Page 78 of The Mr. Right Checklist

“Let’s not go there,” his father says sternly, and turns a kinder tone on me. “You’re right about different flavors of romance, and we men have a way of only bringing it out for the most special people in our lives.”

“Yes, you do,” his mother said adoringly. “Destiny, honey, I understand wanting the proposal to come from your significant other’s heart, but you’re planning proposals for a living. Do you have something in mind?”

“Not anything specific. Hopefully he’ll know me so well, he’ll create something he knows I’ll love. Like I do for my clients. That’s why I ask them so many questions about every aspect of their lives and relationship, so I can help figure out which special moment, or moments, to pick. Like with the Parisian proposal. The couple has wanted to go to Paris forever, but they haven’t been able to get there. I’m bringing it to them in a way they’ll never forget, and wrapping all their special moments into it. But it could be anything, from re-creating the moment he fell in love with me to something new that he just knows I’ll love.”

“I hope you’re taking notes, Ryry,” Chuck says.

Fletch picks up his drink, looking at it instead of at Chuck. “Cool your jets, bro. We just started seeing each other.”

My stomach pitches at how easily he says it.

They’re all looking at us, and I scramble for something to say to break the tension. “He’s right, and we’d both know it if he wasn’t. That falling-in-love moment is so special. It’s one the other person can’t share at the time if they don’t know it’s happening. But if it’s re-created for them, then they get to share it, and it will forever be etched in both their hearts.” I know I’m rambling, but I can’t stop. “We’ve all heard stories about how people knew the moment they fell in love. Like when they first heard their person laugh, or saw them dance, or had a meaningful interaction with them.”

“We know that’s not you and Ken doll, given the stalker girl who arranged your first meaningful interaction,” Jimmy teases.

Thankful for the levity, I say, “That was not my finest moment.”

Fletch drapes an arm around the back of my chair. “It was stressful, but you were pretty damn cute, all flustered and still standing your ground.”

Is he trying to give me whiplash?

“I knew I loved Hugh the moment he ran his grandparents’ boat into my parents’ dock when I was sixteen and he was eighteen,” his mother says. “He stood on that boat yelling at me for sunbathing in the grass, like it was my fault he got caught up in gawking at me instead of watching where he was going. All I could do was laugh. Our dock was shattered, and I’m falling to my knees, laughing hysterically. He jumped off that boat and stomped through the water to the grass, staring down at me. And you know what he said?”

“What?” I asked.

She lowers her voice an octave. “I’ve been trying to get up the nerve to ask you out, and now my grandparents are going to kill me. I’m heading to Mexico. Want to come?”

“What did you say?” I ask.

“I said, No thanks. I’m not done sunbathing, and I’m pretty sure my father is going to kill you when he gets home. The fool sat down beside me and said, In that case, I might as well enjoy the view with the time I’ve got left.”

“Dad, you had game,” Chuck says.

“Where do you think you boys got it from?” his father says proudly.

“He came by every day after that,” his mother adds. “And he worked all summer to repair my father’s dock. I was so in love with him by the end of that summer, I asked him to go to Mexico with me.”

“I love this story,” I exclaim. “Did you go?”

“No.” His father gazes lovingly at his wife. “I told her she’d lost her chance. I was leaving for college at the end of the summer.”

“Then he wrote to me every week and came to see me during every break. He proposed to me on that dock two years later, and we were married there after he graduated from college.”

“And I’d do it all over again.” He leans in and kisses her.

That’s what I want. Inescapable, unquestionable love.

“Okay, that’s it,” Beth exclaims. “Jimmy, we need a do-over proposal.”

Fletch chuckles. “You mean you didn’t like almost dying when he proposed?”

“Dying?” I ask. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

“I’m not.” He hikes a thumb at Jimmy. “This numbnut put the ring in a piece of carrot cake, and when they served it, instead of getting down on one knee, he went to find the waiter to get a glass of water because he was so nervous, his mouth was dry.”

“Meanwhile,” Beth says, “I’m chowing down on my favorite dessert, and suddenly there’s something sharp blocking my airway. So there I am, choking in the middle of a fancy restaurant, and Jimmy’s talking with a waiter. When he finally notices, he knocks into the waiter, making him fall onto another couple’s table, and plows over a busboy like he’s a linebacker, sending him flying into some guy’s lap.”

“Hey, I saved you with the Heimlich. The ring shot out of her mouth and landed in someone’s soup, like a freaking cartoon.” Jimmy laughs.