When You Least Expect It (65 page)

Ray laughed as they headed out the door.  He couldn’t wait to get to the restaurant.  He was taking her to the top of the Prudential Center.  The view from there were awesome, and especially at sunset.  Knowing how much Amanda loved sunsets, he hoped it was especially beautiful today. It was the one thing he had no control of, and it was imperative it be perfect.

~~~

Amanda had loved everything so far.  The limo ride had been everything she could have hoped for, the restaurant even better.  It was exquisite!   The walls were windows, with a magnificent view wherever you looked. 

She had ordered the lobster, and Ray the prime rib.  He’d also ordered a bottle of champagne that popped open loudly, making Amanda laugh out loud. 

When they’d eaten every bite, Amanda announced she was stuffed.  “This was great Ray, thank you.”

“There's more.  I've arranged a special dessert that they made especially for you, birthday girl.”

Again, Amanda was pleasantly surprised.  “I never knew what a romantic you were, Ray.  You’ve really outdone yourself.”

“I aim to please, darling,” Ray drawled.  The server came over and asked if he was ready for the dessert.  Ray paled and said yes.

Amanda, noting the scared look on Ray’s face, asked if everything was all right.  “All the blood has drained from your face.”

Ray was flustered, but quickly recovered.  “I’m terrific.”

Soon, the baked Alaska arrived, flaming, with several of the restaurant employees trailing behind singing happy birthday.  The maitre’d stood before her, holding a covered silver platter and brought it over to Amanda.  “Miss?”  He opened it and showed her the little velvet box that was sitting alone on the tray, with a tiny blue ribbon.

Amanda’s heart stopped.  She looked at Ray, her eyes frightened.

“Open it, Mandy.”

She gingerly lifted the box, and opened it, stunned to see the beautiful engagement ring that sat in it.  It was a large princess-cut diamond with two sapphires on either side.  She immediately started crying, but couldn’t take her eyes off it, afraid to look at Ray. When she finally looked up, he was kneeling in front of her.  He took her hand and gingerly rubbed her ring finger.

“Amanda, you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me.  Today, your birthday, I wanted to give you a gift that you could have a lifetime.  That gift is me.  I want to give you a life filled with more days like today, more love than you could imagine, and someone who would take care of
you
for once, who would cherish every moment he had with you.  Someone who felt so lucky to have found you, in that crazy unconventional place known as the Internet, but without it, we wouldn’t be sitting here today.  Give me this chance, Mandy.  Give me the chance to make every day perfect for you.”  He kissed her ring finger.  “This finger looks naked.  Should we put the ring on?”

Amanda smiled at him through her tears.  “Yes, Ray.”

He took it out of the box and slid it on her finger.  It was beautiful and brought tears to both their eyes.  “Marry me, Mandy.  Give me four years here in Maine.  If you don’t like it, we’ll move back to Texas, California, or Hawaii for all I care.  I just want to be with you.”  He looked at her, willing her to say yes.

Amanda didn’t know what to say. How could she say no?  How could she say yes?  She thought about her new rule, the rule about making decisions solely based on what she wanted, and she knew that what she wanted was Ray.  “Yes.  Yes, Ray, I’ll marry you.” 

They hugged and the restaurant broke into applause.  The violinist played for them and the maître’d offered his congratulations, along with a complimentary bottle of champagne.  He popped it open and poured, leaving them alone to talk.

“This was totally unexpected Ray.  What if I had said no?”

Ray laughed.  “I knew that was a huge possibility, considering the move and all.  But, I had to try, Mandy.  I wanted to push us to make a decision.  We’ve talked about it to death, it was time to try and make it happen.” 

“Well, smarty pants, I guess you’re getting your way.  I’ll try it out, Ray.  As long as I can go home when I want, and have a room for Alex, and still let my kids know I’m there for them, even though I’m so far.  Although, Boston is so close!  You were smart to show me that before asking me.”  She looked at her newly dressed finger.  “It’s perfect, Ray.  It’s something I would have picked.”

“It looked like you.”  He looked down at his own finger.  “I guess we’ll have to get one for me.  When do you think this might happen?  What kind of wedding do you want?   Do you think a big family extravaganza, or a courthouse wedding?  Las Vegas?  Anything you want, just tell me”

  Amanda thought about her last fiasco wedding and wanted no part of that again.  “I’m thinking Las Vegas.  We can keep it small and simple, maybe our kids if they want; or maybe just us.”

“Sounds perfect!  Who needs the headache of involving anybody else?” 

Amanda was lost in her own little world.  She was thinking about how the kids were going to react to this.  Marrying this man, the one she met on the Internet, and moving a million miles away.  She doubted it was going to go over too well.  She would deal with that when she got home, for now, she was going to finish enjoying her birthday.  “We should eat that baked Alaska; it looks wonderful.” 

They dug in, holding hands, giggling and laughing like school kids.  Amanda couldn’t keep her eyes off her ring; and Ray couldn’t keep his eyes off her.  She had said yes!  As cliché as it sounded, she had made him the happiest man on earth.

