The Proposal Mix-Up

By the time Friday morning arrived, Emily Parker had already pictured her wedding at least forty-five times. 

Not that she was counting. Actually she really was. 

The first version had been in a botanical garden surrounded by every beautiful flower in the city. The second was at the beach at sunrise. The third was in her grandmother’s backyard under a string of colorful lights. By Thursday evening, she had narrowed it down to a vineyard just on the outskirts of the city with a chocolate fountain she knew was entirely unnecessary but absolutely essential. 

None of this would have happened if she hadn’t overheard one tiny conversation. 

Her boyfriend, Ryan, had been standing on the back porch with his best friend, Marcus. Emily hadn’t meant to eavesdrop. She simply opened the kitchen window to let in some fresh air while she made lunch. 

“...I picked up the ring yesterday.” Ryan had said. 

Emily froze. 

“It’ll be her before Saturday.” 

Marcus laughed. “Finally. I thought you would never do it.” 

“I just wanted everything to be perfect when I did.” 

Emily quietly closed the window before they noticed that she had opened it. 

She leaned against the counter, her heart was beating fast. 

A ring. 

Saturday. 

That was perfect. 

He was proposing. 

She spent the rest of the day floating through life with a dreamy smile of someone who already knew the ending to a story. 

Saturday was only two days away. 

By lunchtime she had called her sister, Hannah. 

“Don’t scream.” Emily whispered. 

“I wasn’t planning to.” 

“I think that Ryan is going to propose.”

Three seconds of silence followed. 

Then Hannah screamed. 

Emily had to pull the phone away from her ear. 

“Oh my gosh! Tell me everything!”

Emily repeated the conversation word for word. 

Hannah gasped dramatically. 

“Oh, that definitely sounds like he is going to propose.” 

“Right?” 

“One hundred and ten percent!” 

“I knew it!” 

Within the hour their mother knew somehow. 

Then Emily’s cousin. 

Then her best friend Chloe. 

Then her cousin’s best friend’s baby’s daddy, Franklin. 

She had no idea how that happened. 

Everyone promised to keep it a secret. 

No one actually did. 

Friday evening became what Chole called, “Operation Future Bride.” 

Emily was convinced she needed the perfect manicure. 

“What if he wants to take pictures?” Chole asked. 

Emily looked at her nails in horror. 

“Look, they are all chipped!”

Twenty minutes later they were at the nail salon. 

Then came dress shopping. 

“I don’t have anything in my closet that is proposal-wothy.” 

“You own at least fifty dresses. You have enough to open up a small dress store!”

Three boutiques later, Emily purchased a pale blue dress and a vibrant yellow one with sunflowers. Both dresses she definitely couldn’t afford. 

“These dresses say “future fiancee,” Chole declared. 

Emily believed her. 

Saturday morning arrived. Ryan smiled over breakfast. 

“You look very nice this morning.” 

Emily nearly blushed herself into another dimension. 

“So do you.” 

“I’ve got something special planned for tonight.” 

“I know.” 

Ryan looked at her in surprise. 

“You…know?” 

“I mean…I know that we will have fun.” 

He looked confused for exactly two seconds before he started shrugging his shoulders. 

“Yeah. We will.” 

Emily interpreted his confusion as nervousness. 

Poor guy. 

He was probably terrified. 

She spent the afternoon rehearsing her surprised expression in her bathroom mirror. 

“No, too shocked.” She whispered to herself. 

She made another face. 

“No, too excited.” 

Then she made another face. 

“No, that would be too much crying.” 

She finally settled on a graceful gasp followed by a few joyful tears. 

It looked convincing. Mostly. 

She chose the pale blue dress to wear. That one was more proposal-worthy.

Ryan drove them downtown just before sunset. 

Every stop made Emily more certain that she knew what was going to happen. 

Flowers, romantic music at a nice little restaurant. 

Oh, this was absolutely happening. 

During dinner Ryan seemed distracted. 

He kept checking his phone.

“He must be making sure everything is ready.” Emily thought. 

When dessert arrived, Emily subtly positioned her left hand on the table. 

Ryan never noticed. 

After dinner he suggested a walk though the city park. Emily’s pulse doubled. 

This was it. 

The fountain. A classic proposal location. 

She even noticed a violinist nearby. 

“The universe couldn’t make this more obvious.” She thought. 

Ryan stopped beside a bench. 

He smiled. 

“There is something I’ve been wanting to give you.” 

Emily temporarily forgot how breathing worked. 

He reached into his jacket pocket. 

Her heart practically exploded. 

He pulled out…

A small white box. 

There it was. 

A ring box. 

Emily covered her mouth dramatically. 

“Oh Ryan..”

He grinned. 

“I have been wanting to do this for weeks now. Almost the first day I met you.” 

“I know.” 

“You…know?” 

“Yes.” 

“But how? Did Marcus tell you? He never could keep a secret.” 

Ryan frowned. 

“No.” 

“O..kay.” 

He opened the box. 

A silver doorbell ring camera. 

Emily stared. 

Ryan smiled proudly. 

“It finally came!” 

Silence. 

“What?” 

“The smart doorbell.” 

Emily blinked. 

