California Schemin' - Kate George [79]
The servers started bringing meals to the tables near the door, and the other occupants of our table sat down and introduced themselves. Three couples, two married, one not. I forgot most of their names the minute after I heard them except for the redhead who sat next to me. She was the undercover cop I’d seen earlier. Her name was Meg. My best friend’s name. I immediately started missing home.
“What’s the matter?” asked the redheaded Meg sitting next to me.
“Nothing,” I said. “My best friend’s name is Meg, and I haven’t seen her in a while. I probably should lay off the beer.”
“Nah, have more. That way you’ll be in too much pain to miss her tomorrow.” She laughed, joyful and free. I smiled.
“You have a great laugh,” I said. “It’s contagious.”
“Need a sense of humor in my job. Something like ninety percent of undercover cops are guys. If I couldn’t laugh, I’d go nuts.”
“I know what you mean.” I looked at her with interest. “But I bet you’re not bored much.”
“Nah, almost never bored.” She laughed again.
“I’m going to get another beer,” she said. “You want one?”
“Sure.”
I turned to Steve.
“Sorry, girl talk.”
“That’s fine. I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.”
A hand dropped onto my shoulder, and I looked up to see Steve’s Shirl standing over me.
“I think you’re sitting in my seat.”
Next to me Steve was stammering.
“Shirl? What are you-?”
“Oh. Hey, Shirl. I was saving it for you.” I grabbed my little beaded bag and vacated the chair. She was wearing a red dress designed to catch eyes, backless, low cut and so tight you could see every pore in her body. Yowsers. Leftsky didn’t have a chance.
“Glad to see you aren’t missing anymore, Bree. I think everybody in the Upper Valley was worrying.”
“Thanks. It’s good to be found. See you later, Steve.”
Steve started to get up, but I shook my head at him. I wasn’t getting in Shirl’s way. I wanted to still be un-missing tomorrow.
“You’re back early.” Beau was lying propped on the bed watching a cop show on TV.
“Yeah, well, Shirl showed up, and I thought it might be a good idea to bow out.”
“Shirl showed up? You mean like showed up from Vermont?”
“As far as I can tell.” I hung the black dress in the closet and slipped on an oversized T-shirt.
“That new?” Beau asked. “Don’t think I’ve seen that before.”
I joined him on the bed and punched up my pillow.
“I picked it up today. You paid for it.”
“I’ve got good taste.” He slid a hand along my thigh.
“Yep, you do. Want me to put it back on?” I dropped a kiss on his chin.
“Nope.” He pulled me into a kiss that melted my knees. “But I think you could lose the T-shirt.”
So I did.
I woke to more tapping at the door. Beau was asleep beside me, so I slid out of bed and pulled on my new sweats. I almost opened the door without looking through the peephole, but I caught myself and looked to see Steve’s face sporting the biggest smile I’d ever seen.
I stepped out into the hall. “So what’s up? You look like you just won the lottery.”
“Shirl asked me to marry her.”
I threw my arms around him. “Steve, that’s so great! She flew out here to propose? That’s wild.”
“Yeah, I guess her mother told her she was being unreasonable. She thought about it for a while and realized her mom was right. So she bought a ticket and flew out. If you hadn’t been found, she was going to help me look. But you were here, so she proposed instead.”
“That’s great. I can’t think of anything but crappy clichés. I’m glad you’re happy.” I hugged him again and headed back to bed.
“What was that about?” Beau asked. “You were squealing in the hall.”
“I wasn’t squealing. Shirl asked Steve to marry him. He wanted me to know.”
“It’s about time, although I doubt the drama is over.”
Chapter Twelve
Madison drove us to the airport. She was tall, thin and brunette today. I didn’t think the look was quite right for her, but hey, it wasn’t my life. For all I knew, she’d be short, blue haired and plump by the end of the day.
She offered me her hand when Beau and I were