Page 57 of Cakewalk

“Aw, I was on a roll, Griff!” she whined.

I nudged her aside, saying, “Let me enter your name.”

“Why?”

I didn’t answer, just hit the paddles until I got to the first letter: “M.”

Jade frowned at me.

I then entered the next letter: “E.”

“Did you forget my name, or…?”

The next character I entered was a question mark, finalizing the fourth top score as: “ME?”

“Cute, I guess?” she said, then all four of the top scores flashed on screen.

1: WIL 2: YOU 3: MRY 4: ME?

Jade gasped so loud she almost choked, then she punched me in the arm. “You sly little devil!” She shot a look at Madison and Courtney. “You guys knew!”

I lowered to one knee and pulled out a ring box. “Well?”

Jade said through a tearful laugh, “Yes. Of course, yes.”

I slipped the ring onto her finger, then stood, bringing Jade in for a warm kiss as the room broke out into applause. I had become so familiar with her warmth, her softness, her taste, yet it all felt new again, and I nearly forgot we had an audience until Courtney cleared her throat.

I laughed and pulled away, taking the warning to not get too handsy with Jade when her sister was present. We’d have to save that for when we returned to the apartment.

Madison shot up both of her hands and said, “Shots! Shots! Shots! Woo!”

We returned to the bar, where we had our celebratory shots. As I downed the first one, I noticed Mrs. Salisbury in the corner, setting aside her tipsy knitting to feverishly send out messages on her phone. Soon, the knitting circle would know all about the engagement, and not long after, so would the rest of the town.

Bad news travels fast, but in Calhoon, good news travels faster.

And I couldn’t be happier with Jade at my side.

The End

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