Page 68 of Seaside Cowboy's Fairy Tale

She flung her eyelids open and gasped. The lavender aroma emanated from candles forming a heart in the sand. A round white table with sweets and a cheese charcuterie board stood in the middle of it. But as beautiful as it was, that scene wasn’t what drew her attention and then made her chuckle.

Someone dressed in a costume of a gray mouse—or it could be a rat—stood near the table, side by side with Darius, who was wearing a cowboy hat and holding one, as well.

“Tex, that’s you, right?” Rachel asked the mouse.

“Yes.”

“Okay, now I can leave,” Darius grumbled. “You owe me, bro. You have no idea how many seagulls I had to fight off the table.”

“Thanks, Darius. You’re right. I owe you.” The man-sized mouse prince patted his brother on the back.

“I was kidding. You look ridiculous, by the way. And I’m serious about that.”

“I know,” the giant mouse said.

Then Tex pulled the chair back for her. “My first idea was to dress up as Prince Charming. But then I decided I’d rather make you laugh than impress you. You taught me humility. And you like mice.”

“The pet kind.” She sat down at the table and reached for a mozzarella slice. “Maybe it’s best if you take the headpiece off. Otherwise, I don’t know how you’ll be able to eat.”

He took it off, his hair adorably rumpled. “Thank you. It was also rather hot inside that thing.” He drew a bottle of sparkling water from an ice bucket—the ice mostly water now—and poured it into the flutes.

It tugged at her heartstrings that he’d make himself look ridiculous to bring her a few chuckles. “I love it all.”

“And I love you. So much it hurts to breathe sometimes.” He lifted the cover from the cheesecake and put a slice on her plate.

She nearly squealed with delight. “My favorite!” And then she did squeal for an entirely different reason. “The ring! Is that a ring?”

He dropped onto one knee on the sand, which clearly wasn’t an easy feat in a mouse costume, not paying attention to the fact that his costume was getting dirty. “I thought of asking to bake the ring into the pie. But I didn’t want you to swallow it accidentally. Not good for your digestive system and all.”

She swallowed hard—happilynotswallowing a ring. “Um, I appreciate it. Weren’t you going to ask something?”

“Right. Talking about your digestive system isn’t the beginning of the romantic proposal I imagined.”

She leaped to her feet. “The answer is yes.”

His eyes lit up. “Yes?”

Doubt crept in. She could be impulsive and imagine things that didn’t exist. “You were going to ask me to marry you, right? I hope.”

“Of course. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He rose to his feet.

Should she dig the ring from the cheesecake herself? “And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Um, you can place the ring on my finger now.”

Her heart sang as he slipped the sticky ring on her finger and then lifted her and whirled around. Her head was spinning, and she laughed again.

He put her down, smiling sheepishly. “I considered ordering fireworks or renting a yacht, but I figured you’d rather I chose simpler things. Sorry I sort of fumbled the proposal.”

She looked into his eyes that sparkled more than the diamond on her finger. “It was perfect to me. And I do appreciate all the effort you put into it. But I’d have said yes if you proposed to me at a fast-food café with a donut instead of a ring. Hmm, a donut would be better for my digestion. What I wanted to say was you’re the one who matters to me.”

“And you to me. You mean the world to me.” And when he kissed her again, happiness filled her to the brim. It didn’t even matter that a seagull stole a bite of cheesecake, thankfully without the ring in it any longer.

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