“I’m not wrong.”
She looks at me, pouting. “I’m not rude.”
“You’re one of the few.”
We arrive at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that serves the best Thai food in Saratoga. Neither of us has to look at the menu to know what we want. This has been our go-to place for lunch since we first discovered it a few years ago. We wait until the waitress has taken our orders before we get down to business.
“Let’s talk about what you want to happen. You mentioned horses and fireworks and a flash mob. Do you really want all those things, or?—”
“Yes, I want all of them,” she interrupts. “I don’t know in what order, but that’s your job to figure it out, right?”
I think about that for a moment. “The fireworks might scare the horses. We’d have to time it right so that the horses are gone by the time the fireworks start.”
“I didn’t even think about that,” Tina says, twisting her lips thoughtfully. “See? This is why I need you. What else have you thought of?”
“Maybe the horses can start off the flash mob. You could go for a romantic carriage ride, and when you get to your destination, that’s when the music starts. We’d have to figure out what song you want playing, and at what point you’ll pop the question to Ryan. Then when he says yes, the firework show will start. We can use daytime fireworks if you plan on popping the question when it’s still light out.”
Tina watches me, eyes wide. “That sounds amazing. I love it.”
The waitress returns to our table with our food. As Tina digs in, I ask, “When do you want this to happen? Do you have a date in mind?”
She nods and finishes chewing before speaking. “I was thinking sometime this summer. Maybe July? Is two months enough time to plan all of this?”
“I’m sure that’s enough time. Did you want to do it at Disney World like your mom, or are you thinking of staying local?”
She chews on her lip, looking torn. “As much as I would love to do it in the exact same spot as my parents, I also want all of my friends and Ryan’s family to be there for this. Flying everyone out to Florida might be a little unrealistic.”
I think about all of the local events I know are coming up. “How about the Saratoga County Fair? It’s public, the location is big enough for a flash mob, and I bet it wouldn’t be too hard to get the permits to do everything you want to do.”
Her eyes light up. “That would be amazing.”
“I’ll start looking into the logistics.” I take a bite of food, thinking about something else that’s been on my mind since I found out about Ryan’s plans yesterday. “You know, I always thought you’d want a more traditional proposal.” When she frowns, I continue: “Obviously I know about your mother’s story, but you also used to spend hours describing in detail how your future husband better go out of his way to surprise you with an amazing proposal. Is that not what you want anymore?”
“It shouldn’t always be up to the man to propose,” she says with a shrug. “Why should I wait around, hoping he’ll pop the question, when I already know that I want to marry him?”
“True.” I look at my plate, stirring my rice with my fork while I try to think of how to phrase this without giving anything away. “Is that the only reason you’re doing it yourself? Because you don’t want to wait around for him to do it?”
She sits up straight while she thinks about her answer. “Not exactly,” she says. “I’ve just never felt about anyone the way I feel for Ryan. When I realized that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, it was never a question of whether he would pop the question. I guess I kind of always imagined that I would be the one proposing, but maybe it was just a subconscious thought. I don’t know. Does that make sense?”
I nod. “It does.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” she says. “I would love it if he proposed, but now that I have this idea in my head, I kind of hope he doesn’t.” She laughs. “He’s always the one making big gestures in our relationship. I want to be able to do this for him.”
I smile. “I love that.”
Even more, I know that I need to make sure Tina proposes first. I need to figure out what Ryan’s plan is, and I need to do it soon. I hate that this means I need to talk to Oliver again.
“Have you thought of a business name yet?” Tina asks.
“A business name?”
She rolls her eyes. “For your new business. You know, the event planning business that I just hired to plan my proposal?”
Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes. “I found out I was starting this business less than twenty-four hours ago. The only thing I’ve had time to think of is your proposal.” I consider that for a minute. I think about the unanswered text from my dad, still sitting in my phone. “There’s a lot that I still have to do. I need to register my business, probably get a tax ID number. Oh God. I’m going to have to pay taxes.”
Tina frowns. “You’ve never paid taxes before?”
“Of course I’ve paid taxes, but they’ve always been taken out of my paycheck. I won’t have an employer doing all of that for me anymore.” I cringe, feeling like I’m getting in over my head. “This might be too much. Maybe I should just?—”
