The proposal

This scene is from chapter 27 of Rest in Fleece, the eighth book in the Knitorious Murder Mystery Series.

This is Eric’s marriage proposal to Megan, as told from Eric’s point of view.

First, the scene as originally written from Megan’s point of view, followed by the re-written scene from Eric’s point of view.

Megan’s point of view:

“Sophie wants you to throw the frisbee,” Eric says when she drops the toy at my feet. 

We’re sitting on a cluster of large rocks on the shoreline. The sun is hot, and the warm lake breeze creates a vortex of curls around my face. 

This end of the lake is less popular with tourists than the rest of the lake because most tourists don’t know it’s here. Also, it’s far from the amenities of Water Street and downtown Harmony Lake, and the rocky landscape is difficult to traverse and leaves very little beach to enjoy. 

“Nope,” I say, shaking my head. “I don’t like this game. If I throw it, she’ll ignore it and bring back something else. Then I’ll have to search for the frisbee and fetch it myself.” 

“If Sophie doesn’t bring back the frisbee, I will,” Eric says, tucking a few curls behind my ear. “Please just throw the frisbee.” He kisses me. 

“Fine.” I pick up the frisbee and wave it around, getting Sophie excited for the impending pursuit. “What’s this, Soph? See the frisbee? Wanna chase it? Ready?” I bring the frisbee to my chest and flick my wrist, sending it flying along the shoreline. 

In hot pursuit, Sophie follows the frisbee to its landing place, between two rocks, then sniffs around the rocks, her head and upper body disappearing then reappearing between them. 

“Here she comes,” Eric says, watching Sophie navigate through the rocks with her prize clenched in her mouth. 

“I bet it’s a stick,” I say, venturing a guess at what Sophie will leave at my feet. “Or maybe a shell.” 

Sophie prances back to us, sits proudly at my feet, and drops a purple tennis ball.

“Good girl, Soph,” Eric praises the corgi and rubs her head. 

“How did you find a tennis ball way out here?” I ask, picking up and examining the ball. It’s engraved. I hold it up to inspect the gold embossed letters. 

“Eric & Megan,” I read the top line out loud. 

“Now & forever,” I read the second line out loud. 

Before I can process the weird coincidence that Sophie found a random tennis ball with our names engraved on it, Eric stands up, steps off the rock and takes the tennis ball from me. 

Bending one knee, he kneels and opens the tennis ball. The Velcro makes a sc-tch-tch-ch noise as the top half of the tennis ball peels away from the bottom. It flips open like a jewellery box and inside the ball, a purple velvet lining cushions an engagement ring. 

I gasp and bring my hands to my mouth. 

Trembling and with a shaky voice, Eric recites a romantic, corny, sentimental speech he prepared, bringing tears to my eyes. 

“Megan Elizabeth Monroe Martel, will you marry me?” 

“Yes.” I jump to my feet. 

Eric stands up, and I launch myself into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist. 

“Look this way and smile!” 

Eric pivots us toward Hannah, who is holding up her phone. Where did she come from?

“Are you filming this, Hannah Banana?” 

“Live streaming,” she replies. “So everyone at The Embassy can watch.” 

“I’m taking still photos,” April says, from behind me. 

I turn my head, and April is standing a few rocks above us, her digital camera blocking her face. Cue the ugly tears. 

“You planned this?” I ask Eric, straightening my legs so he can lower me to the ground. 

He nods. “With a lot of help,” he replies, using his thumb to wipe a tear from my cheek. “You’re a hard person to surprise. Everyone is waiting for us on the patio at The Embassy.” 

“Everyone?” I ask. “Is this why they were busy tonight?”

“Yes,” he replies with a chuckle. 

“And there’s nothing wrong with Sophie?” I confirm. “You trained her to only bring me a tennis ball, no matter what I throw?”

“I’ll try to un-train her so you can stop fetching her toys.” 

We laugh. 

“Can I see the ring?” Hannah asks. She tells everyone at the Embassy that we’re on our way and ends the live stream. 

“Eric didn’t show it to you already?” I ask, wondering how involved Hannah and April were in his plan. 

“No, he said it was a surprise,” Hannah replies. 

“I haven’t seen it either,” April shouts, climbing down to our level. “Eric said we couldn’t see it until he gave it to you.” Eric climbs up and takes April’s arm, helping her down to ground level. 

After we ooh and ahh over the ring and Eric’s good taste, he suggests we should head over to The Embassy. 

“Let’s go,” I agree, then remember the frisbee. “We should find the frisbee.” 

