“Oh wow, I can’t pick a favorite,” Brenda replied then discussed the merits of several popular wedding flowers and how she liked to pair them with less common flowers to give each wedding a unique feel to them.
The next question was for Joan, the one after was for Juan, and then another question for Marla. It seemed like no one had any questions for me about hair or makeup. I was getting a little discouraged but did my best not to show it. The questions were great, and the answers given were even better, so I just had to wait my turn and not pout that people weren’t fighting over one another to hear my little pearls of wisdom.
“Here’s a question for Josh,” Marla said. I perked up but tried not to look pathetic. “It’s from a Detective Smitten from Blissville.” A smile spread across my face as I wondered what the hell Gabe was doing. “He wants to know what you’re doing for the rest of your life?”
“Huh?” There went my polish and professionalism. “He asked what?” I leaned forward and read the question for myself. A follow-up question popped up beneath the first one. “Will you marry me?” I read out loud. The guys on the set chuckled while the girls giggled happily at the shell-shocked expression on my face, which was nothing to the jaw-dropping that happened when Gabe stepped onto the set and walked toward me with a sexy grin all over his face. I noticed that he was wearing my version of a skinny jean for him that I placed in his drawer without telling him. I was briefly distracted by images of me unbuttoning his fly from my knees, but not on air.
“Hi, Sunshine,” he said when he reached the beautifully patterned area rug covering the hardwood floor of our makeshift living room.
“Hi,” I said shakily. “What are you doing here?”
“I think it’s kind of obvious, but if not, maybe this will help.” Gabe dropped to one knee and held a ring box up in front of him. “Josh, will you make me the happiest man on earth and agree to be my husband?” Gabe opened the box and showed me the platinum and diamond band inside.
Tears burned my eyes, and I had to swallow a few times before I could whisper, “It’s not my birthday.”
“This isn’t a gift for your birthday. It’s a gift to myself; you’re my gift,” Gabe said.
“Are you even real?” I asked him, echoing words I had used in the past.
“Me or the diamonds?” Gabe asked, taking a page from my book and using humor to lessen the tension. “Both are real.” Gabe leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Um, you’ve left me hanging here, Sunshine.” He shook the ring box a little. “We’re streaming live, and our parents are watching. You think maybe you can give me an answer?”
It was the most precious moment in my life. I wanted to say the right thing, something that he would cherish forever. For the life of me, I couldn’t think of a snazzy response, so I just went with genuine. “Yes, I will be honored to call you my husband, Gabriel.”
Cheers and laughter broke out around us as Gabe slid the ring on my finger. He rose from his knee and pulled me into his arms for a sweet kiss that had tears running down my cheeks. I showed my ring off to the girls and shook hands with the guys before we got back to filming the rest of the wrap-up show.
“Have a wonderful vacation,” Cindy said once we finished. “When you come back, you’ll get to start filming your solo segments. Are you excited?”
“About many things,” I answered, looking down at my ring again. I thanked her for helping Gabe pull off his surprise, then left with my fiancé.
The hour-long trip home was spent on the phone either texting, tweeting, talking, or Facebooking our big news. I could do that because Gabe had hired a car service to drive him to Cincinnati to surprise me. Gabe looked gloriously ridiculous driving Princess, but he didn’t like to be driven places by anyone.Well, he let me take his ass for a drive on occasion.
When we got back to town, I expected Gabe to take us straight home, but he didn’t. He parked in front of Georgia Beaumont’s mini mansion that had remained empty since her death. He looked over at me with a proud grin on his face.
“What are we doing here?” I asked him.
“Five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a huge, fenced back yard, and a three-car detached garage for Charlotte, Charlotte II, and Princess.” It still made me laugh that Gabe couldn’t pick out a better name for his everyday Charger. He laughed when I looked surprised. “You think I don’t notice you checking out listings for houses daily? I’m a cop; I notice things.”
“Why this house?” I asked him.
“You don’t like it? It has beauty and grace, but it’s classic and masculine at the same time. It reminds me of you.” Damn, he knew how to render me speechless. “I also thought that Georgia would approve of someone she loved living in the home she adored. You’re not worried about ghosts or anything, are you?”
“No,” I answered honestly. “Well, maybe if I’d smeared an ugly-ass pastel pink on Georgia’s lips for her viewing. She would’ve haunted my ass no matter where I lived if that had been the case.”
Gabe chuckled then asked, “What’s holding you back from saying yes?”
“Um, the expense,” I told him. “We make a good salary together, and the salon is growing faster than I can keep up with, but this house must cost a fortune. How can we afford to buy it?”
“I inherited some money from my grandparents that we could use for a large down payment to make the mortgage payments more manageable. Don’t look at me like that, Sunshine.” He shook his head. “They left me the money to do something amazing with, and I can think of no better way than to spend it on our future.”
“That wasn’t what I was thinking, Gabe, but I’m sure I would’ve gotten there eventually,” I said saucily.
“Okay, then what’s bothering you? Don’t tell me nothing because I know better,” Gabe warned.
“I’m more worried about Internal Affairs breathing down your neck,” I told him. “What small town cop can afford a mansion on his salary? They’ve already investigated you three times—oh, make that four with the Broadman shooting. You must like it. Your nefarious reputation could be bad…” I broke off when I realized how absurd my statement was going to sound. Bad for my business? Ha! The sketchier things were, the busier my salon became. Hmm, I began wondering what kind of rumors I could spread.
Gabe laughed hard for a few minutes. “You never fail to make me smile, Sunshine. What do you say? Do we want to get serious about buying this home when we get back?”
“Yes,” I said. “This has always been my favorite house, besides mine, and I can see us being very happy here. Hell, we’d each get a wing to ourselves if we start getting on each other’s nerves.”
