Саманта Сильвер - Busy As A Beaver

Yeah, life was pretty good right now.

Eventually, Jason and I settled on the beach and spent a few hours just lazing around in the sun. It was so nice, lying down in mid-December, with the warm rays beating down on me, warming me down to my bones and refreshing my soul.

This was definitely exactly what I needed.

By the time the sun began to make its way towards the horizon, my stomach began to grumble and Jason smiled. “What do you feel like for dinner?”

“I’ve heard Hawaii has amazing Japanese food,” I replied. “Let’s find something good.”

A quick search on my phone later and we found ourselves waiting in line with other people for udon noodles that were apparently the best in Hawaii. I was kind of worried that we weren’t going to get a table, but luckily, the turnover seemed to be pretty quick despite the line, and right as Jason and I grabbed our bowl of noodles along with some tempura vegetables, a couple got up to leave and we managed to snag their spot.

“So, there’s only one thing that I still wonder about,” I said to Jason as we were eating.

“Oh yeah?”

“Where did the money end up? After all, Chuck admitted that Michael never told him where the money was, and Gloria had absolutely no idea either. Presumably that secret went to the grave with Francis.”

Jason grinned. “Only you could be sitting here in Hawaii wanting to wrap up loose ends about the murder investigation.”

“I’m just curious,” I laughed. “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on going treasure hunting.”

Because of the time difference, Jason and I woke up pretty early naturally, and took an Uber to the entrance to Diamond Head, where we arrived right as the gates opened at six in the morning. The climb was long, but not the most strenuous, and about forty-five minutes later we found ourselves at the top.

My mouth dropped open as I gaped at the view of the ocean and Waikiki as the first light of day began to creep up over the horizon. The orange glow grew deeper, giving the ocean a surreal look as the eastern side of the buildings all began to be covered in the light. The sun began to climb higher and higher and Jason and I watched in silence, his arm around me, as the sun rose over the horizon to the east and began to climb up towards us, on the far western side of Oahu.

When daylight finally appeared, I turned to comment on the beauty of the scene to Jason, but he wasn’t right beside me anymore. He had moved about two feet away, and he was down on one knee.

He was down on one knee.

My hands rose to my mouth as he held out a small, black box.

This couldn’t be happening. No way.

“Angela, will you do me the honor of marrying me?” Jason asked with a smile on his face.

“Oh my God, of course. Yes!” I practically squealed. I didn’t even have to think about the answer. Of course I was going to marry him. Jason’s smile turned into a huge grin as he stood up and placed the ring on my finger. A few other onlookers clapped for us as I admired the ring. It was gold, with a large princess-cut diamond in the middle, surrounded by two smaller diamonds on either side.

The first light of the sun hit the diamond and it glistened on my fingers, matching the tears that welled up in my eyes. I normally wasn’t the sort of person who cried when they got emotional, but this was definitely an exception.

“I love you so much,” Jason said. “I can’t imagine spending another day of my life without you.”

“I love you too,” I replied breathlessly. Was this seriously happening? I couldn’t believe this was happening.

Jason took me into his arms and kissed me; our first kiss as an engaged couple instead of just boyfriend and girlfriend.

“You have no idea the stress I’ve been under trying to get this ring done,” Jason laughed. “I saved a whole bunch of posts of diamonds on my Facebook account, so I’ve been keeping my account logged out, to avoid you accidentally coming across them, and I’ve had to reset my password about six times.”

“Oh,” I said with a laugh. That explained why his account had been logged out before.

“Then, when I actually went into town to pick up the ring, that was the day you texted me asking if I was home. I half freaked out, thinking you and Sophie must have known where I was, and that you would have figured out I was going to the jewelry store to pick up the ring.”

“Don’t worry, we had absolutely no idea,” I replied truthfully. I felt a little bit silly; while Sophie had been trying to convince me that Jason might have been doing something a bit untoward, she was completely wrong. Jason had been hiding something from me, that was true. It was just the greatest surprise ever.

The rest of the day absolutely flew by, and the next morning, as we flew back from Honolulu to Portland, I couldn’t help but think that while I didn’t want to leave, I was also really looking forward to celebrating with everyone.

Chapter 22

As soon as we finally got home and I stepped through the front door, my jaw dropped open in surprise. Rather than the empty house with a cat ready to complain that Charlotte never fed her anything and she was starving, I found myself facing a dozen or so of my family and friends. Sophie and Taylor were there, as was her mom Lisa and her boyfriend Austin. Karen and her husband stood by the entrance to the kitchen, and a huge cake sat on the kitchen counter.

“What is this?” I asked, looking around at everyone.

“Jason told us to hold a surprise party for you after your trip,” Sophie said. “But he wouldn’t say why.”

I held up my left hand and straight away the entire room burst into a cacophony of noise.

“Oh my God!”

“That’s amazing!”

“Let me see the ring!”

“When did he propose? Was it romantic?”

I laughed as I quickly found myself the center of attention, answering question after question about the proposal.

After a few minutes, I felt a furry presence against my leg. “Hi, Bee.”

“Yeah, like you care about me at all. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve eaten?”

“Oh, yeah, you definitely look like you’re starving. I’m sure Charlotte hasn’t given you anything to eat at all.”

“That’s right! Don’t ever leave me again. Also, if anyone was going to put a ring on that finger, I guess Jason is an ok human to do it.”

I smiled as Bee ran off straight after that last comment. That was definitely her way of congratulating me.

After eating some celebratory cake and entertaining partygoers, eventually everyone began to leave, until finally only Charlotte, Sophie, Jason, Taylor and I were left.

We sat around the table chatting about the trip. “It was amazing. Absolutely incredible,” I gushed. “The hotel room we stayed in literally looked exactly like a place from a brochure. Like, the view was actually even nicer than the ad for vacation rentals in Georgetown or wherever in Michael Carlton’s apartment.”

“Georgetown?” Charlotte repeated, and I nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Was it one word, or two?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Two, I guess. Why?”

Charlotte raised an eyebrow at me. “Do you know where George Town is?”

“No. The Caribbean somewhere?”

“Yes. Specifically, it’s the capital of the Cayman Islands.”

My eyes widened. “Isn’t that supposed to be some sort of major place where people hide money?”

“Like the proceeds of a bank robbery,” Sophie nodded.

“Would Michael Carlton have gotten ads from there even if he’d never been?” I asked nobody in particular, and Jason shook his head.

“I wouldn’t think so. More popular places, sure, maybe. But the Cayman Islands is kind of niche enough that I don’t think they would. Especially not here on the west coast.”