I set her down and keep her close as I say, “I’d like to thank my brother, who couldn’t be here tonight, for being the best bartender I know. Without him, we would have forgotten about the sweet-and-sour mixture, which would have destroyed the overall flavor.” I press my hand to my chest. “I would also like to thank my beautiful wife for being the prickly pear in this relationship. Like I always say to her, she’s prickly, but sweet like a pear. Babe, do you have any words?” I gesture to her to take the floor, and for a second, I think she’s going to back down, but to my surprise, she steps up.

“Huge shout-out to our first date, where we got drunk off margaritas and rode the subway all the way to Coney Island and back. I knew that night that if this man would ride on a subway with me for thirty-one stops while street performers did the Macarena in front of us, then he was a keeper.”

I lean in and say, “Our first dance was the Macarena.”

Scottie waves her hand. “Thank you and good night.”

Duncan, the good man that he is out of all of them, claps while we walk back to our seats.

“Well, that ends the competition portion of our night. You’re free to go back to your cabins or test out the drinks,” Sanders says. “As for Scottie and Wilder, you come with me.”

Time to collect the prize.

Hand in hand, we follow Sanders out of the dining hall area.

“Easily, that was the best drink out of all of them,” Sanders says. “The smoke one I think is going to sit with me for a while. I think it killed some of my taste buds.”

Yikes.

“Thank you,” Scottie says. “We wanted to keep it simple but also reflect our relationship. We might have been prickly when we got here, but I think we’re finding the sweet now.”

“I think you are too,” Sanders says, leading us out by the lake and into the forest, where there is a blanket set up, some wine, and chocolates. “This is your prize. An evening by the lake.” He winks at us. “Have fun.”

He takes off, leaving us alone in a partially secluded area.

“Well, would you look at this,” I say, taking in the spread. “And look, a present as well.”

“What do you think is in it?”

“Only one way to find out,” I say as I take her down to the blanket that’s plusher than I thought it was going to be. I hand her the gift, and she opens it.

We both look in the box at the same time, and I smirk while she gasps.