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Still, I register the fact that I’m chewing my lower lip. So I must be nervous, at least a little. The most beautiful footsteps echo in my ears and a small smile curves across my lips.
Just man up and do it already. A little bravery never killed anyone.
“Except when it does,” I say aloud and immediately flinch, wondering if Shauna had heard. I wonder what she’s doing up there and realize I’m still on the bed. My eyes haven’t left my palm or the ring.
This is not one of those situations,a more level-headed part of me says, and I agree. At least in theory. This is nothing like outmaneuvering Hudson Judge and his goons while they shot at us on the boat. The fact that we just got word they’ve officially all recovered enough to be sent to jail awaiting sentencing feels like proof this is the right time. Sure, we’ll have to get off the boat for a little while for the trial, but I want her to go back to land as my fiance. If not my wife.
“Hey, Emile,” she calls out, and it’s just the motivation I need to get on my feet. “Bring me up some sunscreen when you get the chance, por favor? Just the human stuff is fine.”
I love the way all the local dialects we’ve experienced of late have spiced up her vocabulary. I blink a few times and banish all thoughts of backing out. Shauna needs to know how I feel about her and the commitment I’m willing to make, even if the visual token is a collection of cotton strings.
I smooth back my hair, hoping I look my best. It isn’t every day I propose, and I want it to be clear that I made an effort. I brush the eyelash from under my cheek and make a wish.
Please say yes. Please say yes. Please say yes.
I hide the ring in my pocket, already second-guessing the manufacturing process and all of the things I could have or should have done. I don’t have time to think much about it as the sun hits my face. Shauna is a vision as always, casually leaning against the railing and watching the water.
“Anything good on?” I ask. We’ve been playfully referring to the wildlife and detritus in the water as see-sea TV.
“Nothing I haven’t seen before.” She shrugs with a smile, then lifts an eyebrow before adjusting her sunhat. “No sunscreen?”
“Plum forgot,” I confess with a shrug of my own. “I’m terrible.”
“No, I get it,” she replies. “You’re already planning my demise slowly but surely. So it begins.”
“How dare.” I laugh. I step to her and lean in for a kiss. She graces me with a long peck from her perfectly plum lips.And they’re just yours.
She brushes past me with a wink and heads downstairs. “You know what they say about wanting to get something done right the first time.”
“No, go on.”
She ignores my sarcasm and disappears below deck. I take the opportunity to bask in the sun and practice my proposal. Should I get down on one knee? Confess my complete and utter devotion before I show her the ring or after?
I lean against the railing, crossing and uncrossing my arms in an effort to look casual. I finger the ring in the pocket of my white board shorts and settle on one hand out and the other in. The sole piece of jewelry I’ve ever made clings to my sweaty palm as I grow anxious for Shauna’s return.
“Shauna? You need help?” I wonder if my voice sounds normal to her or not. It doesn’t to me.
“Not in the slightest, unless you’re offering. What kind of help are we talking about?” She comes back up and onto the deck holding two glasses of wine. I sip my favorite as she does the same, warming to notice she knows me well enough to select one of my personal blends teeming with vitamin D and other crimson nutrients.
“Any and all kinds,” I say, winking as I take another drink, this time a more generous one. I let the tart flavor envelope my taste buds as Shauna laughs.
“Famous last words.” She chuckles. “I’ll remember that the next time I want my food chewed for me.”
“I take it back,” I begin. “But this, I never will.” I pull out the ring still clinging to my palm and hold it up to her.
The slight breeze blows it out of my hand, but I catch it before it can hit the deck. I’m painfully aware of how dismal the thing looks and hope Shauna won’t think the same. It was meant to be kind of a funny gesture that seemed cute at the time, but now the pit in my stomach thinks I made a huge mistake.
“Is there an echo in here?” Her question makes no sense to me, especially with the curious tone. Does she not realize this is serious and I’m proposing right now?
“Echo?” I tilt my head and wonder how I could have broached this subject better. My stomach is doing somersaults, but I take a deep breath and gulp down the fear gurgling up my throat. I need to get this request off my chest before it gets any bigger.
“Sorry,” Shauna begins, opening up her own hand to reveal a ring of her own, only made from what I think is mostly some fishing line. “I could have been more clear. I made it kind of to be funny about a week ago, but then I just keep carrying it around in my pocket. Maybe because girls don’t normally propose. Maybe because it’s just a stupid piece of string.”
I grin broadly at her. “I knew you would appreciate what I was trying to do here.” I start getting down on one knee now, my nerves starting to dissipate in the perfection of the moment even if she still, technically, hasn’t given me her answer.
“Ah! Hot deck! Hot deck!” I bolt up, rubbing my pale leg. I worry for a minute that I’ve ruined the moment, but Shauna is still smiling.
“Need some ice?” she asks anyway, even though I can tell she’s anxiously waiting for what comes next.
