The Valentines Day Proposal

by Bella Winters

  Katy headed back around to the foyer, this time crossing through the dining room. When she’d been stepping into the foyer, the front door swung open. It was her father’s first cousin, Melanie. Instantly, her eyes bugged. “Melanie?”

  The medium-height, always-chipper woman turned around quickly. Thick-rimmed glasses sat on her face like headlights. She came in wearing high-class boots, tight ripped blue jeans, and a white halter top that came in at her waist. Melanie’s face lit up when she saw Katy and the two embraced one another with a long overdue hug.

  “Oh my God, Melanie, how have you been?” Katy asked. She pulled Melanie to the side, into the dining room, to allow other people to come into the door. Katy, who was usually the best host, faded away from the position for a moment while and Melanie plopped down into sitting chairs in the dining room, off to the side.

  Katy listened to Melanie talk about how she’d been doing a bit of traveling – a couple of countries in South America then a somewhat long stay over in Africa. Her glows of positivity and adventurousness were simply a pleasure to be around. “And what about you, Katy?” Melanie asked. “I heard you graduated. Sorry I couldn’t come. I think that’s the last time we talked. I called you from some cafe or something somewhere.”

  “Yeah, I remember,” Katy said. “Yeah, it’s been a while.” Katy went over how she’d been teaching 3rd grade down in the city and loved it. She felt like she was born to be a teacher. She then admitted to Melanie that she was debating as to whether or not she should pursue her Masters. “I can’t really decide if I want to be a principal.”

  “Well, I would certainly say go for it,” Melanie said. “But, then there’s some other questions you would probably have to answer. I mean, if you plan on having a family and getting married and all that, then you’ll have to think about how long it would take you to get a Master’s, depending on when you start, then how long after it would take you to get to the point where you feel like you’re stable enough. Oh, that reminds me.” Melanie leaned in with a big smile. “Have you been seeing anybody since you graduated and started teaching? Don’t mean to sound like a predator,” she laughed, “but I imagine there’s probably a few hot single dads who come in to talk about their kids. Any cute teachers there?”

  Katy chuckled and glanced away in thought. A bit of nervousness came over her. She hadn’t anticipated having to answer these kinds of questions. Then again, her family was rather conservative in a lot of ways. Most of the women were at least married by 25 years-old, many long before and in the midst of having children. Even the younger ladies of the new generation were in long-term relationships of some sort by this age.

  Katy finally built up her courage and explained that she’d been so busy getting into the teaching profession that her love life was on the back burner. She used this story as a way to finish up the talk and move on to greeting the people who had come in behind her. Melanie got out of Katy’s way, putting her jacket on the hook then disappearing into the house to mix with other people.

  Katy walked through the foyer, glanced out the windows at the driveway, then drifted into the living room, which was usually somewhat quiet during functions. Their parents’ nicer furniture occupied the living room, so this space was typically used for having colleagues over or other sorts of professional guests. However, Katy found herself surprised to see who was sitting in the living room – even more surprised than she’d been when she saw Melanie. It was Brennon, Melanie’s older brother. He stared down into his cell phone.

  “Brennon?” Katy asked. “Is that you?”

  Brennon looked up, smiled, then rose to his feet so he could hug Katy. When the 36-year-old man stepped back, he looked Katy up and down. “Wow, look at how you’ve grown up.”

  Katy took in Brennon’s good looks. Back when she was younger and Melanie would come over to hang out, Brennon would often bring her and pick her up to take her back home. Then, because Brennon was teaching then went into being a professor, Katy had a rather-deep phone conversation with him right before she went off to college, but she hadn’t seen him since a few years before that. Since then, if he had come to the house, it was between holidays, or when Katy wouldn’t have been home.

  Katy giggled. “How I’ve grown up? Look at you, Brennon. Nice beard and goatee. You look good with that.”

