Page 109 of Sugar & Shadows

He took them, his jaw ticking, and looked away. “I had to get out,” he confessed. “I just—” A long puff of air escaped him, his hand shaking. “It felt like the walls were closing in and I just needed to think.”

It made sense. But I wasn’t ready to let go. “But you just took off.”

“Yes,” he shouted, gesturing wildly. “I took off. Because if I stayed a minute longer, I would have done something insane. Like asked you to marry me.”

His words echoed through the trees, and as they faded, the entire world went silent. Even the drip of the sap in the lines seemed to stop.

Gabe yanked off a glove and roughed a hand down his face, looking horrified by his reaction.

And me? My traitorous heart was slamming against my ribs, committing every second of this conversation to memory.

We were still staring at one another when the icy silence was interrupted yet again by the buzz of my phone. Finally, I pulled it out of my pocket.

When the screen lit up with Meg’s name, I slid my thumb over it. “What?” I barked.

“What are you doing?” she hissed.

Frowning, I blinked at Gabe. What was she talking about?

“Turn around,” she said. “Ten o’clock.”

It should have surprised me that she knew where I was, but she had far too much access to far too much sensitive information, so without questioning her, I turned.

All I found were maple trees.

“Look up.”

Head tilted back, I scanned the trees, past the tubing, until I caught sight of a blinking red light.

One of the new cameras we’d installed to show the commercial side of maple production. Josh had given Harper permission last week.

My pulse skyrocketed. “No,” I said. “No. No. No. No fucking way.”

How the fuck could my luck be this bad? Was this the tree grove of emotional devastation and public humiliation?

“You’re on live stream,” she hissed. “On our main channel.”

My legs shook, my stomach dropping.

Oh no.

I turned my back, cupping my mouth. “Please tell me the entire town didn’t just hear the phrase ‘carrying my child.’”

“Approximately four thousand people did hear that. They also caught the part where he said he almost proposed to you.”

Awash with dread, I closed my eyes. We would never live this down. This tale would be passed down through the generations, part of Maplewood lore. Fuck, they’d probably sell merch in the general store. Somewhere, Marigold Shaw was starting a betting pool.

“How the fuck did this happen?” I murmured, ducking behind another tree.

“The directional microphones are crystal clear. Harper has great instincts. Congrats, by the way, on your pregnancy. Also, the public emotional breakdown.”

Heat crept up my neck despite the chill. “Tell Harper I’m revoking her technology privileges.”

I lowered the phone, still shaking, and pocketed it.

“What happened?” Gabe asked, shuffling to my side.

Turning, I pointed up at the camera, where it happily blinked away without a care in the world.