Page 30 of Wishes at Water's Edge
After dancing, they sat on the couch together for a while and talked, and then she let out a massive yawn.
“I should go,” she said regretfully. “I’ve got to take my grandparents to the airport tomorrow, so I need to be up at four thirty.”
“Oh gosh, that’s early. Do you want me to take them for you instead?”
She kissed his cheek. “No, thank you. I love going to the airport. It always feels exciting, even if I’m not actually getting on a plane myself. You know, we should take a trip together sometime.”
“We absolutely should.” He grinned at her. “That sounds incredible.”
He imagined the two of them going off on a honeymoon together, or a family vacation with their children someday. His heart ached as he wished that he’d proposed to her that night, and they could have been planning those kinds of things at that moment.
For a second, he thought about proposing to her right then and there. The ring box was still in his pocket, and they were still together after a very romantic evening?—
But now we’re just cuddling in my living room,he thought.This isn’t romantic enough. I’ve got to find a way to make a romantic setting again.
Noelle yawned again, and together they stood up. He walked her outside to her car, where they shared another embrace.
“Let me know when you’re home please,” he said.
“I will.” She kissed him. “Thank you again for tonight, Dean. It was so wonderful.”
He waved to her as she drove away, and then with a sigh he walked back inside his house. He looked at the table, where the candles were burning low and the roses were gleaming in the faint light. He shook his head at himself and pulled his phoneout of his pocket. He didn’t exactly want to call Hazel, but he knew that he needed to and he wanted to get it over with.
It rang once before she answered it. “Well?” she called out eagerly.
Dean groaned. “I didn’t propose.”
“What?” Hazel squeaked, and in spite of himself, Dean started laughing. She sounded exactly the way he’d known she would. “Dean, why are you laughing? Are you joking with me? You’re joking. You did propose, and she said yes, and you’re joking.”
He turned the call into a video call, and as soon as she could see his face, he shook his head.
“Dean, come on,” Hazel pleaded. She was sitting in bed with a squishy headband pulling her hair back and there were shiny gold eye masks under her eyes. “You’re joking, right?”
Dean groaned again. He pulled the ring box from his pocket and showed Hazel that the ring was still inside of it. For a second, she just blinked at him.
“Did the house burn down or something? Did she not show up?”
“No, I completely chickened out,” Dean admitted, and then he made a face as Hazel burst into a fit of laughter.
“Don’t laugh, it’s a tragedy,” he said, sitting down at the kitchen table and blowing out the candles irritably. The only light in the kitchen was what spilled in from the lamps in the living room. “You helped me plan this whole romantic dinner and I messed it up.”
“Oh, Dean.” Hazel’s voice was tender, and Dean knew that if she’d been there in person she would have been giving him a big hug. “It’s okay. Marriage is a big deal. It’s okay that you felt nervous about proposing to her.”
“I just completely clammed up.” He sighed. “I totally lost my nerve, and then she thought that I’d set up the dinner to make itup to her for all the times I was too tired to follow through with our plans, and then I felt like I couldn’t propose anymore.”
“Why?” Hazel looked as though she was trying not to laugh again.
“Because, I didn’t want to say, ‘Uh no, honey, I never even thought to do that for you. This is something totally different.’ She seemed so happy that I would be thoughtful enough to do that for her, and I didn’t want to disappoint her.”
“Oh, Dean.” Hazel shook her head. “She loves you. And sure, it made her happy that she’d thought you’d made the dinner just to make it up to her for canceling your plans sometimes, but getting proposed to would have made her happy too, trust me.”
Dean groaned and laid his forehead down on the kitchen table. Hazel laughed again. “Don’t sweat it, okay?” she told him. “Just go to sleep and know that you can try again another time.”
Dean sighed. “You’re right. Thank you. And thanks again for all your help with this dinner. Noelle really loved it.”
“I’m sure she did. So there’s no harm done, Dean. Another day.”
“Another day. Goodnight.”
