She examined the ring and told him it looked old-fashioned.

“It should,” he said. “It’s an antique. Been in my family over two hundred years.”

“How big do you suppose it is?” she asked, one eye closed as she squinted hard at the ring. “At least half a carat? I heard rings are supposed to be at least half a carat.”

“I don’t know. So what’s your answer? You gonna marry me?”

“I’ll think about it.”

He shot her a look like he wanted to smack her, but he got off his knee, sat back down and silently finished his parfait and coffee.

When he took her home later, he walked her to the front door and then grumbled that he needed an answer soon. “Contract requires me to get married. I don’t got time to wait. You don’t want to then that’s that. I’ll just have to find someone else. Other girls I got my eye on.”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

He nodded, not happy with her answer but willing to accept it for the time being. As he started back to his car, she stopped him. “Least you could do is kiss me goodnight!”

Awkwardly, he moved back to her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. She was surprised at how strong his fingers were as he held her by her shoulders. Like they could crush stone. Bricklayer’s hands, that’s what she thought. She took hold of him by the side of his face and had him give her a proper kiss.

“So what do you do as Caretaker?” she asked in a breathless whisper.

He smiled then. Not the mean-spirited smile she had seen earlier, but something sad, maybe a bit whimsical. “I save the world everyday. Break my back doing it, too.”

When she got inside she showed her pa the engagement ring and told him about the proposal.

“It’s a nice-looking ring,” her pa said.