Page 68 of Side Hustle
I thought back on what she’d said at the B and B, about how I wreaked havoc wherever I went. I didn’t know how to stop doing that, or how to go back to being the wallflower I’d been growing up, but if she wanted that, I’d find a way to do it. Desperation called for innovation.
Hazel’s toe began tapping out a fast rhythm on the sidewalk. Then she looked away, her full lips pursed like she was pissed.
A rush of panic hit my chest, strangling my lungs. Everything I’d set up for today wasn’t going to be enough. I just knew it. Without thinking, I dropped to my knees, the pain of hitting the concrete not even registering.
“Please, Hazel. Whatever it is about me that’s unloveable, just tell me. Whatever it is, I’m sorry. I’ll make it right, I promise. Just give me the chance.” I grabbed her arms and tugged until I got her hands. My fingers intertwined with hers and I held on. My eyes slid shut and I said a desperate prayer to a higher power.
“Rip,” Hazel whispered.
My eyes blinked open and I looked up to see hers brimming with tears. The sight made my fragile heart officially break. I’d caused this. I’d made pure sunshine sad and I could never forgive myself. She pulled her hands away and cupped my chin.
“There’s nothing unlovable about you, Rip.” Her hand slid up to caress my cheek and the regret in her eyes made my whole body freeze over. “You just had to see that already. And then I just wanted you to fight for me.”
A single tear slid down her cheek before she let go of me and spun around. She made it ten feet away before I remembered my grand plan. My hands were shaking so badly I barely got the walkie-talkie to my face to signal to the chief.
Then I stood up and called out, “Like this?”
Hazel twirled in surprise, tears fully streaming down her cheeks now. Confusion mingled with the grief. My Hail Mary had to work. Not for my sake, but for Hazel’s. I’d give anything to see her happy again.
A siren lit the quiet morning air, turning heads and signaling the start of everything. Hazel’s head whipped to the side. Chief Waldo came down Main Street slowly in his cruiser, the lights and siren going. I walked slowly toward Hazel. When the chief came abreast of Hazel and me, he leaned out the window to salute to us before driving off with a knowing smile.
“What’s happening?” Hazel asked, the tears drying up.
I grabbed her hand and laced our fingers together. “I’m fighting for you. With everything I have.”
Now that the road had cleared, the high school marching band came around the corner at the end of Main Street. They lifted their instruments and soon the first notes to Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” drifted in the air. There wasn’t a singer, but we all knew the words, especially the ladies in town who drifted to the sidewalks to watch the show. Shop owners, teachers, people I’d known my whole life started lining the street right on cue. When the band got to the chorus, spectators began to sing along.
Hazel’s mouth dropped open and she didn’t pull her hand back. I’d take that as a good sign. The band went past us, each band member turning to tip their heads at Hazel, who smiled back, a comical look of happiness, confusion, and leftover tears on her sweet face.
By the time the third chorus came around, Hazel’s head was bobbing to the song, her lips saying the words silently. A tiny flicker of hope spread through my veins. Like the song said, I still had some fight left in me. I’d fight to the very end to make Hazel happy again. With or without me.
Preferably with me, who was I kidding?
As the band headed down to the far end of Main Street and hit the roundabout, the official stopping point we’d arranged ahead of time, Bobby, the prison guard, moved into position in the middle of the street, directly in front of Hazel. Jayden ran over with a microphone and stand, giving me a thumbs-up before running back into the crowd.
“I don’t understand,” Hazel whispered, her gaze darting from my face to the crowd who remained on the street.
I moved even closer to her side. “You will.”
Huge speakers that Titus and Bain had set up early this morning squawked to life. Lenora’s dad, the town pastor, had let us borrow them from the church. Mariah Carey’s song, “We Belong Together,” began playing. Bobby hitched up his pants and opened his mouth, belting out the first line with a surprisingly good voice. I’d almost dismissed his suggestion the other day when I was busy planning this whole thing and now I was glad I’d listened. The man could sing like Pavarotti. Kind of looked like him too now that I was really looking. If Pavarotti had been a farmer instead of a famous opera singer.
The crowd collectively gasped at Bobby’s talent. They’d barely settled down when the chorus hit. Titus, Jayden, Charlie, and Bain stepped up to flank him, moving left and right to the beat, snapping their fingers like red-carpet-worthy backup dancers. Hazel snorted and covered her mouth. Her eyes danced with mirth and I’d never seen a better sight.
I could have kissed Bobby. This whole thing was working. She wasn’t crying any longer, and under that hand, I would put money on a genuine smile. The song ended with Bobby and the boys taking their bows to applause from the audience and a whistle from Hazel.
Hazel turned to me, a question on her lips when the speakers started up again. Her eyes went wide and she squeezed my hand, probably leery of what might come next. Poppy, Polly, and Penelope pushed their way into the street and began dancing to the new song “Marry You” by Bruno Mars. Despite their advanced age, ample weight, and intermittent awkwardness, the ladies had some moves. As they should since they’d been practicing nonstop for three days. Hazel gasped and hopped up and down on her toes.
Then a few more community members joined into the flash mob and fell right into step with the ladies. A stray cat came out of nowhere, Yedda moving quickly to join in the dance. The cat jumped into her arms like it was just any other day in Hell. Hazel squealed and pulled her hand away to clap for her granny. Even more people joined in and I took that moment of distraction to slip away from Hazel’s side. While the rest of the town moved into position to dance in the street, my friends all converged at the back of the crowd, making a tunnel with Lucy, Lenora, Finnie, and Amelia on one side, Bain, Jayden, Charlie, and Titus on the other side. Their hands went in the air and the second the song wound down, the crowd parted and I walked through our friend-tunnel to stand in front of Hazel.
A fluttering noise broke the silence as the song ended and the entire town held their breath. The one and only billboard in town that my father had installed as a way to charge advertising fees despite the ill-placed monstrosity blurring the downtown charm displayed the new sign I’d made for Hazel with the help of the art department at the high school. It was a simple picture of me and the words “Hi, I’m Rip Bennett.” To the side of the cutout of me was a list of my qualities, both good and bad. The last bullet point was the one I hoped she’d focus on. It simply read “Madly in love with Hazel Redding.”
I’d never felt so exposed and yet felt right down to my bones that this was the right thing to do. Both Hazel and the town needed to know exactly who I was. A wallflower did not win a mayoral election nor the girl. I was not the idiot my father told me I was. I was a man. In love with a woman. And an entire town.
With my heart in my throat and my eyes threatening to lose it, I got down on one knee and pulled out the ring I’d had made just for her with the gold from my land. The diamond sparkled in the morning sun, making its own ray of light. It was perfect for Hazel. Pure, natural light that would rest on her finger for all eternity if she’d just say yes.
Her gaze flickered from the billboard to me, gasping when she registered that I was on one knee with a ring. Her eyes immediately flooded with tears and I rushed to assure her.
“The song is actually wrong. I don’tthinkI want to marry you. Iknow. Just like I know there’s never been two people more right for each other. I will always fight for you. I will always choose you. Even if it makes me look like an ass in front of everyone I’ve ever known. You’re more important than any of that. I love you unconditionally, Hazel, and I always will. I messed up by not believing in us and I’ll never make that mistake again. I’m so sorry. Please, Hazel? Let me taste that sweet lemonade of yours my whole life.” I winked at her. “Will you marry me?”
