My One and Only(97)

As if observing myself from above, I unfolded the paper. There was my list. Ah, damn it. Dennis had put check marks next to all of the items…Get rid of rust-bucket car, move out of brother’s garage, get second job. All the things I’d felt the need to detail.

Shame made it difficult to lift my eyes back to Dennis. He was grinning from ear to ear and holding up the black wire—oh, no. It wasn’t wire. “Here you go, baby,” he said.

It was his rattail. Automatically, I accepted the nasty little braid, the sense of the surreal growing by the nanosecond.

“See?” he said. “Dude, you got your way.”

Everyone laughed. Well, I, of course, did not laugh.

“So, Harper. Baby. Will you marry me? Make me the happiest guy in the world and all that?”

He did seem happy, his blue eyes gleaming. Everyone looked thrilled—his mom, dad, siblings, all those kids, his coworkers, even Chuck, were smiling. Only my father was solemn.

I looked back at Dennis.

And then, because I couldn’t bring myself to humiliate him in front of everyone he loved…I said yes.

“SEE, YOU LEFT THE LIST that night. When you, uh, proposed,” Dennis said as he drove me home in his new truck. Unfortunately, the ride was brief, too short to tell Dennis there was no way I could marry him. Coco, unaware that her mistress was up Shit Creek sans paddle, snuffled happily at the familiar breezes as we drove from the airport to my place. “And anyway, with you away all this week, well, I guess I finally figured out what a good thing we had going.” He reached over and squeezed my knee with his big hand. I forced a smile.

“Um, so, your parents…How long are they staying?” I asked.

“Just for the weekend. Then they’ll stay with Becky in Boston for a couple days. Mom wants to talk wedding shit with you, so get ready, okay?” He glanced over and smiled.

I swallowed sickly. Obviously, I wasn’t going to marry Dennis. But what had happened? I couldn’t believe he’d done everything on that stupid list. Maybe he’d gotten a little…well, jealous, knowing I was off with Nick in parts unknown.

Whatever the case, he’d gone to some real trouble, arranging this (debacle) proposal. His parents had flown up from North Carolina! And they were such nice people—basically, Ye Wonderful American Parents, the type I didn’t have, full of pride for their offspring, adoration for their grandchildren, enjoying retirement with book clubs and golf games. “Well, it took him long enough, but he came around,” his mother had said as she hugged me, wiping away happy tears. “I hated that rattail, too. Harper, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to him.”

If you only knew, lady, I thought, cringing internally as I hugged her back.

“We should talk, Dennis,” I said now, biting my lip as we pulled into my driveway.

“Oh, yeah. Absolutely,” he said. “But everyone’s here, so…maybe later?” He flashed another grin.

Dennis had even arranged a party—an engagement party, chez moi, and the driveway was lined with cars. Music played, people were crowded onto the deck. Kids flittered about, someone had found a kite…a beautiful summer scene, minus the black dread seeping out of my heart.

The instant I got out of Dennis’s new truck, Kim cantered toward me, her youngest on her hip.

“Harper!” she cried, widening her eyes at me. “Hey! I’ve been calling you! A lot!”

“Hi!” I said a bit desperately. “Oh, hi, Desmond! How are you, my, um, little man?” The toddler regarded me suspiciously. Didn’t blame him.

“Hey, Kim,” Dennis said amiably.

“Dennis! So!” She glanced at my left hand, where the diamond winked like a malevolent eye (not that I was freaking out or anything). “Wow! So! Congratulations are in order, then?”

“Totally,” Dennis said, slinging an arm around me and pulling me in for a kiss. I ducked.

“Den, could you get my stuff inside? I—I’m kind of whipped,” I said. “Thanks, um…hon.”

“You bet, dude,” he said. “Come on, Coco-Buns!” He hauled my luggage out of the back of the truck and went in the house.

Kim put her tot down and kissed his curly head. “Go see Daddy,” she instructed, then bellowed over at her house. “Lou! Watch Desmond!” Lou waved in obeisance and called to his son, then led him to my back deck, where the party sounded as if it was in full swing.

Kim looked at me and folded her arms. “So,” she said.

“I know.”

“Dennis called me this afternoon,” she went on. “Told me the plan, and I want you to know, I did tell him I thought you’d probably prefer a quiet night, oh yeah. Said I wasn’t sure you were the public-place-proposal type. Then I called you, like, sixteen times, but you never picked up.”

I rubbed my forehead. “My battery died, and I lost the charger somewhere on the prairie. Damn it!”

“So you said yes?” Kim asked. “Harper…”

“I know, I know. But everyone was there…I just couldn’t tell him no in front of his whole family and half the fire department!”

“He moved in here, did you know that?”

I grimaced. “Number Four on my list.”

“You gave him a list?”