"Uhm, yeah," he admitted, feeling a little caught. He hadn't really wanted to drop too many hints about his plans for the upcoming season, because it all still hinged on her father saying yes, which was far from a guarantee. What if Zelda pieced it all together and got her hopes up and then he had to disappoint her? Or worse, much worse — what if she pieced it all together and got her hopes up and that all happened before he managed to tell her about Jo, and then she decided she didn't want to marry him after all?

"That's, uhm — that's the plan, anyway," he clarified quickly. "It's not really — nothing's really official, yet. Lots of, uhm —" He should have stopped talking already, he thought, because he didn't really have anything else to say and Zelda was going to think he was being intentionally vague, and this conversation did not move him any closer to the confession he was trying to make.

"— anyway," he said, after a beat. "We'll see what happens."