“We’ll find the frisbee,” April offers. “You two go ahead with Sophie. Hannah and I will find the frisbee and meet you there.” 

“I can’t believe you planned all this behind my back,” I say once we’re in the car. 

“Everyone was in on it,” he admits. 

Hannah helped train Sophie by taking her to the dog park on the days Eric couldn’t, to reinforce her new trick of only retrieving tennis balls. Eric booked the patio at The Embassy, and April invited everyone. Connie arranged the menu and ordered the food. Today, April had to contact everyone again to tell them to arrive at The Embassy early because I decided we should walk Sophie right away instead of later, like Eric planned. This was the flurry of texts Eric sent before we left the house, the loose ends he was dealing with. 

Hannah arrived at the lake before us and hid the ring. Then she hid in the rocks until it was time to livestream the proposal. They chose the spot ahead of time, which is why he talked me out of going to the dog park. We stopped to sit on that rock on purpose, so when I threw the frisbee, it would land close enough to the ring for Sophie to find the purple tennis ball. 

“You’re stuck with me now,” Eric says. “No refunds, no exchanges. Partners in crime forever.” 

“But maybe with a little less crime.” 

I unlock my phone and open the text messaging app.

“I’m sure our engagement will be murder-free,” he muses. “Who are you texting?” 

“My sister,” I reply holding my hand in front of me and taking a photo of the ring.  

I crop the photo to eliminate the car interior in the background and hit send. A few moments later, my phone dings. “She says she’s thrilled for us and will call us later. Also, she and her husband are trying to get time off work to come to Harmony Lake for a visit.”  

“Thanks for the warning,” Eric teases with a wink. “I’ll enjoy the peace and quiet in the meantime.”

“I know it’s always exciting when my sister comes to town,” I admit. “But it’s not like anyone has ever died or anything.” 

Not yet.

Eric’s point of view:

“Sophie wants you to throw the frisbee,” I say when the corgi drops the toy at Megan’s feet.

 We’re sitting on a cluster of large rocks on the shoreline. The sun is hot, and the warm lake breeze creates a vortex of curls around Megan’s face. 

This end of the lake is less popular with tourists than the rest of the lake because most tourists don’t know it’s here. Also, it’s far from the amenities of Water Street and downtown Harmony Lake. The rocky landscape is difficult to traverse and leaves very little beach to enjoy.

“Nope,” she says, shaking her head. “I don’t like this game. If I throw it, she’ll ignore it and bring back something else. Then I’ll have to search for the frisbee and fetch it myself.” 


“If Sophie doesn’t bring back the frisbee, I will,” I promise, tucking a rogue curl behind her ear. “Please just throw the frisbee.” 

I kiss her hoping it will lower her resistance.

“Fine.” She picks up the frisbee and waves it around. “What’s this, Soph? See the frisbee? Wanna chase it? Ready?” 

Megan flings the frisbee and it flies through the air, parallel with the shoreline.  

Sophie chases the frisbee as it lands in the distance between two rocks. She sniffs around, searching for the frisbee, disappearing and reappearing between the craggy landscape. 

“Here she comes,” I say, hoping Megan doesn’t hear the sigh of relief I let out when Sophie finally reappears with her trophy clenched between her teeth. 

So far, so good. Everything is going as planned. I let out another sigh. Not a sigh of relief this time, an anxious sigh. I have one chance to do this. I’ll propose to another woman again. This is a one-off and I want it to be perfect for her.

“I bet it’s a stick,” Megan says. “Or maybe a shell.” 


Sophie prances toward us triumphantly. She sits at Megan’s feet, her posture full of pride, and lets the purple tennis ball fall at Megan’s feet. 

“Good girl, Soph,” I say, rubbing her head. 

“How did you find a tennis ball way out here?” Megan asks, picking up the tennis ball and examining it.

Her eyes narrow with confusion when she notices the gold letters embossed on the fuzzy purple exterior. 


“Eric & Megan,” she reads aloud. “Now & forever.” 

Before she has a chance to connect the mental dots and realize what’s happening, I take the tennis ball from her. 

Taking a knee, I squeeze the tennis ball and force open the hidden seam, ignoring the unromanitc sc-tch-tch-tch sound of the velcro’s resistance. 

It flips open, revealing the purple velvet lining that cushions the engagement ring. 


With a gasp, Megan raises her shaky hands to her mouth. 

Trembling, I clear my throat.

With a shaky voice and the driest throat I’ve ever had, I recite the overly romantic, and intentionally corny, speech I’d prepared months ago and have been practicing in the privacy of my car and office for weeks.

