I stare at him, feeling every hair on my body pricking up. That content feeling of two seconds ago has been completely eaten away by unease. “No. Wait. Don’t leave me hanging like this. What do you mean, you lied to me?”
He puts a finger to his lips, signaling me to be quiet, then starts to shout, “Everyone, I have an announcement!” Meanwhile, all I can think of is the thousands of lies that he could possibly have told me. Maybe he lied when he told me he loved being with me. Maybe he lied when he came inside me and told me that was his favorite place on earth. Every lie I can think of only means the end of the world for me. Looking over at my father, whose lie is still sending shockwaves through my system, I’m not sure if I can handle another one.
I start to squirm in my seat, ready to take flight as the people around me start to quiet down. For the second time today, I feel the flight response. Escape.
I’m about to run when Dax sees me. He sets his arm on either side of me, caging me in, and his green eyes bore into mine. “Calm down. It’s okay, Katydid,” he says, his voice low and soothing.
If only. I can hear my heartbeat in my ears, thrumming a maddening march. My face is so hot. Is this what a panic attack feels like?
The crowd is now silent, staring at us, waiting for his big announcement.
He digs his hands into the pockets of his cargo shorts. “Hey, all,” he says, all trace of nerves gone. Another way we’re so different: He’s born to lead, born to be in front of an audience, and I’m just not. I find my face heating up to the point I start to fan myself as he continues. “Thank you for coming out today. Everyone having a good time?”
The crowd roars. It’s a unanimous yes, all except for me, having my minor heart attack. Nothing to see here.
“You all know how I bought the old Miller property, and how we’ll be opening it up in the Fall as the new Harding Automotive Works,” he says, pacing in front of the group, his hands laced in front of his chest. “Let me make it clear; the way we do business ain’t changing. While we’re open to servicing high-end automobiles, we ain’t gonna go all fancy on you. What we do hope to do is have a little better facility and more room so that we can help out more people and cut your wait time down. So while I know it ain’t over yet and there’s still a lot of work to do, I want to thank each and every one of you for the support you’ve given us so far.”
Everyone starts to applaud. I try to bring my hands together, but I feel weak. Dizzy. The twinkling lights above us blur and separate, and the alcohol tastes bitter on my tongue.
“But as you all know, that’s not the reason I brought you here today,” he says, turning to look at me. His eyes are full of intense meaning, of something I can’t quite place.
I jolt upright. Wait, what? What did I miss?
I look around at the eyes in the crowd. His brothers. His friends. Mr. Harding. My mother and father.
They’re all staring at me. Some of them are smiling at me as if I’m about to be handed my ass, and they can’t wait to see it happen.
What the hell is going on?
Dax continues, “I know that when you’re about to take a big step in life, it’s not good to start on a lie. But I hope that she’ll forgive me because I wanted it to be a surprise.”
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out something that glimmers in the twinkling lights. Before he can kneel down in front of me, past, present, future—everything collides in this one moment, leaving me gasping with realization. Tears sting my eyes. I watch the whole scene play out, thinking it must be a joke. When I walked into that cafeteria that first day and saw that dangerous boy carving up the table with a switchblade, I was intrigued for sure. But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine he’d be here before me, now, asking me this.
Asking me for forever.
He holds the diamond solitaire out to me, magnetic green eyes sincere. “Katydid,” he says. “Marry me.”
It’s not a slow drizzle of emotion; it overtakes me at once like a hurricane. Suddenly I’m sobbing. I can’t see the ring straight but I can tell that it’s an antique. It’s his mother’s. It has to be, knowing the way he used to talk about her like she was the brightest thing in his sky. He loved her. Like he loves me.
Everyone else falls away, because this time, I don’t need help from anyone to make this decision. This time, I’m going to let my heart lead the way. It’s never let me down before. “Hell, yes,” I whisper.
He slides the ring onto my finger, and what do you know? It’s a perfect fit. The crowd erupts in applause as he gathers me into his arms and kisses me. I look around and see my parents applauding, his brothers pumping their fists, all of them rushing forward to be the first to congratulate us. They all approve of this.
Finally.