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“Tiring, long, but otherwise, I learned a lot. I can’t wait to talk to Carson about some of the additional safety measures. I’m sure we can implement some immediately,” he says between mouthfuls.
“Great. Carson has been so busy that both you and Carter are gone. I’m glad that at least one of you boys is back.”
His mother looks over at me and explains, “Carson is my oldest son, Carter is in the middle, and Chase here is the youngest. Carter decided he wanted to travel a bit, so he’s been gone for a while. As you probably already know, Chase was away for some business training.”
I nod my head politely. Chase mentioned he had two older brothers, but that’s about all I know of his family. I knew he was gone for business training if not all the details.
“Mom, Val and I have some news.”
“Oh really? Do you think I didn’t see that big engagement ring on her finger? I’ve just been dying for you both to tell me you’re engaged.”
“Um, Mom? That isn’t just an engagement ring. There’s also a wedding band.”
Chase holds up his left hand as well so she can see the ring on his third finger.
“What? Let me see! Oh, my gosh, are you... are you already married?”
“Yes, Mom, we’re married. We wanted you to be the first to know. You see, if we didn’t get married before Val turns twenty-five, she would forfeit her inheritance. So, we were already down to the wire as her birthday is this coming Friday. That’s why we didn’t wait to have a traditional wedding.”
Chase’s mother looks from him to me and then just smiles. She comes around the counter and wraps both of us in one big hug.
“I would have liked to have been there, but I understand why you went ahead and got married due to the circumstances.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Thank you, Mrs— I mean Bonnie.”
“Now, let me take a look at those rings.” She takes both of our left hands and examines the rings.
“They are so unusual. I love how they intertwine. They’re beautiful.”
“Thanks, Val picked them out.”
“Well, she obviously has great taste. Now, did he get down on one knee when he proposed? Like a gentleman should?”
“Yes, Ma’am, he did. We were out to dinner, and when they served dessert, he got down on one knee and presented the ring. Then he slipped it on.”
“Good. It’s a family tradition, you know. He can be civilized when he wants to be.”
Chase looks over at me and gives me a wink. I was astonished when he got down on one knee in the restaurant and slipped the ring on my finger. He laughed and explained that his mom would be very upset if she heard he didn’t get down on one knee and ‘propose the proper way.’
“We’ll have to have a family dinner so you can meet his brothers and some of our family. The Knight family is huge. So, at least Carson, as I’m sure he’ll want to welcome you into the fold. You’ll have to call Carter to let him know you’re married, Chase.”
“I will. I just figured you’d want to know first.”
“You got that right, young man. Val, be sure to keep him on his toes. He’s a crafty one,” she motions to her son with a spatula.
“I’ll do my best.”
“Val, Chase told us you’re into computer programming. Is that correct?”
“Yes, I work from home often, but I go to the offices for meetings and just to stay in touch. I love the software side of things. I’ve been working on a program that allows enhancements. It captures images, many images, and then the software pieces them all together to further enhance them. It helps identify objects and faces. We’re mostly working with surveillance-type camera images.” Val looks up sheepishly. “As you can see, I’m proud of our progress.”
“And you should be. That sounds fascinating. Be sure to mention it to Carson; he’s always looking for camera image enhancements. Isn’t he Chase?”
Chase looks over at me. “Yes, he’ll be very interested. What does your uncle think of the progress you’ve made?”
I wrinkle my nose. “My Uncle Victor isn’t that interested in the programs our department creates. He’d rather go into creating the next big digital game. Video or digital games can bring in high profits. However, there’s so much competition, and there’s not a lot of satisfaction in teaching a teenager to shoot people or drive fast cars. I like to think that my department is creating software that will help people. Possibly help solve crimes or even prevent them.”
