Donna fluttered around my doorway as I turned off my computer screen and grabbed my purse.
“Are you coming to lunch with us?” I asked her, unsure of her behavior. Ever since Dr. Taggert's heart attack, she'd been nicer, but not this nice. It was making me nervous.
“Oh, I'm eating in town, but not with you,” she quickly replied. She looked me over, sighed with a soft smile, and then left.
I
stood there, unsure of what to do with that. Whatever it was, I was just glad she wasn't pulling my lunches from the freezer anymore. I liked happy Donna much better than angry Donna.
I shook my head and headed out to the lobby. Jacob stood by the front desk, playing with a pen. He wore dark gray dress slacks with a cream button-up shirt. It was a little dressy for work, but if he had a meeting at the hospital later it would make sense.
“You ready?” he asked, a smile crossing his face as he saw me.
“Yeah,” I replied. From across the lobby, I heard Donna sigh happily. “Where are we going?”
“It's a surprise,” he told me. He reached for my hand. He was sweating even though the air conditioning was running like crazy.
We took the short walk from the clinic to the center of town. The humidity was high, but the day was cool and slightly cloudy. It was a wonderful day to be outside, and it seemed like everyone was out today. I waved to Karina and Leigh Ann as we walked past them in a shop. I even thought I saw my mom and dad in town.
Jacob bounced with energy. I figured the meeting he was dressed for must be important if he was this keyed up. He walked faster than usual and then would slow down as he realized he was dragging me along. But, then he'd just end up walking fast again.
“Are you okay?” I asked him after he slowed down for the third time. “You seem a little anxious.”
He let out a nervous laugh. “Just hungry, I guess.”
“Okay...” I shook my head, but followed him to the town square.
In the very center of downtown Riversville is a small park. It has a cute little gazebo and a water feature that looks like a waterfall turning into a small stream. Some bronze statues of children and birds play endlessly in the looping water. There's a nice open space full of green grass with trees on the edges. The Fourth of July city picnic was always held here and in May and June the gazebo often held weddings.
Today it seemed like half the town was picnicking on the grass. I wondered if there was a community event today that I didn't know about. It would explain why Jacob wanted to come have lunch.
Jacob sped up as we approached the gazebo. Strangely, the space under the gazebo was empty. Usually, it was considered one of the prime spots since it was in the shade, but today everyone had chosen to be on the grass.
There were three small steps up to the gazebo and Jacob paused before the first one and took a deep breath. He looked over at me and smiled.
“You know I love you, right?” he asked me.
“Of course I do,” I replied. Something was up. I wasn't sure what, but something was going to happen. “What do you have planned?”
He flashed me a grin and then looked at my stomach before coming back up to my eyes. “Something good. I hope.”
I frowned in confusion, but he just started up the stairs. I followed.
Jacob stood in the center of the gazebo, his hands in his pockets with the thumbs hanging out. He looked confident other than the nervous smile and the fact that he was tapping his heel.
“Seriously, what's going on?” I asked, joining him in the gazebo.
“Hannah Louise O’Leary, I love you,” he announced. He spoke loud and clearly and the crowd around the gazebo went quiet. All eyes were on the two of us. Everyone in town was watching what happened next.
If this was Jacob's plan for the town to see us as a couple, he had certainly found a dramatic way to do so.
“I've loved you since that first lesson in biology class,” he continued. He reached forward and took my hands in his. His normally surgeon steady hands were shaking. “You've been my dream girl for as long as I can remember. To find you again, was luck. To have you love me back was something I had only imagined could be possible.”
He looked into my eyes. Suddenly, I didn't care about the crowd. I didn't care that the entire town was watching us. With him looking at me like that, we were the only two people in the world. The gazebo was our universe.
Slowly, he knelt before me and reached into his back pocket. My breath caught and my brain went fuzzy for a moment. Suddenly, everything from the way he was dressed to the entire town being at the park, made sense.
“Hannah Louise O’Leary, I love you more than anything.” His voice cracked slightly as he opened a small black velvet box. “Would you make me the happiest man in the world and be my wife?”