When we can, we go out with Trey and Leanna on double dates, or we have them over to the house for dinner. Amara and Caleb are getting close to an age where they can actually play together, so it’s fun to have everyone over.
We’re up against the Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals, and it ends up being a seven-game neck-and-neck series. We play the final game in Los Angeles, inside a packed Staples Center, and we come out on top by two points. Anthony makes the game-winning basket, and the guy hasn’t shut up about it since. Raelynn was there watching with Caleb, up in the private box, celebrating as confetti rained down from the rafters.
The next day, to celebrate the end of the season and the championship win, we have everyone over for a Texas-style backyard BBQ. It was Raelynn’s idea and she’s gone all out planning it. She’s covered the outdoor table with a red and white checkered tablecloth and clustered mason jars overflowing with daises in the center. There are hay bales and big buckets filled with sunflowers and cornhole and ring toss, a bounce house and tractor rides. Around noon, we get a call about a guy who’s at the neighborhood gate, saying here’s here to set up pony rides, and Raelynn blushes sheepishly. “Oh yeah, I forgot about that.”
We let them in, and Amara and Caleb squeal with happiness when they see the ponies being led into my backyard.
Raelynn sidles up to me, looking like a Southern belle in her white tank top, jean shorts, and little red bandana tied around her neck.
“Is this okay?” she asks. “I feel like I kinda went overboard. I mean, to be fair, you gave me free rein, and that mistake is on you, frankly.”
I lean down to kiss her. “It’s perfect. Caleb’s going to be talking about those ponies for the next year.”
I suggested we get the party catered, but Raelynn had other plans. Trey and I man the grill, churning out hamburgers and hot dogs. Raelynn has been busy in the kitchen all day, making Nan’s potato salad and deviled eggs with the help of Nina and Julia. On a side table, there’s pecan pie and Texas sheet cake and some homemade sugar cookies. Caleb’s been trying to steal the plate of cookies all day. Raelynn finally broke one in half and shared it with him, promising more after he ate a good dinner.
Through all of this, Kayla and Anthony are, unsurprisingly, nowhere to be found, and I worry for the sake of my guest bedroom. I might have to burn the sheets by the time they’re done in there. Maybe gut the whole damn room if I’m honest.
Just when all the hard work is finished, when the meat’s been grilled and iced teas have been set at everyone’s spot at the table, Anthony strolls out of my house looking like the cat that caught the canary.
“So, when are we eatin’?”
“Whenever you start helping,” I toss back as Kayla stumbles out of the house after him, wearing a sly grin.
Raelynn’s right on their heels, bringing out a platter of appetizers for the table. “You two could at least look a little more sheepish than that. This is a family barbecue.”
“Hey, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kayla says, holding up her hands in innocence. “Anthony and I were just inside talking.”
“Okay, well you two were talking for the better part of an hour.”
Kayla winks at Raelynn. “What can I say…Anthony’s a real talker.”
“Talk talk talk,” Caleb parrots, making us all laugh.
I’m not sure how Kayla and Anthony came to be. They met a month back, when we were all at dinner, and I swear to god, within five minutes of meeting, they were making out at the table.
I’ve asked Raelynn and Anthony about it.
Anthony says he’s in love. Raelynn says Kayla won’t stop talking about him either.
At the end of dinner, when everyone’s relaxed and picking at their desserts and the sun’s gone mostly down, coloring the sky orange and pink, I nudge Raelynn with my shoulder.
“Hey, walk with me for a second?”
When she smiles and nods, I take her hand and we circle around the side yard, hidden from the group as we walk toward the trees that line the perimeter of the property.
“You can lure me away from cornhole if you want,” she teases, “but you know you still owe me a rematch. You might be a big NBA superstar with a handful of championship rings, but I’ll have you know I’m the reigning third grade cornhole champion at Barbara Bush Elementary School.”
She talks like she’s some bigshot, and I can’t help but smile before leaning down to steal a kiss.
“I’ll gladly give you a rematch if you want it,” I say, keeping my voice low as I draw back. “But I don’t think it’ll work out well for you.”
She scowls and pokes me in the side. “We’ll just see about that.”
With a chuckle, I tug her toward me, throwing her off balance for a second so I have to loop my arm around her waist and right her as we keep walking. She slides her hand into the back pocket of my jeans and asks me if I noticed Ryan and Julia flirting by the pool. I didn’t, because I have other things on my mind.
“They’re in love, I know it. I had to run up to our office the other day to grab my laptop, and I swear they were kissing before I opened the door. They jumped apart, looking guilty and everything.” Raelynn shakes her head before switching topics altogether. “Do you think there’s enough dessert for everyone?”
She keeps right on rambling about the fact that we don’t have a berry pie. She worries not everyone likes pecan pie, and I just listen and smile. With everything she had going on today, the ponies and sheet cakes and daisy centerpieces, she didn’t notice the extra cars in the driveway or the people bustling around back here, hanging a few hundred glass globe votives from the branches of an eighty-year-old oak tree.
The tree is hidden until we turn the corner around the side of the house and the quiet scene I planned comes into view. Up ahead, a couple dozen yards, hundreds of twinkling lights sway in the breeze beneath the tree’s canopy.
Raelynn comes to a sudden halt, drawing back.
Her jaw hangs in shock as she blinks, trying and failing to comprehend what she’s looking at.
“What is this?” she asks, turning to me, her eyes shiny with emotion. “Ben Castillo, you tell me right now—what is this?”
I grin and tug her along, not saying a word as her hand flies up to cover her mouth.
The sun hangs low in the sky as we dip beneath the tree and stop beside a small wooden bench Caleb and I have been building slowly over the last few weeks. It’s nothing too intricate. I know my talent lies on the basketball court, but it’s sturdy, and on the seat, right in the middle, we carved two letters that are only just legible.
B + R
Raelynn looks down at it and gasps in shock, though I’m not sure if it’s at the sight of my handiwork or the black velvet ring box sitting beside our initials.
I reach down for it as she takes a step back, tears swimming in her eyes.
“Little Bird,” I whisper, trying to give her the chance to recover from her shock before I continue.
I tilt my head and smile, holding up the ring box.
She shakes her head in disbelief, over and over again, convinced this can’t be real.
I open it to show her what’s inside.
The ring consists of a cluster of stones with an oval diamond wedged in the center. Round sapphires and blue topaz and smaller diamonds surround it, pressed together like a constellation from the night sky.