Ask Her Again Read Free Page A

and I take full responsibility for it. It was my fault. I should have calmed down before exploding like that and being so rash, if I had, we'd be married by now, ever think about that?"
    Sue squeezed Larry's hand and felt the familiar warmth of his hand in hers. "Yes, I've thought about it a lot. We could have been building a life together instead of avoiding each other."
    Larry moved closer and spoke more softly. "That's why I'd like to make up for lost time. I always said before I wanted to take things slowly, get married, later on buy a house, then later again have kids. But I was wrong, why wait? If that's what we both want, you were right, now is the time, now is the only time."
    Sue looked into Larry's sparkling brown eyes, she'd never seen him so passionate about family, so sure about what he wanted and so powerful. He even looked different, he seemed stronger and more definite about his future than she'd ever seen him. She was impressed.
    "And that's why I'd like to make everything right," Larry went down on one knee, and for the second time in his life, he looked up at Sue and asked, "Will you marry me Sue?"
    Sue felt a rush of fear, fear that Larry would not follow through again, and she spoke before she knew what she was saying, "Not right now, Larry, this is all too soon."
    Larry returned to his chair and hesitantly took a sip of wine. "Look, I'm not going to put you under any pressure. It's an open offer, you get back to when you want to. I know this is an unusual situation and I'm the reason we're in it. It would be wrong for me to rush you."
    "Thank you, Larry. I do still care about you, it's just been a lot to take in, all of a sudden."
    "I still love you, Sue. I never stopped loving you. I never stopped thinking about you from the moment I woke up to the moment I fell asleep. I'd wonder where you were and what you were doing. And most of all, I just missed holding your hand and walking with you at my side. It just felt wrong not having you with me. The last few months were a right off, a complete right off."
    "That's so sweet, Larry. I've missed you terribly. Let's just take it easy and get back to where we were, ok? I'm sure everything will work out as long as we don't rush it."
     
    *   *   *
     
    "Happy Birthday, Jack! You're 3 years old already. You're amazing," Larry smiled as he hugged his favorite and only nephew."
    "Wow, is he happy to see you? He was asking about you since breakfast. Thank God you made it, it would have been a rough evening for us otherwise," Joe smiled at his brother.
    Larry took his jacket off and took a seat. "There's no way I'd have missed this. He's growing up so fast, another year already. What are you feeding him?"
    "Yeah, time flies when you've got a mischievous little boy in the house, that's for sure. Anyway, Larry, tell me, what's the latest with Sue?"
    "We've been back together now for almost 8 months and everything is good. In fact, we get on better than we ever did. We've both grown up a lot, she doesn't nag me like she used to and I don't storm out when I get annoyed, so that's helped a lot," Larry laughed.
    Joe patted his brother on the back. "That's great, I'm so pleased for you, for both of you. So, you going to get back on the marriage track?"
    Larry nodded his head and loosened his tie. "Yes, actually, I'm trying to muster up the courage to ask her to marry me again. This'll be the third time I ask so I hope she says yes. I'm quite nervous about it. More nervous than I was the first time."
    "I thought, you'd be a pro at it by now. I know people who have proposed twice or even three times but you are definitely the first guy I know who has proposed to the same woman three times," Joe laughed.
    Larry smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Tell me about it, it's not something I'm particularly proud of. Sue's mother must think I'm a total idiot. Can't blame her really."
    "She'll say yes this time, Larry. Don't worry, the last time was different, I'm sure it'll all work