Six months ago, those words would have sounded impossible coming from him.
“Of course.”
Owen’s hands tremble in mine. Not fear exactly. Vulnerability. “Also, I met this woman, and she’s, wow. She’s amazing. And when I’m with her, I spend more time thinking about the future.”
I stand on my toes in a not-so-subtle attempt to get him to kiss me. “I know the feeling.”
“Which is why I want to ask you something else.” His nose twitches. He takes a deep breath.
“Remy, I know it’s soon, but I’m so sure about you. I love you. More than anything. I can breathe with you. I want to make you happy. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I know I’m not the best at words, but…” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small velvet box, which he turns over and over in his fingers. For all his growth, he still gets nervous when something matters deeply to him. “Will you marry me?”
That single sentence about being able to breathe with me almost wrecks me harder than the ring. He doesn’t kneel. There are no fireworks, no big crowd, no cameras. We won’t have photographs of this moment hanging on the wall. It belongs only to us.
“I want you to stay with me,” Owen says. “For good.”
I nod immediately. I wrap my arms around him and rest my head on his chest. “Yes. Yes, I want that.”
It’s not someday, or even maybe. It’s him. Always him.
Cara’s going to scream when I tell her. Before we left, she bet me fifty bucks and a bottle of zinfandel that Owen was going to propose on this trip.
I, of course, refused to bet against her.
* * *
Patty is already at the restaurant when we arrive. “Restaurant” is a little generous—it’s more of a shack, run by a family of fishermen who have owned the place for three generations.
“Owen, baby!” She scoops him into a bone-crushing hug. I swear I can hear Owen’s ribs creak from here. “So good to see you! And this is Remy? Oh, honey, you’re gorgeous!” Now I understand where Owen learned how to love people so fiercely.
“She’s too good for me,” Owen agrees.
Six months later, and this man still occasionally acts as if I descended from heaven specifically to confuse him.
I open my mouth to argue. I don’t get a chance to speak. My lungs are flattened in Patty’s incredible grip. For an older woman, she hasreallystrong arms. My momentary discomfort is soon banished by the profound relief of getting a proper mom-hug. I melt into her. Some small, lonely part of me I didn’t even realize was still grieving my mom melts right along with the rest of me.
“None of that self-deprecating crap, now, baby,” she tells Owen as her palm rubs a soothing circle on my back. “You’re a catch. Remy’s a catch. You’re perfect together.”
I could live in this hug. Before I can get too comfortable, I peel away. “It’s so nice to meet you, Patty. Owen’s told me so much about you.”
“All good things, I hope?”
“Mostly.” I love my voice. “Although hedidwarn me that you’re a bit of a troublemaker.”
“Born and bred!” She laughs. “Do you want to go inside, or wait out here for…? Oh. Hello.”
“Hey, Remy.” My dad strides up behind me. He lays a hand on my shoulder, but his attention is entirely on Patty. Oh, no. “Who’s this?”
“Dad, this is Owen and his mother, Patty. And this is my dad, Butch.”
“Butch? I love that.” Patty smiles at him and holds out her hand. He doesn’t shake it. He honest-to-God kisses her hand, like a knight honoring the queen. What is happening right now? My dad is not suave. I haven’t seen him flirt with anyone since Mom died. My father has apparently transformed into a Depression-era fisherman courting a widow in a Nicholas Sparks movie.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Dad says. “Have you been here before? Let me walk you through the menu.” He holds out an arm to her, and she takes it. He says something about craft beer and clam strips as he opens the door.
Owen and I stand side by side in the darkening parking lot, both of us gawking at the door of the seafood shack. I’ve never seen Owen look this confused in his life.
“Well,” I say, after an awkward moment, “you were worried about him threatening you, right? I don’t think that’s going to be a problem now.”
“Is he always like that?” Owen asks.