  Brennon smiled, glancing away and doing the pretty boy pose. He rubbed his goatee then his beard and smiled. He and Katy laughed then he asked how everything had been going. “I heard you got a job teaching downtown or somewhere?”

  Katy insisted that the two of them sit down for a moment on the living room couch. She walked around the table then sat down on the fainting couch next to Brennon. They looked into one another’s eyes as Katy explained finishing college as well as how she’d been doing so far as a public school teacher. It had been so long since she was able to have this conversation – a conversation with someone who truly knew the ups and downs of her path in education.

  Katy’s mother Linda yelled out it was time for dinner. The two of them rose up off of the couch, having just finished talking about Katy’s indecisiveness when it comes to pursuing her Master’s. She and Brennon looked into the others eyes for several moments too long. Brennon was so easy to talk to; Katy admired his wisdom and how much he’d grown up in the ten years since the last time they saw one another. She was still amazed that Melanie didn’t mention Brennon was coming in behind her.

  As usual, everyone huddled around in the dining room to say prayer. Katy’s father came in at the last minute, just as all hands were locking, saying that traffic on the highway wound up being worse than he thought. When Father Bruce, their priest cousin who lived in the next town over, finished the prayer, everyone rushed towards the back of the house. Katy had been watching Brennon mingle with her mother – casually and very confidently – as the two walked into the kitchen when she was startled by a tap on her shoulder. It was Eve.

  “Oh, I forgot I told you about this,” Katy said, being sarcastic. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “I came in when the prayer was going on, Katy,” Eve said. “I stepped to the side in the foyer so I wouldn’t interrupt anything. And I forgot you told me until I was at home thinking about it. I called you and you didn’t answer.”

  Katy pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw Eve’s missed called. She apologized then insisted Eve make herself a plate. The two friends did just that, Eve making sure to say hello to Katy’s mother and father. They wound up sitting out on the patio, in the corner out in the sun. Inside, clusters of people gathered in the dining room, on various couches, and even in the den. A few people – those who didn’t mind the slight chill in the air – ventured out onto the patio and got good and comfortable. They talked as usual.

  “Yeah, so she didn’t come up there today,” Eve said, finishing up about her job. “I am kind of thinking about maybe getting another position at a different firm.”

  “Yeah, sounds like it,” Katy said. “Whatever happened to you moving to Omaha? I thought you said you had family there or something.”

  “I do,” Eve said. “And yeah, that was the idea. Yeah, it’s smaller, but I could certainly take advantage of some of the opportunity out there. But, well, I took a trip out there. Certainly, a nice place to live but the chances of me meeting a guy are pretty slim out there. No thanks.”

  Katy shook her head. “Oh, Eve… You should really...”

  Katy’s words trailed off when she noticed the french doors at the back of the house open. Brennon stepped outside, looking around as if he were looking for someone specifically. He smiled and nodded when he saw Katy then headed out across the patio.

  Eve looked back and forth between Katy and the guy coming out of the door. It was rather obvious Katy had lost her train of thought. Eve gently nudged Katy in the shin. “Who is he? You look...interested.”

  “Stop, Eve,” Katy said, barely opening her lips. “Seriously, don’t you go trying
to do your hookup magic crap.”

  “Hookup magic crap?” Eve asked, surprised. “What are you talking about?”

  “You know,” Katy said very low then Brennon approached. “Hey,” she said, smiling. “I thought you were eating in there.”

  Brennon gestured toward the free chair, asking if he could sit down. Katy insisted he did; Eve smiled, as if she were up to something. Katy kicked Eve’s shin rather hard under the table, causing the woman to jump a bit from the quick jolt of pain.

  “Eve, let me introduce you to Brennon,” Katy said, looking coldly into Eve’s eyes – a stare that told the childhood friend she had better not try anything beyond cordial conversation. “Brennon, this is my best friend, sometimes, Eve. Eve, this is Brennon...my cousin Melanie’s brother.”

  Eve extended her hand. “Nice to meet you Brennon. So, you’re Katy’s cousin, I guess.”

