she kept, were paper-thin and translucent, no larger than a fingernail.
“Come quick!” she called out without looking up. “There’s a whole bunch right here.”
The conch with the ring was twenty yards ahead of me, Jane was twenty yards behind. Finally realizing that we’d barely said more than a few words to each other since we’d been on the beach, I decided to go to Jane. When I reached her, she held up a sand dollar before me, balancing it like a contact lens on the tip of her finger.
“Look at this one.”
It was the smallest one we’d found. After handing it to me, she bent over again to start looking for more.
I joined her in the search with the intention of gradually leading her to the conch, but Jane continued to hover in the same spot no matter how far I moved away. I had to keep glancing up every few seconds to make sure the shell was still safe.
“What are you looking at?” Jane finally asked me.
“Nothing,” I said. Still, I felt compelled to look again a few moments later, and when Jane caught me, she raised an eyebrow uncertainly.
As the tide continued to rise, I realized we were running out of time. Still, Jane hovered in the same spot. She had found two more sand dollars that were even smaller than the first and she seemed to have no intention of moving. At last, not knowing what else to do, I pretended to notice the shell in the distance.
“Is that a conch?”
She looked up.
“Why don’t you go grab it?” she said. “It looks like a nice one.”
I didn’t know quite what to say. After all, I wanted her to be the one to find it. By now the waves were breaking precariously close.
“Yes, it does,” I said.
“Are you going to go get it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Maybe you should go get it.”
“Me?” She looked puzzled.
“If you want it.”
She seemed to debate a moment before shaking her head. “We’ve got lots of them at the house. No big deal.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
This was not going well. While trying to figure out what to do next, I suddenly noticed a large swell approaching the shore. Desperate—and without a word to her—I suddenly bolted from her side, surging toward the conch.
I’ve never been noted for my quickness, but on that day I moved like an athlete. Sprinting as hard as I could, I grabbed the shell like an outfielder retrieving a baseball, moments before the wave swept over the spot. Unfortunately, the act of reaching for it left me off balance, and I tumbled to the sand, the air escaping my lungs in a loud whumph. When I stood, I did my best to look dignified as I shook the sand and water from my soaked clothing. In the distance, I could see Jane staring wide-eyed at me.
I brought the shell back and offered it to her.
“Here,” I said, breathing hard.
She was still eyeing me with a curious expression. “Thank you,” she said.
I expected her to turn it over, I suppose, or move the shell in such a way as to hear the movement of the ring inside, but she didn’t. Instead, we simply stared at each other.
“You really wanted this shell, didn’t you?” she finally said.
“Yes.”
“It’s nice.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you again.”
“You’re welcome.”
Still, she hadn’t moved it. Growing a bit anxious, I said: “Shake it.”
She seemed to study my words.
“Shake it,” she repeated.
“Yes.”
“Are you feeling okay, Wilson?”
“Yes.” I nodded in encouragement toward the shell.
“Okay,” she said slowly.
When she did, the ring fell to the sand. I immediately dropped to one knee and began looking for it. Forgetting all of what I had intended to say, I went straight to the proposal, without even the presence of mind to look up at her.
“Will you marry me?”
When we finished cleaning the kitchen, Jane went outside to stand on the deck, leaving the door cracked open as if inviting me to join her. When I went out, I saw her leaning against the rail as she had the night that Anna had broken the news of her wedding.
The sun had set, and an orange moon was rising just over the trees like a jack-o’-lantern in the sky. I saw Jane staring at it. The heat had finally broken and a breeze had picked up.
“Do you really think you’ll be able to find a caterer?” she asked.
I leaned in beside her. “I’ll do my best.”
“Oh,” she said suddenly. “Remind me to make the reservations for Joseph tomorrow. I know we can get