I was right of course. I spent much of it lounging around in my shorts, watching television, picking at my breakfast and my lunch. I talked with Tracy, with my Mom, with my Dad, all of whom were in on my intentions. They made comment after comment about my nervousness. I denied that I was nervous but knew that I was lying.
At about two-thirty, absurdly early, I began getting ready. I took a shower, washing myself thoroughly. I dressed myself in my best suit, fixing my tie so it was just right. And then I waited for it to be four o'clock, time to go pick up Nina.
I restrained myself from leaving the house early. It would have screwed up the schedule I'd carefully planned. Finally I made one last check of my possessions to make sure I had everything I needed. I had the ring, I had the roll of twenty dollar bills that was so thick it looked like a pimp's flash money. My family wished me good luck and I headed out the door, climbing into my faithful Datsun and heading off to Nina's house.
Jack and Mary met me at the door, inviting me in. Nina was nowhere to be seen.
"She's putting the finishing touches on," Mary told me, offering me a seat. The interrogation began.
"Kind of early for a simple fancy dinner," Nina's mom commented, handing me a glass of iced tea that I hadn't asked for.
"We'll probably be out for a while," I told her, sipping out of it.
"This date wouldn't have anything to do with that little present you showed Jack on the fishing trip now, would it?" Mary asked pointedly.
"Mary…" Jack started but was silenced by a sharp glance from her.
I licked my lips nervously, unable to think of an answer.
"Does it?" she persisted.
"Yes," I answered. "It does. It has everything to do with that. I'm going to ask your daughter to marry me tonight."
She stared hard at me for a moment and then her face softened a little. "Do you have something special planned? Something she'll remember?"
I looked down the hallway toward Nina's room, seeing that the door was still shut. I gave Mary a brief summary of what I had planned, leaving one part out of course. Mary listened to me carefully, her eyes boring into me.
"That's very romantic," she finally said, her face breaking into a smile. "Can I see the ring?"
Another quick glance and I pulled the ring, free of its box, from the inner pocket of my jacket. She stood and sat next to me on the couch, taking it from my hand. She appraised it for a moment, looking at the gold band, the diamond protruding. She nodded, handing it back to me. I returned it to its hiding place.
Mary continued to stare at me for a moment. "You know how I used to feel about you Bill," she said. "We won't rehash that. But I'm glad to find, after getting to know you, that I was wrong. As wrong as a person could be.
I wish you luck tonight and I'd like to be the first to tell you, welcome to our family." She leaned forward and gave me a hug. Surprised, I returned it.
"Of course you won't do anything stupid, like eloping, will you?" This was more a command than a question.
"No," I said quickly. "I promise."
"Good," she said, a tear coming down from her left eye. "Because I want Nina to have a big wedding with lots of guests. I want to help her plan it, I want to help her make out a guest list. You'll let me do that, won't you?" More tears were coming down now.
"I promise Mary," I told her, giving her another hug. "We'll get married in Spokane and we'll let you plan it. I promise."
"Thank you."
"Of course this whole discussion is meaningless if Nina tells me no," I put in.
Mary broke the embrace and looked at me in much the same way I'd looked at Tracy when she'd asked what Mom and Dad were doing in their room. "You don't really think that's a concern, do you?"
Mary had herself under control and Nina sensed nothing amiss when she emerged from her bedroom a few minutes later. She was not wearing the dress she'd worn to the play but an entirely new one, a dark blue and white one. It was not strapless, as Maggie had suggested it be, but that was not important. She looked ravishing in it.
"You look VERY nice," I told her, standing up and giving her a hug and kiss.
I took a quick look at her left ring finger, which was bare at that moment but would hopefully be adorned with my ring later that evening. "New dress?"
"Mom helped me pick it out," she affirmed. "You look very nice too. So where are we going?" The anticipation was killing her.
"You'll see," I said. "I think you'll like it."
We said our good-byes to the elder Blackmores. Mary, I could tell, was stifling tears as we left. Nina noticed this too and asked her mother what was wrong.
"Nothing dear," she said. "It just pains me sometimes to see how grown-up you've become. When you wear a fancy dress like that it hits me hard."
I held the car door open for her and then stepped around to my side, strapping in and firing up the little four-cylinder engine. I pulled away from the curb and headed for the freeway.
"Mom is so weird sometimes," Nina commented.
We made idle chitchat until I hit the freeway onramp. I'm sure that Nina was expecting me to head for downtown. I didn't, instead taking the opposite direction. She looked at me suspiciously.
"Bill, where are you going?" she asked. "Why are you being so mysterious?"
"I'm a mysterious person," I told her, refusing to say further.
It took us about ten minutes to get to our first destination. By the time I pulled in the front gate it was apparent to Nina where we were going.
"Why are we at the airport?" she wanted to know. "What's going on? Bill, tell me!"
"Well," I said, pulling into the parking lot of the private airfield and stopping. "I wanted to take you someplace REALLY nice. Nicer than we have in Spokane. In order to avoid a long drive, I enlisted the services of a family friend."
"We're getting on an airplane?" she asked.
"For a bit," I allowed. "He's the same guy that flew me and your Dad to Seattle. You're not afraid to fly, are you?"
"I've never done it before," she said. "Where are we flying to?"
"Seattle," I said, "All the nice places are there. I have reservations for us at what is reputed to be the nicest restaurant in the entire state of Washington. I will get you there, wine and dine you, and have you safely back in your own bed tonight."
"We're going to Seattle?" she said in disbelief. "What's the occasion?"
"Just because I love you Babe," I told her, calling her by that term of endearment for the first time. "Just because I love you."
Ron had of course been the unpredictable part of my plan. Would he volunteer to fly us there and back? Would he be free to do so? The last thing I wanted to do was impose upon a family friendship and make someone do something they didn't want to. But to my delight, he'd jumped upon the suggestion, especially when I'd told him my intentions. He'd offered to stand by at the airport until the next morning if that was required. I'd gratefully accepted and told him that a few hours should be all that was required. We'd talked over his portion of the plan and, once briefed in, he'd proved to be a godsend. His experience as a pilot had allowed me to time everything down to the minute. He also had some connections in Seattle that helped save me some money for phase two. When Nina and I walked across the tarmac, past rows of Cessna's and Pipers and the occasional Lear, we found him waiting beside the plane, its engine on, its propeller turning, its pre-flight check already completed, the flight plan already filed.
Introductions were made and Ron told Nina how lovely she looked and how much he'd enjoyed her father's company. He soothed her nervousness about the small plane, speaking loudly over the noise of the engine. He offered her the co-pilot's seat and helped her inside after I'd been stowed in the back.