—Romance Writing 101
Sadie gaped at what appeared to be a jeweler’s box. What was inside it? Almost before finishing the thought, she reached for the container. Her fingers trembled as she grasped and tugged—the thing was in there tight. Finally she pried it free and snapped open the lid.
And gasped again.
A gorgeous solitaire diamond gleamed back at her. An engagement ring! Her heart threatened to pound right out of her chest. Who would put a ring inside a—?
Her mind flashed back to a Facebook post she’d come across recently in one of her book club groups. A member’s fiancé had proposed by hiding an engagement ring inside her favorite novel.
She glanced down at the ring. But how had it ended up here, in her Little Library? Someone must’ve made a terrible mistake. She scanned the beach. Maybe whoever had left the book was still on the beach. She jogged a few steps before remembering to close the yard gate, ran back and shut it, then took off again. A middle-aged woman sat in a beach chair not far from the waterline.
As Sadie approached the woman, she snapped the jewelry box closed and tucked it back into the book. “Excuse me!”
The woman looked up from her phone.
“Did you leave a book in the Little Library over there?” She held up the novel.
“No, sure didn’t.”
“Did you see anyone go over that way?”
“No, but I’ve only been here a few minutes.”
Sadie’s spirits sank. “Okay, thank you.” She was already scanning the beach for other occupants. A male jogger had recently passed by on his way south. An older couple strolled the waterline, heading north. No one else was sitting on the beach as far as she could see.
Sometime in the past hour and a half, someone had left this book in the library. If only someone had seen—
Sam.He’d been sitting on the deck all this time. Surely he’d seen who’d placed the book in the library.
She struggled through the deep sand and back up the pathway. Rio met her at the gate, but Sadie was in a rush to reach the deck. She barreled around the tree divider. “Sam! Sam, did you see someone stop at the—?”
His dark brows furrowed over narrowed eyes. She’d obviously awakened him from a nap.
***
“Sorry,” Sadie said. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but did you see who put this book in my Little Library?”
What bee was in her bonnet now? He’d been in the middle of a nice nap wherein he hadn’t been dreaming or thinking about or cursing his cousin and ex-girlfriend. “I was sleeping.”
“Right, right. I’m sorry to wake you, but before that did you happen to see anyone on the pathway? Anyone coming or going at all? It’s really important.”
His gaze focused on the book she waved around like a maniac. Seemed like everything was really important to her. The dog, Fifi or whatever, jumped into his lap and licked his face. Blech.
“Sorry.” Sadie lifted the dog from his lap and set her on the deck. “Go play, Rio, that’s a good girl. So did you see anyone? Just someone passing by maybe, in the past hour and a half since I went inside?”
He blinked the sleep away and tried to think. “I don’t know. Maybe there was someone. I wasn’t really paying attention.”
“Male? Female? Old? Young?”
“I don’t know. I can hardly see out that way.” He gestured toward the trees. “What’s the big deal? It’s just a book.”
She cracked open the spine and extended it dramatically, pages up.
He blinked at the unexpected interior. What the—?
“There’s a ring inside that box—an engagement ring! This”—she shook the book—“was supposed to be somebody’s proposal.”
“Proposal?”