~~~

             
Amanda’s plane ride was quiet and she was deep in thought.  She and Ray had decided that they’d marry soon, that she’d see Alex off to school, then move to Maine.  It seemed absurd to try to rent an apartment; it was expensive and locked her into a lease.  She’d come home for a week to ten days when it came down to Elisa’s wedding to help with the last minute details.  If she had to fly down to the U of A for anything, she’d be able to do it.  Ray had said that she wouldn’t need to work right away; she’d be on ‘stand-by’ for her kids until everyone was adjusted to this new situation.

It seemed like an ideal plan to Amanda.  She was unsure about living in Maine, if she’d like it, or would adjust well.  The one thing she was sure about was becoming Ray’s wife.  Although she had promised herself she would never again marry, this seemed right. 

Her concern right now was how to tell everyone.  She could think of not one person beside for Blossom, who would be able to accept her decision and support her.  She laughed, it even sounded ludicrous to her! 
Hey, I’m marrying the man I met on the Internet and moving thousands of miles away.  Woohoo…I’ll leave behind everything I know and love, it’ll be great! 
She shook her head; she definitely needed a better way of presenting it than that. 

Her plane landed and she took off her ring and put it in her wallet.  She didn’t want anyone to find out until she was ready to tell them.  Elisa and Tom were picking her up; she wanted to tell the kids together.  So, this was definitely not the time. 

To her surprise, Alex was with them.  They’d drastically cut his hours since he changed to day shift, so he was around more these days.

“Hey Ma, how was your trip?”  He enveloped her in a big bear hug.  “We missed you.” 

Amanda’s heart ached.  “I missed you too, Al.  I had a great time.”

“Hi Mom.”  Elisa squeezed her tightly.  “Guess what?  My dress is in.  I waited for you to go for my fitting.  Won’t that be fun?”

“That will be too much fun.  I can’t wait to see it.”

She hugged her future son-in-law.  “I went to Boston Tom.  It’s beautiful there.”

“I told you!  I can’t wait to live there.”

They picked up her baggage and decided to go to Nene’s for a bite to eat.  As they sat around the table, munching on chips and talking animatedly about school, or the wedding, Amanda decided this was the time.  Why put it off?

“I have big news kids.  She reached into her purse and pulled out the ring.  “I’m getting married.”

Amanda was not ready for the look of utter shock on their faces.

“Wha-at?  Elisa looked on the verge of tears.

Tom was the first one to recover.  “Will you be moving to Maine?”

She looked at her son who was still in shock.  “Yes.”

Elisa came unglued.  “But
why
?  Why would you do that right now, Mom?  What about my wedding?  Why would you leave us?”

“I’m not leaving you, Elisa.  I’m just moving.  You two are moving on with your lives, I have to find a way to do the same.  If I leave before your wedding, I’ll be back.  You don’t need me; you and Tom are doing a fine job on your own.  Whatever you do need, I’ll do.  Alex, you’ll be gone by then.  Coming home for the holidays will now just mean Maine.”

