"I took a guess at your ring size. but I'm usually pretty good at things like that," he said, plucking the ring out of the box and slipping it on my finger. It fit perfectly. "See?"
"Thatcher, an engagement ring!"
"That's what they call it." he said. and leaned back on his hands. closing his eyes and turning his body to bask in the late-afternoon sun. "I figure if all goes well, we can get married in a few months, six at the most.
"Of course." he continued quickly, sitting up again. "I don't want you to think I expect you to give up anything you want to do just because we get married, including school and your pursuit of a career. I think, as well, that we should have the wedding here, don't you? It seems, I don't know, proper and right. Don't you think?"
He was speaking quickly and so nonchalantly about the most important things in my life while to me it seemed as if the world had suddenly come to a stop. Even the ocean waves were on pause. The birds were all listening and waiting. The breeze held its breath.
"You're asking me to marry you?" I finally managed. He laughed.
"That's kind of what an engagement ring promises for the near future. Willow, even here in Palm Beach."
"Oh, Thatcher." I said. I threw my arms around him. "I feel so stupid, so foolish for what I did and how I behaved. What an embarrassment!"
He kissed my cheek and forehead and pressed his to mine. "You were perfect." he said,
"Perfect?" I pulled back, "How can you say I was perfect? I ran out of that place with my head soaking. I drove recklessly and was pulled over by a policeman. I made an absolute fool of myself."
"I know."
"I know you know that. but that is far from perfect behavior."
"What I meant was, it was the sort of dramatics Palm Beach socialites love. Who knows, maybe you'll be in the Shiny tomorrow."
"I'd rather not. Unless, of course, it's to announce this." I added, holding out my hand with the ring glittering on my finger.
"Yes, well... there's just one favor I need from you concerning that. 'Willow," he said, nodding at the ring.
"Favor?"
A small tickle, like the flap of a butterfly against the inside of my stomach, started and stopped.
"Yes. I have a few things left to work out, as you know, and for the time being. I think it would be best if you kept that out of sight."
'Out of sight? You mean, not wear it?'
"Not yet," he said. "I don't expect it will be that long. but--"
"You want me to keep our engagement a secret?"
"Just for a little while, As I said. I have a few things to work out."
"By things, you mean your mother and your sister and maybe even your father. Is that it?"
"It will help us, all of us. if I can do this so that no one is hurt, Willow."
I slipped the ring off and put it back into the box. "Then why give it to me now. Thatcher?" I asked.
"I want you to know how committed I am to you and what you mean to me. Willow."
I thought for a moment, and then I handed it back to him. "Don't give me an empty promise, Thatcher."
"That's not an empty promise. That's a threecarat class A diamond ring."
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"This ring could be made of glass, for all I care, as long as it was for real and for now and for all the world to see. Other than that, it's just a fantasy, a dream, as stable as a bubble." I muttered.