Page 101 of Missing

It took all of five seconds after they walked in for Mary to shriek with joy. I watched as she lifted Emily’s left hand, then pulled her into a hug.

Jamie proposed! Meg and I shared a look before jumping up and running to join the group surrounding the happy couple. Chase was close on my heels.

Emily practically glowed, and Jamie’s smile was so big it looked like it might actually hurt.

Jamie was wearing his cowboy costume and had surprised Emily with a matching cowgirl costume. They looked like they could be models in a magazine, with their big smiles, bright eyes, and athletic bodies.

“Well, I guess this is a good reason for skipping pack mule duties,” Mary said before hugging Jamie. When she playfully punched him, he rubbed his shoulder, feigning pain, as he asked, “What was that for?”

“For not telling me.” Her smile was far too big for anyone to believe she was upset.

“Dad knew.” Jamie didn’t hesitate to throw John under the bus so his mom wouldn’t give him any more shit.

John stepped back so he was out of Mary’s reach and grinned. Mary would give him hell later, not caring that she loved the surprise. From the corner of my eye, I saw Jack step out of Meg’s reach.

She saw it too. “You knew, didn’t you?” She pointed at him, closing the distance.

“I, uh, Jamie swore us to secrecy.” He shrugged.

It turns out the male half of our tight-knit group knew and had somehow managed to keep Jamie’s secret.

“Does this mean you’re moving in with us?” Meg asked. After a lifetime of feeling alone and unloved, Meg was thrilled to have a family and couldn’t wait to officially call Emily her sister.

When Mary asked Jamie how he proposed, he looked at Doug and said, “I didn’t yell it out while waiting in line for a banana split, but I think it was still a surprise.”

Everyone laughed. Jokes about Doug’s accidental proposal wouldn’t be going away anytime soon. He didn’t let it get to him, instead he said, “Good one, Sheppard.”

Emily swatted Jamie in the rib cage with the back of her hand.

“He took me to The Carriage House. There was a chilled bottle of champagne on a table at the foot of the rose petal decorated bed.” She looked at Jamie and smiled. “When I turned around, he was on one knee holding the ring box.”

She showed off her 2-carat oval diamond ring, set on a thin gold band. The oval shape was perfect for her long fingers.

“You did good, son.” John shook Jamie’s hand and clapped him on the back.

“Very good.” Mary’s smile was almost as big as Emily’s. Almost.

“After I said yes, we ordered room service and…” She trailed off.

“Relaxed in our room.” Jamie finished, with a grin.

Guests started to arrive, breaking up our celebration. Before long, Grannie’s was filled with locals. Some came in costume, some in uniform, while others wore their normal attire. Amber and I were busy at the raffle table, with Meg giving us occasional breaks. Doug shared bar duties with Jamie, Jack, and AJ. Two of them manned the bar, while the other two re-stocked as needed, or mingled when they could.

Emily’s best friend Ashley arrived a little while later, wearing a skin-tight red she-devil costume, which was borderline not family friendly.Oh, to be young again. I happened to be looking at the bar and laughed when AJ’s eyes almost popped out of his head once he saw her.

Ashley was too busy squealing and hugging Emily and Jamie to notice AJ drooling over her. Ashley pulled Emily off into a corner and they spent the next ten minutes in animated conversation. I could only assume Emily was giving Ashley all the details of her proposal.

As the evening wore on, Chase built up his courage to walk around. The temptation to join his favorite men, and talk to the uniformed police officers, was stronger than his nervousness.

The fundraiser was in full swing. People were dancing, chatting, and filling the raffle jars with blue tickets. Chase danced with Meg, or at least he tried to. He was having trouble keeping up with the steps to the line dance, but it wasn’t stopping him from having fun.

I looked over at the bar to see Doug watching Chase. He had a soft smile on his ruggedly handsome face, and his steel blue eyes were filled with love.If things work out, he’ll be Chase’s stepdad.

Not if, when.Because I didn’t see a way we wouldn’t work out for the long haul.

After the song ended, Doug and Jamie were relieved of bar duty. Doug scooped Chase up in his arms and brought mygiggling, squirming child to the raffle table. “Chase thinks we should dance.”

“Does he now?” I couldn’t hold back my huge, goofy smile.

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