A Notion of Love Read Free Page A

practically cooed. “I knew it would fit.”
    â€œWhat’s this?” Jackie asked incredulously. “An engagement ring?”
    â€œA promise ring,” Joelle corrected, slapping at his lean belly.
    â€œWhat’s the difference?” he asked, catching her loosely around the waist.
    â€œIt’s a promise to be engaged,” Chris said, giving us all a grin. I couldn’t help myself and kissed him again, until Jackie said, “I’m throwing you two in the lake if you don’t quit.”
    Joelle slapped at him again and he laughed and threatened to pitch her next. She shrieked and tried to wrestle away from him, but in the next moment he stepped back and peeled off his shirt, revealing his muscular chest. Jackie was such a show-off; half the time he was around he was shirtless. He gave us all a wicked grin and then unbuttoned his shorts, doing an Elvis-y thing with his hips as he slipped them down and then cannon-balled off the end of the dock. He surfaced with a roar and began energetically splashing us. We all yelped and Joelle screeched, “We have to do the cake pictures still, dumbass!”
    Jackie only laughed, leaning his elbows on the end of the dock; with his dark curls slicked back he looked like a handsome, evil merman. He grabbed Jo’s ankle.
    â€œGirls!” Gran was yelling at us then, up on the porch and backlit by the lights. “Get up here for cake!”
    â€œSee?” Joelle said to Jackie as he leaped with muscular grace onto the end of the dock and tried to get his arms around her.
    She darted away and ran towards the porch, with Jackson dripping in hot pursuit. Chris stood up and then surprised me by picking me up like a bride on her wedding night. I grinned at him and he said, “Happy birthday, Jilly. The first of many to come.”
    ***
    Three hours later most of the guests had headed back around Flickertail for home; just the regulars remained around the fire pit: Mom and Ellen, Gran and Minnie, Rich, Pam, and Dodge. I hadn’t shown my ring to anyone other than Joelle yet. In the hubbub of the party no one was aware that I was hiding my right hand from view. I wasn’t sure how Mom would react, especially, and wanted to wait until Chris wasn’t here so he wouldn’t be hurt if she was disapproving. No matter if she was, I planned never to remove my new ring.
    A big group of us was swimming now, under the stars. The air was so still it was as though we were characters on a sound stage, spot-lit by the pale glow of the waxing moon. Our words and shrieks and laughter could probably be heard clearly for miles in every direction. I hugged Chris’s shoulders as I rode on his back, pleasantly drunk—but not enough that I couldn’t hide it from the womenfolk; Jo and I were experts at that. Jackie and Justin had my sister and Justin’s girlfriend Aubrey on their shoulders. Jo and Aubrey were locked in good-natured combat, trying to knock one another into the water while the guys gripped their thighs and laughed uproariously. A few of our other friends had stuck around too; Jackie’s bottle of peppermint schnapps had made the rounds for shots at least three times.
    I held my right wrist loosely in my left hand, and Chris reached up every so often to rub his fingers over my palms, or he’d reach back and caress my legs under the water. I pressed my lips against his chilly neck again and again, or tipped my cheek against his back. We watched everyone playing and rough-housing from a safe distance, Chris chest-high in the lukewarm water. My long hair hung in snarls over my shoulders.
    â€œI love seeing this on you,” he said, holding my ring between two long fingers. “I almost picked one with blue to match your eyes.”
    â€œOh, I like the green,” I assured him. “I love it.”
    â€œI’m glad,” he said. And then, softly, “I’m so happy you’re mine.”
    Tears