Jo looked about as surprised as I had hoped she would. Her hands were clasped in front of her as she made her way toward me, and her gaze kept swinging over the candles, the petals, and the rest of the romantic decor.

I’d spent the last few weeks getting everything in order for this. She’d had no idea. At least, I hoped she didn’t. I sensed over the last week or so that she was distancing herself from me. She thought something was up, but she hadn’t come to this conclusion. At least, I doubted she had, based on her shocked expression.

She was climbing the steps up to the dance floor now. My cheeks ached from smiling. She came to stand in front of me and laughed a little nervously. It was cute. Too cute.

“Zach,” she whispered. “What is all this?”

“Shh,” I said. “It’s my time to do the talking.”

I went down on one knee. Her eyes sparkled.

“Josephine Hart,” I said as I took her hands in mine. “I’ve been thinking about this moment for a long time. If I’m being honest, I was thinking about this before we even started dating. And that scared me a little because marriage wasn’t something I thought I ever wanted. But I guess I just hadn’t met the right woman.”

Jo sniffled and looked up at the ceiling to stop herself from crying. “Oh God,” she whispered, blinking furiously. A tear escaped, and she laughed again.

“I can’t picture my life without you,” I continued. “And I don’t want to. I want you by my side forever. I want to spend the rest of my life doing everything in my power to make you happy and to make you laugh. Because your laugh is my favorite sound, and I don’t know what I would do if I weren’t lucky enough to hear it every day.” I reached into my pocket and withdrew a small wooden ring box. I had it custom made, and Jo’s initials were carved on the top. I popped it open to show her the diamond ring nestled amongst the red velvet lining inside the box. She gasped. Good. “You gave me the best thing in this world, Jo. Our son. Now I want to give you the best that I can offer. A promise. A promise to love you until I die, through thick and thin, no matter what. To be by your side, holding your hand through the hard stuff. To laugh with you through the good stuff. And to, of course, make you laugh every chance I get. Jo, my pretty girl, will you marry me?”

Jo was crying and vigorously nodding before I’d even gotten the question out. “Yes,” she cried, and then she fell to her knees in front of me and threw her arms around my shoulders. I hugged her back, smelling the sweetness of her shampoo, and laughed when she pulled away to hold my face and kiss me several times over.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she said, her words coming out in a tumbled rush. “I thought—I thought—” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I was being stupid. Holy shit. We’re engaged!”

“Yes.” I chuckled. “We are. Give me your hand. Let me see if I picked the right size.”

Jo held her hand out between us, and we both laughed at how much she was shaking. I plucked the ring from the box and slid it onto her left hand.

“It’s gorgeous,” Jo whispered, turning her hand from side to side. The diamond caught the light of the candles and glittered magnificently. “It’s too much.”

“No,” I said. “It’s not.”

“I love it,” she said, and then she was kissing me again.

I got to my feet with her still clinging to my front. When we broke apart, I kissed the tip of her nose. “I have one more surprise for you.”

“I don’t think my heart could handle another surprise right now.” She giggled.

“You’ll like this one,” I said before calling, “Come on in, guys!”

The door to the kitchens blew open. Rosie burst out first, running across the floor and joining us up on the dance floor. She flung herself at Jo, and the two of them laughed and cried together. Next came Ryan and then Jo’s father and then my mother. Everyone celebrated with laughter and a few tears, and then when things calmed down a bit, I poured everyone a cold beer, and we took it outside to sit on the porch and soak up some sunshine.

“Any idea of when the big day will be?” Ryan asked as he leaned against one of the posts on the deck. He sipped his beer and pulled his sunglasses down over his eyes.

I looked at Jo. “She’s the decision maker here.”

“Well,” Jo said, contemplating. “I’ve kind of always wanted an outdoor wedding with lots of flowers and a laid-back vibe. But I don’t want it to be too hot like in the middle of summer.”

“Spring then?” Rosie suggested.

“Yeah.” Jo nodded. She glanced up at me as I sipped my beer. “What do you think? Think we can get our butts in gear to have a wedding this coming spring?”

“I don’t see why not. That’s what, six or seven months away?”

Jo nodded.

“You just pick a date, and we’ll start making it happen,” I said.

“What about a venue?” my mother asked. She had been thrilled to be part of the proposal day. The waiting had been driving her up the wall.

