Page 102 of Love in Riverbend
Jill lowers her chin while watching the two of us from behind veiled lashes. “I have something to tell you two, and before you get mad…I was waiting to see you in person.”
As her words come faster and faster, Marilyn and I look at one another and back to Jill.
“Oh my God,” Marilyn says. “You’re pregnant.”
Jill snickers and shakes her head.
“You got a job?” I ask.
“A summer one,” she answers. “My other news is more exciting.”
“What?” we both practically scream.
She lifts her left hand, revealing a modest yet pretty diamond.
Marilyn and I scream again as we rush toward her, tackling her as the room fills with laughter, oohs, ahs, and congratulations.
“I can’t believe Todd proposed,” I say, thinking out loud about how Jill and Todd have been an item since our sophomore year of high school. Well, he was a senior, and let me say, Jill’s mom, Suzy, wasn’t a fan. Luckily for Todd, Jill doesn’t have an intimidating older brother.
With all three of us sitting on the bed, Jill is nodding fast, and her smile is so big it spans the width of her face. “He asked me two weeks ago.”
“Two weeks,” Marilyn says, “and you didn’t tell us.”
She holds her left hand out and wiggles her fingers. The diamond glitters under the light. “It wasn’t something to tell my two best friends in a text or on Snapchat.”
I imagine receiving that text. She’s right, we would have been happy for her, but tackling her in person is better.
“How did he do it?”
“Do you have a date?”
“Which one of us is your maid of honor?”
We sling questions right and left.
“We went out to dinner in Indy” —she absolutely beams— “and after dinner, he suggested we go to the Circle for dessert. I love the South Bend Chocolate Company. Anyway, on the steps in front of the monument, he fell to one knee.” She brings her hands to her chest. “I started crying.”
It was probably a given that Jill would marry first, but at the same time, it’s hard to wrap my head around.
Married.
With a husband.
She’ll be a wife.
Jill goes on, “We’re thinking next summer. So, a year away. Todd will be done with his MBA.”
“What about your grad school?” I ask.
“I’ve applied to IUPUI. Todd lives in Indy, and now I’m moving in with him.” She looks at me. “Tell me that you’re taking the teaching job in Indy.”
I shrug. “I haven’t made a decision.”
“Devan got another offer,” Marilyn says, her eyebrows dancing.
“Wait. What?” Jill asks as she reaches for my hand. “I didn’t know you were even dating.”
“No,” I say, “not that kind of offer. Teaching. I had an interview today.”
