Nancy sat on a boulder at the top of the bluffs. The wind coming in off the ocean brought the smell of salt water with it, even as it ruffled the hair that she had left down. The sun had long since set and the moon was half hidden behind the clouds that marred the night sky. Elsewhere, people were celebrating the ending of summer but Nancy did not feel like joining in on those celebrations.

Though her birth certificate said she would not be twenty-one for a few more months, today truly was her twenty-first birthday. Twenty-one years ago, on this very cliff, Nancy had been born moments before her mother had died by falling over the cliff. Though raised by two loving parents, the discovery of this information two years ago had been the spark to doubt within her about whom she was. She had questioned everything, even the love of the only parents she had know - Carson and Kate Drew.

The past two years had felt like a roller coaster - albeit a supernatural themed one. A lot of what she had gone through could never be shared except with those who had shared the journey with her. After all, who would believe she had tried to bargain with a vengeful sea spirit, who had tried to kill her only to then have to battle the spirit of an ancestor who wanted to come back to life. Those were things better kept to oneself.

What could be shared was that her biological parents were Ryan Hudson and Lucy Sable, though she had finally been able to reconcile the fact that the Mom and Dad who had raised her, had kept that secret for what they believed to be her best interests. Though even they had not been aware of the Hudson connection until she herself had discovered it.

The Hudson empire was no more. Cecilia had been murdered. Everett Hudson, though guilty of more than what could be proved, had gone to jail for the murder of his brother. She and Ryan had used the family money to help people that Everett had hurt over the years, keeping a little for their own use. It was that money that had allowed her to start her own private detective agency in Horseshoe Bay. She had finally decided that a typical college career was not in her future. She was taking college courses online in subjects that would help her with her newfound career, though. Both of her Dads had come to terms with that choice - ultimately just wanting her to be happy.

The sound of an approaching car caught her attention. Looking away from the ocean, Nancy looked in the direction of the approaching headlights to see the dark blue SUV of Abe Tamura coming to a stop behind her blue convertible. She smiled, thinking how when he first came to town they had been at odds with one another. Brought in to finish the investigation into Tiffany Hudson's murder, Detective Tamura's path had immediately overlapped her and her friends. Over time, the new head of the Horseshoe Bay Police Department had become an ally instead of an adversary. After she had helped him solve a series of petty thefts carried out by lady in a possessed wedding dress, Tamura preferring to chalk the behavior up to being high on drugs, he had started recognizing her talents. She in turn had started seeing him as a person and not just a police officer who was in her way.

Seeing him step from the car, Nancy smiled. Their relationship had only continued to grow stronger since then. Despite him being quite a few years older than she, Nancy had found herself falling in love with the detective. Finding in her someone who could understand his passion for the job he had chosen, Abe had come to return those feelings. If Carson and Ryan disapproved of their relationship, they had chosen to keep it to themselves. Perhaps they didn't want to risk the chance of history somehow repeating, given that Everett and Cecilia's displeasure over Ryan's relationship with Lucy had played a big role in her death. Or perhaps neither of her father's wanted reason to be on Horseshoe Bay's Police Chief's radar. Either way, Nancy was relieved that they were letting her explore this relationship on her own terms.

"I was starting to think you were going to stand me up?" Nancy called out to her boyfriend.

Abe was dressed in slacks and a dark-green polo shirt. She had come to realize that it was about as casual as he got when out in public. The only exception was when he was out running, an activity which she had started joining him for more often. She liked that their relationship had evolved into spending time together in the course of their everyday lives rather than just planned times together. She even had a key to his home which she had discovered he had bought as a project. Just like she had been soul searching and putting her own life back together, Abe had been breathing new life into the old house he had bought. A few months ago, when he had finished fixing structural things and began to give the house personality with paint, carpets and stains, Abe had casually started asking her opinion. It made her think that perhaps he might be thinking a long term with their relationship despite his insistence at first that things remained casual. She knew Abe had wrestled with not only their age difference but also with the broken engagement by the last woman he had trusted his heart too. Not wanting to spook him, Nancy had kept her hopes to herself though she tried to make it clear that she was not going anywhere.

"A new feud might be brewing between the butcher and the baker," Abe told her as he came around the house. Nancy could see that he was carrying two bottles in his left hand. "A window got broken in the bakery along the shared alley and the baker is insisting that the butcher did it deliberately because there were animal bones inside near the broken window."

"Did you ask for the security footage?" Nancy asked.

"I did," Abe replied. "Seems the butcher's son broke the window and put the bones through it. Apparently he was mad about a grounding."

Nancy laughed. "At least that was an easy solve," she joked.

"This time," Abe replied. "But let's leave work elsewhere for tonight." Stopping in front of her, he handed one of the bottles out to her. "Happy twenty-first birthday, Nancy."

