Page 85 of Survive the Night
She waited a moment before answering. “Yes…?”
“That means… Would you… Uh, do you want to—” He broke off, and she stared at him. Otto hadn’t been this incoherent since the first—and second—and maybe third—time they’d met. He looked down for a moment and then met her gaze again, his jaw set with determination. “Let’s get married.”
Shock was quickly swept aside by a rush of joy. “Okay. Yes.”
“Now.”
“Now?” She blinked. “As in now now?”
“Yes. The pass is open. It’s not supposed to snow for a while. Let’s go to Vegas.”
“Vegas?” Sarah knew she sounded like a not-very-bright parrot, but those were not the words that she’d expected to come out of always-patient Otto’s mouth. Not married, not now, and certainly not Vegas.
“Yes. I love you. I want to be married to you as soon as possible.” He paused, looking uncertain. “Unless you want a big wedding?”
“God, no.” A big wedding was not one of her dreams. It would only bring back memories of when she thought she’d be stuck marrying Logan Jovanovic. That would’ve been a big wedding. A huge wedding. A huge, miserable mistake of a wedding. She shook off the thought. That hadn’t happened, and now she had her wonderful, gentle, kind Otto right here, proposing to her, asking her to go to Vegas to get married. “Yes. Okay. Let’s go. Now.” She laughed, her happiness spilling out all over. “But what about Bean and Hortense and the others?”
“Gordon said he’ll keep watching them. He’s built some stalls, fenced off a paddock for them, and bought more hay.”
“Wow. How generous.”
Otto scowled. “He knows he has to make up for lying about his ham radio. Besides, he’s jumped bail. He’s in a legal mess, and he needs our help to get out of it.”
“He did let everyone stay in his bunker,” Sarah said, feeling a little bad for Gordon. “Plus, that booby trap saved us.” She blocked out the image of Aaron’s broken body.
“I know,” Otto said. “But he can take care of my animals for a little longer. The dogs and Bob can stay here. When we get back, I’ll begin working with Xena again. The chief gave me the go-ahead to start training.”
She squeezed his hands with excitement. “K9 training?”
“Yep. She’s been so much more confident the past couple of weeks,” he said proudly. “Xena’s going to be Monroe’s next K9 officer.”
“That’s great!” Sarah hugged him, squeezing hard. After everything that had happened, it was hard to believe that things could ever get better, but they had—so much better.
The sound of an engine made her reluctantly pull away from Otto. Hugh’s new pickup bumped over the driveway and pulled up to the porch. Grace climbed out of the passenger seat.
“Brrr!” Grace gave an exaggerated shiver before pulling the puppies’ carrier out of the cab. “What are you two doing outside? It’s freezing out here!”
Too excited to hold it in, Sarah blurted out, “We’re going to Vegas to get married!”
“Congratulations!” Handing the carrier over to Hugh, Grace hurried up the steps and hugged Sarah. “When?”
“Now.”
“Now?”
At the echo of their previous conversation, Sarah laughed. “Yes, now. The pass is open, so we’re leaving while Gordon is still willing to watch Bean and Hortense.”
“That’s great.” Hugh shook Otto’s hand and gave Sarah a one-armed hug as the puppies yipped in their carrier. At four weeks old, the pups were getting big—and even more adorable.
“We could go, too.” Hugh gave Grace a hungry look. “Have a double wedding.”
She made a big show of pretending to consider it and then shook her head. “I’m having too much fun dating you.”
“C’mon, then, girlfriend.” Hugh ushered Grace into the house. “Let’s leave the lovebirds alone.”
“Are you eighty?” Grace asked before Hugh closed the door. “Because sometimes you sound like you’re eighty.”
Sarah turned back to Otto. “I love you, and I’d like to go to Vegas and marry you and live in Monroe forever, and let’s leave right now before it snows again and more people with guns and bombs and helicopters try to kill us, okay?”
