Page 52 of Wishes at Water's Edge
“Let me give you your ring,” he said, reaching in his pocket for the ring box. And then he froze. “Oh NO.”
“What?” Noelle started laughing, clearly giddy with happiness.
“I don’t have the ring.” Dean could hardly gasp the words out, he was so floored that he’d forgotten something so obvious. “I can’t believe I forgot the ring.”
“You got me a ring?” she squealed with delight.
“Yes, and I forgot it.”
“Well, let’s go get it!” She pulled him to his feet, laughing brightly. “It’s back at your house?”
He started laughing too. “Yeah, it’s at my house. Do you really?—”
She tugged him into the hallway and shut the door to her apartment. “Come on!”
Breathless with happy emotions, they left her apartment building and hurried toward Dean’s house. The distance had never seemed so long to Dean before, but at the same time he was completely distracted by his happiness.
She said yes!he kept thinking, over and over.We’re going to be married.
He imagined waking up next to her every morning and getting to eat dinner with her every night. He pictured having Christmas with her in their own home, and maybe having children one day, and creating their own family traditions?—
“We’re here!” Noelle exclaimed, tugging him up the sidewalk toward his house. He’d barely even processed the fact that they’d arrived, since he’d been so caught up in imagining their future together.
They raced inside together, and Dean grabbed the ring box off his kitchen table, where he’d left it resting next to a cup of coffee.
He got down on one knee again, and Noelle laughed.
“Noelle. Will you marry me?” He opened the ring box, and she gasped when she saw how beautiful the ring was.
“With all my heart,” she said, squeezing his hands tightly.
He took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her left ring finger. Noelle stared down at it, seeming to be at a loss for words. There were tears in her eyes, and Dean was grinning from ear to ear. The ring looked even more beautiful now that it was on her hand.
“We’re engaged!” she squealed, and he stood up and nearly tackled her in a bear hug.
“We need to tell everyone!” He felt giddy and exhausted at the same time. Part of him wanted to race around the block, he was so exuberant, and the rest of him wanted to curl up on the couch with her and go to sleep.
“Yes! Who should we call first?”
“Hazel.” He laughed. “She helped me set up the dinner, and she’s the one who pushed me the most to keep things simple so that I finally had the nerve to propose to you.”
She smiled and nuzzled her nose against his cheek. “I can’t believe you were nervous. It’s just me, Dean.”
“That’s exactly why I was nervous. I can’t believe a girl as amazing as you would want to go out with me at all, let alone marry me.”
She shook her head. “You’re a silly man. You should look at yourself in the mirror sometime. And even a mirror wouldn’t tell you right away what a sweet, considerate, fun guy you are.”
For a moment, he just smiled down at her, feeling sappy as he floated in a haze of joy.
“Call Hazel?” she prompted, her eyes twinkling.
“Yes.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed his twin’s number. It rang once before Hazel answered.
“Hey, Dean! Do you have news for me?” Hazel’s tone sounded sly and gleeful.
“I do. Noelle is here with me, and… we’re engaged!”
“You did it!” Hazel let out a whoop and squealed with happiness, and Noelle started giggling, and nobody said any words for a few moments. Dean stood there with a broad smile on his face, thinking to himself that it was one of the best days of his life.
