“Can you sign this?” I put down My Fair Molly in front of her.
“Sure,” she said automatically, and flipped the cover open.
Then paused.
My heart went still. I forced myself to not squirm as tension wound through me. A fist tightened around my chest, making it hard to breathe.
She stared at the page for a long moment, then finally scribbled something and signed it. Closing the cover, she handed me the book. “Here you go.”
No smile. No hint that she’d read or seen what was on the page. The ground underneath my feet seemed unstable, like a field in the middle of an earthquake or landslide. “Emily.” Despite myself, my voice came out too tight.
“People are waiting,” she said, then looked directly into my eyes and held them. “See me afterward.”
I left the huge space in a daze and tried to breathe. Blacking out from a lack of oxygen wouldn’t go over well. Then, remembering she’d written something inside the cover, I flipped the book open.
Emily,
I love you. Marry me.
–Killian
My grandmother’s ring was taped to the page. It was the ring Grandpa had used to propose all those decades ago when he realized she was the only one for him. They’d been together all their lives…and so, so happy. And I wanted to use it to ask for Emily’s hand in marriage because I wanted us to have the same amazing, loving life together.
Emily had written:
Don’t want to do this in front of the crowd. See me after.
–Emily
My shoulders sagged. I rubbed my hand over my jaw. She didn’t want to say no in front of everyone. She was too nice to upset and humiliate me like that, because of course then they really would know who I was. Maybe I should cling to the fact that she was nice enough to care about my feelings. Maybe there was still a chance that I could convince her to say yes when I saw her later.
Dream on, the cynic in me whispered. If she was going to say yes, she would’ve said so when she opened the book.
My phone buzzed.
–Cole: How’d it go?
–Devlin: When’s the date?
–Max: We all gonna be groomsmen?
–Me: She didn’t say yes.
–Cole: She said no?
–Devlin: Did you tell her you’ve never proposed before? She’s the special one.
–Max: Why’d she said no?
–Me: She didn’t say no. She said “See me after.”
That sounded pathetic, even to myself.
–Cole: Oh man. I’m sorry.
–Devlin: Tell me what I need to do to make you feel better. Girls, booze, you name it.
–Max: Sorry.