Page 87 of The Fun Part
I smile. “But that was before I met you.”
He smiles widely and pulls a ring box from a high shelf in the cabinet. The advantage of his height—he can hide stuff from me on high shelves. My heart races.
Mom appears in the kitchen out of nowhere. “Wait! We want pictures of the proposal.”
Dad pokes his head in the kitchen too, grinning.
Two things hit me at once. Cal cleared this with my parents ahead of time, and I’m getting married to the love of my life!
We move things into the living room. Dad turns off the music and barks, “Quiet! Big moment coming up for Mackenzie and Cal.” The room quiets instantly.
Everyone pulls their phones out for pics and probably video too. I don’t mind. It’s all family.
Cal takes both my hands in his and drops to one knee. “Mackenzie Campbell, I will love you for all of my life and will do everything in my power to be your partner in all things, to support your dreams, to share your joy and your sorrows. I never knew how much I could love someone until I met you.” His eyes water from unshed tears. “I will love you forever, always in my heart.”
Oh God, I’m going to cry. He talks now about keeping love in his heart after loss, and it helps him to deal with the fear of losing me. “Always in my heart, Cal.” Tears flow freely down my cheeks.
His eyes leak tears now too. “Will you marry me?”
I nod, barely able to speak over the lump in my throat. “Yes.” He slides the diamond ring on my finger, stands, and gathers me into his arms, hugging me tight.
“Congratulations!” Mom exclaims, wiping tears.
“Champagne!” Dad croaks.
After we’ve recovered from our teary emotional moment, Mom and Dad make a toast.
Mom holds up her champagne glass. “I knew I’d be planning your wedding soon!” she crows triumphantly.
Cal smiles and takes my hand. I shake my head at her.
Mom smiles. “And, yes, I was doing a teensy bit of matchmaking when I told you to stay away from Cal. And I’m not sorry.”
“You didn’t fool me for a moment,” I declare. “Okay, maybe a moment.”
“Reverse matchmaking is still matchmaking,” Dad says to Mom sternly. “I’d be mad if Mackenzie weren’t so happy.” He turns to us. “I hope you’ll both be very happy and have a long life together. To Cal and Mackenzie!”
Everyone drinks to that. After lots of congratulations from everyone, the music starts again. Mom directs clearing some furniture so the dancing can begin.
Harper pulls me aside. “Any chance I can stay in the garage for a while?”
“Why?” She’s been staying at her parents’ house until she finds a house of her own. Our detached garage was previously converted to an office space for Harper, fully wired and withheating and cooling. No kitchen or bathroom, though. It’s more of a storage space now.
Nathan joins us. “You want to live in a garage?”
Harper ignores him and looks at Cal. “If it’s okay with you. I know you’re newly engaged and all that. You wouldn’t even know I was there.”
“Fine by me,” Cal says.
“Why would you want to live there when you’ve got your parents’ huge house?” I ask.
Harper sighs. “Because Dad’s so happy to have one of his kids home that he’s reinstituteddailyfamily dinners and weekend movie nights. He wants to know the best and worst part of my day, every day, like our family convos when I was ten years old. It’s stifling.”
I smile. Uncle Jake has become sentimental now that he and Aunt Claire have been empty nesters for a few years. “Aww, I think it’s cute.”
Harper grimaces. “He sings ‘We’re a Family’ every time we come to the table. It’s aSesame Streetsong, Mac.”
We all laugh except Harper. “Not funny,” she mumbles.
