“Somewhat.”
“Remember how Bobbi and I told you about that time Momma J taught us how to play that Masterpiece game?”
“Vaguely.”
“Remember how we said she brought down her old boom box and pulled out this CD with this guy on the case and we immediately started groaning because we thought he looked like some old fuddy-duddy crooner only Grandma would’ve liked?”
“Not at all.”
“Well, he’s coming here, Oliver.”
“The fuddy-duddy?”
“Yes! Except he’s not a fuddy-duddy. He’s amazing, and he’s going to put on a concert. Can you believe it? Harry Connick Junior, right here in the backyard. Maybe next to the glass cottage depending how it turns out. We’re still working out the logistics. But the point is he’s going to be here.”
There was a long pause. The type of long pause that made her think he was overcome with emotion. Perhaps speechless with excitement.
“I’m so confused,” he said.
Or maybe just confused. “About which part?”
“All of the parts. How is a fuddy-duddy supposed to help me offer Bobbi a perfect proposal for marriage?”
“Stop calling him a fuddy-duddy. He’sHarry. And he was Momma J’s favorite singer. Bobbi knows that. She’ll take it as a sign.”
“For what?”
“To say yes!” Why wasn’t Oliver getting this? “This is the perfect, romantic proposal we’ve been waiting for.”
“Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent.” Or at least a solid ninety-seven.
Oliver hemmed and hawed on the end of the line. “I don’t know. Just feels like so many things are up in the air right now. Rushing off to Tennessee just so some fuddy-duddy crooner—”
“Amazingcrooner.”
“—can sing a song while I propose sounds... I don’t know.”
“Perfect is what it sounds like, Oliver. Perfect. Trust me. Something bigger is at play here. I think every challenging thing that’s happenedthese past couple months happened so that you and Bobbi would finally reach this place.”
“Bugle, Tennessee?”
“Yes. Well, no. Not Bugle, specifically. Butyes, this place in your life where you can find your perfect happily-ever-after proposal, which we all know is just the beginning to your happily-ever-after life.”
“Well, perhaps when you put it like that...”
“Listen. You don’t have to do anything but get here. Bobbi already mentioned visiting me on her way back from Italy. The timing is perfect. I’ll tell her Nate and I are getting serious and—”
“How serious?”
McKenna’s words stalled. “I...”
“Long-distance serious? Marriage serious? What sort of serious?”
“Um...” Can’t-seem-to-stop-thinking-about-kissing-him serious? Was that a thing? “I’ll handle what to tell Bobbi. In the meantime you just make sure she doesn’t know you’re coming to Bugle or anything about the concert. Trust me, this will be the biggest surprise proposal she could ever imagine.”
“I still don’t know about this.”
