"Everything," she said.

  My eyes narrowed as I studied her. "Too vague. I need more."

  "Human nature. Genuine reactions. Body language. The showman," she said.

  "And?" She was being cryptic, but I didn't believe on purpose.

  "Oh, I saw it all. There was no doubt in my mind that you were taken off guard and by surprise. Not all of the clips had a good view of your face, but even without it, your body language said it all. You were horrified and so stunned that you weren't sure first what was happening and then what to do about it."

  I nodded. She was right on with her assessment.

  "And then you got angry," she said. "It was subtle. You kept it under control. I'm proud of you for that. You took the high road. Remained classy." She reached across the table and patted my hand.

  "Thank you," I whispered. Her praise meant a lot.

  "I assume your Dex is taking it well. But if you ever need a dispassionate observer to verify that you weren't happy, or flattered by this surprise marriage proposal stunt, I'm your character witness."

  "Thank you, Grandma." I blinked back emotion, trying not to think about what I would do without her. "Dex did take it well. Is taking it well."

  "Good for him. A confident man is sexy." She waggled her eyebrows.

  We both laughed.

  "And hard to find," she added. "A man who puts up with all these ex-fiancés with good humor is solid gold. Hang on to him."

  "Yes." She was so right.

  "Alex, Wellston, Krater, whatever he's calling himself these days, has charisma and stage presence. That was obvious to anyone with eyes in their head. I have no doubt he'll be hugely successful. But then, I never doubted that.

  "You know I always liked Alex. He knows how to flirt and emote. To play on emotions. That's a powerful skill to have in any profession. We should be glad he's not a politician. The ability to sway people should never be taken lightly.

  "And it's seductive being around him. He's fun. He makes people, particularly women, feel good. You need to keep your guard up around him. Even more, his music and lyrics have power, too. There's something magical about them. They sweep you away."

  "Yes, but do you think he loves me?"

  "Or is he using you?"

  "Or deluding himself with his own illusion."

  She paused, looking back in time, going through her mental Rolodex. "That guy broke your heart in a way that I wouldn't wish on anyone. He had a hold on you that was unhealthy in its way. His wishes, dreams, and desires were always almost too important to you. Love should put the other person first, but this was beyond that. As for Alex, did he reciprocate? Was he willing to sacrifice for you?

  "If he really loves you, like he says, why didn't he come to you first in private? Because, when you get down to brass tacks, romantic love between two people is intensely personal, unique, and private. I've always said that no one else knows what goes on in a relationship except the two people involved.

  "If he had true compassion for your feelings, if he was genuine about wanting to win your heart back, or test the waters, without any benefit to himself, why would he press you in public?"

  "You don't see his proposal as a grand romantic gesture? Something to fan yourself over and swoon about? Nearly everyone else does."

  "I see a showman who's in love with the idea of love. In love with the idea of his career still. I have no doubt he thinks he wants you back, that he thinks he loves you. But the man who truly loves you is the man who puts your needs first. Who shows his love in little ways, not just grand public gestures. No, I liked Alex. But I had my doubts at the time."

  "You did? Why did you keep them to yourself?"

  "I'm not always right."

  "Just ninety-nine percent of the time."

  We both laughed, but there were tears in our eyes.

  "I firmly believe you did the right thing giving him his ring back," she said. "In private so as not to put your personal life on display. That's a nasty habit. Love is personal. But don't expect that singer to give up. He's in love with the publicity he's getting." She reached for another piece of carrot cake. "Now tell me about Dex. He took you to Nevada to meet your parents. That sounds like true love to me."

  "Oh, it was." I couldn't help remembering the fiasco. "Tot fell in love with him immediately. All dogs love him."

  Grandma smiled to herself. "That's a good sign. Animals are a good judge of character. But why did you fly down there, Shelby? Your parents will be home Friday."

  "Alex and his stunt. I wanted Mom and Dad to meet Dex and see for themselves how serious I am about him."

