Page 69 of Meet Cute Reboot

“Aren’t those dusty?” Madison says.

“I washed them.” Nana sets them on the table.

“Oh.” Madison looks confused.

I glance at Harrison. He’s sweating. Of course. It’s ninety degrees in here. Is he sweating more than he was five minutes ago though? He’s more fidgety. Definitely.

Mom enters the room carrying a cake. Not a box cake with some packaged icing slathered on top. This is a legitimate cake, decorated with fondant by a professional. Perched on top are two figures, a male and a female, holding hands.

She sets the cake in front of Madison and gives her the knife. “Would you mind serving everyone?”

Madison giggles. “Um, sure.”

Her hands shake as she cuts the first slice, encountering resistance halfway down. She manages to cut a clean wedge regardless and carefully flips it onto Nana’s best china. An inedible red box sits in the center of the confetti cake.

Harrison slides it out, gets down on one knee, and opens the box. A diamond ring glitters in the chandelier light.

Madison licks her lips, presses them together, suppresses a smile.

“Maddie,” Harrison says, “this isn’t exactly how I expected things to go. I mean, I expected air conditioning. But everything else is perfect. You’re perfect. We’re perfect together. I love you more than I ever thought I could love. I want to love you through the ups and the downs, through youth and old age, through sickness and health.” He chokes up. Clears his throat. “Madison, will you marry me?”

Madison’s excitement explodes. She jumps up and down and squeals. “Yes. Yes, I will marry you!”

Harrison bursts to his feet and grabs Madison’s waist. She throws her arms around his neck, and they share a long kiss as the rest of us whoop and holler, Granny the loudest of us all. She taps her fork to her glass to add to the ruckus.

After Madison and Harrison pry themselves apart, I jump up and hug them both. I’m happy for them. So very happy. And yet...

We eat our cake, peeling off the fondant first. Madison admires her ring, the way the gold and the diamond pop against her skin. Her nails are immaculate. Like she expected this moment to come soon.

After cake, Granny retreats to her football game, Harrison runs to the hardware store for a faucet, and I help Nana clean up as best as I can without a working kitchen sink. She wants to wash the dishes with the hose. I tell her under no circumstances. She huffs. I chuckle. And yet...

During the drive home, I ponder the dullness in my chest. I ponder it while I eat my Wendy’s salad in my cool apartment, as I scratch behind Pudge’s ears, as I climb out onto the fire escape. The humidity is still heavy, the air only a few degrees cooler than its mid-afternoon apex. The shade and the breeze further reduce the heat, comforting me as I listen to the sounds of the city. A passing siren, the hush of cars rushing back and forth, faster than they should go on city streets. A cat meowing through the glass behind me.

Minus Nana’s broken AC and the stress of having to fix it sooner rather than later, today was perfect. A persnickety Granny and a determined Nana—I’d have them no other way. A wedding ring in a cake. My cousin gloriously happy.

And yet...

I take a deep breath and rub my eyes.

Michael never got on one knee. He asked me to marry him in the French Quarter. Romantic enough, standing amidst all thathistory. Michael knew me. But he neverknewme. Not like Luke, who knows me now better than Michael ever did.

Luke only kneeled to plead with me to forgive him. A far cry from Madison’s idyllic moment. It’s all I have.

No. I have my businesses.

And Pudge.

Mostly my businesses.

It’s enough. I’ll find a man eventually. When my work slows down. When I have more time. When I’m past thirty. When I’m ready to slow down.

When...

Pudge continues to meow behind me. Her claws scratch against the glass as she tries to shred the obstacle between us. I peek at her and can’t help but laugh at the intensity of her effort and the desperation in her eyes.

“I feel you, Pudge. I feel you.”

I open the window, climb back inside, and gather Pudge into my arms. At least we have each other.