Page 96 of Save Me

“That I do,” he said before kissing her.

“Anyway…” Ryleigh huffed.

“I have your great-grandmother’s engagement ring,” Kate explained. “It’s gorgeous and I always told Liam that he could have it some day when he was ready to propose if he wanted it. He came to the house last week and asked if he could see it, and we all agreed that it would be perfect for Tessa.”

“Youallagreed? Who’s all?”

“Me, your father, and Ronan,” she told them.

“If you knew he was going to propose, why were you looking for him?” Ari asked.

“I didn’t realize the time. I thought they would leave when we moved everyone over to the pub.” She shrugged. “I guess he’s impatient.”

“Good for them,” Ryleigh said, glancing over at Ryker again. It was too soon to even think about things like proposals and getting married, but there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she wanted that with him.

Now definitely wasn’t the time, though. Between the opening of the parlor and all the speaking engagements and conventions he was going to do appearances at in the next nine months, she knew life was going to be a little hectic. And yet…if he asked her to marry him today, she’d do it.

And there was no way she was sharing that information with anyone.

Especially her sister, apparently was quite the blabbermouth.

Speaking of…

Arianna came around to stand next to her. “Ryker looks really happy.”

Nodding, she agreed. “He should. This was a big accomplishment for him.”

“I think you have a lot to do with it too. I mean…he’s been doing the whole tattooing thing for a long time, so part of this is just second nature. But the look of total peace and contentment on his face? That’s all you.”

Ryleigh felt herself blush.

“And you look the same, so I just think it’s awesome.”

“Oh!” Kate cried out. “Look! Fallon’s here! Fallon! Over here!”

Turning her head slightly, Arianna whispered in her ear, “Um…not that I don’t love Fallon, but…why is she here? Did you invite her?”

“I didn’t. This wasn’t supposed to be a Donovan family thing.” Moving over to her mother, Ryleigh then whispered, “Mom, what is Fallon doing here? She wasn’t on the list.”

Her mother frowned at her. “Please, Fallon is like family to us and I already got the okay from both Ryker and Billie. She was only going to be in town for the weekend and heard all about Ryker finally opening the parlor and she wanted to see. What’s the big deal?”

“Normally, I’d say nothing. But Jamie’s walking around and I don’t want a scene!”

“No one's going to make a scene,” her mother assured her, but as soon as Fallon walked over and hugged them all, Jamie stormed through the crowd and he did not look happy.

“Uh-oh…”

“Wasn’t there a guest list in place?” he asked. “Does Ryker have security so party crashers can be escorted out?”

Fallon gave him a sweet smile. “Areyoulooking to be escorted out? Because I’m on the list.”

“The Dean’s List,” Kate chimed in. “We’re all so proud of you, Fallon! Just a few more months until graduation, right?”

She nodded. “It can’t get here fast enough! I’ve been putting out resumes all over the country and I can’t wait to figure out where I’m going. It’s kind of exciting.” Then she looked over at Ryleigh. “But who cares about all that, right?”

“I know I don’t,” Jamie murmured, but no one was paying attention.

“This place is amazing! It’s so much more…elegant than I imagined it would be!” she went on.

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