The Marriage Proposal by Felix Brooks & Andrea Dalling

Author:Felix Brooks & Andrea Dalling [Brooks, Felix]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lovelight Press
Published: 2017-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

***

While the coffee was brewing, Noah went out to the back deck to call his mother. The yard was larger than he expected, maybe a quarter acre, lined with spruce. Rose of Sharon bloomed in white and shades of pink, basking in the rays of sunshine that broke through the clouds. As the phone rang, Noah straightened his spine, bracing for his mother’s reaction.

“Darling, what a surprise,” she said in a tone he couldn’t read. Her old-money accent tended to hide her emotions.

“Hello, mother, how are you?”

“I’m in the south of France, so I’m fabulous, of course. And you? Keeping yourself busy?”

“As usual.” He hated to be terse, but there was no point dancing around it. “I have some news. I realize this is coming out of the blue, but I got married.” He held his breath, waiting for her response.

“Oh, that!” She paused a beat, then said crisply, “I’ve been getting calls all week congratulating me, darling. I don’t really mind that my only child got married, and I found out from a Google alert. It was just so awkward, not knowing what to tell people. So I laughed and said it was all very hush-hush, and that you’d always been impulsive. Can you imagine? My son, impulsive! What a great joke that is!”

He paused to let his emotions settle. “I didn’t realize it was on the Internet.”

“My dear, you’re a high-profile person. You’ve got a Wikipedia page. Of course it was on the Internet.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to find out that way.”

Soundlessly, a breeze fluttered the leaves of a tall oak that shaded the yard. A robin broke the silence, rustling through the leaf litter, searching for insects. A squirrel scampered across the grass and jumped onto the trunk.

“I hope you got a pre-nup, at least?” his mother said at last.

“Yes, of course.”

“Noah, you didn’t tell your own mother you got married. There’s no ‘of course’ in this situation.” Her voice was sharp, but it softened when she spoke again. “Considering the last young man you dated…Well, it’s done. I’ll keep an open mind.”

“We’re hoping you can come to Seattle soon. Dylan wants to meet you. So does his mother.”

“It is traditional for the families to meet, so I suppose I should find the time.” Was that sarcasm in her tone? “I’ll be in France the rest of the month, though,” she said, “then I’m off to Rome. Enrique has never seen Italy.”

“I didn’t realize he’d seen anything other than the cradle you robbed.”

“Don’t be absurd. He’s twenty-five.”

“My husband is twenty-six.”

“Don’t worry, dear. I’m not foolish enough to marry Enrique.” She sighed audibly. “Oh Noah, what have you gotten yourself into?”

“Dylan is a good man.”

“I hope that’s true. It’s none of my concern, of course. I wish you all the best, darling.”

The call disconnected, and Noah hit the End button. He stared for a while, hardly believing it. That had gone better than he expected.

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