“I love you, too.” I reach down and haul up Josiah into my arms. “Great job keeping the secret, buddy.”
“I can keep a secret,” he tells his mother proudly.
“You sure can.”
Then Chastity surprises me by lifting the mic off of the bar. “I want to add my own thanks to everyone for being here tonight to celebrate the opening of Conviction, and apparently, our engagement. It means the world to us to share this with our family and friends. I had no idea Hank was planning this, though, and for the record, I never wanted to be just friends with Hank. I’ve wanted to marry him since I was eighteen.”
That also surprises me a little. My eyebrows shoot up. “Some of us are a little slow on the uptake,” I tell the room.
Everyone laughs.
“Kiss her, idiot!”
That’s my brother, Toby.
The servers, on my earlier instructions, are passing out glasses of champagne to all the diners. I lift my glass and toast. “To Conviction. To home. To love. To my future wife.”
Then everyone claps and cheers and sips bubbly, and I take my brother’s advice.
I kiss her.