Megan’s eyes fill with tears. Happy ones, I hope. 

“Megan Elizabeth Monroe Martel, will you marry me?” 


“Yes,” she screams, jumping in place and making it harder than I expect to slip the ring onto her finger. 

As I stand up, she leaps into my arms and wraps her legs around my waist, kissing me with her arms tight around my neck. 


“I love you,” I say.

“I love you, too,” she responds, kissing me.

“Look this way and smile!” 


I spin us toward Hannah’s voice. She aims her phone at us. 

“Are you filming this, Hannah Banana?” my fiancée asks. 


My fiancée. I love the way it sounds.

“Live streaming,” Hannah corrects her mother. “Everyone at The Embassy is watching.” 


“I’m taking photos,” April interjects, from behind us. 


Megan turns to see April standing a few rocks above us with a digital camera blocking her face. This ignites a fresh stream of happy tears.  


“Did you plan this?” Megan asks, lowering herself out of my arms to the ground. 

“I had a lot of help,” I admit, wiping a tear from under her eye. “You’re not easy to surprise.” I chuckle. “Everyone is waiting for us at The Embassy. They’ve closed the patio for a private party.”

“Everyone?” she asks. “This is why they were busy tonight?”


“Yes,” I reply with a chuckle, pleased that we executed the plan so smoothly.

“And there’s nothing wrong with Sophie?” Megan asks. “You trained her to only bring me a tennis ball, no matter what I throw for her?”


I nod. “I’ll try to un-train her so you can stop fetching her toys.” 


We laugh and I wrap her in my arms, pulling her as close as possible and kissing the top of her head.  


“Can I see the ring?” Hannah asks after she tells everyone at the Embassy that we’re on our way and ends the live stream. 


“Eric didn’t show it to you before today?” Megan asks, clearly probing to figure out how much involvement her daughter and best friend had in my scheme.

“No, he said it was a surprise,” Hannah replies. 


“I haven’t seen it either,” April shouts, climbing down to our level. “Eric wouldn’t show it to anyone until he gave it to you.” 

I suggest we should leave for The Embassy, but I’m not sure they hear me over their group hug and the oohs and ahhs about the ring.

“Let’s go,” Megan agrees. She takes my hand then stops abruptly. “We should find the frisbee first.” 


“We’ll find the frisbee,” April offers. “You go ahead with Sophie. Hannah and I will meet you there.” 


“I can’t believe you planned this behind my back,” she says when we’re in the car. “Sneaky.” 

“Everyone was in on it,” I admit. “It didn’t feel sneaky. It felt like the worst kept secret ever. More than once, I was sure you’d found out but were pretending for my benefit.” 

“It was a total surprise,” she insists. “How long had you planned it?”

I tell Megan how Hannah helped train Sophie by taking her to the dog park on the days I couldn’t, to reinforce the new trick of only retrieving tennis balls. 

I booked the patio at The Embassy, and April invited everyone. Connie arranged the menu and ordered the food. Today, April had to contact everyone again to tell them to arrive at The Embassy early because Megan wanted to walk Sophie now instead of later, like my plan called for. This was the flurry of texts I sent before we left the house; the loose ends I said I was dealing with. 

Hannah arrived at the lake before us and hid the ring. Then she hid in the rocks until it was time to livestream the proposal. We chose the spot ahead of time, which is why I had to talk Megan out of going to the dog park and coming to the lake instead. We stopped to sit on that rock on purpose, so when Megan threw the frisbee, it would land close enough to the ring for Sophie to find the purple tennis ball. Everyone played their parts beautifully, especially Sophie. 


“You’re stuck with me now,” I tease with a wink. “No refunds, no exchanges. Partners in crime forever.”

“But maybe with a little less crime.” 

Megan unlocks her phone and opens the text messaging app.


I’m sure our engagement will be murder-free,” I muse. “Who are you texting?” 


“My sister,” she says, resting her hand on the dashboard and admiring her ring as she takes a photo.

A few moments later, her phone dings. 

“She’s thrilled for us and will call me later. Also, she and her husband are trying to get time off work to come to Harmony Lake for a visit.”  


“Thanks for the warning,” I tease with a grin. “I’ll enjoy the peace and quiet in the meantime.”


“I know it’s always exciting when my sister comes to town,” my fiancée admits. “But it’s not like anyone has ever died or anything.” 


Not yet.

Ready for Life Crafter Death: A Knitorious Murder Mystery Book 9? Find it here.