Paul

“You aren’t scared are you?

Debbie gave me a cute smile and shook her head.

“No, I’m not scared, but I’m not stupid either. I am not going on that thing,” she said.

I looked up at the large, towering carnival ride in front of us. It was called The Hurricane and it had always been my absolute favorite ride. When I was a kid my dad and I would go to every fair around and we’d ride that one at least twice.

But Debbie was terrified of it.

“What if I give you a kiss?” I asked. “Would that do it? A little incentive for you?”

“It’s tempting, but I don’t think so,” Debbie said.

“Fine, how about if I win you something cool? Then we can go on it? It’s not as scary as it looks. It’s a lot of fun, really?”

“Can’t we just do the Ferris Wheel instead?” Debbie asked.

I sighed. I hated the Ferris Wheel. It was the most boring ride ever. All it did was go around.

“Really? What are we like seventy?” I asked.

“It will be fun,” Debbie said. “It’s relaxing. Besides I’ll do a lot more than kiss you later if I’m feeling relaxed…”

Debbie started walking towards the Ferris Wheel and I quickly followed behind her.

“Well, then I guess I’m going to ride the Hurricane after all…” I teased her.

She laughed and punched me in the arm.

“How do you make everything sound way naughtier?” Debbie asked.

“It’s a gift I have,” I said. “That’s the only explanation.”

I loved the carnival. It was the last carnival of the year before it got too cold and the place was packed. Since Debbie had told me about it the week before I’d been stoked. When it came to things like this I’d always been like an excited little kid. I guess carnivals reminded me of childhood and always filled me with nostalgia. I loved the rides, the games, the food, and the atmosphere. It was always so much fun.

And it felt good to see Debbie laughing and having a great time as well. She’d been so stressed lately at work and I’m sure I didn’t help matters with my little meltdown over the stripper thing. God, how stupid was I? I realized it after a good night’s sleep, that I was being ridiculous about the whole thing. But by then I’d already made myself look like an ass and I was kind of ashamed of the way I acted. I couldn’t bring myself to call Debbie. I wanted to just throw myself on the ground at her feet and beg forgiveness, but I felt odd about the whole thing.

And I was still a bit angry about it. As childish as it sounded I probably would always be angry every time I thought about it. So lately I’d just tried my best to bury it inside of me.

After the Ferris Wheel we rode the Tilt-A-Whirl, and then The Scrambler. And of course we stopped along the way to play several of the games they had set up. I knew all of the carnival games were scams, but they were fun anyway. I actually won Debbie a nice, stuffed, Teddy Bear with a dart game.

Toward the end of the evening when we were getting ready to go home I began to think about some things. I loved Debbie with everything within me and I had been thinking lately about the big picture. I was considering asking Debbie if she would be my wife. At this point they were just thoughts, but they were starting to dominate most of my waking hours.

I thought I might ask her the big question sometime in the very near future. But first I wanted to gauge where she was on everything. I knew she loved me, but I didn’t know if she’d given any thought at all to becoming my wife.

Hell, I didn’t even know if she wanted to get married to anyone ever, not after Daniel broke off their engagement. I was fearful that it might have scarred her on the idea of marriage for life. And that would be a tragedy.

“So, what do you want out of life?” I asked. “I mean, where do you see yourself in five years?”

Debbie gave me a strange look and then smiled.

“Wow, that is random,” she said. “But I’ll play along. I’d love to be a top level accountant in a big accounting firm, but at the same time I don’t want to move out of the area. I want to stay close to my family and friends.”

“Ok, I get that,” I said. “What else? Do you see marriage? Kids?”

Debbie stopped and stared at me. There was a cute, little twinkle in her eye.

“I do see those things,” Debbie said. “I may be cheesy and corny, but I want the married life, the two point six kids, and the house with the white picket fence. I’ve always wanted all that. How about you?”

I was so happy to hear Debbie say that she saw herself married with a family one day.

“I want those things as well,” I said. “It’s weird because I never used to think about that stuff at all, but lately I guess I’m getting to that stage in my life where my priorities, my wants and needs, and a lot of my goals are changing.”

I reached down and took Debbie’s hand in mine. I wanted to ask her to marry me so badly right then. It would have been so romantic.

But I wasn’t ready. I didn’t even have a ring picked out. Hell, I didn’t even know what size ring Debbie wore. I’ve never been a jewelry guy, so the conversation never really came up.

We reached my truck and drove back to my place more or less in silence. It had been a wonderful evening and I had some answers. And they were the answers I’d wanted to hear.

Now I just had to take the next step. Debbie and I were going to have everything we wanted.

I was sure of it.