  "Serious enough to marry him, child?" She studied me with her piercing gaze.

  I was never able to lie to her. So I remained quiet.

  "That's what I thought," she said, more to herself than me. "He's bound to ask you sooner or later. No man can put up with all these former fiancés for long and not stake a claim. When he does, I know you'll say yes. You're getting older, wiser, smarter. You have more life experience. You'll say yes not because you can't say no, but because you love him. But the real question is whether you'll actually walk down the aisle and say I do. Life with a billionaire will have its challenges."

  I couldn't answer.

  She reached for my hand again and gave it a big squeeze. "For the right man, you'll walk across coals. These are your coals. I know you'll do it. I just hope I'm still around to see it."

  Elephant number two had just raised its ugly trunk.

  "You know I'll be there cheering you on. Giving you strength. There's nothing to fear in love. It's life's greatest joy." She squeezed my hand again. "Now tell me about those new puppies of yours. They're easy to love." She winked. "And show me some pictures!"

  Chapter Fourteen

  You Can't Hurry Love

  Shelby

  Thursday

  I didn't know how I got to Thursday without running into my friends Staci and Zander. It wasn't exactly like I'd been avoiding them. But I hadn't sought them out, either. We frequented so many of the same places—the local coffee shop with the velvet foam and delicious homemade raspberry oat bars, Soundview Hamburgers, and the local art shop where I bought so many hand-lettering supplies.

  Staci and Zander co-owned and ran a used bridal boutique—or vintage, as some say—in West Seattle not far from me. They'd had a booth at the bridal fair too, but it had been far from mine. Too far to get an up-close look at Alex stuffing his ring onto my finger or his tongue down my throat. They must have been dying of curiosity to know what had happened after Alex carted me off. Usually, they would have found some excuse to get the details. But they'd been surprisingly quiet.

  Staci had always loved Alex. Even though she was old enough to be Alex's mother, she flirted with him shamelessly when we were dating, and he'd been working the local wedding circuit. Zander, who was a retired drag queen famous in local dinner theater, had not been as impressed. He thought that Alex had talent, true, but Zander had warned me that the fire of fame could destroy the truest heart. He'd seen it many times before in all its iterations. And it seemed like he'd been right.

  But now Staci had texted to ask me to stop by the shop and drop off an example of some of my wedding stickers and work. They had a client who was interested in my services and wanted samples. Color me cautious. But I obliged anyway, texting that I was on my way.

  When I walked cautiously into the boutique, I was ambushed and outnumbered. Zander sat in a chair on the small stage platform in front of the three-way full-length dress-viewing mirror. He was dressed in full drag, knees crossed, arms crossed, drumming his lovely long fingernails against his crossed arms. Staci stood behind him, hand on one of his shoulders. Their wedding photographer friend, Bernie, stood next to them. I was in deep trouble.

  I gave a friendly half wave. "Hey, friends. Waiting for a bride to come out?" I raised my brow hopefully.

  "You could put it that way." Zander shook his finger at me. "I can't believe we had to drag you in here. We've been waiting all week for you to stop by voluntarily and tell us what in the world is going on with Alex."

  "We deserve the truth," Staci said, sounding peeved. "We were too far away at the fair to get a good look at the action. You know Alex stopped by here on Monday after he'd been to see you."

  "And gave us his side of the story," Zander said.

  Uh-oh. How dare he?

  "He told us to give you a message—he's still in love with you and will fight for you until the end." Staci crossed her arms.

  Bernie remained mute. But that was pretty much like him. He wasn't a big talker.

  "If Alex stopped by, there's no need for me to explain," I said. "Assuming he told you the truth—I gave him back his ring backstage and told him it's over. You could also find the truth on my website, where I state my undying devotion to Dex."

  "Well, girl," Staci said. "We might believe that. But something is up. Alex was all worked up that Dex's mom won the grand door prize, the all-inclusive wedding package—"

  "I told you we should have donated more than a garter to that," Zander said.

