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‘Jadeybug.’ He stands from his chair, happy to see me. The TV blasts some YouTube show about motorcycles.
All those tears I’ve held back over this Conner thing decide now’s the time, and they fall freely, worrying my dad instantly.
‘Is uh – is your sister alright?’
‘Yeah,’ I sniffle. ‘I mean, I think she is, I don’t know. Probably.’ I fall onto the couch dramatically, dropping my purse to the floor.
‘What’s going on?’ he asks, standing over me, clearly distressed at my current mood as he strokes his beard. ‘You can’t just cry and not talk. We’re in it now; let’s hear what happened.’
With a heavy sigh, I wipe away the tears and force myself to sit up. ‘I don’t want to marry Conner, Dad.’
He sits on the coffee table before me, resting a hand on my knee. ‘Jade, sweetie, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to…’ His voice trails off as he grabs my left hand, lifting it closer to his face to inspect it. ‘Wait a second. He finally bought you a ring, and now you don’t want it?’ His face screams that he didn’t think Conner would pull through. And he’s spot on.
‘No.’ I cry again.
‘Jade, you’re wearing an engagement ring.’ He holds my hand in front of my face as though I don’t know. ‘If your fiancé didn’t give this to you, who did?’
‘River.’
‘River?’ He strokes his beard.
‘We’re just friends, remember? At least, I thought we were, but my heart is telling me something different.’
‘Is it telling you to marry him?’ he asks, his eyes wide as he awaits my answer.
‘I don’t know, but don’t worry. He didn’t give me this ring romantically or anything. It’s more of a “borrow to prove a point” thing. I just wasn’t prepared for what his “point” would do to me. When I put this thing on last night, people were so happy for me. The more I talked, the more I realized I wish River had given me this ring, for real.’ My crying slows as I focus on the guy I do like as opposed to the one I’m about to dump. He just makes me happy in a way no one else ever has.
‘Does he know you feel this way?’
‘Not completely, but he knows I feel something. And I know he feels something for me. But I need advice. I don’t know how to dump one man and tell the other I’m falling for him. Tell me how to do that, Dad. I promise this time I’ll listen to whatever you say.’
Dad chuckles. ‘Sure ya will,’ he moans playfully.
‘I didn’t mean to befriend River the way I did. How could I have ever known we had some kind of attraction to one another deep down? I thought it was just me, but he’s been a better boyfriend than Conner without even trying.’
‘I thought you said you weren’t cheating on Conner the other night?’ Dad seems surprised. ‘I’d expected this of Laney but never you, Jade…’ He says it so seriously.
‘I’m not cheating,’ I insist. ‘At least not physically. It’s more in my head, and possibly, here?’ I point to my heart, sniffling away my earlier emotions. ‘It’s never been “romantic” with River. But I can’t quit thinking about him. He’s so handsome, he makes me laugh, he sang me a Neil Diamond song, he loves all of Mom’s favorite eighties movies, his mother is mom’s favorite singer, and he put up with Laney for an entire night. He’s bought me flowers and is just the perfect guy.’
‘His mother is who?’
‘Penny Candy.’
Dad’s jaw drops. ‘We had our first dance to one of her songs at our wedding. How old is this perfect guy?’
‘Twenty-nine. Dad, you’d love him. He gives me advice I don’t want to hear but need to – just like you would. He thinks I’m pretty and says sweet things when I least expect them. For a long time, I’d never seen him as anything more than a friend, and then when I was ready to tell him I was interested, things didn’t go my way, and my world imploded not long after. I stayed the night taking care of him while he was sick recently—’
‘Can we return to when this River gave you the engagement ring?’
I tell him all about my pretending to be River’s fiancée. Then Penny finding out. I spill the story about the coronary burger poisoning, Laney’s boyfriend burning bonfire, Conner’s bullshit, the Office Max roller chair experience, and every embarrassing detail in between.
‘He wanted to show me what getting engaged should’ve felt like before dumping Conner.’
Dad shakes his head. ‘How would you wearing a random engagement ring show you what an engagement should feel like?’
I laugh. ‘That’s exactly what I thought.’ I wipe away tears that are finally under control. ‘Dad, it was like magic. The second I put that ring on, people noticed. They oohed and awed and congratulated me like it was a big deal. I wish they’d reacted like that when I told them weeks before, but back then, their only response was checking for a ring and not seeing one.’
I hold my hand before me, admiring the diamond staring back at me.
