Page 19
“You know, honey, you didn’t have to rush back. You could’ve stayed for the final—”
“I wanted to be here. A week was too long to be away.” I’d drop everything for you, Mom.
“I know, but you’re either at school, interning, working, or with me. You need to see your friends, Riley, go to parties, be a college kid. You’re only young once—trust me.”
Here she goes again with the ‘You should have the true NYU experience!’ Riley had wanted to commute from home, but Maggie insisted she live near campus. “You make me sound like a bore. I still swim.”
“You better! It’s the only me time you have.” Maggie held the popsicle in her mouth for a few seconds. “I’d be fine here on my own. One of the volunteers would’ve driven me home. You and Josh have so little time together.”
“Yeah, well, that’s going to change…” She took a deep breath. “He proposed.”
Maggie almost choked on her popsicle. “He what?”
“He proposed Thursday night—”
“Riley—” Their words stepped on top of each other.
“Sorry I didn’t say anything before. I wanted to tell you in person.”
“And here I thought our traditional post-chemo donut was today’s highlight. So…” Maggie’s smiled cautiously as she clasped her daughter’s hand. “What did you say?”
“I said yes.” Riley looked at her hand wrapped in Maggie’s, her mother’s soft warmth comforting. “He proposed with a toy ring hidden in a package of Reese’s.”
“Oooh, smart—you can’t say no to peanut butter…”
“We were at Red Pepper, finishing our tacos, and he went outside to grab his phone from his truck. Next thing I know, my name’s being called and he’s down on one knee. The restaurant went completely silent. They even turned down the music so everyone could watch.”
“Well, he is a big deal in Grand Forks, right?” Maggie squeezed Riley’s hand.
“Yeah, fans stop him all the time, but thankfully no one did mid-proposal. He was so nervous.”
“Couldn’t have been easy with an audience.”
It wasn’t. Riley nodded. “He was holding the peanut butter cup packages and said, ‘Some might say I’m ‘nuts’ getting engaged at twenty-two, but I can’t think of a ‘butter’ way to say I love you. Will you marry me?’”
“Oh, Josh.” Maggie scrunched her eyes.
Laughing, Riley let go of her mom’s hand. “I know! It’s cheesy as hell, but it was like he reverted back to junior high Josh. Remember how small and geeky he was? Zero confidence, jokes so bad they made you groan, the only boy at school into competitive figure skating…”
“He certainly got picked on, but you were always there for him. I can’t count the number of times you were late for dinner, practicing wrist shots on his backyard rink.”
“Yeah, when we weren’t making volcanos for the science fair!” Riley smiled. “But now look at him: an NHL second-round draft pick! I bet some of his school bullies will ask for his autograph one day without realizing he was the scrawny figure skater they used to beat up.”
“It’s strange how life turns out, isn’t it?” Maggie returned the popsicle to her mouth.
“Yeah.” Riley nodded. “Josh says he wants to build a solid foundation for our future together. He wants to take care of me, which is lovely…” She sighed heavily, her eyes drifting to the floor.
“Sweetheart, what is it?” Maggie tried to read her daughter’s face.
“Part of me…I don’t know. I was thinking about Dad…”
“Oh, Riley—Josh is nothing like your dad.”
“But I can’t forget how he—”
“You don’t have to forget, but just remember, not every man takes off when times get tough.”
Yeah, some propose instead. With a nod, Riley’s forehead wrinkled in thought. “It’s the next step, right?”
