“No, thanks. This has already been nicer than any event I’ve ever done.”
Jessica smiles and leads us downstairs.
There are only enough seats for about a hundred people, and everyone else stands in the back, clutching our books to their chests.
“Holy shit,” I whisper to Beckett. “Standing room only. Can you believe it?”
“Get used to it. You’re a big deal now.”
“Oh, right. You’re familiar with all this,” I say with a smirk.
“You’ve always been the biggest deal to me,” he replies. He kisses me on the forehead.
We sit side by side on a pair of wicker chairs, with Jessica standing beside us, fumbling with a wireless microphone.
She welcomes everyone and thanks them all for coming. “It’s such a huge pleasure to welcome to the Brewster Book Store our special guests: Melody Adams and Beckett Nash!” Cheers and applause fill the garden and the parking area behind it.
“It’s customary with these kinds of events for our authors to begin with a short reading. So”—Jessica goes on, handing me a copy of my book and Beckett a copy of his—“would you mind doing us the honor?”
Beckett looks at me. “Ladies first?” he offers.
I shrug. I always get nervous reading my work out loud.
I flip the copy ofHoliday Islandopen to the first page. A Post-itnote has been stuck inside to mark the page. It’s got something scribbled on it.
Hey,it reads,before you read, just a quick question. Will you marry me?
I gasp. “Is this from you?” I ask Beckett.
“What is it?” Jessica asks, concerned. A little crease forms between her eyebrows, as if I’ve discovered something inappropriate.
I hold it up and read it to the crowd, but I already know the answer.
His smirk says it all.
He gets down on one knee and the crowd literally explodes. “I should have done this the first time around,” Beckett says, when they finally quiet down. Cell phones are up everywhere, recording this moment for the whole internet to see.
“What do you mean?”
He takes a ring out of his pocket. No box. The diamond is mammoth. He holds it up to me. “The book proposal,” he explains. “I knew I wanted to marry you after knowing you for just the first week. I should have proposed at the end of my book. Maybe if I had gone about it differently, sent the manuscript to Evan, you know? Maybe this all could have worked out with fewer complications…”
I start to cry. I raise my hands to my mouth so as to not have my face look horrific in all these people’s videos.
“Please tell me these are happy tears.”
I nod. “I love you so much,” I say.
“Then you should say yes,” he smiles.
“Yes,” I reply. “Yes! Obviously, yes.”
He slides the ring on my finger. We kiss, and more cheering ensues. Beckett returns to his seat beside me. I’m beside myself. The ring is gorgeous. My heart is pounding. I wish my mom were here to see it all, but I look at the twobon binibracelets adorning my wrist and remember that she’s always with me. The crowd watches us with wide eyes.
“What now?” I ask. Everyone laughs.
“Now you read,” Beckett says.
“Are you kidding me? You want me toreadafter all that?”
