The Crying Bridge

The Crying Bridge--Chapter 21

 Del was laughing and crying as Evan placed the engagement ring on her finger. He'd somehow figured out her ring size and it fit perfectly. It was a brilliant princess cut diamond set in a platinum band. The band was a little thicker than average, but Del had long, slender fingers and the ring was stunning on her hand. She didn't know a lot about diamonds, but even in the moonlight, she could tell it's color and clarity were exceptional. She was guessing it was close to one and a half carats in weight. She was truly shocked and overwhelmed and so happy she thought her heart might explode.

"When did you plan all this?" she asked, unable to take her eyes off her hand.

"I didn't exactly plan it," Evan said. He was laughing, too. "I just decided one day that I was going to marry you if you'd have me. I bought the ring right after that. Do you like it?"

"Oh my god, Evan, it's beautiful. I love it. And I love you." She leaned over and kissed him. "But we are crazy, aren't we?"

Evan waved his hands in the air. "What's crazy?" He asked. "We love each other, we practically live together already. I know I have no desire to spend a moment of the rest of my life without you. I think we're pretty sane, actually."

"Well, then, what's next?" Del asked.

Evan shrugged. "I'm going to go get the rest of the champagne," he answered. "Then I guess we have a wedding to plan."

He returned with the bottle and refilled their glasses. "So what's you're dream wedding?" he asked her. "We can do whatever you want."

"God, I have no idea," Del admitted. "My first marriage took place at a courthouse, all business."

"Okay," Evan said. "First, that is simply not good enough for you and second, let's pretend that marriage never happened. We're starting from scratch here."

Del loved him so much for saying that. She was really ready to let go of that miserable time in her life and enjoy finally being happy. "That works for me."

"So tell me your thoughts," Evan said.

Tears suddenly sprang to Del's eyes again, and these tears weren't so happy. "Well," she began, "without my mom and dad around..." she trailed off.

Evan wrapped her in his arms. "Oh, honey, I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to be an insensitive ass. I just didn't think about how hard it might be for you."

"You didn't do anything wrong" she assured him. "And you're not an insensitive ass. You're the most kind, loving man I've ever known. It just hit me that I finally found the man I'm meant to spend the rest of my life with and my parents will never know how wonderful you are."

"Do you want to talk about all this later?" he asked her.

She shook her head, wiping at her eyes. "No, I'm okay now," she said. "But without my parents or any other family, I definitely don't need a big affair. Unless it's what you want."

"Uh uh," he said. "It's whatever you want. I only care that at the end of it, you're my wife."

She kissed him again, a little more passionately this time. "Elope?" she suggested.

"Is that what you want?"

She considered it for a minute, nodded slowly. "Maybe," she said. "Somewhere tropical and romantic?" She thought about that a second and realized one important factor. "Oh! What about your parents, your family?"

"My parents will support whatever I choose," he said with confidence. "And they will understand your situation and love you no matter where we get married. They're going to need to meet you at some point, obviously, but if you want to elope, then we elope."