“Ready to go?”Evan asked, dressed a little nicer than usual.Nothing too fancy, but his jeans were new, and he wore the light blue polo shirt that matched his eyes.Mercedes always wore clothes that were slightly dressy so no one would notice anything amiss.
On the short drive over, she rubbed her hands together, and Evan chuckled when they pulled into the driveway.“They love you.They aren’t about to demand I take the ring back and shove you out the door.They’re more likely to tell me I’m not good enough for you.That’s the truth.”
Her anxiety disappeared at his words.“You are very good for me.You make me happy, and we have fun together.”
“Well, that’s good, because I plan to spend the next fifty years with you.”
She scowled at him.“Only fifty years?”
His grin was lethal.“For now.At that time, we can renegotiate.”
When they got in the house, they immediately got sucked into putting food on the table.Mercedes tried to hide her ring until they found a time when they could tell everyone.It didn’t happen until the entire family was surrounding the table and ready to dig in.
Evan pounded his hand on the table.Mercedes chuckled, remembering the first time she’d realized that a Deaf family wasn’t as quiet as she thought they’d be.When everyone looked at him, he said, “I have an announcement.I asked Mercedes to marry me and surprisingly she said yes.”
While cheers broke out from those sitting around the table, she poked him in the ribs.She flashed her ring, and they all admired it.
“Are you sure about this, Mercedes?”Brian asked, always one to give Evan a hard time about everything.
“You stop that, Brian,” their mom said sternly.“Congratulations.It’s hardly a surprise that you two ended up together.Only that it took so long.”
Evan narrowed his eyes.“What do you mean?”
Mom shrugged.“The two of you have known each other forever.There’s always been something special between you.”
She and Evan glanced at each other.“How did you know?”
“Just little things here and there,” Cheryl answered.“That time you were bullied by someone at school, Mercedes, and Evan was livid.He wanted to go beat that person up, which is not an acceptable way to fix a problem.”She sent an intense stare to her son.“But it was a little more of a reaction than you’d expect from the brother of a friend.”
Deanna waved her hand.“Oh, remember when Mercedes went to the prom with that stud, and Evan got all sulky for days.”
Mercedes pivoted toward her fiancé.“How did you even know who I went to the prom with?I lived on the Cape.”
Evan grimaced.“You sent a picture to Carli.She showed me.”
Brian chuckled.“I remember now.You called him a chump and wanted to know what Mercedes saw in him.”
“He asked if the guy was good enough for you,” Carli added.
“He wasn’t,” Evan stated, and Mercedes beamed at his territorial nature.“No one’s good enough for you, but thankfully you’re happy to slum it with me.”
She wanted to harp on him about his lack of self-esteem but could tell he was kidding.Sort of.Their dad laughed and gazed toward the ceiling.
“I was just remembering that time Mercedes needed a ride home from college and Evan volunteered.He said he was planning to visit Gram and Pops, anyway.”
Mercedes remembered that time.Her parents hadn’t been able to get her for some reason, but she’d really wanted to go home to see one of her friends who was home on break.Evan had brushed it off as him simply being in the right place at the right time.
Staring into his eyes, she asked, “Did you plan to go visit your grandparents that weekend?”
That dimple popped out along with his sly grin.“Not really, but you seemed so upset, I figured why not take a little drive?”
Her heart thumped louder, but no one heard.Cupping his face, she kissed him sweetly.“Thank you.See?These are the kinds of things that made me fall in love with you.”
Brian made a gagging sound, and she and Blake glanced his way, causing the others to do the same.
“I can’t handle all the mushy romantic stuff,” he said.
His mother glared at him.“With an attitude like that, it’s no wonder you don’t have a girlfriend of your own.”
