From Charity to Chastity

'That's uncalled for, Charity. If you talk to me like that again, you'll be in detention,' I told her in a conversational tone. Then whispered to her, 'Don't say anything to Chastity. Please?'

'Okay. It's you're funeral. But don't say I didn't warn you.' She took her ring off and handed it to me then turned on her heels emphatically and crossed the hallway into her next class. She stayed annoyed with me for the next few weeks. It never dawned on her that an engagement ring is a kind of friendship ring. I wasn't going to tell her.

I went to a jeweler that afternoon and wiped out my vacation savings. I bought a nice, if modest engagement ring. I was calm and confident in the store. It wasn't until I got home with it that I began to fret about it. Despite what Charity had said, I still feared rejection was a possibility. Chastity and I had never discussed getting married or living together. Chastity never spent the night at my house again after Beatrice was discharged from rehab. Fortunately, an enthusiastic physical intimacy was an integral part of our relationship.

Before I got a chance to ask Chastity if she could make time for dinner on Valentine's Day, she casually asked if we would be doing anything. It was a weeknight so it would require we both get ahead of our lesson plans and postpone addressing any homework we had collected that day. She suggested dinner at an Italian restaurant that made a big deal of Valentine's Day. Roses and hearts everywhere. Romantic music played by a strolling violin player. A special menu.

Chastity picked me up for our Valentine's Day date. She just smiled sweetly at me when I complimented her appearance. All I could see of Chastity was her beautiful face, hairdo and the mid-calf length winter dress coat she was wearing. A neatly folded blue silk shawl rested on the cupholders between our seats.

I had no idea what I was talking about.

Chastity bought a car and picked it up after work a couple days before Valentine's Day. I hadn't seen it yet and she wanted to show it off. I was impressed. I knew what she budgeted and quickly saw she'd done well. Her four-year-old small SUV had almost all the bells and whistles -- heated seats, outside mirrors, and steering wheel. Leather seats with power adjustments. Tinted windows made it difficult to see into the car but didn't obstruct the view out. All wheel drive to make winter driving manageable.

When we got to the restaurant, I was delighted when I helped Chastity take off her coat at the coat check. I dressed for the occasion. But Chastity dressed to make an impression. She wore a shimmering sapphire blue silk cocktail dress the same hue as her eyes. A subtle paisley pattern barely a shade lighter than the rest of the fabric shimmered with every movement. A slit up one side stopped mid-thigh. Her hairstyle hadn't changed since she began teaching. But then her hair was always perfect. It was the most attractive feature on the frumpy woman I'd first met. I helped her drape the blue lace shawl over her shoulders before we were led to our table.

We sat at a table near the huge fireplace in the center of the restaurant. The staff was dressed in crisply creased black pants and starched white shirts emblazoned with red hearts. The cherubs on the ornate Italian Renaissance-style ceiling fit right in with the theme. The strolling violin player didn't intrude on diners to solicit tips while he performed.

There was no menu for dinner. A special five-course meal of selections not offered on the regular menu was served every Valentine's Day. Most were dishes I'd never heard of. I enjoyed the food immensely and complimented Chastity on her choice of restaurants, even if we both thought the theme tacky and overdone.

My plan was to propose over dessert. It didn't work out that way. Chastity got up as soon as the main course was cleared. She knelt on the floor next to my chair and took my hand. Naturally, a decked-out auburn-haired beauty on bended knee in the middle of a busy restaurant immediately attracted attention from all directions. I was flabbergasted but certain I knew what was coming. I was also embarrassed that she had beat me to proposing. But I thrilled that I knew what her answer would have been.

In a clear voice more than a dozen nearby tables could hear, she asked, 'Evan John Berry, will you marry me?'

My brain, for some reason, ceased functioning. Comments from several directions overwhelmed me as I tried to control my emotions:

'Why didn't you do that?' I heard one man say with a laugh.

'There's a lucky guy,' I heard from a female voice.

'Another woman said, 'What an idiot! Why's leaving her hanging? You think he wants to say no but doesn't dare?'

I couldn't answer. My throat had dried up so suddenly I barely avoided a coughing fit. I couldn't talk but at least my brain began working again. I reached into my jacket pocket and took out the black velvet box holding the engagement ring. I snapped the top open. Then I held my breath in panic as I watched the ring pop out of its nest and go flying.

Chastity apparently hadn't lost her fielding skills. The former All-State second baseman caught the ring on the fly, before it hit the floor and skidded away.

It was Chastity's turn to be speechless. She looked at the ring open-mouthed, tears streaming down her face. She found her voice, first. 'Yes, I'll marry you!' she exclaimed.

I heard a woman's voice from somewhere say, 'She asked you first. Don't you think you should answer her?'

'Yes, I'll marry you Chastity!' I said cheerfully, followed immediately by soft applause.

I stood and helped Chastity to her feet. I took the ring from her and slipped it on her finger. I heard a woman say, 'For God's sake, kiss her before she changes her mind you damn fool!' I took the woman's advice and kissed Chastity in front of a roomful of applauding strangers. When we finished the kiss, we looked around with a smile then sat for the dessert that our waiter stood holding while he patiently watched Chastity's graceful proposal and my fumbling, inept response. The normal buzz of the busy restaurant resumed when we took our seats.

