I glanced around, half expecting my mother to sneak out from behind the Biscuit Barn’s tent and demand to know what we were talking about. Ava knew I’d bought Mal a ring a long time ago—before Christmas, even—but I hadn’t told her I was planning to ask him today or even anytime soon. How the heck did she know?
“No, it’s not done,” I whispered. “You’ll know. Mal will probably call you five minutes later.”
She nodded once, blonde curls bouncing. “Damn straight, he will. But you could give me a clue. Is it going to be tonight? It is, isn’t it?”
“What? No. What? Why would you think that?” I stammered.
“Mal told me, you know,” she said smugly. “About you two hooking up under the bleachers last year. That’s what I put my money on.”
“Wait.” I shook my head. “Money? Do not tell me people are betting on this.”
“Duh. Of course we are. Don’t tell Paul, but I put a hundred bucks down, and if I win I’m getting him this autographed baseball thing he wants, so let me know if you need my help! I’m always happy to— Hey! Excuse me, Hiram Bassett! That T-shirt cannon is not a toy, young man! Where is your mama?” She strode off after the little boy, calling, “Be back, Brooks!” over her shoulder.
What the hell? Thicketeers were making book on my engagement? Fortunately, my plan for tonight had not involved the bleachers.
Mal’s tent was already bustling with customers. Mal and Diesel were standing in the back, discussing wrenches, of all things. Paul was eagerly talking up the smaller pieces on the front table to a couple of buyers, while baby Beau cooed happily in his front pack.
“Hey, li’l buddy,” I said, running a hand over little Beau’s white-blond hair once Paul’s last customer had moved on. “It’s hard to say if you’re looking more like your mama or your daddy today.” Beau gnawed his own hand happily and blew spit-bubbles. “Oh, no, wait, definitely Daddy.”
Paul rolled his eyes and looked down at his son with pure love in his expression. Then he licked his lips and darted a glance at Mal from behind his glasses. “Hey, Brooks? Let’s go stand over across the way and look back at Mal’s table, just to make sure we have the aesthetic right.”
“The aesthetic,” I repeated, letting him push me a few feet from the tent. “Who are you, Paul Siegel? Give a man one advertising award and suddenly he—”
“Is it gonna be tonight?” Paul interrupted in a low voice. “Look, I know your plans are a secret, blah blah, but I used to be your fake boyfriend and that’s gotta count for something, right Big Daddy? Gimme the scoop.”
“Huh?”
“Also, I may have put a hundred bucks down on the proposal happening tonight at the Tavern.”
“A hundred— Wait, the Tavern? Are you out of your damn mind?”
“Yeah, maybe don’t mention the hundred to Ava?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I wanna buy her these fancy shoes for her birthday. And why not the Tavern? That’s one hundred percent the place where you and Mal started falling for each other last year. The whole Thicket knows it. So in honor of the big event, I got Alana to add a couple extra questions to her Never Have I Ever game.”
I blinked at him in confusion. “What questions?”
“Well, first she’s gonna ask if anyone here has ever made out under the bleachers here in the Thicket, and this time you and Mal can say yes.”
“Oh, Lord.” I rubbed a hand over my forehead.
“And then she’s gonna ask if anyone at this table has ever asked anyone to marry them before… and that’s when you drop to one knee.”
“On the manky-ass floor of the Tavern? Which probably hasn’t been washed since the day it was installed? In front of all of you?”
“It’s perfect!”
“You’re delusional. Tell Daddy to get his money back,” I advised baby Beau before brushing past Paul on my way back to Mal. I heard Paul sigh.
“Hey, big bro!” Dunn said, coming up behind me and slinging an arm over my shoulder, forcing me to walk in the opposite direction, away from my boyfriend.
I sighed. “Dunn, have you considered woodworking? Or macrame? Or paint by numbers? Or… finding a nice woman who likes fishing?”
He looked at me like I was the crazy one. “Why would I want a nice girl to fish with when I have Tucker? No, look, I just wanted to tell you I got the cabin set for you, m’kay? No need to worry.”
“The cabin?” I scratched my head. “Set for what?”
“‘For what?’ he asks! For tonight, obviously, dumbass. The spirit of romance is dead with you, man. I pity poor Mal. But don’t sweat it, ’cause I got the flowers in place, I got the candles set up, I got the chocolate sauce ready. After what I witnessed in the barn, it doesn’t seem like you two need much more than a wall, and I provided four of those, but I figured you might wanna get fancy just this once—”