McKenna clasped her hands together between her knees, forcing herself to take two steady breaths before she said anything panicky likeLet’s get Bobbi here, find a chaplain and have a wedding tonight!
“Oliver, listen. It’s been a wild day. You fell in a river. You got the wind knocked out of you. You slammed your head into a stranger’s forehead. Let’s not make any big life decisions right now.”
“This is six times, McKenna. Six times I’ve tried proposing to your sister and it hasn’t gone right. How can that not be a sign?”
“A sign for what? You two love each other.”
“Maybe love isn’t enough.”
“Do I need to turn up your oxygen? Of course love is enough.”
“I just feel like I’m trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.”
“Everybody feels that way in a hospital bed.”
“It shouldn’t be this hard.”
“I’ll ask for another pillow.”
“You’re not listening.”
Oh, but she was. And she was going to have to borrow his nasal cannula if he kept talking this way. “I know proposing to my sister has turned out to be a much bigger challenge than any of us anticipated. But that doesn’t mean you two don’t belong together. You love Bobbi. Bobbi loves you.”
“Then why can’t I get the most important question I’ll ever ask her right?”
“You will. I promise. We’ll come up with something better. Something away from restaurants and water and—”
“Maybe it’s time to reconsider that job offer in Germany.”
McKenna froze with her mouth open. She didn’t need to ask him to clarify. She knew all about the job offer in Germany. It was all Bobbi could talk about for a while.
It’s such a great opportunity for him, but he’ll be overseas for three years. What’s going to happen to us? You know I wouldn’t be able to go with him because of my job. And you know how I feel about long distance. If he tells me he’s taking it, I don’t know, McKenna. It might be a sign that we’re just not meant to be.
“I thought you’d decided against it,” McKenna said.
Oliver sighed. “I did... when I thought I’d be staying here and marrying Bobbi and starting a life together. But maybe... maybe I’m meant to go. Maybe we need this time apart to see if we’re meant to be together.”
“I don’t think you mean that.” Hecouldn’tmean that. This was just the river water talking.
Oliver sighed again. “Maybe I don’t. But I’m telling you right now, if one more thing goes wrong with proposing to Bobbi—I don’t care what it is—I’m taking it as a serious sign that we need to reconsider things between us. You’re right. We do love each other. But maybe this is God’s way of saying now isn’t the right time for us. Maybe we need to wait.”
“No.” McKenna jumped from her seat. If Oliver breathed one word of moving to Germany, Bobbi would panic and end things. “I’m not listening to any more of this ridiculous talk. Get some rest. I promise you’re going to feel a hundred percent more optimistic about everything come morning. I’ll be here first thing to see how you did overnight. The doctor made it sound like there’s a good chance you could get released.”
“Do you mind bringing some clean clothes with you?”
“On it. Why don’t I take your clothes home so I can throw them in the wash for you, too?” And hopefully wash away all talk of moving toGermany for three years. She started for the closet where she assumed they’d tossed his belongings.
“Wait.” Oliver sprang forward. “The ring.”
McKenna’s sandals stuck to the floor.The ring.
“I don’t have the ring,” Oliver said. “I never grabbed it off the bench.” He groaned. “Who leaves behind a twenty-thousand-dollar engagement ring?”
Twenty thousand dollars? McKenna gripped the footboard of his bed.Twenty thousand dollars?She knew Oliver had taken the ring to a jeweler to add another diamond so that the ring could remain a family heirloom while also containing a special element from him, but...Twenty thousand dollars? On top of its already being priceless?
“Well—” He flapped his hand, then winced at the IV near his wrist. “I guess I got my sign, didn’t I?”
“No. No sign. You didn’t leave the ring. The ring is fine,” McKenna said, reaching into her dress pocket.Where was the ring?“I never even put the ring on the bench.”Where was the ring?
