RONAN “Sir, I really hate to be that guy, but are you certain we will be able to finish the arrangements before she arrives?” Donald, Malachi’s personal assistant asks while handing me a Budweiser. Without turning to him, I snatch the glass bottle from his hand and crack it open with my teeth. “Do you want to lose your job, Donald?” He pales beside me. “No…not at all.” Slowly, I tilt my neck sideways to look at him, tearing my gaze away from the lake. “So, what do you have to do to make sure you still have a job by the end of today?” The smile on my face is everything but friendly. He swallows hard. “Make…make sure that everything goes according to plan, and just in time.” “Good boy.” I pat his shoulder and nod. Barely seconds after I return my attention to the lake, he sprints away, and I scoff. Where is Malachi anyway? I look around. He should be here with me. Jaxon has already played his part by helping us take Sarah out of the house. She’s on a shopping spree as we speak. After that, he will take her to get her hair and nails done. We want her to look as beautiful as she always does—but even more this time around, knowing we will keep pictures from tonight forever, and she will kill us if this doesn’t look good. I narrow my eyes at the lantern placement in front of me, brows furrowing. What on earth? That doesn’t even look right. I point to the little lady immediately. “No, not there. Move it three feet to the left.” She shifts the lantern post, looking back at me for confirmation. I nod. Better. The spacing needs to be exact—if Sarah’s going to walk down this path, I want every step lit perfectly. “And those flowers,” I point to the arrangements near the gazebo. “They’re sitting too high. Drop them six inches. She’s shorter than you think, and I need her to see over them to the lake.” The florist adjusts without argument. I don’t have time to explain twice.Donald is somewhere behind me, probably micromanaging the string lights in the vineyard. The engineer is dealing with the sound system, making sure the music hits right when she arrives. We took the playlist very seriously, and I’m hoping she loves every minute of it. It’s her second proposal. I have no idea what the first was like—not that Aaron would have done anything noteworthy—but we intend to beat it to the mud. And it has to be perfect. After our conversation with her at her place, we knew it was time to make things official. Not just to her, but to the whole world. With her permission, of course. Our engagement would be made public as soon as she wants it to. I walk the path again, checking angles. The sun’s dropping lower, painting everything gold, and in about two hours it’ll be that perfect twilight where everything looks like it’s glowing. That’s when we need her here. Not before, not after. “The dock,” I call out to Marcus, my site manager. “Is it steady?” “Tested it myself, sir. Holds 500 pounds easy.” “Test it again.” He doesn’t question it, just heads down. I’m not taking chances. The dock’s the focal point, where we’ll actually do this, and if something wobbles or creaks when I’m on one knee, I’ll lose my mind. There are about fifteen people here right now, moving like ants, and I’m tracking every single one. The catering team’s setting up the table in the back pavilion—dinner after, assuming she says yes. She will. She has to. But my gut’s still tight thinking about it. “Mr. HawkThorne?” One of the tech guys approaches, tablet in hand. “We’ve got the projection system ready for the slideshow. Want to do a test run?” “Yeah. Pull it up.” He taps the screen and suddenly there she is. Sarah's face, laughing at something off-camera, projected huge across the mist screen they’ve set up over the lake. It’s a picture from Mykonos. I know she has no idea this picture was ever taken. She’s going to be so shocked when she sees it. Standing there and looking at her, my chest does this stupid thing where it constricts so tight, my lungs cannot take in air, and my heart forcefully skips several beats at once. “That works,” I say, voice rougher than intended. “Cycle through the rest. Make sure there’s no lag between images.” The photos flip. There are drone photos from when she officially became our girlfriend (the hot air balloon proposal), a picture of Sarah sleeping in a bed with the sunlight washing over her face. Sarah and Kevin from years ago, on the day she graduated college, before everything went to shit with Aaron. We pulled from everywhere, thanks to Malachi. “Good. Queue it to start on my signal.” The guy nods and disappears. I check my watch. Ninety minutes until Jaxon “casually” brings her back from town for a “dinner.” “Ronan,” Malachi appears at my elbow, surveying everything. “We’ve got a problem.” My jaw hardens. I keep my eyes on the projected images. “There can’t be any issues today, Mal. If someone isn’t doing their job properly, have Hosea take them home.” “This isn’t about the proposal.” It comes suddenly; the ache at the back of my throat. Despite the gnawing feeling, I swallow, then turn to him. “What is it?” “I got a call from the office. We had a visitor today.” My right brow raises. “And?” He sucks in a deep breath, his shoulders tremble as he lets it out. “It was the detective.” “I see.” I look away. “She must have gotten our message then.” “I got the footage, Ronan. She didn’t seem very remorseful.” “We can fix that.” I tuck my cold fingers into the side pockets of my suit pants, before plastering a bold and reassuring smile on my face. What’s this lingering sense of dread I feel? We’re the HawkThornes, nothing and no one is too big for us to handle. “You need to breathe, Mal, today is going to be the second best day of our lives.” He seems relaxed. Knowing my brother, there’s a huge tendency he’s faking it, or he completely trusts me. I’ll say it’s a little bit of both. When he sees her, all his worries will either fade away or multiply. You never know with Malachi. “And the first will be?” My lips thin into a smirk. “The day she walks down the aisle.” He grins. “Nervous?” “No.” “Liar.” I chuckle. Obviously. We’re about to ask our little kitten to marry us. But I’m also sure. More sure than I’ve ever been about anything. “The rings?” I ask. Malachi pats his pocket. “Safe. Stop worrying.” “I’ll stop worrying when she’s wearing them.” A worker passes carrying another set of lanterns, and I redirect him toward the willow tree. The branches need light underneath. Sarah loves that tree, she spoke at length all day about how she cannot wait to sit under it with her coffee every morning she’s here. Everything here has to mean something. Has to show her we see her, know her, want her exactly as she is. “Fifteen more minutes,” I announce to everyone. “Then I want this place empty except for us three. Understood?” “Yes sir!” Malachi squeezes my shoulder. “It’s going to be perfect, Ronan.” I look out at the lake, the lights starting to glow as dusk creeps in, the whole place transforming into something that feels almost magical. “God, I hope she says yes.” I mutter underneath my breath.