  “Nice to meet you too, Eve,” Brennon said. “And, well, in a way.” He smiled. “I’m Melanie’s half-brother...her father’s other child, I guess you could say. So, we’re related in a way, but not really.”

  “Oh, I see,” Eve said, connecting the dots. She glanced at Katy. “Well, that is good. Brennon, you seem like a professional kind of guy. What do you do?”

  Brennon chuckled. Sometimes he didn’t realize how much he had evolved. His perspective of his own self was still that lost guy in his 20s. “Well, I’m actually a college professor at Indiana University.”

  “Oh,” Eve said, turning to Katy. “Well, isn’t that something? Katy, as I’m sure you probably know, is a third grade teacher.”

  “He knows, Eve,” Katy said, still keeping a smile on her face even if her eyes were telling Eve to shut up right now. “He knows. We were actually talking about that earlier.”

  “I’m sure,” Eve said. She vividly remembered the way Katy looked at this guy when he came walking out onto the patio. And now, she noticed how Katy’s demeanor had changed for this guy. He had obviously come outside looking for her intently; he smiled and his eyes twinkled when he looked at her.

  Eve purposely leaned back and closed her mouth, allowing Katy to talk. She was oh so sure Katy knew exactly what he was thinking.

  “How’s it going inside?” Katy asked Brennon.

  Katy and Eve listened as Brennon talked about the various people he’d seen inside. He was somewhat in touch with Katy’s father Richard, but that was only because they were a part of some of the same social circles. He commented on how good Linda looked...and how much Katy was turning out to look like her mother. Eve picked up on Brennon’s sly ways of complimenting Katy’s looks.

  The conversation carried on for several minutes when Eve noticed how Brennon directed so much of his attention at Katy. And she saw the way Katy held on to his every word. Eve excused herself, said it was nice to meet Brennon, then retreated back to the house. Before she shut the french doors, she looked out and made eye contact with Katy. She slowly closed the door, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

  Brennon turned around to glance at the french doors then turned back to Katy. He chuckled. “How long have you known her?” he asked.

  Katy sighed then smiled. “Um...well...too long, I guess you could say.”

  Brennon laughed then noticed the two people sitting at a different table in the yard getting up to go inside. The sun was setting – falling behind the canopy of trees at the back of the Miller’s property. Birds crossed the skies while a slight breeze whipped through the backyard. With where Katy had been sitting, her brown hair glowed in the last rays of afternoon sunlight crossing the backyard.

  “So, earlier we had to go to pray and all that,” Brennon said, “but I was about to tell you about some of the experiences I had when I was a teacher than I think maybe would help you.”

  Katy listened intently as Brennon shared some of the more bizarre stories from his time as a teacher. Katy laughed at times; other times, she dreaded the very idea of some of those things happening.

  “Swear, that’s what happened,” Brennon said. “This kid brought a crowbar to school for this fight and I had to wrestle it out of his hand. That was the worst.”

  “Yeah, that sounds light to some of the risks there are now,” Katy admitted. “I can’t deny that I do think about what if some kid comes into the classroom with a gun and is mad at someone.”

  Brennon gently placed his hand on Katy’s arm. “You can’t think that way,” he said, locking eyes with her. “You can’t let that kind of stuff deter you. I remember… You always did want to be a teacher.”

  Something about Brennon’s approach rubbed Katy the right way. She smiled, feeling consoled in her fears. “Yeah, I did… I do. I love the little kids… The look of innocence in their faces. How they greet me when I come in in the morning.” Katy smiled.

  “Yeah, for me it was sharing the information,” Brennon said. “Well, let me put it a different way. I liked being a teacher because I was still young and trying to figure it out and it was nice to be around so much….so much...so much inspiration. I liked hearing what the kids wanted to be when they grow up. You know how life kind of zaps the feeling of anything is possible out of your sometimes.”

