Page 113 of Back to You

Brandon thought that through. It would be nice to have their family there to celebrate with them. Assuming Ethan said yes, that was.

Brandon pushed that thought away and nodded. “I like it.”

That Sunday, Brandon could feel his nerves jumping as they pulled into the driveway of his parents’ house. Finally, this was it. He could ask the question that had been plaguing him for weeks now.

Brandon was jumpy all through dinner preparation and eating. He heard the conversation flow around him as he fiddled with the ring box in his pocket. As they finished eating and sat around chatting, Michelle gave him a pointed look. He nodded.

“Brandon, you’ve been awfully quiet today. Are you okay?” his mom said.

“I’m fine, Mom. Actually —”

Ethan’s phone rang.

“I’m so sorry, hang on,” he said, hopping up to answer.

Brandon deflated. Michelle gave him a “buck up” look.

“What?!” he heard Ethan said loudly. Brandon jumped up and went to his side.

“Okay, I’ll be right there.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Lake broke his leg trying to ride a bike. He’s in the ER. I need to go.”

Brandon sighed and glanced at Michelle, who looked sympathetic. “Absolutely. Let’s go.”

***

“I’m cursed,” Brandon said to his sister.

“Yeah, you might be,” she replied, grabbing a danish off the counter and tucking in. “Three botched proposals, that’s pretty impressive.”

He scowled. “You weren’t supposed to agree with me.”

“Sorry.”

Brandon beat eggs aggressively. “What the hell do I do now?”

“Have you ever thought about just asking him, no special plan?”

“But I want it to be perfect, Michelle! I can’t just ask him in the grocery store parking lot or something.”

“Don’t go to extremes here, you can just ask him while y’all are relaxing at home. Don’t put all this pressure on yourself.”

He nodded, hearing her words but still thinking there must be something he could do to make the proposal memorable.

“Really Brandon, you’ll find the right moment. You’ll know. Just don’t wait too long because I’m dying having to keep this a secret.” She sailed out the door.

Brandon went back to his morning baking, pulling cookies out of the oven and putting a tray of muffins in. And so the day went, baking, making drinks and trying not to scare customers off.

The octogenarian book club began trooping in, making a beeline for the counter where Brandon and Marcus stood ready to serve. Brandon could admit he’d developed a fondness for the colorful group, and looked forward to book club each week just to see what they’d come out with next.

“Hey there, boys. I’ll take my usual,” Rhonda yelled. They’d finally determined she only had one volume — blasting. “And are those oatmeal chocolate or oatmeal raisin cookies?” she said, peering suspiciously into the case.

“Oatmeal chocolate, Rhonda, I wouldn’t do that to you,” Brandon said, grabbing her a cookie.

“Thanks, boy!”

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