Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Say Yes
I ’ve never seen Tina look this nervous before. She crosses her arms, tucking her hands under her upper arms and into her sides.
“Don’t do that,” I warn her. “Your sweaty hands are going to leave marks on your dress.”
She uncrosses her arms and shakes her hands, trying to cool them off. I head into my kitchen with her trailing behind me.
“What if Ryan doesn’t like this?” she asks. “I mean, he knows all about my parents’ proposal story, but he’s never really said anything about the fact that my mom was the one who proposed. I always assumed it just didn’t faze him, but… what if I was wrong? What if he’s not happy about this?”
“It’s going to be fine,” I assure her. I climb up onto my countertop to reach an upper cabinet, then pull out a cereal box that was on the top shelf.
“I could have grabbed that for you,” she tells me. “And is this really the time to sit down and eat breakfast? I’m just here to get the ring. You know how nervous I am.”
I smile without looking at her. I open the box, turn it upside down over my hand, and catch the ring box that falls out.
Tina frowns. “ That’s where you were keeping it?”
I shrug. “Where was I supposed to keep it?”
“In a safe,” she says. Her mouth hangs open incredulously. “Jesus, Priscilla. Anyone could have broken in here and stolen it.”
“I don’t have a safe,” I tell her. “Besides, who’s going to break in and steal someone’s stale cereal?”
She shakes her head, but I can see the smile that she’s trying to hide. “I can’t believe you.”
“Anyway,” I say. “The ring is safe. It’s fine. And today is going to be perfect. Ryan is going to love what you have planned. I promise.”
Her phone buzzes. She looks down at it, then smirks. “Ryan is reminding me that we’re going to the fair today. As if I could forget.”
I smile. “If only he knew.”
“I have to run,” she says. “Gonna go get my nails done. Everyone we know will be there at the fair, right?”
I nod. “Of course. As soon as you leave, I’m heading over there to make sure that everything is ready to go.”
She turns for the door.
“Oh, wait,” I say, stopping her. “Tina?”
She looks back over her shoulder. “Yes?”
“Don’t get ghosts this time,” I warn her.
She laughs. “I’m not making that mistake twice.”
* * *
I spend the whole morning on my phone at the fair, confirming plans and making sure the horses, the flash mob and marching band, and the fireworks are all ready to go.
Oliver is here too. He talks to his students briefly before they find their places among several other people who are here for the flash mob.
I recognize other people from our practice sessions exploring the fair. Ryan’s mom is here, and so are Tina’s friends from work. I’ve already asked everyone to hang back and not approach the happy couple until after the show is over.
Oliver comes up behind me. “Tina and Ryan are here,” he says. I look up and spot them making their way to the horses.
“Let’s get out of the way.” We head toward an area where Tina and Ryan won’t be able to easily spot us, but we’ll have a good view of everything going on.
They stop at the petting zoo, and Tina bends down over the fence to pet a goat.
I laugh. It’s just like her to pet a farm animal as if she didn’t just get a manicure earlier.
While they’re distracted with the animals, I lock eyes with Frank.
He’s standing next to a carriage with the two white horses, ready to go.
I point at Tina. He looks at her, then nods and gives me a thumbs-up. I smile, returning the gesture.
Tina and Ryan move on from the petting zoo, and then she grabs his arm and points at the horses while excitedly jumping up and down. I can’t hear what they’re saying from here, but I know that Tina is convincing him to go for a carriage ride, because that’s what she and I planned.
Ryan shakes his head, glancing around them hesitantly.
His own plan is supposed to be coming to life soon, and he won’t want to miss it for a carriage ride.
But Tina is stubborn, and after a quick check of his watch, he agrees to get into the carriage with her.
I give the go-ahead to the camera crew to start filming.
They send a pair of drones up overhead to record from every angle.
Now all I can do is watch, waiting for everything I organized to kick off like dominoes falling into place.
Oliver and I jog back across the fairgrounds to get to the area where everything will happen. I make my way over to our two singers, Derrick and Julie. I’m amazed that they’ve come so far with the song in just a few short days.
“Are you ready?” I ask them.
They nod. “We were up all night practicing,” Julie says.
