Finally the light turned green.

Dameon tapped the steering wheel with his thumbs.

“I love dogs. But I never thought it was right for a dog to be cooped up in a condo.”

He made it through the light on the yellow. Only a few more blocks.

“. . . don’t you think?”

“What?” Something about dogs.

“You haven’t heard a thing I’ve said.”

He glanced over, smiled. “We were talking about dogs.”

Grace shook her head.

He sighed when the fire station was in sight. “Isn’t that the station your brother works in?”

“Yeah.”

“Would you mind if we took a little side trip? I’ve never been in an actual fire station before.” He moved into the turn lane.

“I don’t know if Matt is even working today.”

“Isn’t that his truck?”

Grace leaned forward. “Okay, what’s going on?” She pointed out the window. “That’s my parents’ car.”

“Huh . . .”

“Dameon?”

He pulled in and put the truck in park. He cut the engine and unbuckled his belt. “C’mon.”

They both got out, and he rounded the truck to take Grace’s hand.

On the side of the station, Nora and Emmitt stood next to three firefighters and a woman with a camera.

“Oh my God.” Grace squeezed his hand. “Matt’s going to pop the question.”

Dameon smiled and placed a finger over his lips. “Shhh.”

Grace kept squeezing his hand. “Eeekkk!”

When they stopped in front of Grace’s parents, Dameon shook Emmitt’s hand. “Fancy meeting you here,” Emmitt said with a grin.

Grace and her mom hugged. “This is awesome.”

“Where is Matt?”

“He’s inside sweating,” one of the firefighters said.

The woman Dameon assumed was the reporter walked up to them and introduced herself. She barely finished her introduction when Colin’s car pulled into the driveway.

One of the firefighters spoke into a radio. “She’s here.”

Colin, Parker, and Erin piled out of the car right as the garage doors of the station started to open.

Dameon stood behind Grace and wrapped his arms around her as they watched.

The photographer snapped pictures as Erin’s eyes took it all in.

Matt stood in full uniform holding at least two dozen red roses. Draped across the fire engines was a massive banner in red and white and dozens of heart-shaped balloons with the question Erin, will you marry me?

Grace shivered in Dameon’s arms.

He looked at her and saw a single tear fall off her cheek.

Dameon kissed the side of her head.

Matt walked straight up to Erin, who stood with her hands over her face. He dropped to one knee and opened a small box.

“Erin. I have loved you from the minute I set eyes on you. I want to wake up to you every day for the rest of my life. I want all the good times and the bad times with you by my side. I want to dance in the kitchen with you until we’re both using walkers and remembering when we were both young and crazy.”

Dameon felt a lump forming in his throat when Matt choked on his words.

“Erin, my love, my life, my everything . . . will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Erin was a mess of tears as she nodded and reached for him.

Matt set the roses on the ground, got to his feet, and pulled her in for a kiss.

Dameon looked around to see Grace’s family all smiling and crying. One of the firefighters had a cell phone camera pointed at the happy couple.

When Matt let Erin up for air, everyone started clapping. Matt whispered something in Erin’s ear as he slid a ring onto her finger.

Dameon never considered himself much of a romantic, but he had to admit he was pretty impressed with how Matt handled the whole thing.

There were hugs and cheers. When it was Dameon’s turn to congratulate the happy couple, he hugged them both. “Way to set the bar high, Matt,” Dameon said with a laugh.

“Let’s see you beat that,” Matt challenged.

Dameon looked over to Grace and saw her blushing.

The reporter snapped pictures and then interviewed Matt and Erin. She took down everyone’s names in the family, including Dameon’s. He was fairly certain a picture with him and Grace in it would make its way into the paper.

The bell inside the fire station went off, and Matt’s colleagues moved into action.

Colin and Matt scrambled to take the sign down.

“Do you have to go?” Erin asked over the noise.

“Nope. I’m not on today.”

They backed out of the way when the engine pulled out of the garage.

With the noise of the siren fading as it left the station, Dameon turned to the crowd. “If it’s okay with you, I booked the private room at The Backwoods to celebrate.”

Matt shook his hand. “Let me change real quick, and Erin and I will meet you there.”

The two of them slipped into the station while everyone else watched them go.

“Anyone wanna lay bets on how late they’ll be?” Colin asked.

“Leave the lovebirds alone,” Grace scolded.

Emmitt walked up to Dameon and patted him on the back. “I hope you took notes, son.”

“Dad!” Grace yelled.

Instead of feeling the pressure, Dameon smiled.

They made the second page, not the fourth.

Grace woke at Dameon’s canyon home the next morning to text messages from both family and friends.

“Your phone is buzzing off the hook,” Dameon said as he brought her a cup of coffee in bed.

She pushed into a seated position and accepted the coffee with a kiss. “Good morning.”

Dameon was already showered and dressed. “Good morning.” He sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on her leg over the blankets covering her.

“What time is it?”

“Almost seven. I have to get out of here if I’m going to beat traffic.”

“You’re not beating anything if it’s seven,” she told him.

He kissed her again. “Maybe I’ll just stay.”

“Someone has to work.” Grace sipped the coffee before setting it aside. “Thank you.”

He brushed the hair out of her face. “This is a great look.”

She knew she was a mess. They’d gotten back relatively early but spent the evening exploring each other’s bodies in very satisfying ways.

Her phone buzzed again. “What’s going on?”

Dameon pulled his phone out of the breast pocket of his suit. “The local paper.”

Grace rubbed the sleep from her eyes and took his phone. She expanded the pictures and the memories of the previous day came back.

Erin was emotional, Matt was teary-eyed.

Then there was a picture of Dameon holding her from behind and saying something in her ear. The caption was “Love is in the air.”

“Slow news day,” Grace said.

“This should do the trick.” Dameon took his phone back and put it away. “I hate to run.”

She started to get out of bed. “I’ll be right behind you.”

“No. Don’t rush. Stay as long as you like.”