Page 29 of Consumed By The Forbidden Mountain Man

"Yes." She drops to her knees on the porch in front of me, grabs my face, and kisses me. Salty from the tears, smiling too hard to do it properly. "Yes. Obviously yes."

The ring fits. Patty's intel is always good.

Ivy pulls back, looks at her hand, then at me. "You had this for three weeks?"

"I was waiting for the right moment."

"You were sitting on a ring while I was sitting on a baby."

"Apparently we're both terrible at secrets."

She laughs. Full, loud, her whole body shaking with it. The sound carries through the pines, across the clearing, out into the morning.

My phone buzzes. Already. Patty Cole has a sixth sense for this kind of thing.

Patty:

I saw the charge on the credit card receipt (Louise at the jewelry store is my cousin). CONGRATULATIONS!!! When's the wedding???

Me:

Patty. It's been four minutes.

Patty:

I've been waiting four minutes! That's very patient for me!!!

Ivy reads over my shoulder and loses it. Face buried in my chest, laughing until she can't breathe.

"We have to tell Tony," she says.

"I know."

"He's gonna say I told you so."

"He's gonna say a lot of things."

Me:

Tony. Call me when you get a chance.

Forty seconds.

Tony:

What happened

Me:

Nothing bad. Good news. Call me.

The phone rings immediately. Speaker phone on the porch. The creek running behind the cabin. Ivy's hand on my knee, ring catching the morning sun.

"What," Tony says.

"Two things."

"Oh God."