A Great Whatever (blog story) 14

     You wanted to give Heather the ring right away. It was jingling next to the change in your pants pocket. Every few minutes you’d check to make sure it was still there, so afraid that it’d fall through some previously unknown hole and be lost forever. You’d already proposed once, informally. She wanted the real proposal to be exactly as she had planned.
     The next day she made you drive her to her favorite childhood spot, deep in the woods near her house. She instructed you to get on one knee and you obliged even though the ground was damp. You asked her to marry you and presented her with the ring. She acted surprised and you went along.
     When she put the ring on her finger she made a peculiar face.
     “Did you pick this out?”
     “It was my mother’s. She wanted you to have it. I hope we are as happy as my parents are.”
     “Oh…” she said inspecting the ring as if she were an experienced jeweler.
     “Is it okay?”
     “I can’t keep it.”
     “Why?”
     When a person is trying to be delicate they always cross their eyes. Maybe it's easier to find the right words when everything is out of focus. What they don’t realize is that their body language has already spoken for them so there is no point in being delicate.
     “Well, for one thing it’s too big. It’ll fall right off. And, it’s your mother’s ring. I can’t take it from her. It means so much to her, I’m sure.”
     “We can fix the size and she gave it to me to give to you so that means something to her.”
     Her hand had been touching your arm, but now she pulled it away. What had been a soft caring tone in her voice became sharp and abrupt.
     “I just want my own ring. I don’t want someone else’s ring. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”
     This startled you. She seemed so ungrateful. Then again, she must have her reasons for feeling the way she does and you do love her. Her father’s words are still clear in your mind. You acquiesce without hesitation.
     “No. Of course not. When we get back we’ll go to the stores and find you a ring you like that’s just for you.”
     With that said she was back to her loving self immediately. All the way back home you kept replaying that conversation in your head. You wondered what it said about your future together.