Page 161 of Out Of A Fix

“Thank you for selling us your beautiful apartment, Nash.” Her eyes sparkled with tears. “I just—I love him so much. I mean, the moment we met it was like, Oh, there you are. Where have you been? And now this transition, for both of us, has been simply seamless.”

“As though it was meant to be.”

“Yes,” she barely got out, her breath catching as I took her into my arms.

“What the hell?” Rais groused at me. “Why’re you making my girl cry?”

“I’m your girl?” she asked as Cooper appeared, the man who had been her first friend from our crew, the one she’d visited Chicago to see, before she fell for Rais.

“Of course,” Rais said adamantly.

“Don’t want to look like a raccoon right now,” Cooper insisted, handing her a tissue that she dabbed at her eyes with.

“No, of course not, but why is the now so vital?”

When I let her go and she turned, she immediately understood why the present moment was so important. Rais Solano was down on one knee, holding an open box, a lovely maroon velvet one, that held a six-carat emerald-cut diamond solitaire. He’d spent a fortune, but he could. He’d told me earlier, when he showed me the ring, that he was nervous. I advised him not to worry and, of course, I was right,

“Ohmygod, yes,” she blurted out.

“I haven’t asked yet,” he pointed out.

“I don’t care.”

His smile lit his face. “I want you to marry me and be with me forever.”

“Yes,” she repeated, holding out her hand. “A million times yes.”

We all took pictures of the two of them, because really, they should have been in ads for diamonds with how beautiful they were together.

She didn’t wait for him to stand. As soon as the ring was on her finger, she took his face in her trembling hands and kissed the breath out of him. I was wildly happy for them both, and what a great memory for them to share with us.

I also enjoyed having everyone meet Chief Higheagle and her wife, Rosa, and Deputy Chief Sampson and his wife, Delilah.

“Really?” I asked him. “Delilah?”

“Like I’ve never heard that before,” he deadpanned.

Delilah winked at me as she walked by.

Meeting Luke’s crew was a treat for me, and especially José González Guerrero, his new foreman.

“I appreciate you being here to take things off his plate,” I thanked the charming man with kind eyes who brought his beautiful wife with him to our wedding. We’d invited their kids as well, but from what Belinda said, she was happy to have an adult outing without them.

“I love them,” she told me. “But they’re feral.”

I had a feeling we were going to be friends.

The neighbors on both sides were invited, and truly, it was the best day.

Later, on their way out, the last ones to leave, Owen gave me and Luke our second gift.

“Jared is sending the plane to take you and your family, including Wink, to and from Maine for Christmas.”

“No,” I said, absolutely stunned as Jared joined us, shaking his head.

“You needed to have tickets way before Thanksgiving,” he pointed out. “Tickets now, for five of you and the cat—are you serious?”

I stepped into Jared, who was still explaining how insane holiday travel was and how extremely costly. I hugged him, and he hugged me back.