Page 39 of There’s Trouble Brewing

Mark nodded and took another glance around the place. “Thanks to you for keeping us on track.”

Nancy called out for Emily to help, leaving Mark alonewith the West clan. They talked, mostly about the shop and the turnout and whether they had gotten used to the madness of living in Faith Valley.

By the time they finished their discussion, Mark was grateful to see the rest of the crowd was settling in, mingling, doing their thing. He figured it was the perfect time to pull Emily to a private corner of the coffee shop to talk.

Mark found Emily engaged in what looked like a hilarious conversation with the only woman in town who knew how to make a scene. “Birdie,” Mark said, giving Emily a quick, hopeful glance. She returned a smirk that was just for him. He loved that grin, he thought. He loved that it always promised something unexpected, something exactly like her.

“I was wondering where you got off to after helping Nancy,” he said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Birdie turned to him, eyes wide, smile wider, ready to announce their private business to everyone in the room. “I was just talking about you two,” Birdie said, gesturing to Emily and Mark as if they were on display. “Just saying I always knew you were perfect for each other.”

Emily’s laugh rang out, light and filling the room. Mark felt himself turning red but did his best to ignore how awkward it made him feel.

“I heard a rumor you might be making it official soon,” Birdie teased with a playful smirk. “I can hear wedding bells ringing in the near future.”

“Don’t listen to everything you hear, Birdie,” Emily chastised gently. “We have our hands full with this place.”

“It won’t be long though. Mark my words,” Birdie shouted over her shoulder.

“Small town,” Mark whispered once they were aloneagain. “Rumors travel faster than you on that bike of yours.”

“Nothing’s faster than me on my bike,” Emily stated with a wink.

Mark spotted the mayor as he stepped into the center of the room, clapping his hands to get everyone’s attention. His wife dabbed her eyes with a tissue, standing beside him.

“Oh boy,” Mark said. He heard Emily’s giggle and felt her warm hand in his.

“Looks like we’re in for a speech,” she said softly.

He couldn’t help but smile, knowing she was right.

“Thank you all for coming out today,” the mayor said in a commanding voice. “And thanks to the fine folks at the Brave Badge for putting on this event.” He looked over at Mark and Emily, gesturing for everyone else to do the same. “This community’s about sticking together when times get tough,” Cletus continued. “And we sure know a little something about that. We know about it because of people like Mark and Emily, folks who stuck around when the going got rough and ended up making things better for the rest of us. I wanted to thank them, on behalf of Faith Valley, for their contributions to our town and for showing us how to face the future.”

Everyone clapped and cheered, and Mark knew this was his time to get Emily alone before someone else interrupted.

“Got a second?” Mark asked, pulling her away from the crowd.

In a hushed corner of the coffee shop, away from the noise of the crowd and noisy neighbors, Mark pulled a ring box from his pocket. It wasn’t much more than a sliver of metal, yet it meant everything. White gold, black diamond to match her new motorcycle and leather jacket, the flashof past adventures and future promises, and his hand almost shook with anticipation.

He looked at Emily, who had never seemed more like herself, her eyes full of that easy spirit he had come to love, her eyes moving between him and the ring, wide with recognition and surprise. She knew. He didn’t even have to ask, but he did anyway. “This is for you,” he said, his voice low, breathless, and serious. It was for her, just like he was. “Will you marry me?”

Emily stood still and silent—something he wasn’t used to. Her laughter often echoed from the other side of the shop, but right there, at that moment, she was quiet. Mark tried to steady his pulse, his heart, his hands. He wasn’t sure he succeeded, but it didn’t matter because he was as sure as he had ever been about anything. She was everything to him, and he didn’t want to live one more day without knowing they would be together forever.

Emily took a step closer, and her surprise melted into something deeper. It spread across her face, making it everything he had hoped to see. “Yes, of course I’ll marry you.” And there she was—the Emily he knew and loved with all his heart, the Emily who embraced life like a present she couldn’t wait to unwrap. She was right in front of him now, and he could hardly stand the tension of the moment.

The ring slipped onto her finger perfectly. Just as he had known it would. They held each other, and it felt both new and not new. The world fell away: the mural, the shop, the crowd. All that remained was the two of them and Emily’s unstoppable laugh.

“I can’t believe how lucky I am,” she told him as she leaned up and placed a kiss on his lips.

Emily stepped back and looked at the ring, then at him, her expression wide with amazement. “It’s perfect.” Then,looking up at him, she added with a smile, “You’re perfect.”

Mark had never seen Emily smile this big. It made his head spin, and he pulled her in for another kiss—quick, joyful, too much to hold inside. “Birdie’s really not going to let us live this day down,” she said against his lips, still laughing.

“Rumors were true this time,” he said, grinning so wide he couldn’t stop. “Not just rumors anymore.”

Emily hugged him with an exuberance that caught him off guard, and he caught his breath just as quickly, breathing her in. She hugged him with a massive burst of energy, a burst of yes.

“Come on,” she said, tugging him toward the crowd. “Let’s go tell them it’s more than just talk.”

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