Jason held me close and nudged me when he realized I was crying. I smiled at him and shook my head, letting him know they were happy tears.
“They’re amazing,” he murmured into my ear.
“I know. I’m so proud of her. She’s incredible.”
Nell and Colt played two sets, coming to have drinks with Jason and me and the others in between, and then, at the end of the set, when Nell would have gotten up to leave, Colt stopped her.
“I’ve got a little surprise,” he said into the mic, turning to the side so he could face Nell, dragging the mic over closer to him. “I’ve been planning this for a while, but I’ve never felt it was the right time until now.”
“What are you doing, Colt?” Nell was clearly a little panicked, glancing from Colt to the crowd and back, fidgeting with the strings of her guitar. This was obviously not a part of the routine they’d planned.
“Watch and see,” Colt said, grinning. He strummed a few chords, tuned a few strings down a bit, and then continued, “This was the first song I wrote about us. Remember when I played this in that little dive bar? I thought about writing a new song, or using a cover, but I realized this one really has the most history. It means…just so much for us. This song has changed a bit since then, but…yeah. Here it is. ‘Falling Into You.’”
“All my life it seems
I’ve been barely keeping
My head above the water
And then I saw you
I saw all the pain
Hiding in your eyes
And I wanted
To take it away
But I had no words to heal
’Cause I had no words to heal myself
I was falling, flailing, falling into you
I can’t resist you, baby
I was falling, failing, falling into you
Your love healed me
Fate has intervened
Conspiring to draw us back together
And tangle our lives
The siren of your song
And the music of your heart is calling
Whispering my name
And I have the words to heal you
’Cause I found the words to heal myself
Now I’m falling, flailing, falling into you
I can’t resist you, baby
I am falling, flailing, falling into you
And I’m falling still
I’m falling still
Now that fate has intervened
And drawn us back together
Past the years and all the pain
Behind our eyes
Despite the ghosts trailing around us
Like a fog of haunting souls
I’m still trying hard to heal you
To take your pain and make it mine
So your beautiful eyes can smile
Into mine
Now I’m falling, flailing, falling into you
I can’t resist you, baby
I am falling, flailing, falling into you
And I’m falling still
I’m falling still
I’m falling still.”
The crowd didn’t move for several seconds, didn’t clap or cheer. They simply sat, spellbound. Before they could start, Colton set his guitar down on the stage floor, dug in his pocket, and pulled out a little black box. Nell gasped, covering her mouth with her hands, her eyes shining.
“Nell, baby.” Colton snatched the mic out of the stand holder and slid off the stool to kneel at Nell’s feet. “I said it to you a long time ago, before I ever wrote that song: I’m not just falling in love with you, Nell, I’m falling into you. That’s what the song means. Well, I’ve fallen completely. I’m into you now. All the way. I love you so, so much. More than I could ever say in words or in a song. More than a thousand years of loving could ever express.”
The crowd was dead silent. Colton flipped up the lid of the ring box with his thumb, holding it up toward Nell. Light caught the facets of a diamond, glinting bright in the dim bar. Nell slid off the stool and knelt with Colt.
“You’re supposed to stay up there until I say the words, babe,” Colt said, laughing.
The crowd laughed with him, but quickly fell silent again.
“Yes!” Nell said, the breathed word caught by the mic.
“I haven’t asked yet, babe.” Colt took the ring from the box, held Nell’s hand in his, and slid the ring onto her finger. “Nell, will you marry me?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Nell flung herself into Colton’s arms, the mic popping deafeningly as their bodies collided.
The mic was caught between their bodies, pressed so close the sound of their heartbeats pounding in overlapping rhythm.
“Now, that’s a proposal,” Jason muttered.
I turned to him and snuggled up against him, nuzzling underneath his jaw with my nose. “Ours was perfect. I would have killed you if you’d proposed in public.”
He squeezed my shoulder, and we joined the crowd in whistling and cheering as Nell and Colt stood up and kissed deeply, as if they’d momentarily forgotten they had an audience. After a few minutes, Nell and Colt squeezed through the crowd, responding as they came to the numerous pats on the back and congratulations. We chatted idly with Jason’s teammates and then slipped away, leaving Circle Bar and catching the St. Charles streetcar line. We ended up in a tiny cafe far off the beaten path, having left the streetcar and meandered through the city on foot until we found an open doorway and inviting smells.
Over coffee and beignets, Nell and I inevitably turned the discussion to wedding plans while the boys talked cars, football, and the latest developments in some show they both watched.
“You’re my maid of honor, obviously,” Nell said.
“Obviously. So when is the wedding?”
Nell shrugged, sipping her coffee. “I have no clue. I didn’t know he was planning this. I honestly had no idea. I’d been hoping, of course, and I’d dropped a couple conversational hints—”
“Nelly, sweets, your hints are like a bludgeon upside the head.” Colt chuckled as he delivered this line. “You worked it into conversation at least six times a day.”
She frowned at him. “I was not that bad.”
Colt just stared at her. “You’ve got, like, ten episodes of Say Yes to the Dress on DVR.”
Nell ducked her head. “So?”
Colt’s electric blue eyes softened. “So I took the hint.”
Jason snickered. “Got news for ya, buddy. Those episodes of Say Yes to the Dress? Only gonna get worse. Believe me. Then there’s Four Weddings, plus there’s bridesmaids’ editions of Say Yes, and…oh, yeah, don’t forget Say Yes Atlanta. Can’t miss that.”