Page 126 of Goose

His mother, a petite blonde woman with freckled skin, sipped her coffee. “So, how did you meet?”

“We met at Porter’s funeral,” Goose said.

“We were sorry to hear about that,” she said. “It was an awful thing. We’d have sent flowers, but—”

“Erin tell you about it?” Goose asked.

“We talk to her every chance we get,” She said with a nod. “It’s the only way we knew how to keep up.”

Goose nodded.

“Did you get the letters we sent?” she asked.

“Cash—Brock gave ‘em to me,” Goose said. “Never opened ‘em. Hard to explain.”

“No need,” his father said.

I felt so sad for what they’d all gone through. I hoped when considering their sobriety—and their love for him—that Goose could truly forgive them for what they’d done.

“Ever think about coming to California?” he asked. “To visit?”

His mother smiled. “You know, I’ve never been out of this state.”

“Would you consider it?” he asked.

“I’d love to come down there,” she said with a smile. “I’m so tired of the winters here.”

“What about you, Pop? Would you come down?”

“I’d enjoy that,” His father said. “Always wanted to see the ocean.”

Goose smiled a prideful smile. “It’s a long story, but Porter left me a home on the beach. The ocean’s in my back yard.”

“Oh my,” his mother gasped. “That’s exciting.”

“The sunsets are phenomenal,” Goose said.

“Maybe around Christmas,” she said.

“I was thinking June,” Goose said.

“Oh, I don’t know about coming in the summer,” she said. “It would be so hot.”

“It’s sixty-five in the winter, and seventy-five in the summer, Ma. And, I really need you to consider coming in June, if you can. I’ll buy the plane tickets.”

“What’s happening in June?” she asked.

I wondered the same thing.

Goose stood, shoved his hands deep into his pockets, and then sat down. After nervously looking at his mother and father, he pulled his cupped hand from his pocket and placed it between us.

“That depends,” he said. “On what she says.”

He moved his hand to the side, uncovering an elegant diamond ring set in white gold.

His mother gasped.

His father coughed.

Me?

I said yes.