Updated Apr 19, 2026 • ~11 min read
Chapter 27: The Proposal Setup
Quinn
Quinn has been living in Maplewood for exactly ten months and dating Asher officially for six when she accidentally overhears the town planning an elaborate proposal scheme that involves flash mobs, fireworks, a choreographed dance number, and somehow getting the governor involved, and she realizes that she needs to intervene immediately before Maplewood’s well-meaning enthusiasm ruins what should be a private, personal moment for the man she loves.
She’s at town hall delivering pastries for the monthly council meeting when she hears Mayor Judy’s voice carrying through the partially open conference room door: “So we’re agreed—the flash mob will perform during the Fall Festival, Asher will be in the center of town square, and then Quinn will appear through a tunnel of sparklers while everyone sings ‘Marry You’ by Bruno Mars!”
Quinn freezes in the hallway with her pastry boxes because that sounds like exactly the kind of public spectacle that would make Asher want to run screaming into the wilderness and never propose to anyone ever.
“We should also have a banner,” Mrs. Peterson’s voice adds. “Something tasteful. ‘Quinn, Will You Marry Asher?’ visible from space.”
“I can rig spotlights,” Harold Jenkins offers. “Really make it dramatic.”
“Should we really be planning Asher’s proposal for him?” Pastor David asks with his characteristic gentle concern about boundaries.
“YES!” the entire room responds in unison, and Quinn decides she needs to shut this down immediately.
She walks into the conference room with her pastry boxes and finds the entire town council plus about fifteen additional residents all clustered around a table covered in what appears to be proposal blueprints complete with diagrams, timelines, and a budget breakdown.
“No,” Quinn says firmly, setting down the pastries. “Absolutely not. Whatever you’re planning, the answer is no.”
Mayor Judy has the decency to look slightly sheepish. “Quinn! We were going to tell you—”
“You were planning a flash mob proposal involving the governor without telling me?” Quinn interrupts. “How exactly were you going to surprise me if I didn’t know when to show up?”
“We were going to coordinate with Asher—” Judy starts.
“Asher hates public attention,” Quinn says flatly. “He’s a private person. He proposed to Emma at home with just the two of them. If you force him into some elaborate public spectacle, he’ll either refuse to do it or he’ll be miserable the entire time. Is that what you want? Asher being miserable during what should be one of the happiest moments of his life?”
The room goes quiet, and Quinn can see several people reconsidering their elaborate schemes in light of Asher’s actual personality instead of what would make the best town story.
“But we want to help,” Mabel says plaintively. “We got you two together! We should get to be part of the proposal!”
“You will be,” Quinn says more gently. “Because Asher will tell people afterward and you’ll throw a celebratory party with inappropriate levels of enthusiasm. But the actual proposal? That needs to be private. Just him and me and Ruby if he wants her there. Not the whole town watching.”
“What if we just—” Harold starts.
“No flash mob,” Quinn interrupts.
“But what about—” Mrs. Peterson tries.
“No banner visible from space,” Quinn says firmly.
“We could at least—” Mayor Judy attempts.
“No coordinating with the governor,” Quinn finishes. “Listen, I love you all. You’re my family. Your meddling got Asher and me together and I’ll be forever grateful. But this is different. This is intimate. This is his choice about how and when to propose. And you need to let him do it his way.”
The room looks dejected, and Quinn feels a little guilty crushing their enthusiasm but not guilty enough to let them steamroll Asher into the most uncomfortable proposal of his life.
“However,” Quinn adds, because she can throw them a bone, “when—if—he proposes and I say yes, you can throw the most elaborate engagement party Maplewood has ever seen. Fireworks, banners, interpretive dance, the whole thing. Just let the proposal itself be private.”
The town perks up considerably at this concession, and Mayor Judy immediately starts making notes about engagement party logistics while the others debate whether they should also plan the wedding while they’re at it.
Quinn escapes town hall before she can get roped into choosing napkin colors for a wedding that hasn’t been proposed yet, and she drives to the fire station where Asher is on shift.
She finds him in the garage cleaning equipment, and he lights up when he sees her in a way that still makes her heart flutter six months into their relationship.
“This is a nice surprise,” Asher says, pulling her in for a kiss that tastes like coffee and feels like home. “What brings you by?”
“I just saved you from the most horrifying proposal scheme Maplewood has ever concocted,” Quinn says, and Asher’s expression immediately shifts to alarm.
“What did they plan?” Asher asks with dread.
“Flash mob, fireworks, choreographed dance, involvement of the governor, banner visible from space,” Quinn lists off. “All in town square during the Fall Festival with the entire population watching.”
Asher actually shudders. “That sounds like my personal nightmare.”
“I know,” Quinn says. “Which is why I shut it down. Told them the proposal needs to be private and intimate and whatever you want it to be—IF you want to propose at all which I’m absolutely not pressuring you to do,” she adds quickly. “We’re good as we are. No rush.”
Asher cups her face and kisses her thoroughly enough that Cole wolf-whistles from across the garage.
“You’re perfect,” Asher says when they break apart. “Protecting me from well-meaning town interference. Defending my right to privacy. Understanding that I need to do this my way.”
“Are you planning to propose?” Quinn asks, because she’s curious even though she tried to sound casual.
“Are you planning to say yes if I do?” Asher counters with a slight smile.
“Are you planning for this not to work?” Quinn throws back, using his words from months ago, and Asher laughs.
“Definitely planning for this to work,” Asher says seriously. “Definitely planning for forever. Definitely planning to make you officially part of our family in every way possible. But Quinn, when I propose—if I haven’t already ruined the surprise by having this conversation—I want to do it my way. Private. Meaningful. Just us.”
