Page 131 of Eye of the Hurricane
“Am I color coordinated with Katherine?” I ask.
“No, we couldn’t mess with her outfit or she’d know something’s up,” Audra clarifies.
“We’re just hoping she doesn’t show up in something questionable,” Ravyn adds.
“We figured the way she dresses, we’d be safe,” Audra says. I have to agree. Kat’s dressed stunningly everyday. I’ve never seen her in a dress I wouldn’t propose to her in. I think if I could have, I would have dropped to one knee that firstday I saw her on campus.
We all walk out to the living room where Roman and my parents are. They all look at me, smiling. My mom has tears welling in her eyes.
“Don’t cry, Mom.”
She scoffs at me, swiping at one that rolls down her cheek. “They’re good tears,” she assures me.
“So everyone remembers their jobs?” I ask. Every head in the room nods.
“We’re getting Katherine and bringing her to the beach,” Audra says, pointing to herself and Ravyn.
“I’m on video duty,” Roman says.
“And we’re going to help you set up while they kidnap the poor girl,” My dad says.
As if proposing to Katherine isn’t a dream come true on it’s own, the cherry on top is all of my family being involved.
“Well, fuck it. Let’s do it. Sunset is at 6:49, the pretty part of sunset happens about ten minutes to fifteen minutes after. And yes, Ravyn, I looked it up. Let’s aim for that, okay?”
“You got it, boss,” My dad says, winking at me.
“Simp,” Ravyn covers the word with a fake cough. “I’m kidding. I’m proud of you.”
KATHERINE
“Won’t it be dark by the time we’re done with this paint-and-sip thing? It seems weird that they’d plan something forsunset that you kinda need to see for,” I ask. Ravyn and Audra share a look.
“You know, I didn’t think about that. That is weird, maybe they’ll have lights.” Audra suggests.
“Maybe,” I say with a shrug.
Audra is currently driving Ravyn, Luna, and me to a paint-and-sip night on the beach. It sounded like an absolute dream of a night until I realized it’ll get dark in the middle of it.
“I’m sure if this is something they offer several times a week, they have a plan for when it gets dark,” Luna assures us.
“Yeah, okay. Good point.”
I don’t think a single thing of this plan until we pull into the parking lot and there aren’t cars. We’re pulling up to a paint-and-sip that seemingly no one is attending or teaching.
My first thought is that I’ve been tricked into some beach party or some other hare-brained scheme of my friends..
Which is why my heart comes to a halt when there’s a walkway made of candles once we get to the other side of the dunes. I quickly turn to the girls with tears in my eyes.
“You knew!”
“Of course, we knew,” Luna says with a laugh. She reaches forward, giving me a gentle push toward him.
Everything is perfect. It’s everything I ever could have dreamed of. The sunset is the perfect backdrop to the perfect proposal. The sky is painted in all different shades of orange, red, and pink. The candles give a warm hue that reminds me of when we sheltered together last year for Hurricane Celine.
The heart-shaped arch behind him is covered in orange and yellow flowers and completed with big cursive letters spelling out “Marry Me?”.
Everything follows a warm color pallet but me. I’m in a silky, floor-length, baby blue dress. And of course, matching heels.
