Page 15 of Slow Burn


Font Size:

She and Cooper had made peace on Thursday to avoid this kind of painful scene, but everything that had happened last night had screwed that up completely. Hopefully, Penn hadn’t noticed the tension between them. He was so caught up in his eagerness to get to the witching hour, or in his case, the proposing hour, that he seemed to be floating around his birthday party only half-conscious of anything around him. Which was exactly how he should be.

“Hey! People!” The sound of Cooper’s voice, yelling to be heard over the crowd of fifty or sixty people, made her nearly choke on the olive she’d just stuck in her mouth as she stood on the outskirts of a group of firefighters’ wives she’d met several times on previous visits to the island. She followed the direction of it and spotted him on the opposite side of the patio, standing on top of one of the tables.

“Attention, you drunks!” he continued as the noise level gradually lowered. “Listen up! The guest of honor here would like your attention.”

This was it, Zoe knew, and she forced aside the ache inside of her to revel in her brother’s big moment. Penn climbed up next to his roommate, and the two discussed something no one else could hear.

“Where’s Nadia?” Cooper hollered, peering around the crowd.

A commotion near the thatched-roof shack that made up the bar proper indicated Nadia was over there.

“Nadia, your presence is requested. Stat!”

A wave of noise followed her across the patio to Cooper and Penn as she shot off remarks Zoe couldn’t make quite make out. Wisecracks, no doubt. She’d fit in with the Griffin family just fine.

Nadia reached the table where Cooper and Penn towered over everyone. She stood in front of it, her neck craned upward as Penn tried to convince her to join him, and Cooper jumped down from the tabletop. Finally, Zoe’s brother convinced Nadia that standing on top of a table in the middle of the bar was an okay thing to do this one time, and she climbed up. She looked fabulous up there in a royal blue skirt and top that looked like a one-piece dress, with a thin, lighter-blue belt and two-tone blue heels to die for. Her blond hair cascaded over her shoulders, shimmering in the bright security lights of the patio. Zoe searched the crowd for her mom, who she knew had agreed to record this moment on her phone. Spotting her about two tables away from Penn and Nadia, Zoe made her way next to her so she could see and hear better.

Nadia grinned and pushed her hair behind her ear self-consciously as she said something else Zoe couldn’t hear.

“I’m embarrassing you?” Penn said without a drop of sympathy. “I’m just getting warmed up, my love.” He took her hand and kissed the back of it in a sweet, old-fashioned move Zoe didn’t know her brother had in him. Howls shot up from the partygoers, particularly the group of loud, hulking firefighters gathered in the corner of the patio.

Penn pulled Nadia to his side, his arm around her, as if to make her more comfortable.

“You all know that this incredible woman is behind this.” He swung his unoccupied arm out to indicate the swarm of people on the patio. His grin was huge, and he took a moment to look around at everyone, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe so many people would show up to celebrate his birthday. “Thank you all for helping me turn thirty-three years old. I’m a little afraid of what she’ll do when I hit a milestone like forty.”

Peals of laughter and smartass comments rang out from the firefighters’ corner.

“And thank you, Nadia, for this and everything you do for me.” He angled her to face him as he got down to business. She shook her head modestly as if to say she didn’t do that much.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Penn said, becoming serious. He took her hand again, and the crowd quieted and seemed to collectively lean forward to hear better. “I know you wanted to put me in the spotlight tonight, and I’ll take that position, but not alone.”

Nadia shook her head as she smiled. “Paybacks?”

Penn laughed. “Like you wouldn’t believe, sweetheart. I have some things I want to say to you.”

“Here?” she asked, glancing around at the crowd.

“Right here. In front of all these people who matter to me. I want everyone here to know how much you mean to me. Everyone who knows me knows the past two years have been a little slice of hell after my injury. I’m not a silent sufferer.”

Nadia shook her head effusively, laughing.

“I made it through the toughest thing I’ve ever faced, and it’s because of you. You were by my side, encouraging me from the start, long before I wanted to be encouraged, especially by the likes of this sexy woman who was everything good. I wasn’t much in the mood for good back then.”

“I kind of noticed,” Nadia said, still grinning.

“I’ve got the best life I could ever hope for now, and it’s a lot because of you.”

The joking tone subsided as Penn clearly became overcome with love for Nadia. Zoe wiped the tears that instantly welled up in her eyes.

“You helped me fight my way back to health when I just wanted to lie in bed and lash out. You helped me to step outside of my comfort zone. I thought I couldn’t be happy unless I was a San Amaro Island firefighter, but I was so wrong. You encouraged me to look into becoming an arson investigator. Convinced me I could handle the classes and the training. Stood by my side as I made it through and took on a new career. You opened my eyes to embracing some hard changes, and I would do it all over again — every last bit — if it meant I’d end up with you.”

Nadia dabbed at her eyes and pressed her lips together as if trying not to bawl. The tender look between them was so achingly bittersweet to Zoe that a tear or two fell down her cheeks as well. She silently cheered her brother on, the anticipation building to a peak.

Still holding Nadia’s hand, Penn went down on one knee, right there on top of the table, and at once, Nadia covered her mouth with one hand and the crowd emitted a collective aww. He pulled the ring from his front pocket and held it out.

“Nadia, will you make me the happiest man alive and do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Cooper headed toward the bar to buy his roommate a celebratory shot before he could do something stupid like get emotional. He was raw from last night, he reminded himself. As stoked as he was for Penn, the whole scene had gotten to him like he was some chick watching Gone With the Wind or something.