as he was standing next to the couch staring at us both.
“Go on, sweetie. It’s been a long day traveling. I’m gonna head on up,” she told me.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Yes. I’m tuckered out. Go with Gabe. I need to get to bed so I can wake up early. I only have two days here and I don’t want to waste a second of it.”
“Okay. Night, Betsy.”
I leaned toward her and kissed her soft, wrinkled cheek. She patted mine.
It was funny but I hadn’t been nervous about meeting Gabe’s mom in person. I’d talked to her nearly every day on the phone. There was a time or two we’d go a few days without talking but mostly she called every night. This was something I learned that was not abnormal. Gabe had told me he talked to his mom four or five times a week. So maybe she was calling a little more often but not by much.
Betsy was sweet and funny in a quiet way. Gabe had described her as sensitive and she was, very much so. A little on the fragile side, but not in a bad way. She was kind and very attuned to Gabe. They had a bond that was forged out of hardship but shrouded in love. I was happy she’d made the trip. “Thanks again for flying out here. Me and airplanes don’t get along.”
“Any chance I get to visit my son is a pleasure. And now you. I’ll come as often as I’m invited,” she returned.
I turned to lift off of the couch and caught Gabe’s impatient look. He might as well have been tapping his foot and snapping his fingers.
“Jeez. Hold your pants on.”
“I didn’t say a word, Evette. But if you don’t hurry up I’m gonna toss you over my shoulder.”
My eyes narrowed but I remained silent. I didn’t bother asking him if he was serious because I knew he would. So I saved my breath and got up.
“Where are we going?”
“The dock.”
This was not unusual. We went down to the dock a lot at night. I loved sitting out there and seeing the bridge and the lights of the Naval Academy. I was fairly certain Gabe did this with me to humor me. The sight was beautiful but he’d lived there a while and I was pretty sure the shine had worn off for him.
We made our way to the dock and once we could go no farther he fitted his chest to my back and wrapped his arms around me. It was a beautiful, cloudless night. All the lights twinkled off the Severn River making the water dance and come alive.
“Thank you.”
His words were featherlight. So soft I barely heard.
“Why are you thanking me?”
“For making me happy.”
His hands found mine and I felt him playing with my fingers but didn’t take my gaze off the water when I said, “You make me deliriously happy.”
“Good. Then marry me and let me make you happy for the rest of your life.”
I felt something push down my finger. My neck bent and my head dropped forward. My eyes hit a thin gold band and my breath seized in my lungs.
“Is that my mother’s ring?”
“And your grandmother’s before her.”
“Where did you get it?”
I felt Gabe’s body start to shake behind me and it felt a lot like he was laughing.
“If you’re asking if I wrestled your mom to the ground and greased her finger and committed multiple felonies to obtain your grandmother’s ring I can assure you I didn’t. Your dad gave it to me.”
“When?”
The shaking became more pronounced and I knew I was right—he was laughing when he answered. “Seeing as I haven’t taken a trip out to Milwaukee and I’ve only met him once he gave it to me when he and your mom were visiting.”
“Damn him,” I snapped.
“Come again?”
“He deprived me of a good story.”
“A good story?” He chuckled.
“Yeah, Gabe. A good story. You know, something I can pass down to our daughter before she gets married. My mom had a good one. He had to ask thirty-two times to get a yes.”
“Babe, I wasn’t gonna ask you without a ring. He didn’t ruin anything.”
I hmphed and stared at my ring. Then I stared at it through watery eyes. My grandmother’s ring. Then my mom’s. Now mine.
Mine.
I was marrying Gabe.
“You think maybe you’re gonna answer sometime in this decade?”
“I didn’t answer?”
“No, babe, you started ranting about stories and being pissed at your dad.”