Holly
Holly checked her watch again and sighed. Frederick had asked her to meet him at eight, but it was now ten after and there was no sight of him. She chewed the inside of her lip as the reservations she’d been having about him lately surfaced to the top of her mind.
Against her better judgment, she’d hired him a few weeks ago to help out in the restaurant. So far, that part was going fine though she had caught him criticizing her chef on one occasion which she had shut down immediately and reminded Frederick that he was not in charge. But the bigger issue was money. Even though she was now paying him and he was making tips, she always seemed to get stuck with the bill when they went out. The first time he’d claimed he left his wallet, the second that rent was due and he’d spent more than he thought on groceries. One excuse was understandable; two seemed suspicious. She’d stopped wanting to go places with him after that. She understood money being tight, but if he was this irresponsible with his money, she wasn’t sure continuing to date him was a good idea.
As she turned her wrist to check her watch again, headlights sprayed light onto the gazebo. She looked up to see Frederick pull into the space next to hers. “I’m so glad you waited,” he said as he jumped out of the car and hurried up to her.
“I was just about to leave.” Holly forced herself to temper the anger in her voice. “Why are you late?”
Frederick grimaced and dropped his eyes to the ground. “I’m so sorry, Holly. I had to make a stop.”
“A stop? A stop where? Where was so important that you had to leave me standing here nearly twenty minutes waiting on you?”
“I…” He looked up at her, and Holly immediately felt guilty for yelling at him. He did appear apologetic, but that didn’t explain where he’d been and why he’d kept her waiting. “I was going to wait for the perfect time, but maybe that time is now.”
Perfect time for what? He wasn’t making any sense, and it was driving her crazy. Holly closed her eyes to compose her thoughts and took a deep breath, but when she opened them, she was not prepared for the sight before her. “What are you doing?”
Frederick, down on one knee, looked up at her hopefully. “I know it hasn’t been that long, Holly, but I’ve never been happier than the last couple of months with you. I don’t want to let another day pass without telling you that I love you and I want to marry you.” He pulled a box out of his pocket and opened it. “Will you marry me?”
A wave of conflicting emotions washed over Holly as she looked down at the ring sparkling up at her from the velvet box. Stunned was not too strong a word for how she felt at the moment. He loved her? After just a month or two? Was that even possible? And if it was, did she love him back? True, she’d had feelings for him years ago, and she’d enjoyed the time they’d been spending together. Mostly. But did she want to marry him? Five minutes ago she’d contemplated breaking up with him and now he was on bended knee, but what did that mean? Could this explain his lack of money recently?
“I really am sorry I was late, Holly. I stopped at the jewelry store to get the ring, but there was only one person working and I had to wait.”
“I…” Holly didn’t know what to say. A part of her wanted to say yes, jump for joy, and then run through town showing off her ring. The other part of her wanted to run in the other direction away from him, but she had no idea why.
“I know I’ve been making you foot the bill recently,” Frederick continued, as if sensing her hesitation, “but it was so I could afford the kind of ring you deserve. Please, Holly, will you make me the happiest man alive?”
Holly stared at the ring. The sun was low behind the mountains, but the lights from the streetlights still caused it to sparkle and glisten at her. She could only imagine how beautiful it would be in the daylight, but this proposal felt wrong, rushed. Still, what did the proposal really matter in the grand scheme of things? The marriage was what was more important. Could she see herself married to Frederick? If she said no, would there ever be another proposal? And then she found herself nodding. “Yes,” escaped her lips, and, before she knew it, the ring was on her finger and Frederick was kissing her.
“I’m so glad you said yes.” He pulled back, stroking her cheek and sending jolts of electricity through her body. His gaze held hers like he was searching for the depths of her soul. “I can’t wait to be married to you. Let’s not have a long engagement.”
“Um.” Everything was happening so quickly that Holly’s brain was having a hard time keeping up. She wanted to be married and it wasn’t like she had much family that would need to travel. Her mother might want to come, but since they hadn’t talked in ages, Holly wasn’t even sure about that. Everyone else she wanted to attend was right here in Courage, so it depended more on how quickly they could get everything set up here. “I guess we could do that.”
“Fantastic. Let’s start planning.”
An hour later, Holly drove home in a stupor. Frederick was so excited to get married that he’d gone with almost everything she suggested. His eagerness was contagious and definitely made Holly feel loved and wanted, but it also felt fast. Maybe too fast? She needed an outside opinion. It was too late to swing by Merribeth’s house tonight, but she would ask her first thing in the morning.