I went along with it. Teddi was texting back and forth with what seemed like a million people, but she could multitask like a boss, so we were both in the car on time and ready for romance. She’d even asked me to make sure my bra and panties matched.
I was expecting to go to The Brew Shed for dinner, but when Teddi turned the car in the wrong direction, I started to play a game on my phone instead of mentioning it. Four more turns and she pulled off the road.
I turned to her. “You wanna tell me what’s going on here?”
“Absolutely not. Do you trust me, Pixie?” She leaned over me and pulled a scarf out of the glovebox.
“Most of the time.” I tucked my phone into my purse.
“Good enough. Put this blindfold on.” She held out the scarf to me. “But let me help so you don’t mess up your makeup.”
After Teddi tied the red scarf in a bow, she checked that I couldn’t see her. All I could see was an outline of her. She clapped quickly and bounced up and down in her seat. “I'm doing such a great job with this.” Then her tone got serious. “I could probably be a spy.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell her I was pretty sure she was trying to sneak me to a place for Gaze to ask me to marry him. If she got serious about the spy thing in the future, I would let her down easy.
I briefly let my head swirl with marriage plans. The dress. The man. Songs. Cake. The honeymoon. I bit down on my smile. I had to let Teddi think she was good at this.
She parked the SUV and came to my side. After she helped me out and took my purse from my hands, she led me through a parking lot. I could actually see my feet and hers when I looked straight down.
Then we were walking through a doorway into a darkened room. I saw a few other shoes, and although it was quiet, I could feel the presence of others.
When Teddi finally let go of my hands, she said, “I'm going to take off your blindfold.”
I had to blink a few times as the lights went up and the crowd yelled, “Surprise!”
But then I saw Gaze, standing in front of me with his hand behind his back.
“Hi,” I offered.
“Hey,” he replied, full of nerves and hope. He looked like he was about to play the most important basketball game of his life in a pool full of hungry sharks.
“You okay?” I stepped close to him and held out my hand. If he was nervous, I was going to help him no matter what.
“I will be.” He finally gave me a smile and took to one knee.
It wasn’t a surprise, but all of a sudden I was overwhelmed with nerves, too.
The room quieted, but I doubt anyone heard Gaze except me.
“Pixie Rae, we’re already married in my head, but will you do the party and stuff with me?”
He was right. We were already part of each other’s souls and always had been. I nodded. “I love parties. Let’s do it.”
He stood and scooped me up, pressing a kiss to my forehead while running a hand down my hair. “Really?”
I laughed. “Of course. The answer is always yes if you’re the question.”
He kissed me and then seemed to remember he had another job. Soon, there was a spotlight on us. Then two. I could barely see Gaze through them.
He struggled to see me and then carefully slid a beautiful diamond ring onto my finger. Music started playing and a few confetti cannons made me jump right into Gaze’s arms. We kissed again.
The spotlights were swung around the room and I could see where we were. It was the storefront that held Teddi and Ruffian’s charity. All the girls from the Me Parties were here. I saw Austin and a pile of his friends. Taylor and some of my other friends were jumping up and down in the corner. Ronna and Mike and Ms. Josephine were there as well. I looked down at the ring. It had two sapphires on either side, and I recognized it from Ronna’s finger.
Gaze watched me study the ring. He preemptively answered the question that was forming in my head.
“Yes, that’s Ronna’s. Apparently, the first kid of theirs to marry gets the ring. I asked Mike for permission to marry you as well.” Gaze’s deep eyes held all the things I was thinking.
That our love was amazing, and that we now had a family that cherished us—it was a gift. A blessing.
I turned to face Ronna and Mike. They had their arms around each other and were looking at us with pride.
I felt my eyes tearing up. “We’ve got it made, Gaze.”
“We do. I love you so much, Pixie Rae.”
“And I love you, Gaze Patrick.”
* * *
After the party, I had my shoes off in Gaze’s truck. My phone was dead and Gaze dug out a charger for me. After plugging in the phone, we both glanced at the ring.
“We’ve got a lot to do.” Gaze ran a finger over my knuckles.
“We do. There’s no rush, though, right?” I turned toward him. I wasn’t sure if he had more things up his sleeve, or if it was just the proposal.
“Oh, hell no. That’s my last surprise. It was killing me not to tell you what was going on. I suck at keeping stuff from you.” He moved my hair behind my ear.
“Good. I want to do this with you, for sure. Maybe we can get married in the backyard?” I wasn’t interested in anything too fancy.
“Mike and Ronna will love that.”
I cuddled up to his chest, but the console between us got in the way. “I think we owe them some stuff, just to let them know how cool they are.”
“They know. But I agree. A backyard wedding sounds perfect. You know we can use Teddi for some ideas.” Gaze threaded his fingers between mine.
“She’ll turn it into an event, that’s for sure. Your biggest problem will be who to pick as your best man.” I pointed out the obvious. Austin and Gaze were so tight, but Ruffian’s recent appearance had also meant the world to Gaze.
He exhaled and shook his head. “That’s a good problem to have.”
“That’s a great way of looking at it.” I moved to crawl over the console, and Gaze helped me.
I hiked my dress up a bit and straddled him.
“This is giving me great fashbacks.” He ran his hand up my thigh.
“Same here.” I settled onto his lap and laid my head on his shoulder.
Gaze wrapped his arms around me.
“How long have you been planning this?” I held my left hand up.
“Since the day I shot a Nerf dart through your window.” He grabbed my hand and kissed the ring.
“Really, since we were kids?” I watched as his eyes hooded over with emotion.
“Yeah. You’ve been it since the word go, Pixie. You know that.” Gaze let go of my hand and slipped his behind my head.
“If it’s always been forever, then we have nothing to lose, right?” I leaned forward and tasted his lips.
We kissed long into the evening before Gaze insisted we head home. The wedding was a formality. A fun one, but unnecessary when it came to him and me. We were forever anyway.
Titles by Debra Anastasia
Drowning in Stars
Stealing the Stars
Mercy
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