Page 131 of Wild Hit
A ring. Gold. With a large oval rock in my favorite color.
Actually, in the exact shade of my irises.
My mouth opens.
“I know that we’re already married on paper,” Miguel says, not missing a beat. Either he rehearsed this or he’s never been surer than in this moment. “And I also know that some people may think it’s too soon.”
My dad coughs.
Miguel bites his lips to hold back laughter, and he clears his throat before continuing. “But the simple truth is that I love you, Marty loves you, Consuelo loves you, I think your dad does too?—”
“Hey!”
“—And out of all of us, I’m the one who absolutely can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together—to be one, and to have the right to love you more than anyone else under the sky.”
I’m so engrossed in him that I startle when my hands come to my mouth.
“So… Audrey Machado Winters Cox?—”
“Why is my last name third?” Dad complains, and it falls into the cracks because then Miguel says words I never expected to hear directed at me on purpose.
“Would you marry me?”
His eyebrows pinch a little, almost like he’s growing shier with every second I spend in utter silence. What he doesn’t know is that he’s robbed me of words, that all I can accomplish is to stay still, rather than throwing myself at him and scandalizing our family.
Slowly, I lower my hands down to my lap and busy them with squeezing my cable knit dress. I fill my lungs with the scent of cinnamon and tea, sweet little tarts, damp grass, and magic with a touch of cedar.
“Miguel.”
“Audrey?”
I lift up my eyes. “Yes, I will marry you again—and for real this time.”
Joy spreads on his face and I let myself loose. I throw myself at him and somehow manage to land a wild hit on his hand that sends the ring flying. As the other three scramble to search for it in the grass, I gently bite Miguel’s chin and he bursts out laughing until the world around us fades away.
THE END
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