Page 1 of Summer Kisses

Chapter One

HAZEL

"Idropped my handkerchief. Would you mind grabbing it for me, dear?" Grandma asked me.

I ducked under the table, on my hands and knees, grateful the announcer hadn’t started calling out Bingo numbers yet. As soon as I saw the white cloth embroidered with delicate flowers and the initialsMH,I reached for it. I heard a ding, then saw a ring rolling away from me.

I covered it with my hand, then slowly lifted my palm. It was a diamond ring. An engagement ring.

My heart was racing with the possibilities. Where had it come from? Who lost it?

I should stand up and ask whose it was. But no one else had seen it. I'd dreamed about what it would feel like to be the owner of such a ring. It would just take a second to see how it would look on my finger. Before any sense of reason returned, I slipped it on my finger, the handkerchief forgotten.

My heart rate slowed. It was beautiful, shiny, and delicate.

"What are you doing?" I heard the familiar rumble of Brady's voice, and before he could join me, I grabbed the handkerchief and scrambled out from under the table. I lifted my hand towardBrady, fully intending to tell him about my find, when everyone gasped.

"Are you engaged?" But before I could respond, Grandma sighed. "It's my dying wish that you get married before I go."

Brady was staring at me with a strange expression on his face.

"Since when are you dying?" Gram's friend Sofia asked her, exasperation evident in her tone.

Grandma waved her hand. "I knew you and Brady would get together one day. I just didn't think it would be this soon. You've made me so happy."

My hand was still suspended in midair. I should tell them that I'd found it on the ground. That it wasn't mine and we needed to find the owner. But the words were stuck in my throat.

Grandma clasped her hands together. "I can't wait to plan a wedding. This is going to be amazing."

Grandma had been feeling down lately. An engagement would make her feel better and give her something to look forward to. But I should tell her it wasn't real. That I wasn't even seeing anyone, much less engaged.

I implored Brady to save me like he had a million times over the years. From the bully at school or a guy's attention at the bar, Brady always came through for me.

He scrutinized my face for a few seconds and then closed his hand over mine. "We couldn't deny the attraction anymore."

I shook my head slowly as a smile spread over his face. I couldn't argue with him. Not here. But we'd be having a conversation when we were alone.

This had to be some kind of joke. Drop a ring on the floor and see what Hazel does with it?

I'd been wanting to get married for as long as I could remember. I was enraptured with the fairy-tale renderings oflove and romance, and the magic had never truly gone away. But I wasn't a princess, and Brady wasn't my prince.

We were friends. Childhood best friends but that's all we would ever be.

Our friendship was too important to ruin it by telling him about my silly schoolgirl crush. I thought it would go away as I got older, but it had only intensified.

"You always said there was nothing between you—" Grandma began.

"We were worried about ruining our friendship—" I floundered for the perfect explanation as to how we were suddenly engaged.

Brady placed his arm over my shoulder, pulling me into his side. He squeezed my shoulder in a silent plea to go along with whatever plan he'd concocted in his head. “We should have known that we were headed for this.”

I felt stiff next to him, smiling despite the awkwardness of the situation. Everyone at the table was staring at us with a mixture of happiness and confusion. I couldn't blame them. A few seconds ago, I was single. Now I was engaged to my best friend.

One by one, everyone stood to hug and congratulate us. This was quickly spiraling out of control. It was too late to say that it wasn't real. That I'd found this engagement ring on the floor and I needed help to find the owner.

"You have some explaining to do," Elena said to me.

My mouth opened and then closed. I couldn't blame her for being confused. As far as she knew, I was single.

---