PART 1: The Sweetest Disaster in Texas

The entire town of Willow Creek watched in horror as the most stubborn cowboy in Texas turned bright red, grabbed his throat, and fell backward off a picnic bench.

And all because he had tried to propose marriage with an apple pie.

Ten minutes earlier, thirty-two-year-old Jack Bennett had been the happiest fool at the county harvest festival.

He had spent six months saving for a diamond ring, three weeks practicing his proposal in front of his horse, and an entire morning convincing Mrs. Hattie Collins to bake a special apple pie.

There was only one problem.

Jack had hidden the engagement ring inside the pie.

And now there were twelve identical pies sitting on the contest table.

“Which one is yours?” his best friend, Walter, whispered.

Jack stared at the golden crusts.

“The one with the little heart cut into the top.”

Walter looked down the table.

“Jack, they all have hearts.”

Before Jack could respond, the festival judge rang the starting bell.

“Gentlemen! Hands behind your backs! First man to finish his pie wins!”

The crowd erupted.

Across the table stood Emma Whitmore, twenty-nine, with chestnut curls tucked beneath a blue ribbon and the kind of smile that had made Jack forget his own name the first time they met.

Emma folded her arms, laughing.

“Don’t embarrass yourself, cowboy!”

Jack grinned.

“Darlin’, I’m about to give you something you’ll never forget!”

He buried his face in the nearest pie.

Three enormous bites later, his teeth struck something hard.

Clink.

Jack froze.

Something small and metallic slipped toward the back of his mouth.

He coughed.

Then coughed harder.

His eyes widened as he struggled to clear his throat.

“JACK!” Emma screamed.

Walter lunged forward, shouting for help. The town doctor, who had been judging the blackberry preserves, rushed through the crowd.

Jack staggered backward, knocking over two chairs and an entire pitcher of lemonade.

The doctor reached him just as Jack bent forward in a violent coughing fit.

A tiny golden object flew from his mouth, bounced across the wooden platform, and landed inside the mayor’s coffee cup.

For three seconds, nobody moved.

Then the mayor lifted his cup.

Inside lay a diamond engagement ring.

Emma covered her mouth.

“Jack Bennett,” she whispered. “Were you trying to propose to me?”

Jack, still gasping, nodded miserably.

“Was supposed to be romantic.”

Walter burst out laughing.

“Well, you nearly married the undertaker instead!”

The entire crowd roared.

But Emma wasn’t laughing anymore.

She walked slowly toward Jack, reached into the pocket of her blue dress, and pulled out a small folded handkerchief.

Inside was another diamond ring.

Jack stared.

“Emma… where’d you get that?”

Her cheeks turned pink.

“I knew you were planning to propose. Hattie accidentally told me last Tuesday.”

Jack groaned.

“That woman couldn’t keep a secret inside a locked bank vault.”

Emma swallowed nervously.

“So I decided to test you. I hid another ring in a different pie. I wanted to see whether you’d still ask me to marry you if your perfect proposal went wrong.”

Jack blinked.

“You put a ring in another pie?”

“Yes.”

“Which pie?”

Emma turned toward the contest table.

Her smile vanished.

Every plate was empty.

And standing at the far end of the table was old Sheriff Thomas Briggs, proudly patting his enormous stomach.

“Best apple pie I’ve eaten in forty years!” he announced.

Emma went pale.

Jack slowly turned toward the sheriff.

“Sheriff… did you happen to bite into anything hard?”

The sheriff stopped smiling.

He reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a second ring, sticky with apple filling.

“You mean this little thing?”

Emma gasped with relief.

But before she could speak, the sheriff turned the ring over, examined the engraving inside, and suddenly looked as though he’d seen a ghost.

“Emma,” he said quietly, “where did you get this ring?”

“It belonged to my mother. Why?”

The sheriff’s hand began to tremble.

“Because I buried a ring with that exact engraving twenty-five years ago.”

The laughter around them died.

Then he looked directly at Emma.

“And the woman wearing it was supposed to be your mother.”