“I was going to wait until New Year’s Eve, your birthday, but thought that’s kind of predictable. Then I thought maybe I should wait a year, as that always seems to be standard for couples. But I’m not very good at keeping secrets, and when I know I want something I can’t just sit back and not at least try to get it. So I asked your grandmother if she would object, and she doesn’t. In fact, I think she’s rather thrilled. Must be my charm and good looks.” He reached into his pocket and came out with a small box.

“You are one of a kind, Maxine Revere, and I want to marry you.”

She stared at him.

He opened the box.

A small, perfect diamond in an exquisite antique setting was nestled in its pocket.

She couldn’t speak. Maxine Revere, a woman who was never without words, was silent. What had become of her?

He took the ring and slid it on her finger. It fit just right. “I borrowed one of your rings to have this sized.”

She stared.

Marry me.

She hadn’t expected it. She didn’t know if she even wanted it. She’d never thought much about marriage. She never thought much about her future. Everything was about living today and living in the past. Solving cold cases, looking at what was and what is, not what could be.

She’d never thought she’d get married because she’d never found a man to accept her and she had too much respect for herself to change who she was for anyone.

Yes.

She still couldn’t speak.

Ryan tilted her chin up. “Max?”

She kissed him because words failed her. She held his face and kissed him, then she didn’t let go. She held him tight, just held him.

“You’re shaking. Max.”

“I—” She couldn’t talk. Damn, she was going to cry. She never cried.

“Max?” He separated them and looked at her. “Oh, babe, I love you so much.”

“Yes,” she said, and kissed him. “Yes, you do, and yes, I will marry you.”

Family was the most important thing to Lucy, which was why she’d so desperately wanted everyone to visit for Thanksgiving. While she loved San Antonio and had made a wonderful home with Sean and now Jesse, she missed her family. Two brothers on the East Coast, the rest of her family on the West Coast, split between San Diego and Sacramento. She’d thought living in Texas—centrally located—would give her the go-to house for traveling, but it didn’t work out that way.

Bandit came up and pushed his snout into her hand.

“I’m not sad,” she said to the dog, scratching him behind his ears. He put his chin on her lap and looked up at her as if he knew she was lying.