Just then, a laughing Serena burst out of the dining room and into the hallway. When she saw Daniel and Emily standing there, she smiled at them through her ruby red–painted lips. She was blushing a little, and Emily wondered if it had something to do with an evening of reciprocated flirting with Owen the piano player.
“Oh hey,” Serena said, catching Emily’s eye. “I was wondering where you guys had gone off to.”
Emily and Daniel looked at each other coyly. Caught red-handed.
Emily found that she was suddenly tongue-tied, like a naughty child who must own up to stealing cookies from the jar. She looked at Daniel for help, but he looked worse than her, with a deer-in-the-headlights expression on his face.
Serena frowned. Then she narrowed her eyes suspiciously and a small smirk appeared on her lips. Clearly she could tell they’d been up to something.
“Hmm,” she said, pacing up to them like a detective. “Snow in your hair. Sand on your jeans. My guess is you’ve been to the beach.” She tapped her chin. “But why?” She paused for a moment, and then a look of realization flickered into her eyes. Gasping, she grabbed Emily’s left hand, searching for confirmation for the thought that had hit her. At the sight of the ring, her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.
“Oh. My. God! You’re engaged!”
Emily felt the heat rising into her cheeks. It was the first time she’d heard someone say the word “engaged” in relation to her and it felt so bizarre. All those years of wishing for it and dreaming about it, and she was finally here, in that abstract state of “engagement.”
She nodded quickly. Serena squealed and pulled them both into a clumsy embrace, elbows and arms flailing.
“Am I the first to know?” Serena asked when she let them go, the excitement in her tone growing.
“Yes,” Daniel confirmed. “But can you get Chantelle? I want her to know before the rest of them.”
“Of course!” Serena exclaimed.
With misted-over eyes, she took one last adoring look at Emily’s ring before bounding away, a giddy spring in her step. Emily let out a noise that was somewhere between a nervous giggle and an embarrassed groan.
Daniel squeezed her hand reassuringly. It felt as though he was simultaneously congratulating her for having survived one person’s reaction while boosting her in anticipation of the next reveal, the one that was far more important.