An (Almost) Perfect Love Story (Love Story Book Three) by Rachel Schurig

our engagement. “We should go back,” he said finally. “Emily’s probably dying by now.”
    “Does she know?” I asked, staring down at the ring in the fading light from the dying fire.
    “Yeah, I told her, and Brooke. I needed their help to get it all organized. Is that okay?”
    “Of course!” I said. He could have told me that I was the last person on earth to know, and I wouldn’t have cared. I was too happy to care much about anything else.
    “Come on,” he said, pulling on my hand. “Put your glove back on, it’s freezing out here.”
    “But it’s so pretty,” I said, laughing again. Chris pulled me to my feet, grabbing the Thermos from the snow beside me. “Should we do something with all of this?” I asked, gesturing at our dishes and the tiki torches still burning.
    Chris shook his head. “Brooke said she’d send someone out when we got back. Come on.”
    I couldn’t decide if the ride back to the inn was too fast or too slow. Part of me never wanted to emerge from the dark woods, never wanted the magic spell that Chris had created there to end. Yet I was desperate to see Emily, to hug her and get a look at my ring in the light. I held his arm tightly in my own, unable to wipe the grin off my face.
    Before we had even reached the steps of the porch, Emily was throwing the door open wide, calling out to me. I saw her hopping from foot to foot in the light from the foyer, and I took off running to get to her. She threw her arms around me, and we jumped up and down, squealing like little kids and laughing our heads off. In a blur of hugs and yells, Chris and I were pulled into the entryway. Brooke was hugging Chris, Elliot was hugging me, and then, from the back of the hallway, I saw Ryan emerge, tears in his eyes as he came forward to pull me and Chris into a huge hug.
    “You’re here!” I cried, shocked at the sight of him, feeling my tears start all over again.
    “Chris told me what was going on. I couldn’t miss this!”
    I felt Emily’s arms reach around me as well, joining our group hug. As I stood there in the circle of my friends, I felt like my heart would actually burst with happiness. Nothing, nothing , could ever compare with this night.

    Chapter Six
    Many hours later, I sat curled up on the couch with Emily, staring at the fire, still unwilling and unable to wipe the goofy grin from my face.
    “Let me see it again,” she said, for at least the tenth time that night. Obligingly, I held out my hand, happy to be back on one of my favorite subjects: how gorgeous my new ring was.
    “He did such a great job,” she sighed, staring down at the bling.
    “I know,” I said, snatching my hand back so I, too, could gaze down at the ring. It was perfect, exactly what I would have picked for myself. A smallish round cut diamond surrounded by side clusters of baguettes. It sparkled nicely in the light from the fire, and I sighed, loving the look of it on my finger. The diamonds weren’t huge, not by any means, but I didn’t care about that. His budget might not have been big, but I knew Chris had put a lot of effort into finding something special and beautiful.
    “I’m glad he didn’t let me help him,” Emily said. “I wanted to, you know. When he told me what he had planned for this weekend, I begged him to let me pick it out. But he said he wanted to do it himself. I think he picked perfectly.”
    I smiled at that, thinking how sweet my fiancé was. Fiancé! I still couldn’t believe I got to call him that now.
    “When did he tell you?” I asked, looking across the room. Chris, Ryan, Brooke, and Elliot were standing near the kitchen, drinking spiked hot chocolate from large mugs, and laughing about something. Paul had gone off to do something inn related, leaving Brooke to enjoy the time with her friends. A few guests were at the other side of the room, playing a board game, but mostly everyone else had drifted up to their rooms by now, leaving us to enjoy the fire and each