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Abby: Exactly. We helped you, West. And you too, Beck.
Beck: I proposed alone, thank you very much.
Abby: And who helped with the string lights?
Beck: Fine, whatever.
Zach: I’m still up for helping you, Nolan. I wish you’d let me bring a speaker and playlist, though.
Zane: Your music would ruin the mood, asshole.
Zach: Hey! I can pick romantic stuff.
Zane: You say that, and the lyrics would be about a dead soulmate, or something.
Zach: That can be romantic.
Me: No music. Stick to the plan.
Beck: Don’t worry, I’ll make sure Zach doesn’t even have his phone.
Zach: I am a grown man, brother.
Beck: Sometimes.
Zach:
Aunt Lori: Now, now, behave, boys. Or I’ll start sending quotes from the latest racy book I’m reading.
Me, Zach, Zane, Beck, and West:
Abby: You guys are so easy to manipulate.
Aunt Lori: So, everyone is still on board?
Everyone else: Yes, Aunt Lori.
Six months flew by, and my love for Katie only grew. Despite me having to spend a lot of time on location for my last movie, she was always there for me. We called, texted, video chatted whenever we could. And I flew her out when she had the time.
No, not because she was still doing her family’s dairy farm tours. Katie had fallen in love with the Starry Arts Haven Center and months ago had switched to working there. While she volunteered with as many of the kids as she could, she particularly focused on children who had been bullied or verbally abused.
She felt like it had always been her destiny to work with kids who went through similar events as her own. Even if being bullied as a kid had been hard, she used her experiences to bond and help others.
Not that she’d ever have to worry about her Mean Girl bullies ever again. I’d called in a few favors and all three of them were now divorced and not even speaking to each other. Thankfully, the kids had all been allowed to stay with their fathers. They weren’t much better, but that was still saying something.
But as much as I loved acting, I was glad to be back in Starry Hills and done with filming. Any roles in the future would be ones that called to me. It was nice to have that to look forward to.
However, I was more excited about asking Katie to be my wife.
And so I’d asked my siblings to help me set up the apple orchard. It was a family tradition to propose there. West had done it last year. Beck had done it the month before. And now? It was my turn.
I asked Katie to meet me there instead of at the airport. So after quickly changing at our place—we’d lived together for the last five months—I rushed over to my family’s winery. I pulled into a spot close to the orchard, and no sooner had I stepped out of the car than Beck found me.
At his grimace, I laughed. “Tell me they didn’t veer from the plan.”
“A little. Trying to get Zach and Zane to follow a plan is like herding cats, I swear.”
“Well, I appreciate all your help and the headaches it caused.”
