“Oh, threats. I like it.”
I grab him by the front of the shirt and pull him to me. “Talk now or forever hold your peace.”
“Fine, fine.” He takes my hands in his and gently detaches me from his shirt, leaning over to kiss me once on the nose before stepping back a pace.
“Where are you going?” I ask nervously.
He reaches into his front pocket and pulls out a small black box.
“What’s that?” My heart nearly explodes when I see that it’s a jewelry box.
“Sarah…” He looks at the box, looks at me, and then gets down on one knee.
“Oh my god,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. “Jeremy, what are you doing?” Tears well up in my eyes. I have to hold onto the stair railing to keep from falling down.
He looks up at me, tears in his eyes too. “I know you haven’t known me for very long.”
I shake my head, agreeing. My lips are trembling with the energy it’s taking to hold in my tears and emotion.
“But even so, it feels like I know you better than the people in my own family.” He looks down, having a hard time picking the right words, I think. I can completely understand, since I’m speechless myself.
He looks up again. “It’s going to sound really creepy probably, to say this, but I feel like if I’m going to make this proposal to you — this very non-standard proposal — then I should be totally upfront.”
I nod. My voice is all crazy when it finally starts working again. “Yes. Be upfront, by all means.” I grip the railing until my knuckles go white.
“I feel like Laura is telling me something. Telling me that I need to be with you and not let you get away. That we’re meant to be together. So she’s here with us. We’re a three-some, but not in a weird way.”
“No, I understand.” And I do. To anyone but us, it would be creepy. I know that. But to me, it’s not. I get it. I get him. I get her. I get us.
“She loved me so much, she’s reaching out from beyond the grave to make sure I get back to being myself again.”
I nod, no longer able to hold back the tears. They course down my cheeks.
“So my proposal is that I would like to ask you to marry me — someday when you’re comfortable with the idea — and along with me you get the ghost of my wife Laura and my child.”
“Cassie too?” I ask, hoping beyond hope that he means it.
“Yes. I intend to get custody back. I can’t be without her anymore. I’ve been breaking the oath I made to Laura to always care for our family. I’ve been a terrible father, and I need to make things right.”
“Do you know how to change diapers?” I ask, laughing a little through my tears.
“You can teach me.”
I nod. “I used to babysit.” God, this is crazy! But I don’t care! I love this man!
“That’s a great start,” he says. He’s looking up at me with tears making his eyes shine. “So what do you say? You think you might want to hitch your wagon to this crazy train?”
Soooo, so many things are racing through my mind right now. A cabin with a drunk guy in it; snowballs with maple syrup poured over them; a ghost telling me that the man in my painting is not who he really is; me standing under a tree with a bowl on my head; the hours we’ve spent talking about our lives here in this house. Laura’s house. The house where I could live as Jeremy’s wife, if I just say Yes.
But it’s so soon. Too soon. We have so much to learn about each other and he has to learn to be a father before he can be a husband again. I can’t take that away from Cassie. If this love is real, it will stand the test of time. I have to be sure, for all of our sake.
“Can I think about it?” I ask, worried he’ll take it the wrong way, but knowing at the same time that I can’t rush into anything so big.
He smiles, love shining out from his eyes. “You can take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere.”
I stare at the ring. It’s very sparkly.
“Can I touch it?”
He pulls it close to his chest. “I’m not sure if that’s allowed.” He narrows his eyes, playing the sharp one. “I think you need to say ‘yes’ if you want to see it up close.”
I try to snatch it away but he holds it out of reach. “Uh, uh, uhhhh … not so fast. You sure you don’t want to give me an answer right now?”
I nearly crumble at this teasing. He’s so sweet, so kind, so damn understanding. I need to be honest.