, you're asking me to marry you?You are actually asking me to marry you?”
“Yes, Mary Alice Elizabeth Weston, will you marry me?”
“Well, yeah,” she said, looking at the odd ring as he slipped it on her finger.It fit.It fit perfectly.“My birthstone, how did you know...the ring size?”
“Your brother talks too much,” he said, smiling at her.
Mae looked at her hand.She looked at the man who offered comfort and understanding, who offered to share his life and the nice home where they would raise their family.She wanted to say thoughtful, deep provoking words, but when she opened her mouth, the wrong thing came out.
“I'm not wearing panties,” she said. “Would you like to make out?”
“Mary, we're going to do more than make out,” he said, standing up and pulling her into his arms.
He carried her down the hall to the master bedroom, and he planned to make this the last week he slept in his bed alone.If they had to get married at the courthouse next week, they would, but Thom Brown had found his wife, and he was ready to get his life moving.Tomorrow he was taking his fiancé to meet his family.
A smile came to his face when he imagined the look on Aunt Sue's face when he presented Mae to her.Then he thought of Mae tasting one of Aunt Sue's famous yeast rolls and seeing the farm where he'd grown up.In his head, he thought of how much his sister Kimbrae would like Mae, and how Mae and his brother Gael's wife, Katherine, who was expecting her first child, would get along.
He lay down on the bed, facing Mae.Thom was in no hurry to close the evening as he smiled at her.He was content.She felt right.It all felt...right.
“My family is going to really like you,” he said.
