Page 82 of Ocotillo Kisses
“Where’s Caleb?” Sofia asked, glancing around. “He’s going to miss it!”
Britt ignored the question and ushered her to stand in the line forming in front of Ginny, as Austin took her hand After they arranged themselves, Britt on the end with the “E,” Britt counted to three and together they spelled out the proposal with the sparklers. Austin slid from his camp chair to drop to one knee in front of Ginny, who was blinking in confusion.
“What?” she asked, looking down at Austin, at the ring in the open box, then back at Austin. “What?”
“Will you marry me?”
“Are you serious right now?”
“As serious as I’ve ever been in my life.”
Britt found herself holding her breath. She’d been positive Ginny would say yes right away, but this hesitation was killing her.
She couldn’t imagine what Austin was thinking.
And then Ginny slid from her chair, taking Austin’s face in hers and kissing him. A cheer went up from the group, and Britt supposed that was a yes.
Then she leaned over to Sofia, taking her arm.
“One of the vendors is saying his WiFi connection isn’t working, so he can’t take any debit or credit cards.” The excuse was lame, but Britt hadn’t been able to think of anyone else.
“Right now?” Sofia looked at her askance. “It can’t wait?”
“It can’t,” Britt said, struggling to keep her expression neutral. “Not if he wants to sell anything during the fireworks.”
“Could you help him? I haven’t had a chance to congratulate the happy couple yet.”
“I’m not the technical person.” She admitted to being surprised at how much Sofia knew about what the food trucks would need to operate with internet. “It needs to be you, and now,” Britt said, as she listened for the sounds of the fireworks increasing behind her.
“Where are they?”
“Over in front of the grocery store.”
Sofia was clearly irritated with Britt, who accompanied her across the street and past the tent and...there was Caleb on one knee in front of the mural Sofia had painted, beneath the arch with the word “future.” His young daughter stood beside him, beaming at Sofia.
Oh, yeah, Britt couldn’t have planned it any better if she had tried. She was glad she’d grabbed Teresa, Sofia’s sister, to take pictures.
Sofia stopped dead in her tracks. “What are you doing?”
“I’m asking you to be my family,” he said. “Sofia, will you marry me?”
Okay, if Britt was going to bet, she would have bet on Sofia saying no, on arguing that they hadn’t been dating long, but she didn’t. Instead she ran the last few feet to him and as he rose, threw her arms around his neck.
Britt turned away to give the little family some privacy, to find Con behind her, smiling. For a brief moment, she thought there might be a hat trick, and she had twin feelings of excitement and panic. Instead he just put his arm around her shoulders to lead her back to the fireworks.
“Well done,” he said. “No one could have coordinated that better than you.”
She took a flourishing bow, and when she straightened, he was right in front of her. Her heart did that little skippy thing she hoped she never got used to, and he took her face in his hands.
“I’m so glad you’ve come home,” he murmured, and kissed her with the fireworks exploding all around them.
