“Official date number eight, right? Unofficial date number…?”
“Probably close to twenty.” Lilly walked next to Pamela and her boyfriend Kyle.
“What are we doing tonight?” Kyle looked between the women. “Is it going to take all night, or is this just a pit stop? I wanted to hit a club tonight.”
“You’ll go and you’ll like it.” Pamela squeezed him, scolding with her words.
“Yes dear.” He teased, bending in for a quick kiss.
“The jar of wonder will tell us.” Lilly knocked twice, then let herself into William’s front room.
“The jar of wonder?” Kyle whispered.
On the half-wall that marked the start of the living room, two jars sat waiting. One was marked ‘single’, the other ‘group’. Both jars were only half-empty, and the used slips from each sat in a small bowl next to the jars.
William hurried down the stairs, his new T-shirt still holding the creases from it's purchase. “Welcome everyone. Paul and Clara should be here any minute. Should we pick the activity or wait for them?”
“That’s my line. This one’s my date idea, remember?”
He grinned. “Well then, choose away.”
Lilly put her hand in the ‘group’ jar and pulled one out. “Budget shopping for dinner at the local grocery store. Each couple has three dollars. Best meal wins.”
“No way.” Kyle blanched. “That’s ridiculous. Where did you come up with that?”
Pamela laughed, having had this conversation with her at least twice before. “She grabbed the list of top 100 mormon dates off some mormon blog and wrote them all down.”
“I thought he’d veto them. They are so goofy and stupid.”
“I will never veto your ideas.” William responded. “Even if I fear for my career if one of the other faculty members sees me doing these things.”
“Well I’m vetoing it.” Kyle made a slicing motion across his throat.
“You can’t veto the date jar. Rule number one.”
“Can too.” Kyle walked over and pulled out another one. “Go dancing in a park. Bring a radio and dance to any song. First couple to stop dancing loses. This is dumb, like some sort of truth or dare gone wrong.” He waved the sheet. “Even if we did this, it’s like a five minute activity and then you’re done. That’s not a date.”
“Alright, alright.” Lilly dug down deep to where the ‘actual’ idea were hidden. She’d tested the limits of William’s patience with a couple of her ideas, but there was no sense in alienating her friend’s date too. “Play a few rounds of pool at Scotties, then head out to the outskirts of town to go stargazing with a snack pack.”
“What’s a snack pack?”
“Kind of like a picnic basket, but all snacks, not real food.”
“Pool and stars, yeah, I’m okay with that.” Kyle agreed, returning to his date’s side.
“Sounds like fun.”
“Blankets or chairs, a cooler or other food-holding device, and snacks. We can stop at the store for snacks, that way everyone gets what they want.” She looked toward William who nodded at each item.
“We’re doing your little meal shopping idea too.” Kyle grinned good-naturedly.
“Guess so.” She saw movement beyond the door and opened it just as their third arrived.
The night flew, like most of their dates tended to, and Lilly found herself standing on William’s doorstep waving as the other couples drove away. She turned into him as they closed the door. “Well?”
“I’ve never lost at pool, but Pamela has a wicked curve on her shots. I was worried there for a bit.”
“What do you lose at?” They’d tried more sports in the last month than she knew existed and he seemed to excel at most of them.
William shrugged it off. “How did you know the third idea would be better?”
“What do you mean?” She couldn’t help her smile.
“You rigged it?” He pulled away, surprised. “You clever girl. How? All this time you’ve been putting me through mini-golf and shooting crazy pictures all over the city!”
“You said this was a science experiment. I wanted to see how you’d handle it.”
William growled and pulled her in for a frustrated kiss. “And?”
“And you passed with flying colors.”
“Today was the last official date of my month.”
“You forced me to rock climb, shoot several guns, endure a crazy escape room adventure, and golf for real. Of course I had fun.”
“Me too.” He nuzzled her nose. “You handled your frustration pretty well. You’re more competitive than I originally understood though.” He grinned.
“It’s not competitive, it’s the drive to succeed. I wasn’t bothered losing to you all night long in pool, but when you challenge me with something new, I feel annoyed if I can’t figure it out right away.”
“No one is good at everything.” He kissed her again. “You should go.”
“It’s your turn next week, right? And fourth of July.”
“I’ve already got that one covered. Just show up here at four thirty.”
“So precise?”
“I’m an accountant.”
“You keep saying that, but your brother is an accountant too and he’s never on time.”
“He’s an auditor. They’re different.”
She laughed, granting him that. “Okay, and your parents are still coming on Saturday and staying until Monday?”
“They are, it’s the second youngest son of my sister’s baptism on Saturday. You met him a while back when they came over to play.”
“I remember. Can I come?”
“Of course.” His eyes brightened. “I’d love that. After the baptism is done there will be a small gathering. Since my sister lives in an apartment, she asked if I’ll host it here, so my house will be a bit crowded for a while with family and friends.”
“Where does your sister live, anyway? She seems to show up randomly.”
“She’s about fifteen minutes from here. We actually attend the same church building, although at different times.”
“Ah. And when do I get to meet your grandparents?”
“They finish up their mission this week as well. So I’ll pick them up on Friday, late, then Saturday morning my parents arrive. Saturday afternoon is the baptism, followed by the open house. Sunday my grandparents will be speaking in church about their mission and then we’ll have another open house here on Sunday after church to celebrate them coming home.”
“I’m exhausted just thinking about it.”
“Does that mean you’re coming?”
“Why are you surprised?” She grinned and dug in her pocket. “How can your fiancée not be there?” She opened the ring box to show off the tungsten ring.
“Wha?” He took a step back at a total loss for words. “That’s not how it’s supposed to happen.”
“It’s the modern age, William, get used to it.”
“No.” He hurried to a small desk near the entryway and pulled open the drawer, retrieving his own ring box. “I was trying not to rush you, and after all your harsh words against BYU’s marriage statistics I wanted to wait, but I’ve had this for a week and it’s been killing me to just leave it sitting in there. No fair!”
He opened the box and light flashed off the facets of three small diamonds set between two larger rocks; one black, and the other amethyst. The white gold braided back into a flat circlet for the underside of the ring.
They traded boxes, each staring at their new rings, then traded back with a laugh. William went first, sliding her ring in place, then she took her turn, sliding it to the middle of the digit. She nearly panicked, concerned that she’d stolen the wrong template from a box in his room, but a small wiggle pushed it past and into place.
“I love it.” He whispered.
“I love you.” She whispered back.
THE END
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