Null Pointer

17.8. One Ring

As soon as Dan came in from his assigned patrol, he checked his phone and saw Mart’s SOS. Dan texted back that he was clocking out and heading to the cabin, but then he would could come by the Farm for dinner, if that was okay with Mrs. B.

Mart texted back that he’d meet Dan at the cabin.

Dan rubbed his temples, wondering what could be so urgent that Mart had to see him before Dan had gotten to take his post-patrol shower. “I hope this is important,” he muttered to himself.

Mart was pacing on the cabin’s front porch. “What took you so long?” Mart demanded when Dan arrived.

“No sirens means I have to obey the speed limit, the same as every other citizen,” Dan said virtuously. “What is so important? I want a shower.”

“I need your help.”

“With?” Dan asked wearily when Mart didn’t go on.

“A ring for Di,” Mart said.

Dan rolled his eyes, leaning against the porch railing. “You still haven’t bought one? I thought you said you were going into New York last week. Didn’t you ask me to make sure Di didn’t come looking for you last Friday? I remember having a very enjoyable ride with Lady Di.”

Mart growled in frustration. “You’re not helping!”

“You still haven’t told me what you need my help with, so, at the least, that’s not my fault.”

Mart reached in his pocket and produced a small velvet box.

“Belden, if you get down on one knee, so help me God…”

“I’m not going to propose to you,” Mart snapped.

“Then, once again, what do you need from me?”

“I need you to tell me I bought the right ring.”

“You spent how many paychecks on this ring and you’re not sure it’s the right one? Seriously, Belden?”

Mart glared at Dan and thrust the ring box into Dan’s hand. “Just tell me what you think.”

Rolling his eyes at his friend, Dan opened the box. Nestled inside was a beautiful silver ring with a single diamond. The diamond wasn’t ridiculously large, but it was big enough to be noticeable. “It’s fine,” Dan assured his friend.

“Fine?” Mart echoed. “Fine! This is Diana. It can’t be just fine. It has to be… marvelous, remarkable, astounding.”

“Okay, it’s … marvelous,” Dan said, wincing at the frilly word. “Di will be pleased.”

“That’s not enough. She needs to be besotted. Enamored. Convinced.”

“You’re worried she won’t say yes,” Dan realized with amusement. Clearly, Mart had never seen the way Di looked at him, or the way she hinted about her ring size whenever Mart was within hearing.

“If I screw up the proposal, she won’t,” Mart told his best friend, needing sympathy and support and finding none. “Come on, man, please tell me I picked the right ring.”

“I already told you it was fine,” Dan reminded Mart, closing the box and handing it back.

Mart clutched it in his hand. “And I told you it has to be better than fine. It has to be perfect. Di deserves the best.”

On any other day, Dan would have quipped, “And yet she’s dating you,” but Mart was clearly driving himself insane worrying that Diana wouldn’t agree to his proposal. “Di loves you,” he said instead, with more patience than he felt. “She can’t wait for you to propose and she will say yes.”

“I know she loves me, but what about the ring? Did I choose the right ring? Please, Dan, help me out here. You’re my best friend. If Di says yes, I’ll want you to be my best man. But I need you right now to tell me I chose the right ring!”

Dan was losing patience. “Okay, okay, it’s the one ring to rule them all! Is that what you needed to hear?”

“Dude, no, I am not evil incarnate trying to take over the world! I’m trying to propose here!”

“Oh, sorry about that, man. I couldn’t tell the way you were obsessing.” Dan sighed and straightened from where he’d been leaning against the railing and walked over to his best friend. “Mart, I give you my word as your best friend: Di loves you. She’ll love the ring. She’ll say yes. But you have got to get a grip. It’s a proposal, not the end of the world.”

“If she doesn’t say yes, it might as well be the end of the world!”

“She’ll say yes,” Dan repeated. “Now, stop freaking out and let me go take a shower. Otherwise, we’ll be late for dinner at the Farm, and that might actually be the end of the world.”

“I am rather ravenous, myself,” Mart admitted.

“Pacing a hole in the porch works up an appetite,” Dan said knowingly. “Are we good, man?”

Mart nodded, finally putting the ring back in his pocket. “We’re good.”

Dan nodded and headed for the door, thinking his shower was long overdue. As he opened the cabin door, Mart spoke again. “And, Dan?”

Dan sighed and turned back to Mart. “What now?”

“Thanks for putting up with me. I’ll be here for you when you find the right person.”

Dan grinned at his best friend. “I’ll hold you to that, but I don’t intend to ever need anyone other than that right person to tell me if I bought the right ring.”

“Assuming you ever find someone who can hold your attention for more than two months, of course.”

“Natch,” Dan agreed. Not everyone could be as lucky as Mart, to meet his soulmate in grade school. But no law said Dan couldn’t enjoy the search. He wasn’t ready to settle down yet, either, not like his friends. There were still too many adventures yet to be had to be tied down to anything long term. Except the Bob-Whites. He didn’t mind being committed to his group of best friends, even if some of them were more than a bit crazy. He wouldn’t give them up, even for the one ring to rule them all.