messed up. All she cared about was the wonderful man gazing up at her with love and eternity shining in his eyes.
“Summer Leigh Warren, I adore you.”
He kissed her hand and let it go to reach into his pocket. Holding up a ring she couldn’t see through her tears, he asked the big question.
“Sunshine girl, will you marry me?”
Nodding, she gasped for breath as her emotions broke. He slid the ring on. It was a perfect fit. He kissed it to seal the deal.
“This was my mother’s ring,” he told her with hushed reverence. “She’d want you to have it.”
He started to get up, but she sank to her knees and fell into his arms.
They knelt, clinging to each other. She cried. So did he.
What they almost lost no longer haunted her. The fates had a little fun at their expense, but they came through it with their love intact and a glorious future opening up before them.
He helped her up like a gentleman, shared his handkerchief, and then turned to the people watching.
“She said yes. Can you believe it?”
“Actually, Arnie,” Dottie chirped in a gleefully snarky tone. “There wasn’t a yes. She nodded, and you assumed.”
Summer rocked back in her heels and exploded with laughter. “She’s right! Bwah ha ha!”
“Woman,” Arnie playfully snarled, “what have you to say?”
“Yes,” she hooted. “Y-e-s.”
He picked her up. Her dress billowed around them as he swung her.
Dottie filmed the whole thing.
Reed brought the baby to them. He congratulated her with a warm hug and a kiss. He soberly shook Arnie’s hand. “Well done.”
“This calls for champagne,” Senior announced with obvious glee. He popped the cork on the ginormous bottle and filled the glasses.
“I suppose a few sips won’t hurt,” she said out loud.
Arnie smiled into her eyes. “By the way, the champagne?”
She nodded. “Yeah?”
“I got the magnum bottle in your honor.”
Oh yeah, they were definitely headed for a custom-made happily ever after.
Stan made the first toast. “To Summer and Arnie. May your love remain as beautiful as the baby girl you made together, and may your lives be forever filled with laughter, good times, and family.”
“Seconded,” Reed said.
As a chorus of good wishes floated into the air on a glorious winter evening in Montecito, Summer, Arnie, and Arianne stepped into the future surrounded by love and family.
It couldn’t get any better than this.
The End.
Epilogue
Arnie looked up when Dottie came through the door lugging a large binder and dragging a rolling file cart behind her. He was in the family room, looking at a formal business plan for Aloha Designs. A real one this time. Not something made up on the spur-of-the-moment for an undercover scheme.
She stomped up to him and slammed the binder onto the game table where he and Summer had taken to playing cards with Darnell Senior and his therapist-gal pal, Bethany.
Nine days had passed since he and Summer got engaged. Nine fantastic, blissful days. Every morning, he woke up excited to meet a new day, and each night, he had the unbelievable good fortune to fall asleep with the love of his life, safe in his arms. And Arianne. My god. She was everything to them. He’d never forget these special days when the rest of the world was on hold. The family bonding time they were enjoying was precious.
But the hold was coming to an end—or rather a screeching halt, all because he absolutely insisted they marry immediately. And when he demanded the wedding take place straightaway, he wasn’t fucking kidding.
“What are you wearing?” he asked her.
“It’s a jumpsuit,” she bit back. “Straight from your aunt’s shop.”
Yesterday, on a whim, Dottie whisked Summer off to Los Angeles for a shopping spree. Giving Quickie access to a charter helicopter was asking for trouble. She took gleeful delight in it and made the most of the pricey perk.
He scratched his nose and canted slightly to the left for a better view. What she usually wore wasn’t anything close to what she had on. It wasn’t so much the wide-legged, long-sleeve slinky jumpsuit or the elaborate metal belt; it was the open-toed platform shoes. Dottie rolled for comfort and practicality. She was far likelier to rock a pair of Adidas or even tactical boots than designer-looking footwear.
“I thought the plan was shopping on Rodeo Drive.”
“Well, that was my preference, but your fiancée declared most of what we found to be old-school. In case you’ve forgotten, your relationship doesn’t sink to cradle-robbing, but you can’t pretend a playground wasn’t involved.”