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Yes, I know you were going to propose that day at the safety cabin.
Yes, I’m aware that it’s been six weeks since then and you haven’t.
A curse slips from Jonah’s lips. “I don’t know what to tell you except …” He peers out at the trees, lost in a moment’s thought. “I don’t think we’re ready for that yet.”
“Yeah, I agree.” And, after today, I have to wonder if we ever will be.
Wiping my cheeks and pressing my lips together, I ready a fake smile for Diana as we climb into the Jeep.
She’s curled up in the backseat, snoring softly.
* * *
“She’s heavier than she looks.” Jonah eases down our narrow hallway with an unconscious Diana cradled in his arms, her long blonde tendrils dangling like a thick curtain halfway to the floor. I tried waking her when we pulled up to our house only minutes after leaving the Ale House, but she didn’t stir.
“Don’t tell her that,” I warn, yanking the bed linens down.
He sets her down gently and then backs away. I move in to slip off her boots and socks—she can’t sleep with socks on because they make her feet sweaty—before drawing her blanket over her.
Jonah is silent as he watches me unfasten her earrings and slide her bracelet off her limp wrist—jewelry is another irritant for her—and set them in the porcelain dish I bought especially for this purpose. I sense him wanting to say something, but for once, he keeps his thoughts to himself.
I get to her engagement ring and pause on it for a long moment.
Have she and Aaron ever had a fight that left her feeling this bleak?
“You want me to grab her a glass of water?” Jonah asks, his voice grating in the quiet house.
“No, thanks. I’ll get it.” I’m emotionally and physically exhausted and I want to be alone to try to make sense of my muddled thoughts.
“Calla, I …” His words drift. “I’ll be up soon. Get some sleep, okay? We can talk more in the morning.”
Can’t wait.
I take my time readying for bed, and when I slip downstairs to fetch water for both Diana and myself, I spy Jonah standing on the porch, his phone pressed to his ear. Who could he be talking to at this hour?
Marie, likely.
My irritation flares. Is he divulging more about the weakest points of our relationship, after we literally just finished fighting about him doing this? Is this the way it’ll always be? We’ll have problems and he’ll run off to talk about them with her instead of trying to work them out with me first?
This is beginning to feel like a test.
One we might not pass.
I can’t help but think …
Maybe it’s kism
et that a pregnancy scare hijacked Jonah’s plans for that day, and that our plane almost crashed, forcing his introduction to Sam.
Maybe it’s a blessing that I overheard his conversation with Marie about jobs he was turning down.
And maybe it is for the best that I pushed him to accept work he would end up loving.
Because otherwise, where would we be right now? I’d be consumed with planning for a wedding and helping Jonah build The Yeti. Jonah would be faithfully sticking close by and flying, but not loving what he was doing.
And then what?
How long before he grew restless doing supply runs and playing tourist guide, began resenting me for keeping him pinned down by a promise, and confessed his unhappiness? Of course, I’d tell him to do what he loves, and he’d seek out a similar job as the one he has with Sam. The Yeti would fall by the wayside in summer months without its pilot, and I’d be left wondering what to do with myself during the long days. We’d end up exactly back here down the road, only with years and marriage vows between us.
