So Different (27 page)

Mariah gave her a look and followed her into the rink. She hadn’t been skating in a while, at least not with her girls. She had done her skating alone, around her home mostly, when she wasn’t hanging out with Adam. She would eventually join her girls again. She wanted to savor the moments, the months of having him around.

“Surprise!” everyone yelled as she cleared the door leading into the main rink, startling her. She looked around, confused. Not sure what to do, she waved to her girls, her friends, her family; all of them were here. So were Adam’s parents, Joshua, Yvette, Elsa and Mr. Sanchez, and Maggie, along with Jocelyn and Caitlyn. They were all standing lined up in front of the skating rink, blocking the interior from her view.

Casper, who had slipped into her skates while Mariah greeted everyone, moving like a bride down the reception line. She rolled over to Mariah, took her hand, and pulled her to the edge of the skating rink. In the middle of it stood her teammates and Adam, with Sally holding a microphone.

“Mariah,” Sally said, drawing everyone’s attention to the center of the ring. “Bet you’re wondering why we are here today.”

“Yes,” Mariah said, nodding, still confused. It wasn’t her birthday.

“Well, a few weeks ago your boyfriend took us all out to dinner to enlist our help. He wanted us to teach him how to skate. I don’t have to tell you how impossible that task was. You, of all people, know of his abilities in that area. You even have the dislocated elbow to prove it,” she said and everyone laughed.

“We, being your girls, couldn’t let him down, so we’ve been practicing with him for the last few weeks. Let me tell you, you don’t know a challenge until you’ve tried teaching him to skate. But we did our best, kept it simple—limiting his training to the essential skills he needed to get through tonight. So without further ado, here goes nothing, and here goes Adam.”

They all looked over at Adam. He pushed off smoothly and slowly, his usual windmilling arms nowhere in sight. He continued slowly over to her; so far so good. She had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing at the apprehension on her teammates’ faces as Adam made his way to her. They were like mothers concerned for their new toddler; equal parts excitement and uncertainty lined their faces.

He wobbled for a second, but managed slowly to get down on one knee and glide in to her, coming to a smooth stop in front of her. He almost made it, too. Something must have distracted him, causing him to wobble more and then, crap, he crashed into Mariah, knocking her off her feet, landing on top of her.

“You hurt?” he asked, looking down into her face, concern fighting with laughter.

“No. I’ve been here before,” she said, starting to laugh, too.

“Mariah Sullivan,
will you marry me?” he asked, loudly for his viewing public, looking down into her eyes.

“I will,” she said before giving in to more laughter. He leaned forward and kissed her. “I promise you, from here on out, I will never, ever, put a pair of skates on again,” he said and captured her lips again.

* * *

“So you’re sure you want to try and get married again?” She and Adam were back at her place. It was almost midnight and they were sitting in the tub in her bathroom. She was in front, her feet resting on top of his legs, which were stretched out in front of her.

“I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t,” he said, his head thrown back, leaning against the edge of the tub, his arms resting along the sides. He lifted his head to glance at the top of hers as it lay resting against his chest.

“I love you, Mariah. I want to marry you,” he said.

“Say it again,” she said and he laughed.

“
Te Amor, ¿Quieres casarte conmigo?”
he asked.

“What is that, Spanish? You speak Spanish? You never told me that. What does that mean?”

“I love you, will you marry me,” he said.

“
Si
,” she said and he laughed.

He reached for her wrists. “I’ve learned a little bit of Braille, too,” he said, running his fingers around the tattoo on her right arm. “This one says ‘Love is.’ ” He reached for her other wrist. “And this one says, ‘Acceptance is.’ ” He let them both go and, pushing her forward, gently to read the two lines of Braille letters that were at the top of her back, running his fingers over them as he talked.

“ ‘The keys to my heart,’ ” he said and pulled her back into his chest.

“How did you find the meaning?” she asked, clearly surprised.

“I have my ways,” he said.

“I love you,” she said, settling back against his chest, not sure what to do or to say, except “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. He kissed the top of her head, sat back, and then put his arms around her. “This turned out well, didn’t it? You and me.”

She laughed and said, “It sure did.”