Page 125 of Fatal Mistake
Tara leaned back, her heart overflowing with love as she held out her hand for Cal to slide on the princess-cut solitaire. She twisted and turned her hand to admire the ring. Overhead light caught the diamond’s brilliance, sparkling in Tara’s vision.
“It’s beautiful, Cal,” she whispered, tears in her eyes.
“It’s nice to see happy tears in your eyes.” His voice was so choked with emotion that her tears started to flow in earnest.
She was happy for herself, yes, but even happier at seeing Cal’s joy. She started to swipe away her tears, but he gently erased them with his thumb.
She circled her arms around his neck again and stood on tiptoe to hug him. She wanted to forget that everyone else was with them, but movement at the end of the table caught her attention.
June stood and came to join them. “Congratulations, sweetheart.”
Tara extricated herself from Cal’s fierce hold and hugged her aunt, the sweet scent of honey and vanilla wrapping around Tara and reminding her of how thankful she was for her precious aunt.
“I’m so happy for you.” June released Tara and turned to Cal. “You’re a fine man, Cal, and I’m proud to have you as part of our family.”
June gave him a quick hug, but Max requested everyone’s attention and cut it short.
“A toast,” Max announced, holding up his iced tea glass. “To Cal and Tara and many years of happiness.”
They grabbed their glasses and clinked with the others while the group called out additional congratulations. Tara basked in the joy filling the room, knowing full well that days like this could always be interrupted by pagers going off and the team rushing into danger on another callout. A moment’s apprehension lit in her heart, but she forced it away as she’d learned to do the past few months and smiled up at Cal.
He set down his glass and met her gaze. “One more thing before we go out and trounce everyone in the egg toss.”
Amidst groans, he reached into his pocket and drew out an envelope. He pressed it in her free hand. “I wanted to give this to you ever since you told me about the scarf your mother bought for you. It wasn’t appropriate to do so at the time, but now I can think of nothing more fitting.”
So many questions in her mind, she set her glass on the table and opened the envelope. Inside, she found two first-class tickets to Paris for next spring.
“Oh, Cal. How amazing. It’s perfect.”
His smile widened, and he pulled her into his arms.
“Springtime in Paris with you,” she whispered for his ears only. “I’d be happy going anywhere with you, even the barn, but once again, you’ve made my dreams come true.”
“Let’s stick to Paris,” he said, and chuckled. “And never talk of visiting the barn again.”
“I suppose now that you two got engaged it means you’ll be too busy making googly eyes all day and will change your mind about participating in the egg toss,” Rick said, a note of humor in his tone.
“Nothing is out of the picture for us,” Tara replied as she squeezed Cal’s hand and smiled at him. “Nothing ever again.”
