Chapter Eight
· Brooks ·
“With or without hat?” Skye stood in the doorway to her room. She was showcasing the costume we’d bought on our VIP tour and flipped the hat on and off her head.
“The more rides you wanna go on, the less practical the hat.”
“No hat, got it.” She turned and disappeared back into her bedroom.
In the small hallway, the bathroom door creaked open. “I’m not sure about historical accuracy, but it sure is pretty,” Addie called out. When she stepped into the living room, her gaze searched for my daughter, who had organized the costume for her, before landing on me.
Every coherent thought crumbled at the sight of her.
She was glowing in a cream off-the-shoulder dress that was all lacy layers and frills.
The skirt was hiked up on one side, her leg flashing out to mid-thigh.
It could have looked like a medley of a nightgown and a wedding dress.
Instead, it worked as a costume thanks to the vest that tightly hugged her middle and directed all attention to the ruched bust.
“Wow.”
“You like?” She laughed and lifted her arms in a little ta-da.
“Uh-huh.” Still no sensible word from my brain. Just a thick hot pressure tunneling through my veins.
“You don’t look half bad yourself.” She winked, and I felt the responding heat rising to my ears. I had to get a grip.
I smoothed a hand down my chest as I rose from the sofa. I was in the same balloon-sleeve and suspender combination Skye had put me in last time. She’d just added a holster belt now, including a gun spewing soapy bubbles.
“Skye, are you ready?” I called out, in the sudden desperate need for fresh air.
“Two minutes!”
“Are you good? Second thoughts?” Addie asked under her breath. I’d been staring. God, I was obvious.
I cleared my throat. “There’s just something missing from your look.”
Genuinely startled, she double-checked her outfit, patting down the fabrics. By the time her confused gaze found me, I’d crossed the room and pulled the small velvet box from my pocket.
“Ring?”
“Ring,” I confirmed.
“Ring.” She swallowed and nodded to herself. It took her a few seconds to move her stacks of jingling jewelry around and clear her ring finger.
Straightforward. To the point. I reminded myself that the ring was just a prop, so there was no need to orchestrate a Moment. I flipped the box open. Adriana sucked in a sharp breath. “Fuck.”
“Good or bad?”
“Holy shit. I mean…holy shit. Brooks. That’s…holy fucking shit.”
“Swear jar!” Skye bounced out of her room. “What’s that?”
“A huge-ass engagement ring.”
“Swear jar,” Skye repeated, lower this time as she checked out the ring, too. “I thought engagement rings were supposed to be diamonds?”
“It’s a diamond, just a green one,” I said.
Adriana’s finger trembled as she touched the velvet around the ring with pure reverence.
It was a gold band with a green oval diamond, surrounded by a halo of smaller white diamonds.
A vintage ring older than my grandparents.
Beautiful and rare and worth safekeeping.
Just like her. Crazy expensive. Just like she’d asked for.
“Can I put it on?” Addie asked, still breathless.
“Of course. I actually hope you won’t take it off anytime soon.”
She freed the ring from the box and held it up to the light, when the moment was interrupted by a two-syllable “Da-ad.” Skye shook her head. “What are you doing?”
Before I could ask what she meant, she pointed at the ground and bent her knees demonstratively. Apparently, we were doing this the traditional way after all. I eased the ring from Addie’s hand and sank to one knee in front of her.
“Oh god, that’s so corny.” She grimaced. “Can’t we just leave out the cheesy feelings stuff?”
“Nope. You’re marrying a cheesy man. I used to write love songs for a living. Hand, please.”
I waited for her to put her palm in mine.
I’d never noticed that even her fingers were covered in faint freckles.
Despite declaring my love for cheesiness, I was also aware that we were doing this solely for Skye.
This wasn’t how I would propose, and it wasn’t how Addie wanted to be proposed to.
So I kept it short and sweet. “I’ve known you for years.
I’ve liked you just as long. And now I get to love you, too.
You’ve already said yes, so all in all, I already consider myself a lucky man.
But still. Would you do me the honor and accept my proposal?
” I didn’t ask her to marry me, or to become my wife.
I really was too cheesy for that. I wanted her to hear those words from whatever lucky bastard actually got to meet her at the altar one day.
“Only if you get off your knees before I get grossed out by it.”
