wouldn’t move down the road without you. So, what do you think?’
‘Hang on,’ I said, and had a swig of wine. ‘I need to settle my nerves. You want me to go with you.’
‘Yes.’
‘But I like it here. Everything’s perfect. If we change things something might go wrong.’
‘What’s going to go wrong?’
‘I dunno. You might not like me in Canada.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because it’s freezing and I look stupid in Puffa jackets and I won’t know anyone and I won’t have a job and I’ll be clingy and dependent, and if we break up, I’ll be stuck on my own in bloody Vancouver in minus forty degrees looking like an Oompa Loompa in my snow jacket.’
‘We’re not going to break up.’
‘You don’t know that for sure.’
‘Yes, I do.’
‘No, you don’t.’
‘Will you shut up and listen to me?’
‘Excuse me!’
‘We’re not going to break up because we’re going to get married.’
I stared at him, open-mouthed. ‘Was that a proposal?’
‘Yes.’ He winced.
‘But you didn’t ask me. You told me.’
‘I know. It came out wrong, I’m sorry. I had this big speech prepared but I got nervous. You threw me off guard with the crying and ranting.’
‘So it’s my fault?’
‘Kind of. I just didn’t expect you to react like that about Vancouver. I thought you’d be pleased. I thought you liked adventure.’
‘I only like adventure when it’s been organized by me. You might want to remember that for the future. I’m having a heart-attack here, in case you hadn’t noticed.’
‘I’m sorry, darling. Will you please marry me?’
‘I’ll have to think about it.’
‘OK.’
Silence.
‘Have you made up your mind?’
‘Not yet.’
Silence.
‘Now?’
‘Are you asking because you don’t want to go to Canada on your own?’
‘No! This is supposed to be a romantic moment, not a debate about Canada.’
‘I’m sorry, but it’s all a bit out of the blue. When would we have to go to Vancouver?’
‘I need to be there by June to spend the summer getting set up, so we’ve got over three months.’
‘Do you want to get married before we go?’
‘That’s the general idea, yes.’
‘But it takes ages to organize a wedding.’
‘You said your sister’s was organized in days.’
‘That’s because she was pregnant.’
‘We’ve got three months. I’m sure we can manage.’
‘But my family haven’t even met you yet.’
‘So introduce me to them.’
‘But I need to prepare them first.’
‘Get on with it, then.’
‘You’ve just pounced this on me.’
‘I only got the offer yesterday.’
‘I knew there was something up with you last night. You were behaving very strangely.’
‘I was trying to work up the courage to propose.’
‘Were you nervous?’
‘Terrified.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘In case you said no.’
‘Why would I do that?’
‘I don’t know. Women are weird. I wasn’t sure you’d want to move to Canada.’
‘If I say no to Canada, is the proposal withdrawn?’
‘Of course not. I’ve wanted to marry you since the day we met. I’d like to take this job in Vancouver, but if you don’t want to move there, we’ll come up with a Plan B.’
‘Do the Canadians have a good sense of humour?’
‘I’m sure they do.’
‘Where will we live?’
‘The university will provide us with a house.’
‘Is it nice?’
‘I don’t know, I haven’t accepted the job yet. So, will you?’
‘What?’
‘Marry me, come to Vancouver and spend the rest of your life with me.’
‘Yes, yes, and most definitely yes.’ I laughed and leant in to kiss my husband-to-be.
13
Once the shock of Vancouver and the marriage proposal had worn off, my mind began to de-fog.
‘We really don’t have much time. Your parents are over next week and then I’ll have to go home and do some bomb-dropping. Actually, it could work out well. I’ll go home for St Patrick’s weekend and tell them then.’
‘We’ll go
‘Hang on,’ I said, and had a swig of wine. ‘I need to settle my nerves. You want me to go with you.’
‘Yes.’
‘But I like it here. Everything’s perfect. If we change things something might go wrong.’
‘What’s going to go wrong?’
‘I dunno. You might not like me in Canada.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because it’s freezing and I look stupid in Puffa jackets and I won’t know anyone and I won’t have a job and I’ll be clingy and dependent, and if we break up, I’ll be stuck on my own in bloody Vancouver in minus forty degrees looking like an Oompa Loompa in my snow jacket.’
‘We’re not going to break up.’
‘You don’t know that for sure.’
‘Yes, I do.’
‘No, you don’t.’
‘Will you shut up and listen to me?’
‘Excuse me!’
‘We’re not going to break up because we’re going to get married.’
I stared at him, open-mouthed. ‘Was that a proposal?’
‘Yes.’ He winced.
‘But you didn’t ask me. You told me.’
‘I know. It came out wrong, I’m sorry. I had this big speech prepared but I got nervous. You threw me off guard with the crying and ranting.’
‘So it’s my fault?’
‘Kind of. I just didn’t expect you to react like that about Vancouver. I thought you’d be pleased. I thought you liked adventure.’
‘I only like adventure when it’s been organized by me. You might want to remember that for the future. I’m having a heart-attack here, in case you hadn’t noticed.’
‘I’m sorry, darling. Will you please marry me?’
‘I’ll have to think about it.’
‘OK.’
Silence.
‘Have you made up your mind?’
‘Not yet.’
Silence.
‘Now?’
‘Are you asking because you don’t want to go to Canada on your own?’
‘No! This is supposed to be a romantic moment, not a debate about Canada.’
‘I’m sorry, but it’s all a bit out of the blue. When would we have to go to Vancouver?’
‘I need to be there by June to spend the summer getting set up, so we’ve got over three months.’
‘Do you want to get married before we go?’
‘That’s the general idea, yes.’
‘But it takes ages to organize a wedding.’
‘You said your sister’s was organized in days.’
‘That’s because she was pregnant.’
‘We’ve got three months. I’m sure we can manage.’
‘But my family haven’t even met you yet.’
‘So introduce me to them.’
‘But I need to prepare them first.’
‘Get on with it, then.’
‘You’ve just pounced this on me.’
‘I only got the offer yesterday.’
‘I knew there was something up with you last night. You were behaving very strangely.’
‘I was trying to work up the courage to propose.’
‘Were you nervous?’
‘Terrified.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘In case you said no.’
‘Why would I do that?’
‘I don’t know. Women are weird. I wasn’t sure you’d want to move to Canada.’
‘If I say no to Canada, is the proposal withdrawn?’
‘Of course not. I’ve wanted to marry you since the day we met. I’d like to take this job in Vancouver, but if you don’t want to move there, we’ll come up with a Plan B.’
‘Do the Canadians have a good sense of humour?’
‘I’m sure they do.’
‘Where will we live?’
‘The university will provide us with a house.’
‘Is it nice?’
‘I don’t know, I haven’t accepted the job yet. So, will you?’
‘What?’
‘Marry me, come to Vancouver and spend the rest of your life with me.’
‘Yes, yes, and most definitely yes.’ I laughed and leant in to kiss my husband-to-be.
13
Once the shock of Vancouver and the marriage proposal had worn off, my mind began to de-fog.
‘We really don’t have much time. Your parents are over next week and then I’ll have to go home and do some bomb-dropping. Actually, it could work out well. I’ll go home for St Patrick’s weekend and tell them then.’
‘We’ll go
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