“There’s something I have to ask you,” Steve said. He fidgeted in his seat and swirled his spoon in the chicken and sausage gumbo Dempsey had made from scratch.

“Sure, anything. You need some Tabasco?”

“No, no this is plenty spicy for me.”

“So what did you want to ask me?” It dawned on Dempsey that he might be ready to pop the question. His nervousness. Hesitation. Announcing that he had a question to ask rather than just asking it in normal conversation. No, this would not be an ordinary question. Maybe, just maybe …

“Do you believe in evolution? Or are you one of those who believes God spoke the entire universe into existence in six days?”

Okay, it wasn’t the proposal Dempsey had anticipated. But it was a topic they’d rarely discussed. He’d accepted the fact that she was a believer and he didn’t ridicule her for it; she accepted the fact that he didn’t believe, and she didn’t condemn him for that.

Read all of ‘Evolution of Love’ in the short story anthology, Spring Fevers.