“So ready. You are going to give me one of your special massages, right? I worked very, very hard today.”
“Count on it. Hey, what’s that?” He pointed to a small wrapped package on the counter.
“I don’t know. Someone must have left it.”
“Check it out. Maybe it’s got a name on it or something.”
Tina picked up the box and frowned. “It’s addressed to me.”
“Huh. I guess someone got you a present to celebrate your grand opening.”
“But who?” She turned it around in her hands. “It doesn’t say who it’s from.”
“Maybe you should open it and find out.”
Her brows drew together. “I don’t know. Aren’t you the one who told me never to open any unmarked packages?”
Shit, he’d forgotten about that. It was a cautionary warning he’d issued months earlier after Obermacher Farms was sold. Unsurprisingly, Anthony Tollino had not been pleased to discover he’d been outbid by EHI. Plus, there were a few window lickers—a term of Tina’s Doc had become quite fond of—like Eddie Schweikert, running around.
Not Eddie himself though. Not too long ago, he had been picked up in the next county on a DUI, but only after he’d sideswiped several vehicles, including one driven by the daughter of the state attorney general. After he failed a sobriety test and resisted arrest, the police discovered he had been driving with a suspended license and no insurance. They hadn’t been too happy about the unregistered guns they found in the back of his truck either.
Eddie’s cousin, Joe Eisenheiser, was keeping a low profile these days, too. That might have had something to do with the fact that Joe’s truck had somehow taken a second tumble down the mountainside.
“Right,” Doc said to Tina. “Better give it to me then.”
She didn’t, narrowing her eyes at him instead. “Why? Are you less likely to be harmed than me?”
He made a halfhearted attempt to reach for it, but she spun away and pulled on the ribbon. Had he not bought and wrapped the present himself, that would have bothered him. As it was, he loved and hated that she was as protective of him as he was of her.
“Well? What is it?” he asked.
She pulled out something and regarded it with interest. “It’s another box in the shape of a peach. Clever.”
He thought so. It had taken him forever to find that, but it had to be as unique and fitting as the custom engagement ring it held. Anna Mueller—the Sumneyville jeweler who’d designed rings for Sam, Sandy, Kate, and Bree—had outdone herself.
Tina lifted the lid and looked inside. Blinked twice. Then looked at him questioningly.
He went down on one knee. “Bertina Matilda Obermacher, will you marry me?”
Her fingers came up to her lips, and she nodded.
“Is that a yes?”
She nodded more emphatically. “Yes!” she yelled suddenly, launching herself at him and knocking him to the ground in the process. It was a good thing he had been prepared for it.
“Yes! A thousand times yes!” she said, straddling his waist and peppering his face with kisses.
“We should go,” he whispered against her lips, “or I’m going to end up taking you right here.”
She gazed down at him with heat in her eyes and a smirk on her lips. “So? It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Don’t tempt me,” he growled.
“Oh, I’m going to tempt you all right,” she said with a wicked grin. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“You do realize, everyone’s watching, right?” he said softly.
Apparently, a guy couldn’t have an engagement ring made and plan a surprise proposal without the whole town knowing about it.
Tina looked around, her cheeks turning a lovely shade of rose when she saw the grinning faces peering in through the windows. Then, she laughed.
“Put it on.”
From there on the floor, Doc obediently slipped the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly. She held up her hand for everyone to see. Happy cheers and applause ensued.
She looked down at him, her eyes filled with love and happiness. “Doc?”
“Yeah?”
She said the three words he’d wanted to hear most—after saying yes, that was—“Let’s go home.”
♥ * ♥ * ♥
Thanks for reading Doc and Tina’s story! Don’t miss Hayley Freed’s long anticipated return to Sumneyville—and more importantly, Sanctuary leader Matt “Church” Winston—in the exciting series conclusion, Prodigal Son, coming January 2022. Click HERE to reserve your copy now!
Can’t wait? Get your next Sanctuary fix with Finding Home, where injured Army mechanic Jaxson Adams comes to Sumneyville looking for answers to his past and gets a lot more than he bargained for, thanks to a sleep-deprived local florist and a foggy mountain morning. Click HERE to reserve your copy now! Coming August 2021.
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