by David Archer
“Why, of course,” Allison said. “You girls are like the daughters I always hoped I’d have by now, and we didn’t get a chance to do one for you. Let’s get Renée involved, too, since she’s going to be part of the Camelot family soon.”
“Oh, my gosh,” Sarah said. “This’ll be awesome. We better do it soon, though, or they’ll elope.” Her eyes went wide. “Hey, we can all go to the Manor in England after the wedding, so they can have a honeymoon!”
Allison smiled. “Now you’re talking,” she said. “Wait, the staff there think they’re already married, remember?”
“So we’ll tell them it’s a second honeymoon,” Sarah laughed. “I’m pretty sure Thomas and his family have figured out we aren’t really who we claim to be, and Catherine Potts says they can be trusted to never let any secrets out. We’ll manage, but at least it would be a good setting. We could even hold the wedding there, and say they were reaffirming their vows or something like that.”
Allison looked over at Noah. “Your wife is either as tired as I am, or she’s just naturally giddy. She’s taking this whole idea a lot farther than I had thought it through, and I like her ideas.”
Noah nodded. “I usually like them, myself.”
Both women cracked up laughing, and Sarah decided it was time for everyone to go to bed. She walked Allison to the guestroom, then followed Noah to their own room. They took a quick hot shower together, then climbed into bed and were asleep in minutes.
* * * * *
Sarah called Renée the next morning and included her in, and the three women met for lunch at Charlie’s to start planning. They were all excited, and all were in favor when Sarah suggested they have the shower at her house.
“We’ll just have to get rid of the men,” Renée said. “Tell them they can go fishing or something, that’ll get them out of our hair for a day. Somehow, I don’t know that I could see Marco or Noah at a bridal shower. Neil, maybe, but then he’d find a way to hog all the food for himself, so he has to go, too.”
Sarah laughed. “Noah would sit there and try to figure out what was making us tick,” she said. “That’s what he does when he encounters something new, he analyzes it to see if he can use it to help him blend in better.”
“Okay, okay,” Allison said. “So, when are we doing this? We need to let Jenny know about it, so that she doesn’t have some other plans at the time.”
“The sooner the better,” Sarah said.
“Oh, yeah,” Renée agreed. “I’m thinking this weekend, right?”
“We could do it on Saturday,” Sarah said. “How about Saturday afternoon, right after lunch? I can tell Noah to just take the guys out on the boat, they can do some fishing and bring some beer and just let their hair down.”
The three of them agreed, and they finished up their lunch and went searching for Jenny. When they didn’t find her at the trailer, Sarah took out her phone and called her.
“Hey, girl,” Jenny said as she answered.
“Hey, yourself,” Sarah said. “Where are you? I need to get with you.”
“Well, Neil decided it was time to buy me a ring,” Jenny said, “but he thinks I don’t know what he’s doing. I don’t know, sometimes, how men can be so dumb. We’re parked three doors down from the jewelry store, and he seems to have forgotten that this truck has rearview mirrors. He went completely across the street and into the drugstore, then watched to see if I was looking before he slipped out and hurried down the block and across the street again to get into the jewelry store. I mean, I know what he is up to, and it’s sweet and all that, but I just hate having to pretend I’m that dumb.”
“Yeah, sometimes we have to, just to save their egos. Listen, how soon can you get free? I’m with Allison and Renée, and we want to kidnap you for a little while.”
“Okay, I guess,” Jenny said. “He just came out of the jewelry store, and is running across the street again. Give me about twenty minutes, and I’ll have him drop me off somewhere. I’ll call you.”
“Okay, we’ll be waiting.”
Sarah hung up the phone and turned to her friends. “This is going to be a blast,” she said.
Jenny called twenty minutes later, and told them to pick her up at the coffee shop downtown. They were already close by, so it only took them a couple of minutes to get there. When she came out and got into the car, she stared at the three of them, because they were staring at her with smiles on their faces.
“So?” Sarah asked. “Did he pop the question yet?”
Jenny grinned. “Not yet,” she said, “but I think he’s about to. I’m sure that’s what he was doing in the jewelry store, and he’s been acting nervous since last night.”
“Yeah, we’re pretty sure he’s going to, as well,” Allison said. “That’s why we’re already planning your bridal shower. He better hurry up, though, because we’re doing it this Saturday.”
“Saturday? Gee, okay,” Jenny said. “Oh, wait a minute, he’s calling.” She put her phone to her ear. “Hey, babe,” she said. She listened for a moment, then looked up at the other three. “Um, Neil wants to know if we can get all of you and your guys to let us take you out to dinner tonight?”
All three of the women started cheering silently, and they all said yes. Neil told Jenny to tell them they should all meet at the Sagebrush Saloon at seven, and that he’d tell her why later.
“Oh my gosh,” Sarah said, “he’s going to do it tonight! That’s the only reason he’d want all of us there, I’m telling you, he’s going to ask her tonight.”
“Okay, then,” Allison said. “It’s Operation We Don’t Know Anything, right? We all pretend to be surprised when he drops to one knee, ’cause the last thing we want to do is ruin this for him.”
* * * * *
Noah and Marco were perfectly okay with going out to dinner, especially since Neil was going to be buying for the first time ever. Sarah and Renée both barely managed to keep quiet about what they expected, so everyone was acting normal when they arrived at the Sagebrush.
The hostess had given them the biggest round table, with plenty of room for all of them. Marco and Renée, Noah and Sarah, Neil and Jenny, and then Allison arrived and everyone was delighted when she brought Molly along.
“Closest I could manage to a date on such short notice,” she said. “I hope it’s all right.”
“Of course it is,” Neil said. He and Molly had become good friends, and often played video games against each other.
They ordered dinner and drinks, and they all just made small talk until the drinks arrived. As soon as they did, however, Neil suddenly got to his feet.
“Okay, I know you all figured I was up to something,” he said with a grin, “so I figured it’s time to end the suspense. All of you know that Jenny and I have become very close over the last—well, I guess it’s going on a year now, right? Anyway, I’ve come to a conclusion and I wanted all of you, our closest friends, to be here for this moment.”
Everyone was smiling, and the smiles only got bigger when Neil Blessing turned to the lovely young woman beside him and got down on one knee. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a small box that he opened, and Jenny’s eyes went wide and her mouth flew open when she saw the three beautiful diamonds that adorned the ring he held out to her.
“Jenny Lance,” he said solemnly, “I have come to realize that I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone. You have made such a difference in my life, and while we can never know how much time we have to be together, I know that I want to spend every moment of it as deeply connected to you as it is possible to be. Jenny, will you be my wife?”
Jenny Lance, professional assassin, suddenly had tears streaming down both cheeks. She looked at Neil and began nodding, unable to speak, but finally she managed to say, “Yes! Oh, yes!”
The table erupted in applause, and seconds later the rest of the restaurant joined in.
Neil put the ring on her finger and kissed her, and then got back up into his chai
r. Jenny was busy showing the ring to everyone, and Noah, who was sitting beside Neil, leaned over to him.
“Good job, kid,” he said. “I hope you have a long and happy marriage.”
“Yeah,” Neil said, smiling. “Me, too.”
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