Chapter 28
28
S o much for Fleur making a big, grand gesture with her proposal. The whole meal had passed in a strange blur. A blur where Fleur's mind constantly circled around the idea of asking Patrick to marry her, only for her to lose her nerve each and every time. A little dissenting voice hissed at her that she was barking up the wrong tree entirely. She’d questioned what she was doing, so much so that the evening hadn’t been all that enjoyable for either her or Patrick.
Leaving the deli, they walked in silence towards the River Lovely, the faint chatter and music from the High Street fading behind them. The night air was cool, the lighthouse towered in the distance, and as they approached the jetty, water lapped against the pilings, reflecting the glow of the streetlamps here and there in little pools of golden light. At the wharf, the riverboat chugged in, its hull knocking against the wooden jetty, and the strings of fairy lights hung around the vessel dropped shimmering patterns onto the dark water. Colin called out as he slung a rope over the bollard. ‘Steady.’
Fleur watched the boat bump and judder as Colin cupped his hands to his mouth. ‘Getting a bit nippy down here on the river tonight!’
‘Evening,’ Patrick called back as he stepped aboard, Fleur following close behind. She was surprised to see that nobody else was getting on; there were only a couple of passengers seated at the back, wrapped up against the chill, and no one behind them. Patrick made his way to the top deck, settling into a seat while Fleur leaned against the railing. The lights of Lovely Bay twinkled on either side of the river, casting long, shifting reflections across the surface. Fleur exhaled slowly, watching the town drift past, and realised she’d missed her opportunity for popping the question and that she’d have to revert to Plan B. Not that she had a Plan B, but anyway.
At the next stop, the couple who had been sitting at the back of the boat got up and disembarked. Colin hung about for a bit, seeing if anyone was walking in the direction of the jetty before pulling away again, and the boat chugged down the river.
Patrick stood up and leaned over the railings, taking in the air. ‘How nice is it this evening?’ He looked up at the stars and shook his head.
Fleur hadn’t really said a word since they’d left the deli, still wondering whether or not she was going to pop the question. It all looked so simple in the movies, even though normally it was the other way around—the old-school tradition already set in place. Here she was the nervous one and no longer a young girl dreaming of a white dress, but a bona fide grown-up with a lot of life experience on her hands wanting to make what they had permanent. All so very surreal.
She leaned over the railing, looking at the water glistening beneath the boat, then followed Patrick’s gaze to the sky full of stars. It was a cool, crisp night without a cloud in sight, a deep, inky black as if the sky and stars would last forever. The sort of night Fleur loved, especially since moving to Lovely Bay. She looked up, didn’t say anything, and stood lost in thought for a moment.
Patrick put his arm around her waist and squeezed. ‘Are you sure you’re okay? You’re very quiet.’
‘I’m fine. Just a lot on my mind.’
Patrick frowned. ‘Is there something I don’t know about? Is it the Lucy thing?’
‘No, no, well, yes, of course, I’m worried about Lucy, but no, it’s just, you know, stuff. I’m fine. It’s nothing, just thinking about bits and bobs, you know.’
‘As long as you’re okay.’ Patrick gave her another squeeze.
Fleur suddenly forgot all about the ring and all the ideas she’d had in her head and just blurted it out. ‘Will you marry me, Patrick?’
Patrick froze and swore. ‘What the heck? What?’
‘Sorry…’ Fleur winced. ‘Bugger, it was meant to be, oh dear…’
Patrick stared at her, then started to laugh. ‘What? Where has this come from?’
‘I asked you if you’d marry me!’
‘I gathered that! What like this all of a sudden? Right here leaning over the water, out of the blue?’
‘I know, I know.’ Fleur giggled. ‘I meant to…’
Patrick was still laughing, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘Fleur, are you actually asking me to marry you right now? Like standing here as if you’re asking me if I want a cup of tea.’
‘Yes! I mean, obviously, yes!’ Fleur flapped her hands in front of her face as if she was trying to cool herself down. ‘I had this whole plan; a big, grand gesture, and then the meal was weird, and I kept bottling it, and then I thought I was barking up the wrong tree, and then I got all in my head about the whole tradition thing and then, well and then here we are.’
‘And then you just blurted it out?’
