“What’s going on?”
I couldn’t think of one thing that could be under that tarp that I didn’t know about. Titus and I had designed every square inch of this property together, including the third floor, which was our own personal wing with a little kitchenette, a master suite, and two extra bedrooms that would make for perfect nurseries.
Titus tugged me closer to the tarp, and when we were right in front of it, Charlie and Finnie gave it a yank, exposing the most beautiful hand-carved pergola I’d ever seen in my life. It put the one at the church to shame with its intricate detail of climbing roses and leaves I could almost believe were real.
My jaw dropped open. I attempted to turn to Charlie, my gaze not wanting to leave the work of art in front of me. “Did you do this?”
Charlie smiled shyly and I knew he had. It must have cost Titus a fortune. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, but I didn’t know that we had the money to keep it. While I was doing math in my head—never a good idea even on a calm day when I could cheat and use a calculator—Titus tugged my hand again, bringing us into the center of the pergola.
He dropped to one knee right there on the wood floor and my brain froze in the middle of an addition problem. A smothered sob-laugh from back at the house hit my ears, but I literally could not look away from Titus and the little box he held in front of him. Time slowed down and everything around us faded away. As much as I knew this day was coming, it still caught me off guard. The sight of Titus on one knee and a ring box in hand was enough to make the happy tears start flowing again.
“Amelia Waldo. I promise to always make you cry happy tears, not sad ones. I promise to teach you skate tricks and take you to every dance. I promise to hold your hand when you get tattoos and hold your heels when you need to get in the middle of a fight and heels just won’t do even though you say they make your calves look hot. And they do, by the way. I promise to bring an extra sweatshirt to every bonfire for the rest of our lives, knowing you’ll have forgotten to bring one. I’ll let a peacock kick me in the balls every night if it means you’re safe.”
I gasped out a watery laugh. Dear sweet Jesus, this was such a typical Titus proposal. Sweet mixed with insane. He squeezed my hand and kept going, that quirk of a grin holding me captive.
“I promise to keep you warm at night and let you put your cold feet on me. I promise to somehow give you the two point five kids you want and I won’t let them get mullets even if they beg me for them. I promise to give you everything, Amelia. You want it, I’ll find a way to get it for you. Just like this dream of our B and B has come true today, I’ll make sure all your dreams come true. Just say you’ll marry me.”
His eyes had a sheen to them that only made my tears come faster. I cupped his cheek and kissed him.
“You already have made all my dreams come true, just by loving me,” I whispered.
He smiled and I smiled back.
“Did she say yes?” Vee called out behind me. “Can anyone hear?”
I rolled my eyes and Titus grinned full-out.
I threw my head back and yelled as loud as a Waldo knows how—and you can bet after fighting with four sisters my whole life I could pack quite the decibel. “Yes, Titus, I will marry you!”
All our friends cheered as I looked back at Titus, who stood and popped open the ring box. On a pad of velvet sat a silver ring with tiny diamonds all the way around, with one stunning antique cushion-cut diamond in the center.
“My grandmother wore this ring with pride and now it’ll be yours forever, to pass down to the children we have together.” Titus took the ring and slid it onto my finger.
I stared at it while it caught flashes of light, reflecting colors all around us. It was incredible. It meant I could marry Titus and have him by my side for the rest of our lives. In other words, it was perfect.
A surge of joy so great hit me all at once I jumped and Titus caught me. He staggered back, but held steady as I wrapped my legs around his waist, our lips crashing together in a kiss that sealed the deal.
I didn’t care about anything except this man and our love for each other. The house, the business, the ring. It was all just stuff. I didn’t care if anyone else noticed me as long as Titus did. Him and only him. He finally pulled back to whisper that he loved me, then spun us around and around. I tipped my head back and squealed like I was that girl in The Sound of Music after kissing a boy for the first time and high on life.
A loud honk had us freezing. Titus turned us to see out the pergola. All heads, including my parents’—when had they gotten here?—were turned to the back corner of our acre lot where a tiny stream flowed even in the summer. No less than five brightly colored flamingos smacked their beaks together, long necks entwining in what looked to be an epic snarl. And there, one unassuming peacock hopped back and forth. Instigator or innocent bystander, I wasn’t sure.
“What the hell?” I gasped, sliding down Titus’s body as my legs gave out. “Is that a flock of flamingos?”
“No, it’s a flamboyance,” Titus said calmly, stepping out of the pergola
