He took Janine’s hand and helped her into the boat. “I think my future wife should finish the boat parade with me,” he said, smiling.

“Your future wife will go anywhere you want to go,” she said, putting her arm around him as he turned on the motor and started back through the waters of the marsh.

As they pulled away from the crowd of people, William took the boat out into more open water and stopped it again. “Well, were you surprised?”

Janine smiled as she looked down at her ring. “Absolutely!”

“Come on now. You had to know I was trying to propose over and over lately.”

She bit her lip. “Okay, maybe I thought you were going to propose, but I wasn’t sure.”

He pulled her into a tight hug. “Thank you for saying yes.”

She looked up at him. “Seriously? Why wouldn’t I say yes?”

“Because you’re beautiful Janine, and I’m just regular old William. I’m marrying up. You know that, right?”

Janine giggled. “Let’s see if you say that after five years of living with me!”

“I will cherish being married to you until the end of my days, Janine. And I’m so grateful this whole proposal thing is finally over!”

“Me too! No more competing couples and wet dogs!”

“So, when should we get hitched?”

She thought for a moment, putting her finger on her chin. “I’ve always wanted a fall wedding.”

“Then we’ll get married this fall!”

She grinned broader than he’d ever seen her grin. “I can’t wait to marry you.”

“Ditto,” he said before dipping her downward to give her a kiss.

Chapter 11

Emma was very nervous. She was second-guessing herself over and over again, wondering why she had made such a rash decision. But, in an effort to start healing her trauma, she had reached out to the woman whose life she had saved that night.

The woman and her family had tried getting in touch with Emma several times, but each time she ignored them. She just couldn’t face seeing the woman again. She hadn’t wanted to hear words about being a hero, but she was ready now to face her.

Of course, it would be done through video chat since the woman lived in Nashville and Emma was in Seagrove, but it was still nerve-racking just the same.

Janine had offered to come to her house and sit with her, but it was something that she thought she really should do alone. She didn’t know how she would react to seeing Ellen again. She often saw her fearful face in her dreams, and she was a little worried that she would have a PTSD moment as soon as the camera switched on.

The last time she saw Ellen was in that dark building, the light on her gun shining on her face. When the whole thing was over, Emma was rushed to the station for debriefing, and everything after that was a complete blur to her. Much of that time in her life had been blocked out by her brain in an effort to protect her mental health.