“Take a load off,” he said and hopped up next to her.
They sat close. Brenda let Scott’s knee remain touching hers. She felt warm in the cold winter air. Their breath came out in gray puffs.
“So, did you tell your dad how we did?”
“Oh, he saw it on the television.”
“What did he think?”
“He thought you were beautiful. He thought I should try and fix things because he said I looked at you funny.”
Tucking her chin down, Brenda tilted her head and looked quizzically at Scott. “Looked at me funny? Did you tell him you were born that way?”
Scott laughed out loud, and Brenda shook her head as if that were the real answer to his father’s comment.
When he gained control of himself, he looked seriously at Brenda. “He said I looked at you like I was still in love with you. And ...”
Brenda waited for Scott to continue. He checked underneath his nails, looked at his watch, and looked up at the sky until she was ready to smack him. “And? And what?”
“And he said you looked as if you were in love with me, too.” Scott’s expression was calm as he gazed at her.
It was impossible for Brenda not to grin. She smiled widely, blushed, and giggled, looking everywhere but into Scott’s eyes. If she looked there, she was afraid she’d fall to pieces. She wanted to hug him and kiss him and feel his hand in hers like when they used to walk together.
“He’s right,” she said in a whisper, feeling her cheeks flush with nervousness and passion.
“Well,” Scott replied, nodding and smiling bashfully down. “I’m glad to hear that. Otherwise, I’d be pretty embarrassed about the conversation I had with your dad.
“Oh, Lord. What did you say?”
“Well, I just told him I had a couple questions, you know, man to man.”
“What kind of questions?”
“Like would he be so kind as to allow me to court his daughter, again.”
Brenda felt a giggle rise in her throat, but she choked it back down. “And what did he say?”
“He said if it was all right with you, it was all right with him.”
“Yeah, that sounds like something my dad would say,” Brenda said. “When did you ask him this?”
Scott shifted his eyes from left to right and frowned, like he was thinking hard. “Just now, when you were talking to the reporters.”
“You don’t waste any time.”
“No. I didn’t want Kyle Hastings coming up and sweeping you away from me with promises of your name in the paper every day.”
“Well, he always was a close second.” Brenda’s sarcasm made Scott laugh out loud again.
“So, what do you say, Brenda. Would you like to go steady with me?”
She hopped off the hood and in a half cry, half laugh put her hands on her hips, staring down at the asphalt that had tiny bits of salt scattered around waiting to dissolve any snow that might try and accumulate.
“We were going to get married, Scott. Don’t you think it’s a little late to go steady? I mean, you’re either ready or you aren’t.”
“Oh, I suppose you’re right,” he said in a reluctant tone. He slid off the hood and stood there for a second; then he took Brenda’s hands in his. Raising her right hand, he rubbed it against his cheek. The feeling of his whiskers, a slight five o’clock shadow, sent shivers up Brenda’s spine.
“We won’t be able to talk about my dad to anyone,” Scott said, not letting go of Brenda’s hand. “You get that, right? It’s just between us. He won’t be able to come to the wedding. But he’ll know about it.”
Brenda, having been slightly swept away by Scott holding her hand so gently and in a way so different from the way he did on the ice or when he was comforting her in the hospital, leaned in a little closer as if she hadn’t heard what he said.
“Wedding? Are you sure about that?”
Kissing her hands gently, Scott got down on one knee and looked up at Brenda. The expression in his eyes was of someone looking at an angel, with all of heaven behind her and a myriad of twinkling stars peacefully watching.
“This is a lot different from the first time you proposed,” Brenda said, remembering how Scott had come to her parents’ house for their usual Fourth of July celebration. There were food and music and fireworks. Family and friends covered every foot of their house and yard. Lawrence Wagner was at the grill, cooking up burgers and dogs with several uncles and friends hanging around. Cindy was on the back porch with the aunts and girlfriends. Peter had a few buddies over plus cousins, and a mad game of horseshoes was being played in the yard.
Brenda saw Scott standing by himself and watching her mingle with everyone, asking people if they needed anything, how someone was feeling; if there was anything new happening, and making the company comfortable.
When everyone had some food in front of them, and after grace had been said, Scott got the attention of the crowd and told them how much he loved being a part of such a wonderful family. So much so that he wanted to make it permanent. He asked Brenda for her hand in marriage and presented her with a ring bearing a solitary diamond. It wasn’t much, but Brenda knew it was all he could afford, and she loved it. Her yes wasn’t to the diamond but their life together.
This time, it was just the two of them. There was no family or music or the smell of food or a summertime breeze. This time, they were alone, with no distractions or fanfare.
“Brenda Wagner, will you marry me? Will you let me do what God put me on this earth to do? To love, honor, and cherish you for the rest of my life?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring.
It wasn’t the ring from before. Brenda had given that back to him and in no uncertain terms made it clear she never wanted to see it, or Scott, again.
“Wait. How long have you known you were going to do this? How long has that ring been in your pocket? What if we’d bombed out of the competition?”
Scott looked at Brenda and his eyebrows shot up into his forehead. “Well, first, winning an entry into the Olympics isn’t a criteria for marriage in my book. Call me crazy. But I figured since so many other people aren’t in the Olympics and get married, it might still be okay.”
Brenda laughed out loud, shaking her head.
“Second, I’ve had this ring in my pocket since we started skating together. That may sound crazy, too, but it’s true. I just couldn’t give up, and I thought if God went through all this to get us back on speaking terms, then I was going to be prepared for any opening.”
The way Scott was using his hands, flailing them around, pointing his fingers and emphasizing his point by enunciating each word made Brenda laugh even more.
“You’re like a politician giving a speech.” She laughed, a few tears starting to run down her cheeks.
“And last ...” He took her left hand in his, separating her ring finger from the rest he held. “I knew I was going to do this all along. I had no intention of ever giving up, Brenda.” He slipped the elegant little band around her finger.
Brenda couldn’t hold her emotions back any longer and burst into tears of joy. She looked at the band and gasped. It was vintage in style, with three tiny stones nestled into intricate art deco designs.
“Do you like it?”
Nodding furiously, she couldn’t speak. As she admired the ring, her hand trembled.
“It was my mother’s. My father had given it to her. I hope you don’t mind. On the inside, it has their initials.”
The sentiment was so beautiful, it made Brenda catch her breath. She looked seriously at Scott. “That makes it even more special. I promise I’ll never take it off.”
Scott leaned forward and kissed Brenda passionately. As they held each other, time stood still for Brenda. She was in no hurry to go anywhere, see anyone else, do anything other than just be with the man she loved at this moment.
Finally, after the world slowly started to spin again and the noise from the front of the building had di
ed down almost completely, Brenda and Scott climbed onto the hood of his car again, holding hands, stealing a sweet kiss every so often, and talking.
“Can you believe that so much happened today?” Brenda said, her nerves alive and all fatigue gone from her body.
“Yeah, I know. I can’t believe we’re going to the Olympics, too.”
“Right.”
“So we better get married within the next few days because Christmas is coming up and then we’ll have to start training. Once that starts, well, I’m not taking any chances of anything getting in the way of you becoming Mrs. Scott Porter.”
Brenda laughed. “You don’t know how glad I am to hear you say that.”
Holding hands and looking across the parking lot into the field behind the skating rink and up into the starry sky, Brenda leaned her head on Scott’s shoulder.
“I love you, Scott.”
“I love you, too, Brenda.”
###
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Kelsey MacBride
Heart of a Champion Page 12