“So what is it?”

“That we get married.”

“We who?” I asked, looking at him as if he had lost his mind.

“We, us,” he answered. I began laughing. “What’s so funny? I’m serious. So what do you say? Tonight at the party, we can make the engagement announcement, and since your sister Sarah’s husband is a minister, he can marry us right there at the party. Then we can whisk away to a romantic honeymoon in Italy. That’s where you always wanted to go, right? Tour the island of Capri or Venice and take a romantic ride on a gondola while a man named Gianni pours us vino under the moonlight.”

“Okay, sounds like somebody’s been watching the Travel Channel. And what about Dirty Girl? Where’s she gonna be while we’re whisking away on a romantic honeymoon?”

“Montana, I’m serious.”

“You’re serious?”

“Yes!”

“William, you’ve never been gone for two days, let alone two weeks. Who’s going to run the family business?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll get my mother to come out of retirement.”

“Your seventy-year-old mother?”

“Yeah. We can hook up her pacemaker to my power drill battery, I don’t know. So, what do you say? You, me, Venice, tonight. Is it a date?”

Staring at him standing there looking more charming than ever, if I thought for a moment he was serious, I would have taken him up on his offer in a heartbeat.

“William, though your proposal is very sweet and quite flattering, and though the bubble gum from your ring would go quite well with the ice cream and cake, you’ll be relieved to know that someone has once again beaten you to the punch, and this time once and for all, releasing you from your thirty-year obligation of playing ghetto Prince Charming, saving me from the big bad wolves of the world.”

“Montana, what are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about tonight.”

“What about tonight?”

“Tonight I will introduce my man to the entire Moore family clan.”

William stood expressionless, almost looking like he was affected by my news. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope. I’m not.”

“So, the talk about you making some kind of announcement tonight wasn’t just a rumor?”

“Nope. By nine o’clock tonight I will be transformed into the new and improved Montana Moore.” Out of nowhere William laughed, looking at a loss for words.

“What? What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why are you laughing? You think I’m crazy, right?”

“No, I think that…I think that…”

“You think what?”

“I think…that I owe you a congratulations. Congratulations.”

“You’re coming tonight, right? You have to meet him!”

“I’ll be there. For a minute or two at least.”

“Well, just don’t leave before nine o’clock. Because that’s when he gets there.”

“I’ll do my best,” he said, heading for the door.