“This makes no sense, Mom.”  He couldn’t comprehend it.  His mother was getting married again.  Plus moving? 

“It does to me.  I love Ray, and I want to be with him.  This could be a temporary situation, but for now, we thought me moving there would be best.  I can really use this change, and Elisa, it’s only two hours from Boston.  When you move, you’ll have me there now.”

Tom put her arm around his fiancée.  “That’s great, isn’t it honey.”

“I guess.  When will you be married?”

“Probably right after the house is sold.”

Elisa was incredulous.  “Before I do?”

Amanda laughed.  “Probably, Elis.  But don’t worry; I’m not going to have a big wedding.  We’ll probably go to Vegas.”

“Are you going to invite everyone?  If they come to yours, then they won’t come to mine.  Mom, I don’t get this.”

Amanda was getting a little irritated at the fact that she couldn’t see past her own nose.  “Don’t worry; I’m not going to steal your thunder.  I’m just going to get married.  If you kids want to come, that would be great, if not, then Ray and I will just quietly do it.  It’s no big deal, Elisa.”

No one said anything after that.  They quietly ate their food and eventually the strain became too great for Amanda.  She started to cry.  “Why can’t you be happy for me?  I want to be happy, and I want you to be happy too.  Why is this such a big deal?  When you wanted to get married Elisa, and move to Boston, you thought about you and Tom and your life. Alex, when you wanted to go to the U of A, you didn’t even talk to me about it, it was just decided.  Am I supposed to sit alone in El Paso, waiting for infrequent visits from you two?  Is that what you want my life to be?”

Elisa spoke up, now angry.  “I just think this is incredibly selfish of you, Mom.  You’re the mother, you’re supposed to put us first, not just abandon us.”

Amanda cried harder, unable to control herself.  “I’m not abandoning you.  I have thought it through, especially where you two are concerned.  I’ll be just as obtainable in Maine as I am here.  I’m still going to be your mother, and I’m still going to love you with all my heart.  Why can’t you support
me
for once?” 

“Okay, Mom, stop crying.” Alex looked around the restaurant.  All eyes were on them.

Amanda noticed and took out a twenty-dollar bill and threw it on the table.  “I’ll be outside.”  She went to the bathroom and tried to repair the damage.  She looked horrible, which only made her cry more.  She knew this was going to be hard, but she didn’t think they’d turn on her!  She looked in the mirror.  “I don’t think I can do this.”  She went into the stall, sat on the toilet seat and cried some more.

~~~

Of course when she got home, everyone left her. She called Ray.

“Hello, my future wife.  How was your trip home?”

“Quiet…until I got here.”  She filled him in on everything that had happened so far.

“Wow.  I didn’t expect that kind of reaction, or maybe I did, I don’t know.  It’s a big change, a big adjustment for everyone, Mandy.  They’ll get used to the idea.”

Amanda started to cry, for what seemed like the hundredth time.  “I just want someone to be happy for me.  I know Hilary won’t be.  I dread even telling her.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I’m happy.  I told my mother today, and she seemed happy.  Of course, she has voted for the family extravaganza for the wedding.”

Amanda laughed.  “Does she get a vote?”

“Absolutely not.  I told her we were going to Las Vegas, and she said she hoped we enjoyed our wedding with Elvis.”  They both laughed.

“Do you think it will be cheesy?” 

“Who cares?  As long as it’s legal, we leave there with a license, and a happy memory, that’ll be all we need.  I’ve looked into it on the Internet, and it looks nice.  I can get a whole package; including hotel, limo, wedding with all the trimmings.  It won’t be cheesy.  I promise it will be nice.”

“Have you told your girls yet?”

“No, I’m telling them tomorrow night at dinner.”

“I hope it goes better than my dinner.” 

Ray didn’t want to admit that he was nervous about it.  “They’ll be fine.  It won’t affect them as much as your kids.  Your kids are more concerned about you moving.  My kids won’t have to deal with that.”

Amanda tried to hide the irritation that made her feel.  “What if I can’t go through with this, Ray?”