“The…what?” 

“The security camera.” 

He lifted it from the packaging. 

“It has night vision, motion alerts, everything…” 

Emily stared at the tiny camera as her entire fantasy had just collapsed like a wedding cake sliding off the table. 

Ryan continued enthusiastically. 

“It even comes with a matching ring.” 

Emily looked up. 

“A matching…what?” 

“Doorbell.” 

“The Ring Doorbell.” 

Everything inside Emily stopped. 

Marcus’s words echoed in her head. “Finally, I thought you’d never do it.” 

Ryan laughed. 

“I’ve wanted one for months.” 

Emily slowly turned pale. 

“And since it comes with an extra one, we can put one in the backyard too.” 

He looked concerned. 

“Are you okay?” 

She burst into laughter. 

Not the polite laughter but the uncontrollable kind. 

People walking nearby actually turned around. 

Ryan looked alarmed. 

“What happened?” 

Still laughing, Emily managed to speak. 

“I thought…” 

And then another fit of giggles interrupted her. 

“You thought what?” 

“I thought you meant…” 

She couldn’t finish. 

Ryan waited. 

After a few minutes she managed to speak again. 

“I thought that you were proposing.” 

No one spoke. Complete silence. 

Then Ryan blinked. 

“Oh.” 

Another pause. 

“OH!” 

He stared at the box. 

“The Ring.” 

Emily nodded. 

“The Ring.” 

Marcus’s comment. 

“Everything is perfect.” 

“The ring.” 

Ryan buried his face in his hands. 

“Oh no.” 

Emily was still laughing. 

“I told everyone.” 

Ryan looked up. 

“...Everyone?” 

“My sister.” 

“Oh.” 

“My mom.” 

“Oh no.” 

“My cousin.” 

“My best friend.” 

“My cousin’s best friend’s baby daddy. I think.” 

Ryan groaned. 

“They all think that we’re engaged?” 

Emily nodded. 

“For about forty-eight hours now.” 

Ryan closed his eyes. 

“I’m never going to hear the end of this.” 

His phone rang. It was Marcus. 

Ryan answered on the third ring. 

“Hey.” 

“So…did she love the Ring? 

Ryan sighed. 

“Marcus.” 

“What?”

“She thought I meant an engagement ring.” 

Marcus exploded with laughter so loudly that Emily knew people could hear it across the park. 

“You’ve got to be kidding!” 

“Nope.” 

“Oh that is incredibly funny.” 

“No it isn’t.”

Marcus laughed harder. 

“You’ll have to tell me everything.” 

Ryan handed Emily the phone. 

“You explain.” 

She did. 

Marcus laughed for nearly four minutes straight.

By the time they reached home, Hananah was already waiting on the porch. 

She looked at Emily’s empty left hand. 

“...Well?” 

Emily held up the security camera. 

“I got a Ring.” 

Hannah frowned. 

“What?” 

Ryan quietly displayed the box. 

Recognition slowly dawned on her. 

Then she laughed so hard she nearly had to sit down on the porch steps. 

Within an hour Emily’s mother called.

She laughed almost as hard as everyone else. Then Chole laughed. 

Then Emily’s cousin laughed. 

By Sunday afternoon nearly everyone had heard the story. 

Ryan became known as “the guy who proposed with a ring doorbell.” 

He insisted that wasn’t what happened. 

Nobody listened. Probably because they were still laughing. 

Three months later, Ryan inviteEmily back to the same park. 

“No cameras this time?” She teased. 

“No cameras.” 

“No electronics.” 

“Nope.” 

“No home security products.” 

He laughed. 

“I promise.” 

They stopped beside the same fountain. 

Ryan looked unusually nervous. 

Emily smiled. 

“You seem a little anxious.” 

“I am.” 

He reached into his pocket. 

Emily raised one eyebrow. 

“I’m not falling for that again.” 

He laughed. 

“That’s fair.” 

He dropped to one knee. 

Emily folded her arms. “Nice try.” 

He opened a small velvet box. 

She leaned closer. 

“I’m checking.” 

Inside the box was a sparkling diamond ring. 

She narrowed her eyes. 

“Is that another smart home device?” 

“Nope.” 

“Bluetooth?” 

“Nope.” 

“Motion detector?”

“Nope.” 

“Packaging tracking?” 

Ryan could help but laugh. 

“No silly, it’s an engagement ring.” 

“You swear?” 

“I swear.” 

She made him turn the box around just to be sure. 

Finally she smiled. 

“Okay then.” 

“Okay?” 

“Yes.” 

He slipped the ring onto her finger. 

A real ring and a real proposal. Also real tears. 

As they kissed, Marcus stepped out from behind a tree holding a cell phone. 

“I got the whole thing.” 

Ryan pointed at him. 

“You planned this?” 

Marcus grinned.

“I figured someone should record the moment you finally gave her the right Ring.” 

Everyone laughed. 

Especially Emily. 

Because sometimes the best love stories aren't perfect. 

They were simply unforgettable. 

And looking back on the weekend she had secretly planned an entire wedding because of a misunderstood conversation, Emily could only smile, shake her head and say, 

“I should have known better.”