"What's wrong, Dad? You seem so serious."
"Oh, I don't mean to be, sweetheart."
She returned with the new vegetables, but instead, I felt compelled to finish my thought all the way through. I don't know why I was so nervous. I kind of felt like it was now or never.
"There's something I want to tell you, Emmie."
"Okay."
"You see, the things is… you know Dad loves you so much, right?"
"Of course."
"And you know that will never change, right?"
"Dad, you’re acting mighty strange. We all love each other. You love me, I love you, we love grandma, and we all love Payton."
I was so thankful she added Payton's name in there I almost didn't know what to do with myself. If that was a sign from heaven, I was going to run with it.
"Yes, exactly, Payton as well. And because I love Payton, I was thinking about asking her to marry me. But I didn't want to make such a big decision without including you. Just like I always promised."
"Well, duh, Daddy. Everybody knows how much you love Payton. Me and grandma have been waiting for you to pop the question."
"Really? No way. Why didn't you say something to me?"
"I dunno. Grandma says these things happen when the time is right. I figured it was up to you and Payton to know when the time was right."
"Emmie, you're so mature. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you'd been here before."
"You say that all the time,” she said.
"That's because it's true. So just to be certain, you're okay with the idea of Payton being your step-mom? You can be honest with me. I know it's a big deal."
"I like the idea this much." Emmie expanded her hands as wide as she could.
"Come here, Emms. Give your Dad some love."
I could feel my eyes welling up, but I tried to hold back.
"That makes me so happy to hear. I know Payton loves you so much."
"Can I be in the wedding?"
"I don't see why not. Of course, we should probably talk about it with Payton as well."
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea."
We both sniggled.
"You wanna hear something pretty strange?" Emmie said.
"I'm all ears."
"I recently had a dream that you and Payton were getting married. But that's not the strange part. The strange part is there was another lady there on your wedding day. She was more like an angel with wings. You could tell she was happy you were getting married because she was smiling. She was like a nice angel."
"Did she look like anybody you know?"
"She kind of had blond hair like Mom does in all of her pictures. But I couldn't see any other details. It was just a really nice dream, and I was sad that I woke up."
"That's the sweetest dream I've ever heard."
"If Mom is watching over us, I think she'd be very happy that you're getting married. I also think she'd be very happy that you found someone like Payton to be my new step-mom."
Emmie gave me a big squeeze. I was thankful that at eleven years old, she wasn't too old to have a heart to heart with her Dad. I knew I was biased, but I thought she was a pretty amazing kid if I say so myself.
"I was thinking we might want to talk to grandma about this tonight at dinner. What do you think? Would you help me?"
"Sure. But for now, if we don't start cooking, there won't be any dinner."
"Good point, young lady. Let's get started before grandma wakes up."
"Maybe if we can get everything in the oven in time, we can make dessert,” she said.
"Emmie Miller, you're pushing your luck. Unless there's ice cream in the freezer, you know I can't bake."
"We'll figure something out." Emmie shook her head and laughed at me.
Later that night, we talked things over with my mom. It turns out she was just as candid as Emmie when it came to wondering when I would pop the question. Women are pretty discerning about these things. Now that everyone was on board, the only thing left to do was talk to Payton's parents, and plan the proposal of a lifetime.
Rebecca
Ethan invited me to meet him at the beach for an afternoon stroll. He said he wanted to catch up, so we met near the Inn that my parents used to own.
"I can't believe you actually showed up,” he said.
"I don't see why not. I'm the one with a track record of keeping her word, remember?"
"Touche, touche. It's just that all the way up until the other day you weren't so fond of me. I was hoping you wouldn't have another relapse and change your mind."
"Makes sense. I think anyone in my shoes would've been sore about the way you left things. However, I'm not going to keep harping on it."
"Thanks. I know I can't make up for lost time. But, I invited you here because I'm genuinely curious to know how you've been. How's life treating you?"
I watched my red toenail polish disappear and reemerge as we walked in the sand. It was my way of finding something to focus on instead of looking at him too much.
"Life has been pretty good. After our senior year, I went to college, determined as ever to get my law degree. There were a few times when I wanted to quit."
"That doesn't sound like you. You're not a quitter."
"It didn't turn out that way, but it was tough. The course work was hard, passing the bar was a nightmare, but my biggest challenge was having to prove myself. I was thrown right in the shark tank with a bunch of arrogant male lawyers who assumed I didn't know what I was doing. Trust me. It was an uphill battle."
"I'm sorry you had to go through all that, but you made it. Who's the hotshot now?"
"If you say so. I still have to prove myself,