A glowing Chastity and I ate our dessert wearing smiles we couldn't shed. I paid the check then we quietly, and without fanfare, slipped away.

Though it was quite a walk to get to it, Chastity's car was only about a hundred feet from the restaurant. Nearly straight up. She pressed the remote start as we left. It was bitterly cold and windy as we walked to the parking garage. The wind howled and pummeled us as it blasted down the canyon formed by the tall buildings on either side of the street. Chastity clung to my arm, huddled against me, trying to escape a wind that threatened to carry us away. We got a respite from the wind when we turned the corner to the pedestrian entrance to the garage and got on the elevator. The wind assaulted us with a vengeance when we exited the elevator. The cars we walked by shook from the force of the wind, which seemed even more intense inside the garage.

The car interior was already warm when we hurriedly scrambled inside to escape the wind. Chastity shrugged out of her overcoat and tossed it in the back seat. I did the same with mine. She surprised me when she hiked up her dress, awkwardly clambered over the center console and knelt on my lap. She hiked her dress up further and reached down alongside the seat to recline my seat back until I was lying nearly flat.

Chastity unbuckled my belt, undid the waist of my pants and somehow managed to unzip them. All while kissing me hungrily. I lifted my hips and pushed my pants and underwear down. When my erection was freed of it confines, it pressed againt warm, moist flesh and soft hair. Chastity wasn't wearing panties under her dress.

Chastity hiked her dress up further and guided me inside her. 'I love you, Evan,' she whispered as she slowly lowered herself onto my erection and kissed me.

We started slowly, relishing just being together. We held each other tightly while the wind howled and buffeted the car, rocking it erratically as it gusted. We moved together, languidly making love, enjoying the warmth and solitude inside her car, protected from the bitter wind. The car nearest us, several spots away, made a brief series of squawks and chirps and the engine started.

I smiled up ay my fiancé and said, 'Let's give the wind a little help!' She giggled softly. We picked up the pace just as an especially heavy, sustained gust shook the car. Chastity grunted as we slammed into each other.

'Man, that wind is something!' a man said to his companion a few minutes later as he opened the door to his car. 'Our car is shaking but this SUV is bouncing around like someone is screwing inside it! I'd hate to have to drive that in this wind tonight,' he added just before the door slammed. The man apparently didn't notice the engine running in the rocking SUV he was parked near.

Chasity and I never stopped moving, our pace frenetic as we gazed at each other. Stifling laughter, grinning like idiots as we listened to the conversation outside. The car backed out and accelerated away.

Chastity and I energetically coupled until we both shook when our bodies passed from intensifying arousal to orgasm to a state of post coital bliss. Once we recovered, Chastity climbed back into the driver's seat. She retrieved a pair of panties from the glove compartment. I watched her pull them up, her back arched to keep her butt off the seat.

Before she sat, she asked, 'Did I leak anything onto the seat?' I shook my head no. 'I don't want to stain this dress,' she said as she wriggled them in place. She didn't pull the dress into place before she sat, leaving it bunched up at her waist. 'From your reaction when you saw it, I'm definitely going to wear it again,' she continued with a smile. 'It's a very expensive designer dress. No one has ever worn it. It still had all the original tags on it when Brie spotted it on the consignment shop clearance rack. She was disappointed it wasn't her size. I was thrilled when it fit me perfectly. It was ridiculously inexpensive. Like Walmart clearance rack cheap.'

All I could do was smile, file the memory of first seeing her in the dress, and hope I got to see it again soon.

Chastity stayed the night for the first time since the Christmas her mother spent in rehab. She had planned it all along. She'd packed a change of clothes to wear to school the next morning. We never slept that night. We were too excited. We spent the night talking about our future. At least we talked about it when we took a break from long, sensual love-making sessions. I struggled get through my afternoon classes the next day.

Charity graduated last month. She completed her sophomore, junior, and senior years as an honor student. She wowed the entire faculty when we learned her SAT and AP scores. Her class valedictorian and salutatorian didn't do as well. She received a nice scholarship award for her photography skills during a pre-graduation awards cermony.

Joshua Teagarden's life insurance policies paid out but not without a fight. The insurance company didn't want to pay because Beatrice stopped making payments a few months after Joshua disappeared. An arbitrator ordered the insurance company to not only pay the policy benefits, but Beatrice's attorney fees and interest. It provided Beatrice a nice little nest egg. A second policy with the same company provided for the sisters. Charity won't have to worry about how to pay for college. Beatrice has a boyfriend. Chastity doesn't believe it's serious, but Beatrice is less difficult. Though pleasant isn't a word I'll ever ascribe to her. She remains a source of tension for the sisters. I'm afraid she always will.

Chastity and I haven't set a date yet. We weren't in a rush to get married. We're committed to each other. That's what's most important to us. The best part of not having set a date is it's driving my mother nuts. We will set a date soon, though. The wedding will have to be sooner rather than later. We forgot ourselves during a hike one nice spring afternoon. Chastity's visit to her OB-GYN this week confirmed what we already knew. My mother will truly be nuts after this weekend when she learns her first grandchild is due in November. The doctor pegged the date of conception as Valentine's Day.