Page 62 of We Are All Sinners

I watch her as she steps inside, slowly peeking around the large door, her eyes widening at the sea of rose petals at her feet.

“Brix, what is going on?” she asks, a precious smile spreading across her face.

“Just follow the signs,” I reply softly, grinning from ear to ear.

She giggles, then looks down at the floor, where Hershey kisses are lined up in the shape arrows to guide her, surrounded by rose petals in every color I could dream up.

I follow closely behind her as she follows the trail of arrows out to the balcony. There, a bottle of Stella Rosa Moscato sits on ice, flanked by elegant, crystal flutes, next to a silver picture frame resting on a white linen-covered table.

I can feel the moment is finally here—the moment to give her the most unforgettable proposal. I didn’t realize just how significant this was until now.

I watch her pick up the pretty silver frame, her eyes scanning the words that I wrote for her.

Genevive Hope LaBlanc,

I gave you the first and only flowers I ever bought for a girl until now. You were my first kiss, my first love, my one and only love.

I kiss the ground you walk on, and I want to shower you with roses for the rest of our lives, but I need to know one thing. Will you please finally say yes to being mine forever?

With a deep breath, I pull the top takeout box from the large paper bag and kneel behind her, opening the box and silently hoping it’s the right one. I quickly do a double check, just to make sure, letting out a breath of relief when I see my mother’s ring sticking out of the gorgeous pie.

A single tear drops from her vibrant green eyes as she turns, looking down to see me on one knee at her feet.

“Genevieve Hope LaBlanc, so what do ya say? Will you be my wife, for real this time?” I smile up at the most beautiful, smart, sassy little witch, and anxiously await her answer.

Evie drops to her knees, letting the tears fall freely as she almost shouts, “A million times over Brixon Blaze! Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh, my Goddess! I love you so much!” Evie leaps for me, smashing the pie, along with the ring, between us, not caring that I never put the ring on her finger.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

I startle at the sound, jumping onto Evie, knocking her down as I cover her body with mine. My heart almost stops before I realize our friends coming out of the house yelling, “Congratulations!”

Had I known they were going to use party poppers I would have been against it, knowing what I know now.

“Fuck.”

To go from such a high of happy emotions, to thinking that I just lost the love of my life and feeling scared shitless in a split second, has my adrenaline on overdrive.

“What the hell!” Emily rushes us, pulling me off of Evie.

“I’m fine, just gave us a scare, that’s all.” Evie stands up laughing and hugs her best friend.

“Oh shit, party poppers sound like gun shots, pew, pew. My bad.” Noah raises his hands up in mock defense.

“What the fuck, you told him?” Evie looks at Lily.

“Well, yeah, I couldn’t help it. Emily told Liam too.” Lily points to Emily, throwing her under the bus.

“You guys! What if I hadn’t told Brix on the way here, huh?” Evie scolds her friends.

“Wait, you told them before you told me?” I ask accusingly, feeling a little betrayed.

“Well, yeah, but in all honesty Emily already kind of knew and Lily was helping me make sense of it. I just let the cat out of the bag last night, you can’t be mad about that. I thought we were past all of the secret stuff.” Her smile starts to fade.

“You are right, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is finding your ring in this smashed dessert and letting me finally put it on your finger.” I smile at my bride to be as I reach down, picking up the mangled white box.

I dig through the pecans and goo, finding the ring easily. I look at it after shaking most of the pie filling and whipped cream off of it. I decide to pop the exquisite antique ring, that my mother left to me when she died, in my mouth to clean it off.

Evie can’t contain her laughter as she holds out her hand, her eyes sparkling with joy, waiting patiently for me to claim her in another way. I quickly pull the ring out of my mouth, wiping it off on my jeans, before sliding it onto her finger, both of us giggling at the absurdity of the moment.

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