  "I offered a photography package, but they had too many photographers. My offer wasn't selected," Bernie said.

  "Alex is heartbroken." Zander rolled his eyes. "If you can believe him. He's as much a showman as I am. You know I don't even believe everything I say to myself."

  "Sage advice," Staci said.

  "Alex said he will refuse to sing at your wedding to that billionaire," Zander said.

  "I can see his point," Bernie said. "A billionaire could afford his own singer."

  "He's contractually obligated," Staci said. "It was one of the conditions to get the mystery guest gig when Michael Bublé had to cancel. There were several candidates, you know. He had to make concessions to get it."

  I hadn't realized it was that competitive.

  "I can't believe Dex's mom would win and ace us all out of getting to do your wedding," Staci said. "What was she even doing at the fair?"

  "She was there with a friend." I forced myself to smile. "Dex says she has a lucky streak."

  "Hmph." Bernie crossed his arms. "A billionaire's wedding would be a good gig." He gave me narrow eyes.

  Zander rose to his feet, stretching to all six-foot-plus inches, and his four-inch heels. And he was on the stage. It was like looking up at a gorgeous giant. He'd calculated this for maximum intimidation. That was beneath him. "Are you getting married?"

  "No." That much was truthful. It paid to be precise with your questions.

  "Not to Alex?"

  "Nope. Definitely not."

  "And not to Dex?" Zander asked.

  "Not at this time, no."

  "Then who is the wedding package for?" Zander asked. "It's non-transferrable."

  I shrugged. "Mrs. R tried to give it back. But they told her it was against contest rules to draw again. She had thought that under the slim chance she won, she could give the prize to her friend's daughter. She hadn't realized it wasn't transferable."

  "Oh, that slimy prize committee," Staci said. "I knew something was up when Wilson's donated such an expensive prize to the package. They never intended to give it out."

  "Are you saying they rigged the drawing?" Bernie didn't look particularly scandalized.

  "I wouldn't put it past them, sure," Staci said. "Look at all the free publicity they got, and now it's not going to cost them a penny."

  "Though they surely would have wanted to do a billionaire's wedding. The free publicity from that would be incalculable compared to the prize they were offering." Staci shook her head.

  "How long is the prize good for?" Zander asked the crowd in general.

  I answered, "Six months."

  Three pairs of eyes stared at me. Uh-oh.

  "That's fantastic, then." Zander tossed a lock of hair over his shoulder. "You've only been dating Dex a few months, but I can tell—he's the one."

  "He'll ask you to marry him eventually," Staci said.

  "How soon, who knows?" Zander rubbed his hands together. "He doesn't appear to be in any hurry."

  "No hurry at all," Staci said. "But when he does…"

  "Months if not years from now," Zander said.

  "We, your good friends in the wedding business, will be here for you," Staci said.

  "Yes, I see where you're going with this," Bernie said. "Wear out the clock. Good plan. Gets Alex off the hook, too. Everyone's happy."

  "Except Alex, poor guy," Staci said. "He doesn't have to sing at Shelby's wedding, but he loses her."

  "In that scenario, yes," Bernie said. "But we're assuming Dex wins. Could be that Alex gets her heart in the end. Doing the wedding of a famous singer could be just as good for us."

  Staci nodded. "Yes, I would think so. And Zander might even get to sing, too. This could be a win-win for us."

  Following their conversation was like watching a ping-pong game.

  They all turned to me again.

  "You've never used us for one of your weddings. I think it's about time," Zander said.

  "We'll do a beautiful job," Staci said. "And we deserve the shot. It was Zander playing fairy godmother and getting you that dress for the Hudson/Kangley wedding that caught Dex's eye and led to this."

  "Unless she chooses Alex," Bernie said.

  "In which case, we held her hand when she dumped him the first time," Staci said. "And helped her pick up the pieces. And talked him off the ledge when he was in here a few days ago."

  "I hope you didn't give him hope," I said, feeling suddenly terrified.

