“Why would I be shocked?” Cas demanded. “Have you seen the way the two of them act around each other? This was bound to happen.”
Declan nodded in tacit agreement.
I looked at Brooks. “I should call Wyn. I don’t want her to feel left out that she missed the announcement.”
“You can do that if you want,” Brooks said, “but it’s kind of unnecessary.”
“What do you mean?” I asked in confusion.
“She already knows,” Brooks said.
“She does? How?” I queried.
“I called her,” he said as he scooped another bite of hash browns into his mouth.
“When?” I demanded.
“Yesterday,” he said.
“Before or after I went to my bank meeting?”
“During,” he said with a shrug.
“And what did you tell her?” Salem asked.
Brooks turned to look at Salem when he answered. “I told her I was planning on proposing and then I sent her a photo of the ring.”
“Why did you tell her and not us?” Hadley asked.
“Because Wyn already feels like she’s out of the loop,” he explained. “And she’s known Poet a very long time.”
I looked at Brooks, a soft smile on my lips.
“That, right there,” Cas said, pointing to me. “That’s why I’m not shocked by this announcement.”
“I’m not shocked,” Salem lied.
Mr. Powell snorted. “How’s it feel?”
“How does what feel?” Salem asked her dad.
“How does it feel to be blindsided?”
Jane reached over and took Mr. Powell’s hand. He gave her fingers a squeeze.
Salem erupted over his statement.
Mount St. Salem.
Cas and Hadley tried to calm her down, but it only seemed to infuriate her more.
Muddy looked at me and leaned close. “This doesn’t really concern us, does it?”
I shook my head. “It definitely doesn’t.”
“Come on. Let’s sneak out. I want to take you somewhere.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Brooks, who was calmly sipping his orange juice as the Powell family had an epic argument.
