Page 149 of Shortcake
“Ummmm, I think I’m going to choose the hard way!” I shouted. “What is the warrant for?”
The other man cleared his throat, reading off the sheet. “It says here that you left a tab unpaid on October 31, 2019 at a certain Chillerz bar in Manhattan.”
“I…”
My words choked. Oh shit. Did Conrad and I not pay that bill years ago? “I didn’t pay that bill? How much could it have been? Twenty bucks? I’ll pay it now! I had no idea, I swear.”
“That’s not how it works ma’am. You’re going to have to come with us. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say…”
I swear I basically blacked out for the rest of my Miranda Rights.
He was more gentle than I expected him to be as he handcuffed my wrists behind my back. “What about my family?” I shrieked as he directed me down the concourse. “My boyfriend’s here in the airport. Can you page him!?”
Wait.Conrad. Conrad was a cop here in New York. Maybe he could get me out of this!
“He’s a cop!” I said, hopping and trying to look back at my arresting officer. “He was actually an NYPD officer for years. You may know him! Conrad Meyer! Maybe he can—”
“Ma’am are you trying to bribe us?”
“No! Oh my God,no! This has been a total misunderstanding. Can you read the charges again?”
With a sigh, he stopped walking and the partner who at least had thought to grab my luggage for me, pulled the sheet out of his pocket once more. “It says here, failure to pay tab from Chillerz bar. And the larger infraction… grand theft cardio.”
“Grand theft!” I repeated. “Grand theft… wait. Grand theftcardio?”
“That’s right,” the officer said. “Grand theft cardio for stealing the heart of one Conrad Meyer.”
My face went hot as I turned slowly to find Conrad walking casually up to me, a smug grin on his face. “Thanks Graham,” Conrad said. “I can take it from here.”
“Are you serious?” I hissed at him, but I couldn’t help the smile on my face.
Then slowly, without saying a word, he sank to one knee in front of me.
Half-relieved, half-furious, I wanted to laugh and cry all at once.
His grin widened. “You always said you wanted a big dramatic proposal in an airport, right?”
From his pocket, he pulled out a small velvet box and opened it. I barely even looked at the ring, instead, not taking my eyes off of Conrad’s. I didn’t want to miss a single second of this moment. The ring itself could have been a Ringpop for all I cared.
“Addison Evans, on paper, you and I shouldn’t work. You’re wild and free. I’m tame and restrained. And yet, despite our differences, you stole my heart the moment I first saw you in Chillerz. I once said to you that I think my Mom sent you to complete our family. Well, this is me… asking you to officially beours.”
On cue, a beaming Harper stepped forward from the crowd that had formed around us and she dropped to her knees beside her dad. “When I was little, I used to be terrified of the idea of my dad meeting a woman and getting married. I thought it meant he would love me less or no longer have time for me. But thenyoucame along. And somehow, he and I grew closer. It was like you being in our lives healed some part of us we didn’t even know was broken. In the last year, you’ve not only become my best friend… you’ve become the mom I never had.”
My lungs burned with the heat of a forest fire. My heart pounded. Tears streaked my face.
“Will you marry us, Addy?” Harper and Conrad asked together.
Cue my full on ugly cry.
“Yes,” I cried. “I love you both so much! Now take these handcuffs off of me so we can make it official!”
Behind me, Officer Graham chuckled and fiddled with the handcuffs. “They’re not even my real cuffs,” he said. “You could have taken them off yourself at any time.”
“I’ll deal withyoulater.” Smiling, I sent him a playful scowl. “I take it you used to work with Conrad?”
He tipped his hat and stepped back, taking the cuffs with him.
I sniffed back the tears and instead of letting them stand to meet me, I fell to my knees as well in front of them and managed to speak through the tight emotions clogging my throat.
