Page 47 of Past Due

“Well, yeah. It was just a tiny baby who needed a surrogate mom or milk.”

“And you stayed at the farm?”

“It was raining when I got there, and Agnesa offered her guest room. We hit it off and became friends. She taught me how to feed chickens and milk goats. She showed me how to cook and gave me her recipes. It was hands-down the best part of my trip so far.”

“Better than getting engaged?” She arched one of her perfectly shaped brows.

“Okay, well, it was the second-best part of my trip,” I amended with a laugh. “Getting engaged was definitely the best part.”

“Where did he pop the question?”

“Rozafa Castle.”

“Oooh,” she said, exaggerating the sound. “How romantic!” She glanced at my left hand and frowned. “But no ring?”

“It was spontaneous.” I glanced at my bare finger and shrugged. “I’d marry him with a piece of string wrapped around my finger.”

“Not me!” She sat up straighter and swept her long hair over her bare shoulder. “I want the ring, flowers, a makeup artist, the house filled with our family, piles of jewelry and then a big, giant party!”

My eyes widened. “All of that for a proposal?”

“Of course!”

“Is that, like, the norm here?”

“Oh, yes!” Rina selected another pastry. “It’s all arranged. Your boyfriend comes to the house with his family to meet your family. After he asks your father—or brother, in my case—for permission to marry you, you come into the room and offer everyone in the room sweets. Your boyfriend—well, fiancé now—gives you lots of jewelry and gifts.”

“So, it’s more of a family celebration than a one-on-one thing?”

“Traditionally,” she said. “Not everyone does it that way, but a lot of us still do.” She sipped her tea. “And then! After the gathering wraps up at your house, you go to your fiancé's house and do the same thing all over again! That night, you have a big dinner and party, usually at a very nice restaurant.”

To me, the idea of that much celebration and attention was daunting. To Rina, though, it seemed like her idea of the best day ever.

“You know, I think you and my best friend Aston would get along like two happy little peas in a pod. She’s going to flip when I tell her about this tradition.”

“Aston is the girl who is having Ben’s baby? Yes?”

I nodded and finished my bite. “She is.”

Rina exchanged a look with Drita before she asked, “She’s a good person?”

“The very best,” I assured her. “She’s incredible. She’s loyal, kind, generous. If you’re her friend, she’ll go to the ends of the earth for you.”

“And she loves my cousin Ben?”

“So very much.”

“Good.” Rina dunked her petulla in the bowl of red jam. “Luka says she’s very rich.”

“She is,” I said carefully, wondering where this was going.

She made a face and cast her eyes toward Drita. “Some people think Ben is being taken advantage of by some wild American girl.”

I laughed. “It’s not like that between them. Ben adores her, and she would do anything for him.”

And he would do anything for her. That was the part I kept to myself. What had happened between Ben and Aston’s crazy stepbrother was a secret I would take to my grave.

“Are they going to get married?”

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