The door opened to reveal Ma Dincht’s smiling face. "Hello, Ma," I greeted brightly. I nearly hopped three feet off the ground as I accepted her hug.
"Hello, dear." Ma Dincht pulled back, chuckling. "You should see the expression on your face. You’re positively beside yourself with excitement."
I giggled. "I know," I admitted as I followed her into the house. "This is the first time I’ve ever done something like this. I can hardly wait to see his face."
Ma Dincht slipped into a light green jacket and then grabbed her purse and keys. "And you say you’re getting him a ring?"
I followed her out of the house. "Uh-huh." I looked over at her. "Does Zell like rings? I’ve never seen him wear anything, so I wasn’t sure."
Ma Dincht sent me a reassuring smile. "If you get it for him, dear, I’m sure he’ll love it."
I flushed and giggled. "I hope so."
She laughed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Don’t need to hope. He’ll love it, or else I don’t know my Zell."
I sheepishly smiled. "I know he’ll like it, because he likes everything. I just want to make sure he likes it because he likes it."
Ma Dincht shook her head. "Dear, I haven’t ever met someone who puts as much thought and feeling into living and loving as you do."
I flushed molten.
"Don’t you worry about my Zell loving the ring." She touched me on the chin, her eyes twinkling and her smiling face soothing away my worry in a purely ‘mother’ way. "He loves you as surely as I’m standing here. Anything you give him, well, you just wait and see."
I looked over at her as we made our way down the main street of Balamb to the car garage. "Ma, has Zell always been. . . ."
Ma Dincht watched my expression. "Been what, dear?"
"Has he always been so accepting? So ready and willing to be friends with everyone?"
Ma Dincht nodded her head. "Yes, dear. Yes, he has. That’s one of the reasons Pa and me adopted him. The little tike had been through such a rough time, but he always kept his chin up. Smiling. Laughing. Doing his best to act all grown up. To keep everyone laughing." Ma Dincht’s smile became a little wistful. "My little hero." She looked back over at me. "Even when Pa died he did his best to look after me; keep me laughing. He’s been a blessing."
I wiped the mist from my eyes as I smiled at her. "I didn’t think I could love him more." I moved my gaze to the paved road at my feet. "Wrong again."
Ma Dincht chuckled. "Exactly how long have you been ‘in love’ with my Zell, Sally?"
"I’ve had a crush since forever." I sent her a sidelong glance. "At least, it seems like forever. It’s only been about three years, though."
"And what was it about the boy that first caught your eye?"
I smiled, my eyes twinkling with the memory. "His face." I met her gaze. "It's so expressive. I love watching it, and I can usually always tell what he’s thinking because it’s right there. I’d never met someone so open with what they felt before."
"He doesn’t hold back, does he?"
I shook my head, eyes wide. "And that’s what I love. He teaches me so much about feeling and talking and living life. He doesn’t let fear keep him from doing things. He’s teaching me the same thing."
Ma Dincht nodded as she guided me to the passenger side of the light yellow station wagon. "Yes, that’s my Zell. Live life to the full. Don’t waste a moment. Do your best and you’ll never regret an instant." She unlocked the door and opened it for me, smiling down at me once I’d climbed in. "You’re the first who really appreciated that in him, Sally dear." She leaned against the door and pinched my chin between her fingers. "And that is what first grabbed his attention."
I blinked. Then I smiled. "Really?"
Ma Dincht nodded, but she didn’t say anything more until she had buckled in and started the car. Then, once we’d headed out of Balamb toward Timber, she spoke. "He was eager enough to be your friend, told me so himself that first time I met you. ‘But there’s something different about her, Ma,’ he told me. ‘She gets me. Isn’t that the damndest thing you heard?’"
Ma Dincht laughed as I stared at her in wide-eyed wonder. "He said that?"
"Sure did." She looked over at me, eyes twinkling. "Then the dear looked at me with eyes as big as saucers and asked what he was supposed to do with a girl that didn’t give him dirty looks." She shook her head and chuckled. "I told him to take it as it went. To follow his heart. Then, if he thought he needed to know something more than that, he should talk to you about it. He nodded, matter of fact like a little soldier, and hurried off after you." Ma Dincht reached over and patted my knee. "Little did I know you’d beat the dear to it and ask him out. Good for you."
My smile widened. "You should have seen how shocked he looked. Like he didn’t understand how a girl could like him."
Ma Dincht nodded. "My little hero hasn’t had much success with things like that. I’m not saying there hasn’t been a girl or two that didn’t like him over the years. I’ve met a couple or three, in fact. But my Zell didn’t see anything but friendship when he looked at them. So, the relationship would peter out and die. They wanted more. Zell didn’t. They didn’t ask him out. Neither did he." She sent me her infamous smile and wink that reminded me so much of Zell. "I would have given Zell another 48 hours before he would have asked you out."
I giggled. "I wish I could have taken that 48 hours. I majorly stressed over how to tell him I liked him."
She touched me under the chin. "I can see that, dear, and that’s why I say ‘Good for you’."
I smiled. "Thanks, Ma."
Ma Dincht smiled wider, and then she focused on the road ahead. "He’ll be harder to shake than a flea on a Wendigo, Sally." She sent me a sidelong glance. "But you know what, I don’t think he has to worry about feelings petering out, does he?"
I shook my head, smiling a silly smile that felt like it went clear to my hairline.