Page 11 of The Wedding Crush

Dante takes his cue, walking alongside the table until he stops behind Morgan. He rests his hands on her shoulders and leans down to kiss her forehead before he resumes his speech.

“Well, that’s exactly what I want to hear because now I’ve got to follow it up with an apology.” He scans the faces of each guest. “You see, part of my birthday gift requires me to hijack your party for selfish reasons…”

Soft gasps pinball around the room as everyone looks on expectantly.

As if on cue, in a coordinated sequence, the faint music stops, Dante turns Morgan’s chair, and tugs her to her feet.

Her hands in his, he swallows, then lowers himself on one knee.

Mother covers her heart with her hand. She’s all shiny eyes over the smile of a proud parent whose family is growing.

My throat constricts.

The tent fills with sighs, swoons, and cheers.

Tears stream down Morgan’s cheeks.

“From the moment I met you, my beautiful un-Valentine, Wonder Woman, I’ve never been more certain about anything in my life. I knew I wanted to be the croissant flakes on your lips.” She laughs through her tears, fueling Dante to go on. “I wanted to talk about wine, life, family, friends, and business with you. And some may think I’m rushing in…”

He jabs thumb toward me, and I chuckle, looking around the table…

Is that?

On the other side of the table, mixed in with the high-backed chairs at a table full of specialty teas, homemade breads, and fruitcakes, I recognize Morgan’s friends.

Avery, I get. She’s an event planner. It makes sense. But why are Seneca, Valerie, and Monica are here? Which strikes me as odd because if this proposal is supposedly spontaneous, why would they be at my mother’s birthday?

Morgan’s friends wouldn’t attend a sixty-five-year-old’s party, unless…

I flit a glance at Avery.

On the table, there’s a small fanny pack with a bulging zipper, a thick pink book, and a long-lens camera perched and pointed in her hands as she captures this moment.

She planned this.

They all knew.

“Why wait when I’ve never been more certain that waking up and falling asleep with you in my arms is the only life I want to live?” Dante asks the room then meets Morgan’s teary-eyed stare. “Marry me, Morgan Elaine Forster. Make me the happiest man on the planet.”

“Yes!”

Dante scoops her up in his arms, twirling her around as the party erupts with joy.

For the second time in an hour, my head spins, sending all the pieces of this puzzle falling into place. This last-minute tea party, the change of travel plans, they were a cover for an engagement party. Everyone knew except for me, including Avery Ellis.

I won’t have you ruin this.

Half of me is ecstatic that my brother has found a love that makes him feel so deeply. The other half, though, wouldn’t put it past Pollyanna to persuade Dante to keep me in the dark. Can’t have the rain blocking the sun, now, could she?

She knows I’d have convinced my brother to wait.

I didn’t go through hell and back just to watch my brother repeat my mistakes.

“Buttering up the silver fox is all in a day’s work, even for a sunshine warrior, huh, Pollyanna?” I say under my breath as we lock eyes across the room.

I match her smile with one of my own then put my thumb and middle finger together, slip them between my lips, and unleash a hail of a whistle.

My brother needs me now more than ever.

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