“Done.” I chuckled and pushed to my feet.
The ring slid onto her finger and nestled in the perfect spot just above her knuckle. It was the right shade of green for her, too. Not too dark and offset by a hint of yellow.
“Fuck, it’s beautiful.”
“It really is,” I agreed and brushed my thumb down her ring finger. A small part of me already hated the future for the day she’d take it off.
“We’re gonna have to get a bigger swear jar,” Skye muttered.
Skye was becoming a true Bravetownee. She’d gotten a special pass on day one, which allowed her to go practically anywhere, get in the fast lane for rides, and charge any food and drinks.
Thankfully, the staff were very forthcoming.
They welcomed her into the park family without needing much convincing.
Her enthusiasm for Bravetown was enough.
Within days, she had formed her own little routines here.
First thing in the morning, she ran from the hotel suite and hopped on Journey Downstream, the little boat ride across from the hotel, then came back to take some of her online classes, and in the afternoon, she usually grabbed an unhealthy snack and found some staff member who had time to give her all the details on whatever building or ride they were working.
I’d gone with her the first two days, hesitant to leave her alone, but the Bravetown microcosmos ran smoothly like a well-oiled machine.
While we’d waited in line at the ice cream parlor, I’d watched the chain reaction of a mother being unable to find her toddler, and within moments a staff member and a security guard were by her side, on their earpieces.
A third employee came strolling along with the toddler on her hand before we’d even gotten to the front of the ice cream line.
The kid had wobbled off toward the old-school horse carousel with its music and twinkling lights.
Skye was smarter than a toddler—old enough to ask for help when she needed it—and if push came to shove, I had a tracking app on her phone. So I let her go alone.
That meant when we walked through the park now, my daughter was treated like the true celebrity. All the workers knew her by name and greeted her.
Their attention then quickly swiveled to Addie and me, strolling behind Skye, holding hands. While Skye was bouncing toward the popcorn cart, blissfully ignorant, Adriana seemed to tense more and more with every step, her grip turning to stone around my fingers.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, voice low.
“Nothing.” She gritted the word through her teeth. Not a good liar.
“Are you nervous? Having second thoughts?”
“No, no.” She took a stuttering breath, her hand flexing around mine. “To be honest, the park isn’t my favorite place in the world. The saloon is outside the main gates, so I can pretend it’s just a bar, but…”
“I’m sorry. If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have agreed to Skye’s idea of bonding.”
“I’ll tell you about it some other time. Today’s for her.”
Under no circumstances did I want Addie to be uncomfortable—but the fact that she was facing her discomfort for my daughter set off a crescendo in my chest.
“Let me know if it’s too much. I’ll fake a headache and get us back to the hotel.”
“Thank you. I might take you up on that later.” She tilted her head back and gave me a little smile. One that softened all her features, no hard walls protecting her. It was there and gone in an instant.
I leaned in to kiss her forehead, needing to offer her more reassurance than just words.
Some strength returning to the set of her shoulders, she pretended to shiver and rolled her eyes at me. “Ew. I don’t remember you being so gooey.”
“Did you just call my affections goo?”
“Yeah. Did fatherhood turn you to goo?”
“No,” I chuckled, “you just didn’t get the goo while we were working together.”
“Okay, well, you’re better at putting on a professional facade than me. I’m goo-less any day of the week.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got enough for both of us. I’ll smother you in my goo.”
“Nope. Children around,” she muttered.
I had definitely been Da-ad too long because it took a second to click where Addie’s mind had gone, but when it did, a laugh burst from my chest. Loud enough to make Skye pause several feet ahead and turn to see what we were up to.
I just gestured for her to go get her popcorn.
I wasn’t about to explain that joke to a kid.
“That comes after the wedding,” I whispered and slid my hand out of Addie’s, just to drape my arm around her shoulder and pull her against my side. Maybe she needed a little bit more goo in her life—the PG version.
“So that’s what the honey in honeymoon refers to.”
“Jesus Christ, keep it in your pants, Addie baby.”
“Hmm,” she hummed, “I like that.”
Before I could overthink the fact that I’d automatically added baby at the end of that sentence—or the fact that she liked it—Skye called Adriana’s name and waved her over to the popcorn cart. Addie patted my chest twice before bouncing off, skirt in her hands, to join Skye at the counter.