Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger (37 page)

He stopped too, in front of me, and knelt before me. “I don’t have a ring, obviously”—he took my left hand and kissed my ring finger—“but if you’ll marry me, I’ll spend the rest of my life doing whatever it takes to make you happy.”

The idea thrilled me. No two ways about it.
Thrilled.
Deep inside, I knew this was the right choice. It always had been. “Okay. Fine!” I said, my voice contentious but my heart filled. “Whatever you say, apparently you’re
always
the one who knows best.”

He smiled. I loved his smile. “I am this time.” He stood up and took me in his arms and kissed me. And it was as if all vestiges of Burke and the past had disappeared. Like a haunting smudged away.

“You better be,” I said with a smile.

“I did do one thing I think you’ll like, though,” he said, a little too casually.

I looked at him, but he wasn’t looking at me. “What’s that?”

“Bought the farm.”

I frowned.

He glanced at me. “Literally. Grace Farms.”

I stopped again and gaped. “
How?
”

He’d bought the farm. He owned the farm. He wanted to marry me. I wanted to marry him. I was going to have the life I’d dreamed of after all.

“Come
on
,” he said, with that smile I knew and loved so well. “The ‘Wedding March’ is starting.”

Goes to show, you never know. As Dottie would say, we’d worked out our demons. Not quite in the way I would have expected, and I’ll never know if it was the way
she
expected, but she didn’t look all that surprised when we made our announcement a week later.

Her wedding was perfect, by the way. Went off without a hitch. True to his word, for once, Burke kept his mouth shut.

The reception was beautiful too. Glenn and his staff did a great job, not surprisingly.

But the best moment of the reception, for me, came at the end when Frank and I were leaving together and went to say good-bye to Glenn.

He handed me a small red envelope and said, “Your final task.”

“Oh, no.” I laughed. “How embarrassing is it going to be?”

He smiled. “I think you can handle it.” He winked.

On our way out, Frank asked, “What was that about?”

I shrugged. “Let’s see.” I stopped and opened the envelope, then took out the familiar little red card. It said:

Quinn,

You did it. You tried every one of my assignments and did a great job with most of them (though there were a few notable exceptions). And I can see your life has changed. Maybe not in the direction we both thought it might originally but you’re definitely moving forward now, in a way you’ve needed to for a long time.

So your final assignment is a simple one but it’s going to take forever: be happy. No matter what it takes. No matter how embarrassing it might be sometimes, no matter who or what you might have to forgive, no matter how hideous the color of the hat that makes you smile, be happy.

I’ll be watching you and giving you a boatload of shit if you fail. And next time, Day Drunk Day will seem like a cakewalk compared to what I’ll have you do.

Love always,

Glenn

P.S.
Marry the guy, would you? The right one this time. And soon! These old fogies aren’t going to eat even half the food I prepared! Besides, you suck at being single and bitter …

Also by Beth Harbison

Shoe Addicts Anonymous

Secrets of a Shoe Addict

Hope in a Jar

Thin, Rich, Pretty

Always Something There to Remind Me

When in Doubt, Add Butter

About the Author

BETH HARBISON
is the
New York Times
bestselling author of
When in Doubt, Add Butter; Always Something There to Remind Me; Thin, Rich, Pretty; Hope in a Jar; Secrets of a Shoe Addict;
and
Shoe Addicts Anonymous
. She grew up in Potomac, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C., and now divides her time between that suburb and a quiet home on the Eastern Shore. Visit
www.bethharbison.com
.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

CHOSE THE WRONG GUY, GAVE HIM THE WRONG FINGER.
Copyright © 2013 by Beth Harbison. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

Cover photograph by Jen Huang

Hand lettering © Bryn Chernoff / Paperfinger LLC

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Harbison, Elizabeth M.

    Chose the wrong guy, gave him the wrong finger / Beth Harbison.—First U.S. Edition.

            pages cm

    ISBN 978-0-312-59913-3 (hardcover)

    ISBN 978-1-250-03190-7 (e-book)

   1.  Triangles (Interpersonal relations)—Fiction.   2.  Love stories.   I.  Title.

    PS3558.A564C48 2013

    813'.54—dc23

2013009104

e-ISBN 9781250031907

First Edition: July 2013