37 Will You Marry Me?
My head was swimming as I looked out the window of the taxi on my way back to the hotel. I kept feeling the fish in my pocket, afraid to take it out and look at it. I couldn’t get the old man’s words out of my head. When all is lost, what is lost will return.
No one in our group was there when I got back to the hotel. I went to the room and took a nap. Around six o’clock I heard the key in the door and the door open.
“Did I wake you?” Taylor asked as she walked in. I had kind of expected to see her arms filled with shopping bags. Actually, I had assumed that I would see her arms filled with shopping bags. Something about that would have been hopeful to me. She had nothing but her purse.
“No, I was awake,” I said. “Just lying here. What time is it?”
“It’s just after six.”
“I didn’t know it was that late. Did you have dinner?”
“No. I was hoping you would want to go to dinner with me.”
“Of course I would.”
She smiled. “Good. I made reservations.”
Taylor had gotten us a reservation at what a local had told her was the nicest restaurant in Huancayo, Botánica Café Jardín downtown. We ordered ceviche, stuffed rocoto pepper, and parihuela, which is a fish-and-ají-pepper-based seafood stew. After we’d ordered, I turned to Taylor.
“How was your day?”
“It was good to be with Tara.” She looked into my eyes. “But I missed you. All day.”
“I missed you too.”
“What did you do today?”
“I just wandered around. Went to a couple of parks. Had a pizza. Then came back and took a nap.”
“That’s all you did?”
“Pretty much.”
She went to put her hand on mine. I pulled back.
“Why’d you do that?”
“Do what?”
“You didn’t want me to touch you. Are you hiding something?”
“No.”
She looked at me like she didn’t believe me. “Okay. Then hold my hand.”
I started to reach out, then stopped. “Yes. I’m hiding something from you.”
“Did you do something today you shouldn’t have?”
I wondered where she was going with this. I said, “I met a man in the marketplace. He was a silversmith. He had all sorts of esoteric things in his shop. Some he’d made; some were ancient. He knew my name and why I was in Peru. He even knew that I had come before for much the same reason. He told me things about what’s to come.”
“He’s a psychic?”
“More of a mystic,” I said. “But he told me not to share what he had to say, but that I should tell everyone that we would go through much pain and fear, but not to despair. That there was hope.”
Taylor smiled. “There’s been enough pain and fear. I’m just glad to hear that there’s hope.”
“Me too.”
Our waiter brought over our meals. They looked good, but the desire to talk was stronger than our desire to eat.
“It looks good,” I said.
“It does.” Taylor took just one bite, then said, “I want to tell you I’m sorry. I know I’ve been hard to live with. And if it wasn’t for that stupid dream, I would have been pushing as hard as you to get Abi back. In some ways I’m even closer to her than you are. I love her. But I love you more. And that dream… scared me so much.
“I’m just so tired of being chased and threatened and afraid. I’m tired of wondering if I’ll see the sun come up the next day. Or you. You are my sun.” Her eyes filled with tears. “People talk about living an exciting life, but, honestly, it’s just talk. I want a boring life. Maybe that’s asking too much for being born different. But, most of all, I want a boring life with you.”
“A life with you wouldn’t be boring,” I said.
“But I hope it is. I hope with every cell of my body it is. I want to sit on a porch and drink iced tea and not wonder if someone’s going to come after us or need to be rescued.
“Michael, if we make it back, I’m not going back to school. I’m not leaving your side again.” She looked into my eyes. “I want to start my life with you. I want to play house with you. And someday, I want to have babies with you and watch them grow up. I want to have a normal, boring life where the most drama we face is running late to soccer practice.”
“What if our children are electric too?”
“Then they’ll have parents who will love them and understand what they’re going through.”
I looked into her eyes. “I want that too.”
“If we get back, will you marry me?”
“Not ‘if.’ ” I grinned. “Did you just propose to me?”
“It sounded like it, didn’t it?”
“Yes.”
She smiled. “I have something for you.” She lifted from her purse a small velvet bag. “Here.”
“What is it?”
“Take it out.”
I opened the bag. There was a gold ring.
“You are serious,” I said.
“Of course I am.”
“You won’t believe this. The old man at the shop. He said I’d need this tonight.” I took the jewelry box from my pocket and handed it to her. She opened it up.
“Oh, Michael. It’s beautiful.”
“It’s a green diamond,” I said. “It signifies hope.”
“A green diamond. I didn’t know they existed.” She took the ring out of the box. “I can’t believe this.” She looked into my eyes. “Will you put it on me?”
“If you put mine on me.”
“After you put mine on me,” she said, smiling. “That’s proper etiquette.”
“Who am I to flout etiquette?” I took the ring. “Taylor, I want to marry you.”
“I will,” she said.
I slid the ring onto her finger.
“It fits perfectly,” she said.
“I’m not surprised. The old man made it for you.”
“Now yours.” She lifted it up. “I know it will fit because I measured your finger while you slept.” She slipped it on. “I want it to fit like we do. And I want to be yours. Forever.”
“We’re well on our way.”
“That jeweler man told you that you would need that ring tonight?”
“Yes.”
“And he told you that we would be okay after all this?”
“Yes.”
She put her head down in her hands and began to cry.
I put my hand on her arm. “Are you okay?”
“Finally,” she said. She looked up. “That’s the first hope I’ve felt since we got on the plane. I needed that more than anything else.”
“I know,” I said. “The old man told me that, too.”