“Just us sounds perfect,” Quinn agrees, and she means it completely.
She leaves the fire station with her heart full and drives back to the bakery, and she spends the rest of the day serving customers and making pastries and thinking about how much her life has changed in ten months.
She left Manhattan running from heartbreak and betrayal.
She found Maplewood and a bakery and a community that adopted her immediately.
She found Asher who is grumpy and protective and loves her with an intensity that still takes her breath away.
She found Ruby who draws her as family and holds her hand and has started asking if she can call Quinn “Mama” which makes Quinn cry every single time.
She found home.
And maybe soon—if Asher follows through on the proposal he’s clearly planning—she’ll make it official.
Make this family permanent.
Make Maplewood hers forever in every legal and binding way.
That evening she’s closing the bakery when Ruby bursts in with Asher following behind looking slightly apologetic.
“Quinn!” Ruby shouts with characteristic six-year-old volume. “Can I ask you something important?”
“Of course, sweetheart,” Quinn says, setting down her cleaning cloth.
“If Daddy asks you to marry him,” Ruby says with devastating directness, “will you say yes?”
Quinn looks at Asher who has his face in his hands clearly dying of embarrassment, and she has to fight not to laugh.
“Ruby, that’s supposed to be a surprise—” Asher starts, but Ruby talks right over him.
“I want to know!” Ruby insists. “Because Daddy said he’s going to ask but only if I’m okay with it and I’m SUPER okay with it but I want to make sure YOU’RE okay with it because otherwise it’ll be awkward.”
Quinn kneels down to Ruby’s level, ignoring Asher’s mortification in favor of having this important conversation with this child she already loves like a daughter.
“If your daddy asks me to marry him,” Quinn says seriously, “I will absolutely say yes. Because I love him. And I love you. And I want to be part of your family officially. But Ruby, you understand that wouldn’t make me your mom in the way your mama was, right? Your mama will always be your mama. I’d be something different—”
“My other mama,” Ruby says simply. “I can have two. One who’s in heaven and one who’s here making me pancakes and teaching me to bake and braiding my hair. Is that okay?”
Quinn’s crying now because this child is so wise and so accepting and so ready to expand her definition of family to include Quinn in whatever way works.
“That’s absolutely okay,” Quinn says, pulling Ruby into a hug. “I would be honored to be your other mama.”
“Good,” Ruby says with satisfaction, and then she turns to Asher: “You can ask her now, Daddy. She already said yes.”
“That’s not how proposals work, sweetheart,” Asher says with a laugh. “I have to ask her properly first.”
“Then ask her!” Ruby demands with characteristic impatience.
“Not yet,” Asher says gently. “Soon. When the moment’s right. But Ruby, this needs to be private, okay? Just you and me and Quinn. Not the whole town.”
“No flash mob?” Ruby asks, and Quinn suspects she’s been eavesdropping on town planning sessions.
“Definitely no flash mob,” Asher confirms.
Ruby seems satisfied with this plan, and she bounces off to play with the bakery’s decorative displays while Asher pulls Quinn into his arms.
“Sorry about that,” Asher murmurs. “She’s been asking about marriage for weeks. Wanted to make sure she was okay with it before I actually proposed.”
“She’s okay with it,” Quinn says with a smile. “Enthusiastically okay with it. And for the record, when you do ask—however and whenever you decide to do it—the answer will be yes.”
“You can’t tell me that,” Asher protests. “It ruins the surprise!”
“There’s no surprise,” Quinn points out. “Your daughter just announced your intentions in the middle of my bakery. But Asher, I don’t need surprise. I just need you. Us. This family we’re building. The rest is just details.”
Asher kisses her with Ruby watching and probably judging their technique, and Quinn thinks that this—this imperfect, public, interrupted moment—is actually more perfect than any elaborate proposal scheme the town could have planned.
Because it’s real.
It’s them.
It’s their chaotic, beautiful, meddled-with life.
And Quinn wouldn’t change a single thing.
Later that week, Quinn catches Mayor Judy spying on Asher with what appears to be binoculars and a notebook labeled “Proposal Watch.”
“Judy, what are you doing?” Quinn asks with exasperation.
“Making sure he doesn’t chicken out!” Judy says unapologetically. “We invested a lot of time getting you two together. I’m not letting him back out now.”
“He’s not backing out,” Quinn assures her. “He’s just waiting for the right moment. On his timeline. Without town interference.”
“But what if he needs help—” Judy starts.
“He doesn’t,” Quinn interrupts firmly. “He’s a grown man who’s perfectly capable of proposing without a committee. So please, for the love of everything, give him space to do this his way.”
Judy looks like she wants to argue but then she sighs and puts away her binoculars. “Fine. But the minute you say yes, we’re throwing a party that puts your relationship celebration to shame.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Quinn says with a laugh.
She goes home to her apartment above the bakery—though she’s spending more and more nights at Asher’s house with him and Ruby—and she thinks about how her life has become this beautiful, chaotic thing where the entire town is invested in her relationship status and a six-year-old vets her marriage suitability and her boyfriend is planning a proposal while trying to avoid his meddling community.
It’s ridiculous.
It’s wonderful.
It’s home.
And when Asher finally proposes—however he chooses to do it—Quinn’s going to say yes not just to him but to all of this: the town, the meddling, the community that cares too much, the life they’re building together in this small Vermont town that gave her everything she didn’t know she needed.
She falls asleep thinking about wedding dresses and Ruby as a flower girl and Asher’s face when she says yes, and she dreams of futures that include forever.
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