  "I'm not sure we gave him hope," Zander said. "Not much, anyway. Though Staci would gladly take him off your hands."

  "Zan!" Staci air-slapped at him, looking flustered.

  "All right," I said. "If that's all? I'll just leave these samples for your client. If there is a client and this wasn't just false pretenses."

  "Would we do that?" Staci asked.

  I took that as a rhetorical question. "I have to be going." I turned toward the exit.

  "Okay. Thanks for stopping by. We'll be watching your premiere on Gold Digger this Saturday! We can hardly wait. Have fun at that party you're planning. Hope that new skirt works out for you."

  As I waved and walked out the door, all I could think was shoot, shoot, shoot! Once they saw that I was engaged to Dex for real, all bets were off. I would be under pressure both to book the wedding and to postpone it. From different factions.

  What had Dex and I been thinking? Getting engaged was definitely more complicated than I had ever imagined it would be.

  Chapter Fifteen

  A Magic Moment

  Shelby

  Saturday

  The new season of Gold Digger was scheduled to drop promptly at eight in the evening our time. All ten hour-long episodes. Obviously, we couldn't expect guests to stay ten hours through the night to watch the entire season. And skipping just to the proposal episode would leave people confused. They needed our backstory and the bits of our story sprinkled throughout the season. So Luke had made an edited version of the entire season, with just our highlights, for us to show our guests. He said it was his gift to us. It was basically just our storyline among the many of the show. It ran forty-six minutes, according to Luke.

  I would have liked to have final approval of it. Or a preview at the very least. But Luke resisted. It would be posted to a private link at exactly the time the new season dropped. He was paranoid that word would get out. He was certain that with all of our relationship drama, and the way women loved Jesse, he had a hit season on his hands. Already the show was getting more buzz than any previous season. There was no way he was taking a chance at jeopardizing any of that.

  In addition, Dex and I had agreed to show the video I'd had my wedding videographer make for him of the casino security footage from when we first met, and he helped me "escape" Jesse. In fact, that was our preview attraction, scheduled for a showtime of seven forty-five. It was our version of "coming attractions." I liked the double entendre of "coming attractions." Dex and I certainly had an attraction that was off the charts.

  Dex's home theater could seat twenty-five in individual built-in theater seats, but up to fifty by using the extra bench seats and throwing cushions on the floor.

  Since it was August first, we had debated having an outdoor movie experience. But the evening was supposed to be hot and the days were still long. It would be well after eight by the time it was dark enough for an appealing outdoor movie experience.

  We were determined that our family and friends would get the news at the stroke of eight at the same exact time as the general public got the first season. We didn't want our loved ones hearing the news of our engagement—via text or social media—from anyone else. Already reviewers who'd had early access were champing at the bit to post their reviews, complete with spoilers. The news would be out immediately. Dex and his team were keeping a sharp eye on Puppy Love stock. We were, of course, hoping most people would be team Dex over team Jesse, as far as winning my affection.

  That was a tall order given how popular Jesse was. But Dex had his own following.

  In the end, we decided our guests would be more comfortable inside in the air conditioning and darkened theater with surround sound. Those big machines and mining disasters would resound powerfully on Dex's sound system. And the whoomp, whoomp, whoomp of the copter as Dex swooped in? Pure, powerful, seat-shaking magic. We chose the home theater.

  But the great outdoors, the balmy temperatures, the summer air, and the view from the back patio held their allures. We decided to host an outdoor cocktail hour before showtime. It featured a selection of snacks, enough to make a meal out of without much effort.

  Actually, cocktail hour and socializing would be served both indoors and outdoors in an easy flow. Dex's dining room had motorized walls of glass that could be opened or closed with the push of button. It was a beautiful feature that we were unable to use most of the year. But tonight, we would let the inside out and the outside in in easy communion. It was symbolic, really, letting what we'd been holding in out for all to see. Letting the outside world into our intimate personal relationship. I'd been vulnerable on the show, as had Dex and Jesse.