house smelled amazing—he used all of my winter scents, cranberry, pine, all of them.”
“That’s so romantic, Mare. And so perfect for you. Nicely done, McTavish.”
“Dev helped him. I couldn’t believe it.”
“Wait, what?” I asked, taken aback that Dev would have his hand in anything other than the party we were going to plan.
“Yeah, I guess Peter was going to take me out of town, propose in a restaurant, but Dev came up with the candles and the flowers and proposing at home. He told Peter that our home was significant, and it’s where our future should begin. Officially.”
Whoa.
“Holy shit,” I blurted, staring through Maren.
“I know!” she exclaimed with a giddy laugh.
My mouth went dry as I struggled to swallow and take in this side of Dev.
“Give me that,” I said finally, grabbing her phone and scrolling once again through the pictures, my mouth agape as I processed the fact that Dev was behind it all. “Dev did this? Dev Modi?”
“Yep, who knew he was such a romantic at heart, huh?”
“Not me,” I said, feeling myself getting a little flushed.
“Lyra,” Maren said, taking her phone back and narrowing her eyes in suspicion. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Nothing, oh my God, seriously, nothing,” I said, waving her way. “No, no, no, no, no.”
“Right,” Maren said, raising her eyebrows high. “Well, I was asked to keep this to myself, but of course I’m going to tell you.”
I rolled my eyes, waving away any discretion that she may have been tempted to keep. That wasn’t our style. We told each other everything but kept all revealed secrets between us.
“We have no boundaries.”
“Exactly.”
“So, what is it?”
“Dev broke up with Trupti,” she said with optimistic doe eyes.
“What? When?” I asked, my heart pounding hard as adrenaline shot through my belly.
“Right after the ski trip. I guess he drove straight to her apartment and ended it.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah, I know. Timing is…interesting, to say the least.”
“Not necessarily,” I said, trying to wrap my mind around all of that information. “I mean, if it had anything to do with me, don’t you think I would have heard from him? I was the one who had to reach out and that was weeks after they broke up. Maybe they were having all kinds of problems.”
“They were,” Maren said with a nod. “But still, I think it’s telling. And you said yourself he was pissed at you for what you said in the elevator. Maybe he was just cooling off and wasn’t ready to talk to you yet. He accepted your apology, right?”
“Yeah,” I said, still feeling a little overwhelmed. “He did.”
“Well, anyway, I just thought you should know. Take that information for whatever it’s worth. You know where I stand.”
I laughed. “I think we all do.”
“Maybe not Dev. I never wanted to get his hopes up.”
“But with Peter and me for sure. You’ve made yourself very clear.”
“Indeed,” she said with a laugh. “C’mon, class is starting.”
“Coffee after? We can stop and get some bridal magazines. It’s time to plan.”
“I would love that.” Maren smiled so wide. She was glowing, and it made me so happy. “That could take a while. Got any lunch plans?”
“I do now.”
Later that day, after we’d spent hours paging through the magazines as we devoured Cobb salads at our favorite cafe near Maren’s shop, I made my way back to my apartment. Just as I was putting my key in the lock, my phone pinged with a text. I glanced down and saw Dev’s name, disturbed by how excited it made me to see his name on my phone.
Get a grip, Lyra. You couldn’t stand the man just a month ago.
After putting all of my things down on my kitchen counter, I allowed myself to read the full message.
-Yo. Party time! Let’s get to it.
I waited fifteen minutes before responding. Yes, I was that girl.
-Well, you don’t waste any time. They just got engaged last night.
-I’m aware. Meet me tomorrow at the bar?
-Are you sure you want to have it there? I mean…I hear the public works building might be available.
I couldn’t resist. First, he sent the staring emoji with huge eyes and I laughed to myself, knowing I was already driving him crazy.
-You’re hilarious. Seriously, though. 8:00?
-Sure, I’ll be there. Do they know we’re planning this for them?
-Not yet.
-Don’t you think we should probably talk to them first? Make sure we’re all on the same page.
-Lyra. Stop it. The location isn’t going to change and I know they’re going to love it.