“I haven’t really thought about that part,” Jo said.

“We should do some research,” Rosie said. “Compile a list of places where you can have an outdoor wedding.”

“Okay.” Jo grinned. “That’s your job as my maid of honor.”

“Really?” Rosie beamed.

“Of course.” Jo nodded. “Who else would I want to have by my side that day?”

The two girls hugged and sat shoulder to shoulder at the top of the steps while I nodded at Ryan. “What do you say, best man?”

Ryan raised his beer to mine. “You got it, buddy.”

“Sam is going to be thrilled,” Grandpa Hart said.

“It was so hard keeping the secret from him for a whole month,” I said. “There were so many times I wanted to sit him down and let him in on it, but I couldn’t risk the surprise being blown. I was worried enough one of you lot would blow it.”

“If any of us would blow it, it would be Rosie.” Ryan laughed.

“That’s who I was referring to when I said ‘you lot’.” I grinned.

Everyone laughed, except for Rosie, who went on to say that she had known for the whole month and never let on once. I was impressed. I thought for sure she’d have given something away in all that time. But I was grateful she hadn’t because the look of sheer shock on Jo’s face when she’d come into the pub was more than worth it.

“Well,” I said, checking my watch when it was close to two. “Jo and I should head out of here to go pick up Sam.”

“Is it already that time?” Jo asked, a little startled. “I didn’t get any of my count done and—”

“Don’t worry about it, sis,” Ryan said as Rosie got to her feet to stand beside him. “Rosie and I will handle it today.”

“You guys are the best,” Jo said.

“Damn straight we are,” Rosie said before planting a kiss on Ryan’s cheek. Her pink lipstick made a perfect imprint on his cheek. We all said our goodbyes, and everyone congratulated us once more before we hopped in the old truck Jo had shown up in, Ryan had driven me over and headed to the school.

On the way there, Jo informed me about the bitchy moms who had found themselves suffering her wrath that morning. She explained how she had been feeling like I was pulling away from her lately, which she quickly amended with a, “But I was being stupid, and I’m sorry for thinking that. It all makes sense now.”

She went on to say how she took her anger out on the moms and put them all in their place. She seemed very satisfied with herself, and when we got to the school and I pulled into the coned lane, she pressed her finger against the window to point to a cluster of mothers, all dressed like they were going to brunch at a country club. “Those are the ones,” she grated.

“Relax, Rhonda Rousey.” I chuckled. “You already scared the hell out of them by the sound of it. No need to point at them like you’re going to snipe them off later.”

“I like their fear,” Jo said wickedly. Then she spun back to me with a grin.

I squeezed her knee and looked up to see Sam hurrying down the stairs. Jo opened the door and pulled him up, then put him in between us on the bench seat.

“How was your second day?” I asked, playfully shoving him into his mother.

Sam giggled as Jo buckled him in. “Fun! We played tag at recess, and I was pretty fast. Johanna tagged me, though. And then we played grounders. And then hide and seek. And then we did crafts and made pencil holders to put on our desks. And then we had reading time. And then we practiced printing. And then we did math. And then I came here.”

“Wow.” Jo chuckled. “Sounds like you had a very busy day.”

Sam nodded eagerly.

“Well.” Jo smiled. “We have some good news to share with you.”

Sam looked back and forth between us. I looked at Jo. This was her news to share with our son. I nodded for her to go ahead.

Jo twisted in the seat so she was facing him. Then she held out her hand to show him the ring and said, “Your father and I are getting married.”

Sam didn’t seem to process what this meant at first. Then his eyes widened, and he looked up at his mom. “You’re going to have a wedding?”

“Yes.” Jo nodded, her smile bright enough to light up the whole cab as if it were the dead of night.

Sam clapped his hands together. “Does this mean there will be a baby soon?”

“What?” Jo and I asked in unison.

“Yeah.” Sam nodded. “Isn’t that what grown-ups do? They get married and have a baby?”

“Uh,” I said. “We already had our baby. You.”

“But you could have more,” Sam said simply.

Jo giggled. “You know what, kiddo? We could, one day. But for now, we want to focus on planning the best wedding ever. How would you like to be our ring bearer?”

“Yes!” Sam cried enthusiastically. “Wait. What’s a ring bearer?”