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“No. Are you fourteen, Brett?”

I shake my head and look over at Rosie.

“So, I was thinking we could go to lunch and get oysters, and then⁠—”

“Wait, did you forget the plan for brunch today?” Clara leans across the table. “Today, you propose to Rosie in front of Granddad, so he knows everything is serious and you’re madly in love and getting married, and he can write the trust over to you.” She pauses. “And Mom is going to freak out, and that’s going to be the best part.”

Rosie looks at me and groans. “Oh my gosh. Your mom is going to hate me.”

“But you don’t care, do you, Rosie?” Clara asks her.

“No, I guess not.”

“It’s okay. I’m sure whenever I find a man to marry, Mom’s going to hate him too—unless he’s a Kennedy, and I’m not going to be dating a Kennedy. Oh my gosh, Brett, did I tell you about my plan? Well, it was Blair’s plan, but I’m totally in.”

“What’s the plan?”

“We’re going to move to New York and get regular jobs because⁠—”

“Why do I already feel like I don’t want to hear this story?”

“What? We think it’s great. We’ve always wanted to live in New York, and we don’t want to live off Mom and Dad’s money, and we don’t want to have to hang out with their poser friends. We want a real life.”

“How are you going to survive without their money? You’ve never had a real job a day in your life.”

“What? Are you saying we’re spoiled?”

“You’re more than spoiled. But if that’s what you want …”

“It’s what we want. Unless you want to give us part of the trust when you get it.”

I gaze at my sister, my heart thudding, and then I look over at Rosie, who’s smiling at both of us.

“I don’t know that I’m going to be able to go ahead with this. It doesn’t feel right,” I say softly.

Clara frowns, and Rosie’s jaw drops.

“What do you mean?” Clara looks like she’s going to fall to the ground.

“I mean, it doesn’t feel right.”

I don’t know how to tell Rosie that making love to her meant something to me. That it was more than part of the charade, and proposing to her the morning after feels like a betrayal. It would make last night feel cheap, and I don’t want Rosie to ever look back on it and feel used.

I grab her hand and entwine my fingers with hers. “It’s not about last night.”

“Are you sure?” she whispers, her face strained. “Do you regret⁠—”

“I regret nothing.” I kiss her nose. “I wish we’d done it sooner.”

“What is going on here?” Clara looks confused, and I give her a look. She shrugs and pulls out her phone, but I can tell that she wants to know what’s going on.

“If you want to do it, I’m okay with going along with it.” Rosie rubs my arm. “I promise. It won’t be awkward or anything or make me think you⁠—”

“It has nothing to do with last night, trust me. We’ll do it some other time. Maybe in Catalina.”

“You’ll have to do it in Catalina because Granddad’s eightieth birthday is then, and if you’re not engaged by his eightieth, the trust won’t go into effect, right?” Clara sticks her chin out.

“I guess something like that. He can always change it,” I add.