Page 132 of Just (Fake) Married
“Only I was a drunk fool and didn’t remember how amazing it was to spend time with Harmony, so I blew it the next day, and she, being the smartest person I know, and an excellent judge of character, decided I wasn’t worth her time and stopped speaking to me.”
“For good reason!” Bliss shouted.
Ethan smiled. “Yes. For good reason. We didn’t really talk again until I came home for the reading of my dad’s will.”
I pulled on his tux jacket. “What are you doing?” I hissed. “You’re going to blow everything.”
“No,” he said to me. “I’m going to fix everything. Have some faith in me, please.” To the crowd he said, “My dad wanted this ridiculous feud to end. So much so, that one of the stipulations in his will was that one of his sons had to marry a Calloway. Harmony, who we all know loves this town more than she loves anything else-”
There were cheers from the crowd.
“Volunteered first. And I couldn’t imagine anyone in the world marrying her, except me.”
“Is that because she’s knocked up?” Ida shouted out.
“No, Mrs. Strunk,” Ethan said. “Because something inside of me just knew I should be the one to marry Harmony Calloway. That despite everything in our past we were meant to break this feud. We were meant to be together. I know we lied. But we did it to try and save this town. Harmony loves you all so much she was even willing to marry me. The dumb jerk who forgot what it was like to kiss her.”
“Ethan,” I laughed, tears burning in my eyes. “This is crazy.”
“Why should we believe you now?” Marion asked, her gaze narrowed. “What if this is just more of the same?”
Ethan nodded then. “You’re right, Marion. We need more than just words. We need action.”
He got down on one knee, my hands in his, the expression on his face…was like nothing I’d ever seen in my life. So incredibly sincere. Heartfelt. Honest.
“Harmony Calloway, I told myself I married you to save my family, the ranch, this town. Some people think I have a savior complex.”
“You do!” Carter shouted from the center of the square.
“Shut up and let him finish!” Bliss shouted back.
“And maybe all that was true,” Ethan said, still looking up at me. “But I know when I picked this ring out, I thought of you.” He pulled the ring out of his pocket, the emerald I’d started to think of as mine, and he slipped it on my finger. “I know every time I kissed you or touched you in public, I wanted it to be real. I know I desperately wanted to remember what happened in that kitchen pantry all those years ago. And I know that you mean more to me than any job or any place. I love you, Harmony. Will you for real marry me?”
I could feel his eyes on me. Everyone in town’s eyes on me. The man from the State Tourism Board’s eyes were on me.
But I only had eyes for him.
“You can’t be a surgeon in Last Hope Gulch,” I whispered to him.
“I can’t be Harmony’s husband in Phoenix and that’s way more important to me than any job.”
“What’s happening?” Ida Strunk called out. “I can’t hear them. Speak up, why don’t you!”
“They’re having a moment,” Irma told Ida. “Leave them to it.”
“Yes, but if she says no, what does it mean for the wedding reception?” Mayor Gallup asked. “We have all this champagne on ice.”
I laughed and Ethan did too. “Marry me, Harmony. Live with me, laugh with me. Grow old with me. Please.”
“Yes, Ethan,” I finally said. “I will marry you. Again. And for real.”
He got up on both of his feet and the crowd roared.
He kissed me on my forehead. High up on my cheek. Then a little boop on my nose.
Then, finally, he kissed me for real. In front of our families, the town, and maybe most importantly…Mr. Sosalski, who accepted the handkerchief Tag handed to him and pressed it to his eye.
A man who loved a good romance would have to look favorably on our blue ribbon chances, no?
