Edge of the Heat 3 (23 page)

“Wow,” Emma breathed. She’d missed so much in the last few days.

Hawk’s expression broke and he leaned forward. “Emma I need your help.”

“What?”

“I want to. Well. I. Um. Vivian. She.” Hawk looked down and played with his napkin, his cheeks stained red.

“Hawk are you blushing?” She looked at Craig, eyes wide. He shrugged his shoulders.

“Yeah man, you ok? Is Vivian OK?”

“I want to ask her to marry me. But I don’t know how to do it.” The words fell blunt, and heavy.

Excitement speared through Emma. Her sister was getting married too. They were going to be married to best friends. Emma couldn’t believe it. She felt the weight of Norman roll off her mind, at least for a little bit. All of a sudden, she had too much energy to just sit still. She reached out and grabbed his hands. “Oh my God! Oh my God!” She got up and ran around the table and sat back down. “I can’t believe it!” She put her hands up in a football cheer and stomped her feet on the floor. “Oh my God!” She ran to the bathroom and turned around and ran around the table again, leaving Hawk and Craig to stare after her, open-mouthed.

She sat down and grabbed Hawk’s hands again. Solemnly, she stared into his eyes. Her voice low and serious, she said, “Double wedding.”

“What?”

“Double wedding! We’re twins! You’re best friends! We can get married together and throw twice the party!”

Hawk sat back and scratched his head. “Maybe, but we’d have to see if Vivian-”

Emma cut him off. “Vivian! Ok, we have to think of something super romantic and awesome. Is that what you need help with?”

“Yeah,” Hawk grinned, relieved.

“Ok, ok, let me think.” Emma thought, relieved to have something life-affirming to fill her mind with.

***

O
n Tuesday, Emma met Vivian at the bridal shop, and they tried on dress after dress, until she found the one that Vivian said made her look like a princess. She twirled and whirled and felt her elation reach new heights. The fever she’d felt in her brain since Norman had taken her a second time couldn’t withstand that elation. It fizzled out slowly, a piece at a time.

When they were done, her gloves and veil packed securely in her bag, but her dress left behind for alterations, she pulled Vivian to her car. “You should just ride with me Viv. I know I said we were doing more shopping, but the guys want to do something cool.”

“Ooooh, what?”

“It’s a surprise silly, just get in.”

They got in the car and Emma drove to a big field on the west end of town. In the center of the field was a hot air balloon, standing tall and colorful. Vivian sucked in a huge gasp of air.

“Oh! I’ve always wanted to go on a hot air balloon!”

“Really?” Emma said, with a teasing smile. She knew this was something Vivian had been wanting to try for a long time, but just never gotten around to.

“Oh my gosh, the sun is about to set too. Are we going to see the sunset?”

“I think so,” Emma said, and they pushed out of the car.

Vivian saw Hawk across the field at the balloon and she ran for him, jumping at him and wrapping her legs around him.

Emma lagged behind, but smiled when she heard Viv’s excited cries.

Craig came out from behind Hawk, and gathered Emma to the balloon with a kiss on her cheek and an arm around her shoulders.

They climbed into the basket and received a short safety briefing, then their balloon inflated and lifted off.

Emma watched the view closely as the balloon rose higher. The city loomed off to one side.
It doesn’t look like such a bad place anymore
, she decided.
Not with Norman gone, and Oberlin gone
. She could believe in her heart that the majority of the corruption had belonged to those sad men. And with them gone, the city could breathe fresh air, repair itself from within.

She smiled at the city, which she no longer wanted to escape from. She’d found her sister. She had her man, and yet she still wanted to stay. Her family was here, and family was important to her.

Emma felt tension behind her and turned around in time to see Hawk go down on one knee. Vivian, standing in front of him, covered her mouth with her hands in that age old gesture all women perform when they are being promised love for eternity.

“Vivian,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “Vivian, These last few months with you have been the best of my life. All I want is for this feeling to go on forever. Vivian, will you marry me?”

Vivian fell upon his neck, tears spilling from her eyes and wetting his shirt. Her voice was muffled, but Emma knew what she’d said.

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes

Double wedding,
shot through her mind, and she knew she’d plucked it out of her twin’s thoughts. She smiled.
A big one
, she sent back.

The End

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I
live in Idaho. I have been married for 18 years to the only man on this planet who will put up with me (I'm a handful) and we have two amazing boys (10 years old and 1 year old at the time of this writing). We have a 7 year old husky/golden retriever mix (dog) who is just awesome and gorgeous. I love computers and the internet. I love my facebook friends. I love books and I love my google nexus. I only buy ebooks these days - they are SO convenient! I like to walk for exercise as much as possible, which hasn't been often since the baby was born. Hmmmm, what else do you want to know? :)

I always, always, always wanted to write when I was a little girl. Stephen King was my favorite author. I stopped being able to read him when my first son was born though (too many kids getting hurt). These days you can probably find me reading Julie Ann Walker or H.M. Ward instead. I published my first book at 41 years old. I'm not sure how it took me so long to do what I really wanted to do since I was a kid. I love writing and I love interacting with my readers.

A
gain, This book is dedicated to my husband, a rock of a man who has supported me for 18 years.

I also want to thank my beta readers, Nicki Small, Lisa Howard, and Joan Adams. I don't think they will every comprehend how much they have helped me. That is, unless they someday write their own books and find awesome beta readers. Then they'll get it. 

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