Chapter Forty-Eight
I’M STANDING THERE HOLDING HIS hand, confused as I watch him reach into his pocket and dig around.
“What?” I’m sure I don’t understand what he’s saying.
Is this another tease on Mildred that I’m just not getting?
He pulls a black box out of his pocket and flips the top open with one finger. “You heard me. I asked you if you’ll hold my hand during the cheese grater part and if you’ll marry me.”
A diamond ring is sparkling up at me from a bed of black velvet. My heart stops beating.
“OH MY GOD!” Jorge yells in a voice more suited to a game show win. “HE IS PROPOSING TO HER RIGHT HERE IN THE SALON!” Jorge starts jumping up and down like a human pogo stick. “SUNNY! GET YOUR SWEET BUNS IN HERE!”
I’m too stunned to reply. My mouth hangs open but no words will come out. The most beautiful man in the entire world, the one who accepted all my friends and my crankiest client-slash-grandma with open arms … literally with open arms … wants to be with me forever. Am I in a coma, having a coma dream? Did that cougar really tear me apart and all of this has been a fantasy cooked up in my drugged-out mind? Am I really still in an Oregonian hospital being poked and prodded by Nurse Ratched?
“Well? Are you going to answer him or not?” Mildred says, as cranky as ever. “We don’t have all day.”
I look over at her, tears in my eyes. “Should I say yes?”
“Do you love him?”
I nod. “Yes. A lot.”
“Is he good to you?”
I nod again. “The best.”
“Does he give you orgasms?”
I bark out a laugh. “Yes.”
She shrugs and goes back to her magazine. “I’d say yes if it were me, but it’s not me he’s asking.”
Ian points at Mildred with his thumb. “Mildred would say yes.”
“If you don’t say yes, I’m quitting,” Jorge says.
“You can’t quit, you own this place,” I say, tears running down my face.
“I’ll sell out. I swear to God, I will.”
Ian holds his hat against his chest and gives me a nervous smile. “Babe, I can’t promise you that I’ll always be perfect, but I’ll do my straight best to try, and I’ll make it my life’s goal to always make sure you’re happy. All you’ve got to do is marry me, and I’ll do the rest.”
I can’t think of a single reason to say no anymore.
“Yes. I’ll marry you.” My heart starts beating in a mad rush and my face flushes pink. I cannot believe I just got engaged!
Ian takes the ring out of the box and puts it on my finger.
“It fits perfectly,” I say in a tiny girl voice, turning my finger left and right so the light will catch it and make it sparkle more.
“Of course it does. Andie helped me pick it out.” He grins, his face lighting up with love and light. I’ve never seen anything so amazing in my entire life.
I can’t stop crying when all my friends surround me and hug me from all angles. Ian waits his turn, but when he finally gets a chance, he wraps his strong arms around me and buries his face in my neck, lifting me up off the ground.
“Love you, City,” he says.
“Love you too, Country,” I say back.
“Get a room,” Mildred says.
When I peek over Ian’s shoulder at her I see that she’s smiling.