Page 99 of Embers in the Dark

“Ouch! Why don’t you women understand that I bruise easily!” He rubs the spot.

I roll my eyes and make my way through. He put out snacks for a movie night in the living room, along with a makeshift cotton tent and twinkle lights. He also ordered my favorite pizza and has some LED candles out on the table. I look over at the television and seeSixteen Candlescued up, which is my favorite movie. It’s a pretty old choice, but my mom loves it and I fell in love with it too.

“Happy early birthday, Bay.” He motions for me to sit down.

“Wow, pulled out all the stops. I’m impressed.” I sit down. “Admit it, though—you had help.”

“A man never divulges all his secrets.” He winks.

“Uh huh.” I give him a side eye. “I know you had help and it was a woman’s help. No way River or Clay did this. Nor Hunter,” I say, looking around. “I say Abby. Or Kennedy.”

“Wanna make it interesting and put some money on it?” he says, serving a slice of pizza on my plate.

“Obviously,” I answer, “my final vote is Abby.”

He gets this mischievous look on his face, but doesn’t say anything else and presses play on the remote.

“Hey, who was it? Did I win?” I yell.

“Shhh, the movie is going to start,” he says.

“You’re infuriating,” I say as I take a bite of my pizza.

“You love me,” he says. “Happy birthday, baby.”

“Thank you for this,” I tell him.

Everything about the evening feels like a dream. After the disastrous encounter with my brother, I thought my night was ruined, but this makes up for it.

After we eat and I enjoy too many snacks, I snuggle into Tucker’s side. But when the movie comes close to the end, I can’t help but sit up and watch attentively.

“Oh, it’s the best part,” I declare.

“Why is this such a big deal each time you watch it?”

“Shush.” I wave at him as I watch the screen as if I don’t know what’s about to happen.

I watch as Molly Ringwald comes out of the church to find Jake Ryan standing at the Porsche waiting for her. Oh, my heart.

“Oh, how romantic.” I nearly melt into a puddle.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Tucker shifts and complains behind me.

“Tucker, why don’t you—” I look over to make him pay attention, but that’s when I see him positioned down on one knee, holding an open box with a ring for me.

“Oh my fucking God,” I whisper.

“Baylee Grace Rios,” he begins, “I’ve known you most of my life and all of yours. And in each second of knowing you, you’ve held a piece of a memory, capturing a part of my heart and making it brighter. You’ve surprised me now by showing me that our love is ever-evolving. It’s messy, captivating, honest, fun, difficult—but, most importantly, it’s going to shift in ways we least expect. And I want to be the person you shift with in this life forever. Will you marry me?”

“Yes, always yes!” I jump into him, toppling him over and kissing him, tears flowing down my cheeks.

“I love you so much and I’m so happy right now. I was already happy, but now I’m even happier because of you and our forever,” I tell him, peppering his face with kisses all over.

“I love you, Baylee-almost-Malloy, for real this time,” he tells me.

“For real this time.” I smile at him.

Tucker

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