He was smiling at me like I hadn’t figured out the punchline of a joke. That’s when I remembered the details from that first order. It was a radiant diamond too, one-point-two carats in size.
Just like the one on my finger.
“You? You’re her?”
“It was alotof work keeping it a secret,” Hunter explained. “Dayton is an hour away and I had to drive there several times. Once to purchase the Post Office box. Then another trip to pick up the DNA sample kit. Then athirdtrip to retrieve the gemstone when it arrived. Driving back to Columbus with that diamond in my pocket… That was the longest hour of my life!”
“But the band!” I said, holding up my hand. “This isn’t one of the ring bands we offer.”
“Don’t take this personally, but I don’t like any of the options on the website,” he said with a wry grin. “Besides, I wanted somethingunique,just like the gemstone itself. So I took it to a local jeweler to get set.” His grin faded. “Do you like it?”
I didn’t have to fake my enthusiasm. “Iloveit! And the gemstone you chose is absolutelyperfect. Radiant-cut diamonds are my favorite. How did you know?”
“You may have mentioned that in passing while we were setting up the website,” he revealed. “I had insider information. And regarding the proposal… I know a brewery isn’t the most romantic setting. My original plan was to wait until we settled on a city and moved there. But that box has been burning a hole in my pocket this entire trip. And fuck, Erica. I couldn’t wait. I couldn’t go another day with youonlybeing my girlfriend. It’s not too soon, is it?”
I leaned across the table and kissed him. “Sometimes you just know. And this trip has made me more certain than I already was. Everything is perfect. The setting, the ring, theman.” I frowned. “Wait a minute. You bought this ring alongtime ago. It was the second week you were in Columbus. We had just started fooling around, but we hadn’t had sex yet. I remember because I was bummed about Brad returning, and my first sale cheered me up.”
“That’s right,” Hunter said.
“You bought my engagement ring that early?”
“Like you said. Sometimes you just know. And when I ordered the diamond, I knew with every fiber of my soul.” He shrugged absently. “And if we didn’t work out, I figured it would make for a good ring for thenextgirl.”
I playfully punched at his arm. He snatched my wrist to stop me, then pulled me across the table into a kiss.
Then my smile faded. “Theonlything I could change, if I could change anything, is that I wish Mom and Dad were here to see this. They would have loved for you to be their son-in-law.”
Hunter ran his hand through his hair, which fell perfectly back into place. “I wish they were here too. Because I’m not so sure they would have been thrilled about this.”
“Are you kidding? Theyadoredyou!”
He shrugged awkwardly. “There’s a big difference between Hunter the best friend of Brad, and Hunter the guy marrying their daughter. Especially since thingskind ofstarted when I was living at your house five years ago.”
Hunter wasn’t wrong. Dad was always more protective of the guys I dated than of Brad’s friends. If he had known Hunter and I were dating, hedefinitelywould have treated him differently. Not necessarily worse. Just different.
“Still, I wish they were here,” I said with a smile. “And since they aren’t, I’m choosing to believe they would beso happyfor us.”
“They would have wanted you to be happy,” he agreed, but I could tell he wasn’t totally convinced they would have accepted him into the family as my fiancé.
My fiancé. The word made me smile all over again. “We have to tell people!”
We called Lizzy first. It was a video call, and I rested my chin in my left hand with my ring finger resting against my cheek. I wasn’t sure if she would answer since she was probably working, but finally her face appeared on the screen with the brewery equipment in the background.
“Hey, I ducked away so I could answer, but I have—” She cut off and her eyes widened. “OH MY GOD IS THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS!”
There were several seconds of unintelligible screaming from her end, and the screen bounced up and down so fast that Lizzy’s face was a blur.
Hunter and I laughed while Lizzy tried to get control of herself. Then I heard Charlie’s voice demanding to know what was the matter, and telling Lizzy that people thought she was being murdered back there.
When Lizzy showed him her phone, Charlie’s pudgy face appeared and was immediately split in half by a huge smile.
“I take back what I said about you, kid,” he told Hunter. “Maybe I’ll let you into my brewery after all. As long as you don’t go picking fights with the customers.”
“Ralph had it coming!” Hunter argued with a laugh. “I promise only to fight the customers who harass your staff, how about that?”
Lizzy’s face crowded into the screen. “He’s a winner, Erica. Don’t let him out of your sight, or some Portland skank is going to snatch him away!”
Hunter kissed me and said, “She has nothing to worry about.”