50. Becca
FIFTY
BECCA
“You ready, lil mama?”
“Yeah!”
The autumn afternoon sun is just behind the mountains, casting a golden hour glow over everything around us.
Tyler is dressed nice for once, wearing his good jeans, boots, and a flannel with his Carhartt duck coat on top.
His usual ballcap is missing, and it looks like he put a little of the product he keeps in the medicine cabinet in his hair.
He holds Ellie up to put her pumpkin in the basket of the trebuchet and she places our Halloween pumpkin inside. “Drop it in there, shug.”
Next to us, Dusty holds my niece up to do the same on a catapult that he’ll have to jump on.
We made it to the final weekend of my Autumn Spectacular, closing out with punkin’ chunkin’ at our Pumpkin Smash.
I’m surrounded by a long row of contraptions designed to fling rotting pumpkins through the air: catapults, trebuchets, slingshots, and stuff I never could have thought up.
The farthest fling will win a special prize.
We had so many people come to the farm this morning that we had to send someone to give out timed tickets for entry. My farm is now the talk of the area, and I have every confidence that we have nothing to worry about when it comes to paying off this loan.
“Sorry, Ellie. Your god-dad’s going to win this one,” Dusty calls, climbing up to the little platform for him to jump out of. Currently, I’m debating whether I should have increased my liability insurance for this weekend.
At least my brother won’t sue me. Probably.
Tyler and Dusty look at each other with a laugh. “Three, two, one, go!”
Tyler releases the peg to send our pumpkin flying, and Dusty jumps onto the catapult. Both pumpkins sail through the air, but Dusty’s makes a slightly shorter arc. They land with satisfying crunches.
“NO!” he shouts. “I thought I had it! I need a bigger pumpkin!”
“Not how it works,” Tyler taunts.
Jake saunters up from where he’s been watching. “Yeah, you see, what you need to do is—”
“I love you, Jacob, but I don’t want a physics lesson right this second,” Dusty says with a growl.
“Did I win, Mama?” Ellie asks.
I scoop her up and swing her up over my head. “You win, sweet girl!”
I settle Ellie on my hip and look over to make sure Ada doesn’t feel left out, but she’s blissfully unaware and picking pumpkin seeds out of the grass. Only her father is crushed by the defeat.
I turn to Jake. “Where’s your woman?”
His face lights up. “Darcy’s not feeling good today.”
“She’s not?” I raise my eyebrows.
He fights a massive grin. “She said the smell of the rotting pumpkins might send her over the edge.”
“Okay. Okay,” I say, nodding. “Well, I’m sorry she’s not feeling good, but . . .”
Jake bites his lip with the happiest expression. “Yeah. But. Fingers crossed.”
I hold up a hand with my fingers crossed. “Pulling for y’all.”
“Thanks,” Jake says.
“Well,” I look around for Tyler so I can hand off Ellie, “I should get to ushering these last folks out and cleaning up.”
Tyler’s already striding my way with a determined look on his face that makes my insides squeeze.
“Good day?” he asks.
“The best day. Punkin’ Chunkin’ was a huge hit. We’ll have to do two days next year to fit everybody in.”
Tyler is quiet, tugging his lip into his teeth, and it worries me.
“What’s up, did you not have a good day?”
He smirks. “No, I just realized I was about to say something corny, like, ‘Every day is a good day with you.’”
I shrug and blush, fully flirting with my husband like he’s asking me to prom. “Maybe I like corny, then.”
Tyler considers me, looking me up and down. “Okay, good.”
He lowers to one knee and pulls a small, velvet box from his pocket. In his quiet, soft way, he takes my hand and strokes his thumb over my fingers.
“We’re already married,” I whisper.
“I know. But I want to take it a step further. I want this one to count.”
I bob my head and press my lips together, surprised that I’m emotional all over again when it wasn’t that long ago that Tyler proposed the first time. But this one feels like it does count, like it isn’t just two fools throwing caution to the wind, but two people who want that commitment together.
“I love you for the bold, beautiful person you are, whether you’re dyeing your hair with Kool-Aid,” I wheeze a laugh at that, “or turning rotting bananas into a treat just because you know I like it. I know I’ve said it before, but I need to remind myself of it every day.
You deserve me at my boldest. And my boldest speaks up and doesn’t assume things about you.
My boldest gives you a ring you love, in the massive size you want, without a single chip missing from it because every one of your sparkles needs to show.
Because I’d be the biggest asshole to rob the world of its brightest star.
So, I got you this, hoping we’ll be able to call this official and final and know that we have each other for life. ”
He opens the ring box and the fading fall light sends little rainbows everywhere from the stone. I can tell this is killing him.
“You didn’t have to get me a different ring.”
He shakes his head. “I should have gotten you the bigger one the first time. I should have never tried to dim your shine.”
I chew my lip so I don’t cry. People are definitely watching and are probably confused. I’m even confused. “What’s the question? Whether we have each other for life?”
“I want you for life. I want to be the best I can be for you, and spend every day earning your love.”
My voice is all wobbly. “Tyler.”
“I love you, Becca.”
I nod. “I love you too. And I want it to be for life. I have to earn you too. ”
Tyler slips my cracked ring off my finger and slides the new one on. “That sounded like a ‘yes’ to me.” He chuckles as he puts on my new ring, a perfect fit and way more sparkle. “I looked it up this time. I’m supposed to put the ring on while I’m on one knee.”
I giggle. “I loved both proposals. They’re both special in their own way.”
He stands. “This one counts. The first time, we weren’t sure, but I’m sure now.”
I rise on my toes and let him wrap me up. “I’m sure too.”
We seal our renewed commitment with a kiss, and I know it’s not about the ring or the proposal or how many times he asks.
Because I know I’ll spend the rest of my life falling over Tyler, again and again. And I plan to love every second.