He dragged me into the library and softly shut the door. He pulled out the little box. My palms broke out in a sweat and the roar in my ears made me dizzy. I wasn’t ready for a proposal. Mac took my hand and dropped the box into it.
“What’s this?” I said.
“Open it.” Mac stepped back to watch.
I eased the ribbon off the box and peered inside. My whole body relaxed when I saw what it contained. A beautiful pair of knitted seashell earrings nestled on blue tissue paper. There was a little pearl bead right in the center of each one.
“They’re gorgeous,” I breathed. “Where did you get them?”
“I had some help from Isabel. Apparently, she knits jewelry and I asked her for something with a beach theme.”
“Beach . . .”
I looked up, and Mac now held a printed airline ticket.
“Oh, Mac, you didn’t,” I said.
“I did.”
“You got another flight? How—cell service has been down for days. And the Wi-Fi is still not working.”
“I know it’s a shock, but some things can still be done without the Internet.” His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled. “Also, I had some help from Pete.”
“When do we leave?” I asked.
He checked his watch. “In about an hour if you want to make the flight.”
I threw my arms around him and thanked him enthusiastically.
“You missed something,” he said. “There’s still something in the box.”
I pulled the tissue paper out of the box and saw a key sitting in the bottom. I met Mac’s eyes. “Is this to your house?”
“Clytemnestra Fortune,” he said, “I love you.”
“Wait! Stop,” I said. I remembered the look his mother had given him and the grumpy way he snatched the ring box off the floor.
“What?”
“Did your mother put you up to this?”
He pulled me closer. “Of course not.”
“It’s just, I know you’ve been arguing about something. And I saw her nod at you when you picked up the box . . .”
“Clyde.” He put his hand on my chin and tilted my head up so I had to look in his eyes. “I’ve been waiting for months to go away with you. And I want to spend as much time as possible with you when we get back. Nothing has changed.”
“Even if I don’t go back to the police force? Even if I use my psychic abilities?”
“What? Of course. The only reason I was arguing with my mother was because I wanted to wait to ask you to move in with me until I could do it the way I had planned.” He turned away from me. “I wanted it to be romantic. On the beach, with the moon shining on the ocean, in a place far away from here.”
“That sounds nice,” I said.
“But, we aren’t there. We’re here and it doesn’t matter because we’re together.”
“Well, then, yes. But I think I’ll need to give you a key to my place instead.”
He smiled and kissed me and from the other side of the door I heard, “I knew it!”