“And the microphones?” I ask.
“I tested them a little while ago,” Derrick confirms.
I scan the crowd around us, recognizing familiar faces among other unsuspecting fairgoers.
“This is starting as soon as that carriage stops,” I say, more to myself than to anyone else. I feel this weird mix of excitement and anxiety. This is my best friend’s proposal, and she’s put it in my hands to make the moment just right. That’s a lot of pressure for one person to handle.
The carriage comes to a stop right where it’s supposed to. Oliver and I watch them from the side of a nearby vendor so that we’re out of the way but we can still see everything that’s going on and have a front row seat to their reactions.
Ryan hops out of the carriage and holds his hand out for Tina, helping her climb down without dirtying her dress.
Just as her feet touch the ground, the sound of a steady drumbeat cuts through the air.
The crowd quiets down as two girls dressed in a marching band uniform with shakos on their heads step into view of the carriage.
One of them has a drum strapped to her body, and the other holds a saxophone.
Tina frowns. Her confusion is clearly visible, and I know why.
This isn’t what we discussed. She never saw this part of the plan when she stopped by to watch them practice.
Ryan, on the other hand, has a big smile on his face as he watches what he thinks is his proposal plan begin to come to life.
He reaches over to hold Tina’s hand, his fingers squeezing hers as he smiles down at her.
The girl with the saxophone begins to play, and then another band member steps out of the crowd, appearing behind them as the carriage quietly moves away, playing a flute.
They’re playing the intro to Sara Bareilles’s “I Choose You.” Within seconds, several other people appear from their hiding places behind vendors, playing instruments and dressed in full marching band gear, until the whole band is together.
Tina looks around, a confused smile on her face, until she locks eyes with me.
She frowns, a silent question hanging in the air between us.
Of course, I know she wanted this song playing, but I never told her it would be played by a marching band.
Her frown dissolves, making way for a full smile as she looks up at Ryan.
Now it’s his turn to look confused. He asked for the marching band, but this isn’t the song he wanted.
His mouth is curved up in a half smile, his brow furrowed.
He looks down at Tina, meeting her eyes, and then they both let out a short laugh.
He wraps his arm around her, hugging her against his side while they watch everything going on around them.
When Derrick hears his cue, he runs out onto the field before them and does a series of flips before landing on his feet.
Even I’m surprised by this. I clasp my hand over my face, watching in awe.
As soon as Derrick hits the ground, Julie starts singing the words to the song, her voice amplified by the microphone.
Another woman stops to look at them. She acts confused at first, but then she and Derrick start to dance in sync with each other.
The band members start to dance too, still holding onto their instruments but no longer playing them.
The instrumentals carry on through a stereo while Julie sings her heart out.
She sounds even better than she did at rehearsal.
Soon, the entire surrounding area is filled with dancers.
Tina holds one hand over her heart, her expression doing nothing to hide the pure excitement she feels right now.
Ryan smiles, then looks down at Tina like she’s the only person at the fair.
I watch as Tina’s hand slips into her pocket where she has the ring.
I bite my lip, hoping that she can be patient and hold on until the very end.
“Is that my mom?” Ryan suddenly asks.
Tina frowns, and then her eyes widen as she spots Marjorie dancing with the rest of them. She claps her hand over her mouth and laughs. Even I can’t help but laugh along with them. I still can’t believe I convinced her to do this.
Just as the music gets to the peak of Sara Bareilles’s song, the band members bring the instruments back up to their lips and begin playing the opening lines of Jason Derulo’s “Marry Me” while Derrick rejoins Julie and begins singing the lyrics.
With Julie still singing the other lyrics, it’s a weird mashup of the two songs, but it works.
Tina frowns as her plan becomes less familiar again. Ryan looks like a perfect mix of confusion and hesitant relief as his plan becomes more familiar. When they look at each other, though, all other feelings seem to dissolve, and all they can do is smile.
As the music transitions from one song to the other, half of the people dancing around them go back to what they were doing before, most of them fading into the crowd as if this never even happened.
They leave behind only the band, now marching in formation, and a few more dancers who move alongside the band, dancing to Jason Derulo’s song which is being harmonized by both of the singers now.