“It’s a surprise,” I said.”
“I hate surprises.” Ami moved closer to me, sliding her arm through mine and hugging it close to her. “Tell me. Please?”
“Why do you hate surprises? Surprises are great.”
“It’s not the surprise itself. It’s when someone is like, ‘I have a surprise for you,’ and then they won’t tell you what it is, and they revel in making you squirm and wonder about it. And then they forget to bring you your surprise, and you ask what it was again, and they say they can’t tell you because it would ruin the surprise. And they promise to bring it to work the next day, but they forget again, and still won’t tell you. And then they get fired, and you never see them again, and it’s five years later and you still don’t know what the surprise was…”
I looked down at her. She was pouting and getting red in the face. “Why do I get the feeling that wasn’t just a hypothetical example?”
She stuck her tongue out at me.
I laughed. “Well, I promise you won’t need to wait five years for this surprise. I think you’ve already waited long enough.”
She gave me a curious look, pursing her lips. But she didn’t press the matter further.
A short walk later, we reached the pond. It wasn’t frozen over yet--the temperature was cold, but not yet freezing--and the water was still and dark. Some tall reeds lined the edges, and an old shopping cart was sticking up out of the mud off to one side. A sign stood in front of the pond. It read, “No Swimming. No Fishing. No Boating. No Skating.” Mark and I had always ignored that sign. He’d once said that it didn’t technically specify “No Hockey,” so we weren’t officially breaking the rules by playing here.
“Okay, we’re here,” Ami said. She stood in front of me, taking my hands in hers. “What’s the surprise.”
“We have to wait for your brother,” I said, grinning.
“Oh, come ooon!” She pouted, leaning up on her toes to give me a kiss. “Please?”
“Not yet.”
She pouted more, giving me big puppy dog eyes.
“It’s important, Ami. I want your brother to be here for this.”
Her expression shifted, a mixture of wonder and uncertainty. There was a bit of a sparkle in her eyes. It made me wonder if she realized what I had planned.
“All right,” she said. She swallowed a lump in her throat. “If you insist.”
We had to wait a few more minutes before Celes and Mark showed up. Mark turned a glare on me as soon as he got there. I stood up straight, trying not to let it get to me.
Mark stopped several feet away, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. “What do you want, Cam?” he asked.
I took a breath, trying to keep myself calm. Not only because I didn't want Mark pushing my buttons, but because I was nervous as well. “I know you don't think too highly of me lately. And I get why. But you're wrong about me.”
“Yeah, sure,” Mark said. “You got my sister to move in with you when she was vulnerable, but I'm wrong about you.”
“Mark, that's not fair,” Ami said.”
I held a hand up to cut Ami off. “I know that's how you see it,” I said. “But that's not how it is. I love Ami.”
Mark rolled his eyes. “You know how many guys I knew in college that would drop the 'I love yous' on like the third date, just to get into a girl's pants? It's just words, man. I don't buy it.”
I nodded. I'd been expecting that response. “Well, that's why I asked you to be here for this. Normally I would have taken Ami out someplace private, but under the circumstances, I thought you should see for yourself just how much I care about her.”
Ami looked to me, her eyes wide. “Cam, what are you...?”
I turned to her, dropping down to one knee.
Her face went pale.
Celes gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
I reached into my pocket. “Ami, I know we've technically only been together for a short while, but my heart has been yours for years. We lost so much time already. I don't want to lose any more.”
I held a ring out to her. It was small, all I could afford, but it carried the weight of my love for her.
Ami started to cry, bouncing up and down on her toes. She opened her mouth to respond, then shut it, since I hadn't had the chance to actually as the question yet.
“Ami Cole...will you marry me?”
Chapter 14
Ami
My voice caught in my throat. I had my answer, but I couldn't speak. I was too overwhelmed. A small part of me had thought, hoped, wondered if just maybe this would happen, but I'd never really expected it to happen.