Waiting

What’s going on? she wondered. Had Ryan’s job fallen through or something?

Ryan looked into Riley’s eyes and said …

“Don’t laugh at me, OK?”

“Why would I laugh?” Riley asked.

A bit shakily, Ryan got up from his chair and kneeled beside her.

And then Riley realized …

Oh, my God! He’s going to propose!

And sure enough, she laughed. It was nervous laughter, of course.

Ryan blushed deeply.

“I told you not to laugh,” he said.

“I’m not laughing at you,” Riley said. “Go ahead, say what you want to say. I’m pretty sure … well, just go ahead.”

Ryan fumbled around in his pants pocket and took out a little black jewelry box. He opened it to reveal a modest but lovely diamond ring. Riley couldn’t help but gasp.

Ryan stammered …

“Uh, Riley Sweeney, would—will you marry me?”

Trying unsuccessfully to hold back her nervous giggles, Riley managed to say …

“Oh, yes. Absolutely.”

Ryan plucked the ring out of the box, and Riley held out her left hand and let him put it on her finger.

“It’s beautiful,” Riley said. “Now get up and sit down with me.”

Ryan smiled sheepishly as he sat down at the table next to her.

“Was the kneeling too much?” he asked.

“The kneeling was perfect,” Riley said. “Everything is just … perfect.”

She stared at the little diamond on her ring finger raptly for a moment. Her spell of nervous laughter had passed, and now she felt a knot of emotion form in her throat.

She really hadn’t seen this coming. She hadn’t even dared to hope for it—at least not this soon.

But here she and Ryan were, taking yet another enormous step in their lives.

As she watched the light play on the diamond, Ryan said …

“I’ll get you a nicer ring someday.”

Riley gasped a little.

“Don’t you dare!” she said. “This is always going to be my only engagement ring!”

But as she kept staring at the ring, she couldn’t help but worry …

How much did this cost?

As if reading her thoughts, Ryan said …

“Don’t worry about the ring.”

Ryan’s reassuring smile made her worry dissolve in an instant. She knew he was no fool when it came to money. He’d probably gotten a good bargain on this ring—although she’d never ask him about it.

Riley then noticed how Ryan’s expression saddened as he looked around the apartment.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

Ryan let out a sigh and said, “I’ll make a better life for you. I promise.”

Riley felt strangely jolted.

She asked, “What’s wrong with the life we’ve got now? We’re young and we’re in love and we’re going to have a baby and—”

“You know what I mean,” Ryan said, interrupting her.

“No, I’m not sure I do,” Riley said.

A silence fell between them.

Ryan sighed again and said, “Look, I’m starting work tomorrow on an entry level salary. I’m not exactly feeling like a huge success in the world. But it’s a good firm, and if I stay with it, I’ll be moving up and I might even become a partner someday.”

Riley gazed at him steadily.

“Someday, sure,” she said. “But you’re off to a great start already. And I like what we’ve got right now.”

Ryan shrugged. “We don’t have much. For one thing, we’ve only got the one car, and I’ll be needing that to go to work, which means …”

Riley interrupted, “Which means I’ll be taking the metro to the training program every morning. What’s wrong with that?”

Ryan reached across the table and took her hand.

“It’s a two-block walk to and from the nearest metro stop,” he said. “And this isn’t the safest neighborhood in the world. The car got broken into once already. I don’t like it that you have to go out there on your own. I’m worried.”

A strange, unpleasant feeling was starting to come over Riley. She wasn’t yet sure just what that feeling was.

She said, “Hasn’t it occurred to you that I actually like this neighborhood? I’ve spent my whole life in rural Virginia. This is an exciting change, an adventure. Besides, you know I’m tough. My dad was a Marine captain. He taught me how to take care of myself.”