  Katy laughed at how Brennon’s said it so sarcastically, but it was true. “Yeah, you can say that again. Sometimes those parents.”

  Brennon’s eyes bulged. “Yeah, I was just about to get to that. People act like being a teacher is hard just because of the kids. Yeah, the kids can be a problem...especially if they come from troubled homes or whatever. But, really, some of my worst days were with the parents.”

  Katy picked up on the tone in Brennon’s voice that maybe he had a story or two to share about dealing with parents. “Anything you wanna share about that? I have a story… This mother...She was making me so mad I really wanted to get the principal. She was one of those mothers that basically think the school system is supposed to raise their child and was getting mad at me. But the kid isn’t doing his homework because of this and that.”

  Brennon laughed at Katy’s frustration, then said, “Oh, is that the worse you’ve dealt with so far? Just wait. I almost got into a fist fight with this one dad.”

  Katy covered her mouth with her hands in shock. “Seriously? How in the world did that happen?”

  “Um, well,” Brennon said, looking away bashfully, “it’s a long story. You wouldn’t want to hear it.”

  “Yeah, I do,” Katy said, scooting closer to Brennon. “And you’re going to tell me. I’m not going to let you leave until you do?”

  Brennon laughed. “Not let me leave until I do? Well, okay, I’ll tell you...but it’s not one of my better moments in my profession.” Brennon sighed, rolling his eyes and shaking his head as he thought his ways when he was younger. “So, basically, you know I was like the hot teacher.” He smiled.

  Katy squinted. “Uh, huh,” she said. This is about to be funny, she thought. I can already tell. “And?”

  “Well, this one little girl’s mother seemed to love when her daughter had problems,” Brennon explained. “If I called home about one thing, she would want it to be a meeting where I sat down with her. And the way she talked, she kept the meetings going as long as she could. Stuff like that. The woman clearly had a thing for me. Well, okay, so it was like that for a little bit then next thing I know, the father is coming up to the school and saying how I’m flirting with his wife and this and that. I didn’t even know the woman was married and I wasn’t even interested in her, to be honest. So, things get kind of heated. You know… I was young and hadn’t even done anything, so my temper was a little, you know.”

  “Oh, wow,” Katy said. “That sounds ridiculous.”

  “Yeah, well,” Brennon said. “What’s ridiculous is where the guy came up to me trying to start that.” He shook his head. “It was out on the sidewalk, at like 3 o’clock in the afternoon, when the kids were coming out of the school to come and get on the buses. Next thing I know, they're crowding ar
ound talking about ‘Go Mister Hicks!’ Then they started shouting my name, throwing fists up into the air.”

  Katy laughed, just trying to imagine such a scene. Even though her job was to obviously break up any kinds of fights or disputes she saw going on or knew of, the teachers did sometimes chat in passing about brewing rivalries among the children. Some teachers would even go as far as joking about who they thought would win the fight between the two kids.

  Katy found herself lost in conversation with Brennon for the next thirty minutes or so. The exterior lights popped on around 8:30. They talked back and forth about their experiences in the teaching profession. Numerous times, they got off topic. By the time they finally stood up, deciding it was time to at least head inside if for no other reason than the falling temperature, the conversation had gotten to some of the real estate opportunities going on down in the city. Katy brought up how she was considering buying a home in the near future and was thinking about maybe a fixer-upper. As coincidence would have it, Brennon was thinking the same thing. He was tired of renting; Katy was growing tired of living at home with her parents.

  After a long pause where their eyes locked, they headed inside. Brennon made sure to hold the door open for Katy then watched as she headed inside. They were somewhat surprised to find the house so quiet. Both wondered just how long they’d been outside. Light chatter echoed from the living room. Katy peaked around the corner and saw it was her parents sitting down with a couple of older family members. From the looks – and sounds – of things, everybody else had already gone. Katy was shocked she hadn’t heard that many engines starting up then tires scraping against the gravel from around back.