The Blind Date

“What are you . . . what’s happening?” she asks. She knows, it’s written all over her face, and those happy tears are pooling in her eyes, making them shine.

“This is a moonstone,” I tell her, indicating the ring I researched and shopped for at three different stores until I found the perfect one, one worthy of my Riley. “You call me your moon, but the only reason I can shine is because you are my sun. You’ve shown me beauty in the world that I never noticed. You’ve taught me to feel and think and appreciate the moment. You’re my everything . . . my heart, my soul, my life. I want to spend forever loving you, making you smile, and bringing you so much joy that you only cry happy tears. It would make me the happiest man in the world if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife. Riley Watson, will you marry me?”

Her mouth opens and closes in shock, and the moment stretches out even though it’s only a short second. From somewhere off to my left, Loretta calls out, “You’d best tell that boy yes before I snatch that ring and marry him myself!”

I smile, the tension broken, and Riley, coming to her senses, answers, “Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you!”

I slide the ring onto her finger, and she gasps. “It’s gorgeous. I love it.”

Standing up, I wrap my arms around her waist. “I love you.”

She tries to say it back, but I swallow her words as I take her mouth with a sweet kiss. The room fills with hoots and hollers, everybody celebrating our big moment with us.

I taste Riley’s happy tears as they overflow down her cheeks, and when I pull back, I swipe at them gently with my thumbs.

“How did you . . . did everyone . . .?” Riley is looking around us as people raise their glasses of punch to toast us.

“Everything went perfectly to plan,” I tell her, and her eyes jump to me.

“You planned all this?” she asks in surprise.

I give her a cocky smirk. “Well, I had help. When I heard about the prom, it seemed perfect. So we all had to work together to organize the event, get it all on video, and get your dad here. I picked him up from the airport this afternoon so we could meet and get to know each other.”

“Oh!” Fresh tears fall from Riley’s eyes.

“Baby, he might not’ve seen some of your firsts, but he saw this,” I say gently. A bit harder, I tell her, “To be clear, you’re only getting engaged once. To me. The end.”

She smiles, giggling a bit at my asshole-itis. It still comes out sometimes, but luckily, she thinks it’s endearing for the most part.

We dance the night away . . . well, the early evening. Joseph and Rachel Watson impress us all with some moves on the dance floor, showing me exactly what I’d like to have with Riley in thirty or so years. Mom dances with Viktor, which seems to be him leaning on his cane while he guides Mom in gentle spins in front of him, but she’s laughing like she’s having the time of her life. Simon feeds Becky as much cheesecake as her belly can hold. Loretta sweet talks River into dancing a bit, and as they move by us, I hear her asking about BlindDate. Apparently, she’s signed up and has met someone there too, so she’s giving River hell about not using his own app.

And Arielle is moving around like a hummingbird, checking on this patient here and that resident there, always working. But this time, she’s not alone. I watch as Eli follows her, not like a lost puppy but rather as her support system. While Arielle takes care of other people, he’s taking care of her, making sure she’s drinking water and getting some food. He even gets her out on the dance floor a time or two. “What do you think of those two?” I ask Riley, gesturing toward Arielle and Eli.

Riley raises her brows. “That depends. Are you going to go all caveman brother on Eli and punch him the way River did you?”

I shake my head. “That was different. I deserved it.” Riley hums in disagreement. “I’m not going to hurt Eli. I just want to know that Arielle’s okay . . . that she’s going to be okay.”

“You’ve taken care of her for a long time,” Riley says quietly. “But she can take care of herself, Noah. I think Eli is good for her, stands up to her sass and ball-busting, but he also gives her a safe place to fall, trusting that he’ll take care of her. And I think she’s good for Eli too, showing him that it’s worth the effort to go beyond the superficial and really get to know someone and have faith that they’ll understand you even when you don’t understand yourself.”