“Not mischief. Not exactly. Um—” Chase pulls me toward the village garden and sits down on the bench. He smooths his hands along his jeans and then turns to me.
“I was going to do this in a clever way, but I’m not going to push my luck.” Chase pulls something out of his pocket. It sparkles in the afternoon light.
“Chase?” I whisper.
“Pippa, I was going to hide this in a piece of cake—a real one, not a sponge. But on second thought, I wouldn’t want it to get lost or have one of us accidentally swallow it.”
“You know me so well.”
“Just being cautious. But I’d like to be reckless with you now and for the rest of my life. No rules. Just us. Will you marry me?”
The sparkle from the ring catches in his eyes. “Yes, I do. I mean, I will.” I throw my arms around his shoulders and squeeze, then kiss his entire face before landing on his lips and lingering there for a long time.
When we part, he slides the diamond engagement ring on my finger.
“Should I be trusted with this?” I ask.
“I trust you. Do you trust me?”
“Yes. I trust you, but I’m wondering if we should do this sooner rather than later.” I bite my lip, afraid that if we let too much time lapse, something will go wrong.
“Get married? Sure. Whenever you want. I’m patient, but I have had a crush on pizza for a long time.”
I giggle. “We were going to get pizza and have cake...and you were hinting about what goes good with cake.”
“I was trying to come up with a smooth and suave way to tease the proposal.”
“What goes really good with cake is a wedding,” I say.
“We can have as much cake as you want.”
“But what about our wedding?”
“Anytime...except Super Bowl Sunday.”
I smile. “I was thinking sooner. Much sooner. Like now.”
“Now? Like elope?” His eyes widen and so does his grin.
“Just mitigating the chance for things to go wrong.”
Chase laughs. “Pippa, I will marry you anytime, anywhere. Including right now.”
“It’s a good thing our families are in town for theCrush or Cupidwatch party.”
We both send out a few texts, then whisk into a shop for a sundress for me and a button-down shirt for him. Afterward, we stop by a jeweler and pick out matching gold bands. In less than an hour, we’re standing in a small stone chapel, surrounded by parents and siblings.
Chase and I hold hands and make our pledges to each other. All I can think about is forever with this man who looks at me like I’m the MVP—the most valuable Pippa.
Afterward, everyone gathers at a wood-fired pizza place in the village. We sit outside on the patio where the lights sparkle, along with Chase’s eyes.
He won’t stop looking at me and I like it. A lot.
Freddie claps Chase on the back and shakes his hand. “Fitting that your reception dinner is pizza.”
“I love pizza,” Chase says with a gleam in his eyes.
We arrange the tables to form an L-shape so we’re all together. Of course, my groom and I sit side by side.
