An Engaging Engagement

So here is the story, with all the nitty gritty details, since I know people like my mom want to know everything.

Thursday was my last day in Utah. I worked with K.H., received a glowing review from her, and then went home after a day of cleaning the work truck and doing data entry. I started packing, everything except for my clothes and bedsheets. My intention was to leave Friday morning, and get up around 10 a.m. No big deal. Just a little annoyed at the packing process. I called Gas Monkey, and he spent the whole night furiously cleaning the house. When I talked to him, he was extremely frustrated because the refrigerator blew a circuit board (or something else complicated and expensive), so all of the food was rotten. He sounded equally peeved, as he had supposedly bought food for a nice dinner this weekend. Either way, he spent the night cleaning, while I slept.

The next morning, I was very tired. At 9 a.m. I get a phone call from Gas Monkey. I, not intending to wake up before 10, pressed silence on my phone. Then, to my slight annoyance, he called again.

"Crap," I thought to myself. "If I don't answer, he will continue to call, and I will not get that extra precious hour of sleep." So this time I answer. I assumed, like most normal people, that he was calling to see if I had left yet.

"Hello?" I said, in my sexy morning gruff voice.
"Are you going to let me in?" he says from the other line.
"What? You're joking me."
"I'm outside in the back, are you going to let me in," he repeats.

I hung up on him, slowly go up the stairs, walk outside, and he is standing at the gate. Suitcase in hand, with a taxi behind him. My shock was counteracted by my lethargy.

"What the hell are you doing here? Are you crazy? You flew all the way out here to drive home with me. How sweet."

You could tell he was quite proud of himself. And I felt a strong urge of gratitude, and surprise. When he is romantic, the boy is romantic. So I had him follow me back to my room. To his horror and entertainment, he saw I had not loaded my car, and still had clothes sprawled everywhere. He commanded me to take a shower, which I was not intending on doing, and he began to carry all my crap (and that is what it mostly is) up the stairs and around the house to my car. By the time I was done with my somewhat intentionally lengthy shower, all my stuff was in the car.

I took him to breakfast at a really good local pancake house. Then, before we began to make the trek, he said, "We should go through Colorado. I'm really sick of Wyoming. It's boring." (Sorry you few Wyomingites, but it is true.) I tried to reason with him; driving through Colorado takes an extra two hours. But he was adamant. At that time it dawned on me. He brought a suitcase to drive home? I doubt it.

So we drive and drive and drive. After about five hours we ended up in Grand Junction. I began getting "truck fever" again. We stopped briefly, then back in the car. After maybe half an hour, he pulls off in Palisade. Palisade is wine and peach country.

"I have to get peaches for my aunt," he says. Meanwhile he is passing all the peach stands, while trying to nonchalantly use his phone for directions.

Finally we arrived at a small bed & breakfast. It was really cute. But when we got there the owners were not answering the door. As I had been deprived of good ol' Colorado beer, we decided to go to the local tavern. As soon as we walked in, one of the locals said "I hope you kids have I.D.s" We were the only people in there younger than 50. And the only thing they had on tap was coors and bud, and no bottled beer of anything else. Welcome back to Colorado? So we went to a local grill and had dinner. Finally we went back to the B&B.

Upon arrival, the lady that owns the place was super excited. I know this because she said, "It's so exciting!!!!" Immediately after she said this, Gas Monkey sorta hugged me, and apparently gave her the urgent don't-say-anything look. She showed us our room. It had a huge bed covered in black lace, a bottle of local wine, and bouquet Gas Monkey had ordered. Attached to the room was a "tower", with a full-sized hot tub was on the main floor, and an observatory on the second. We unloaded some of my stuff, then walked around their back yard. We sat in the gazebo for awhile just talking.

Then Gas Monkey wanted to go inside, so while he went up to the observatory, I picked a peach. I went up to him and we sat and talked some more, all about random things, like the time Spanky Bottoms and I each bought a harlequin from the thrift store. After that story, he tried to get me to tell a story about love. Uncooperative, I told him he knows all of my stories, since he is in all of them. So he started talking about how much I mean to him, how he wants to be with me forever, etc. He stood up and then got down on one knee. I have never seen my confident man this nervous. Stumbling over his words, shaking slightly, he even wiped away a tear. He tried to show me the ring, but I told him I did not want to see it until after I gave him my answer. Which was yes obviously. And that is the story. He literally flew in and swept me off my feet. Apparently the man was determined to get what he wanted.

And that is a very long narrative of a very important day in our lives. We are very happy.