‘Yes! And now I don’t know what to do with myself because this was not how I pictured it at all!’
The boat swayed slightly as they drifted further down the river, the water glistening with reflections of the fairy lights. The whole town twinkled on either side of them and the lighthouse glinted in the distance. It should have been romantic, one of those magical, cinematic moments. But instead, Fleur was standing, hands on her hips, half-laughing, half-panicking, while Patrick stared at her like she’d just announced she was moving to Mars.
‘So, what do you want me to say?’ Patrick joked.
‘Well, I mean, you could say yes. That would be a start.’
Patrick took a step closer. ‘Of course, yes. I love you, Champo.’
Fleur’s mouth opened, but no words came out. Then, instead of crying, as emotion overwhelmed her, she started to giggle. ‘I feel like I’m supposed to cry or something, but I’m so happy and this hasn’t gone as I thought it would at all.’
Patrick frowned. ‘I don’t know whether to be flattered or offended at this reaction.’
Fleur clutched the railing. ‘This is a huge life moment and we’re on the riverboat…’
Patrick chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. ‘And I have a brand new fiancée.’
The word “fiancée” made Fleur go all mushy. ‘Oh God, I’m someone’s fiancée now. That’s weird.’
‘Yes, that is generally what happens when you propose to someone.’
‘I didn’t think that far.’
Patrick kissed Fleur. ‘I love you, Champo.’
‘I feel like I should redo it. Like, rewind and do the whole thing again properly.’
‘Oh no, we’re sticking with this. You asked, I said yes, and now you’re stuck with me forever. No take-backs.’
Fleur looked at Patrick and then around her at Lovely as the weight of the moment settled. Stars shimmered above, the water glowed beneath them, and the boat chugged as Fleur let what had just happened sink in. She was going to marry Patrick.
She couldn’t quite believe what had just happened. One minute, she’d been standing there, lost in thought, second-guessing herself for the hundredth time, and the next, she’d just blurted it out without an ounce of grace. Now here she was with her cards on the table. It felt huge, exciting, all-around nice and strange when she rolled the fact that she was going to get married around her head. It sounded like something out of someone else’s life, something that belonged to the younger, more idealistic Fleur who’d once thought life followed neat, predictable paths. But nothing about her life in the previous few years had been neat, predictable, or smooth. In actual fact, it had been up, down, left, right, back and forth, and everywhere else in between. Here it was taking another turn altogether. ‘This is not how I thought it would go.’
‘How did you think it would go?’
‘Well, for starters, it was meant to be over dinner by candlelight. I was supposed to be cool, elegant, maybe even romantic. There was a whole vision in my head; a beautifully put-together proposal, where I’d be collected and charming, and you’d be stunned into speechlessness by my impeccable timing and heartfelt delivery. Ha, joking, but yeah, not blurting it out like that.’
Patrick chuckled. ‘Instead, you panicked, flapped your hands, and asked me as if you were offering me a biscuit.’
Fleur groaned. ‘Exactly. I’m a disaster.’
‘Works for me.’
Patrick nodded in Colin’s direction. ‘I think Colin’s about to come over. He must have witnessed the whole thing.’
Fleur turned just as she heard slow, deliberate clapping. From the back of the boat, Colin leaned against the railing, beaming. ‘Well, I guess I’ll be the first to say congratulations. That was some show you put on there. I’ve seen a lot on this river, but this? This is a first. I don’t think we’ve ever had a marriage proposal here, not that I know about, anyway.’
‘Ahh.’
Colin shook his head. ‘That was very nice. Congratulations, you two!’
Fleur chuckled. ‘Thank you. Did you enjoy that?’
‘Absolutely. What a way to end an evening shift. I was not disappointed.’
‘Thanks, Colin.’
Patrick nodded. ‘Appreciate it, mate.’
Colin patted Patrick’s back. ‘Well, I guess that gives us a very good reason to have a few drinks at the pub this weekend.’
‘That, I can get behind.’ Patrick chuckled.
Colin winked. ‘Right, I’ll leave you two to enjoy your romantic moment.’
Fleur rolled her eyes as Colin wandered back down the deck. ‘The whole of Lovely is going to know about this before dawn.’
Patrick smiled. ‘Let them be our guest.’