Nancy accepted the bottle, realizing it was a bottle of a local beer that Abe preferred to drink. "You know, according to my birth certificate I don't turn twenty-one until November," she reminded him.

Abe shrugged. "Who is going to know?" he replied, setting down on the ground in front of the boulder that Nancy was sitting on. "Even if you try to turn me in, you are not exactly the favorite of a lot of people on my police force."

"True," Nancy conceded, sliding off the boulder to sit down next to Abe. Her boyfriend lifted his arm and she snuggled against his side as he rested his arm on her shoulders. "But aren't you worried about tarnishing the reputation of the police force you have worked so hard to change its image."

Abe laughed. "Giving what had taken place in the past, even if the fact that I gave you a beer did come to light, I doubt anyone in this town would blink an eye. Besides, I don't intend on letting you drive even after that one beer. Nick and George are coming by in an hour to pick up your car."

"Giving me alcohol and arranging it so you have to give me a ride home. One might think you had ulterior motives, detective," Nancy said dryly, even as she looked up at him, with a smile on her face. Though their relationship had already gotten physical, he had never once pressured her to take that step. Yes, he had initiated their first kiss but even then, Abe had been a gentleman about everything.

"You are welcome to go with your friends when they pick up your car," Abe replied easily.

"And if I would rather stay with you?" she asked leaning her head against his chest and rubbing the top of her head against his chin.

"I definitely will not protest."

"Good," Nancy replied softly. She stayed there for a few moments, just enjoying being close to Abe. The sound of his heart beating was in one ear and the waves crashing below them in the other.

Without disturbing her, Abe opened his bottle of beer and took a sip. The weight of his arm around her shoulders felt comforting as it made it clear to Nancy that she was no longer alone. Despite losing both mothers, she had two fathers, who despite their own issues, loved her. She had friends whose loyalty had been forged through trails that most people couldn't imagine. Most of all though, she had the love of a man whose own experience with heartbreak seemed to make him more gentle with her own heart.

After a bit, Nancy lifted her head. Holding the bottle in one hand, she twisted the lid of with the other.

"I suggest taking a small sip at first," Abe cautioned her.

Doing as suggested, Nancy took a small sip, the taste surprising her as it created a tingling sensation in her mouth. Soft laughter in her ear told her that she must have made a face. Despite the surprise of that first taste, she found that she didn't really dislike it.

Knowing what to expect now, Nancy took a second sip of the beer."Definitely tastes better than some of those potions I have taken over the last few years," she commented casually.

"Considering what the one I got forced into drinking tasted like, I don't think that is hard," Abe countered.

"You make a good point," Nancy said. She eyed the bottle she held. "I think I like it," she conceded.

Abe chuckled. "I don't think I am going to have to worry about making sure you don't go into the liquor store over the next few months."

"Probably not," Nancy conceded. She looked from the bottle to the man sitting beside her. His usually dark brown eyes looked black in the dim light of the moon above them. "Thanks for bending the rules and celebrating my true milestone birthday with me."

"Any time," Abe replied, his voice laced with sincerity.

Leaning in, his lips captured hers. Though in the past, she had noted the lingering traces of the beer on his lips, Nancy realized that she didn't this time. What she did note was the soft and slightly rough surface of them as they explored her own lips. Placing her bottle on the boulder above them, the redhead let her fingers find the silky strands of his hair as she deepened the kiss. When the detective's tongue pressed against her lips, she parted them, allowing his tongue to find hers. Though she felt her lungs asking for a gulp of air, she still continued to return the gesture, breathing in through her nose in an attempt to get some oxygen.

When they finally did part, both were breathing heavily as they rested their foreheads against one another's. Neither disturbed the moment with words, both feeling the emotions that passed between them as the sound of their heavy breathing mingled with the crashing waves below.

The moonlight glistened off of something in her vision. Focusing on it, Nancy realized it was a tear on Abe's cheek. Pulling back, she saw more glistening unshed in his eyes. She gently kissed the tear away before she spoke.

"Don't you dare tell me you are breaking up with me," Nancy said, her mind going to the worst case scenario. After the other events that had happened in her life on this day it was the first thought the tears evoked.

"That is the last thing that I want," Abe said huskily.

"Good, because I have enough bad memories associated with this bluff. I don't need another one."

Abe nodded. He placed his beer on the boulder next to hers. "Then perhaps we can make a happy memory up here to replace bad memories for us."

Nancy wondered what he met as Abe moved away from her. Reaching into his pants pocket he removed something as he shifted his position. As she realized, he was moving into a kneeling position Nancy felt her breath catch. Was he really . . .

"As you know, I came to Horshoe Bay looking for a fresh start," Abe told her. "Back then I felt as if my heart had been ripped out and stomped on before being placed back inside my chest. I never expected to fall in love again, especially not with the feisty, self-confident, teen sleuth whose sole purpose at first seemed to be, with the help of her friends, making me regret ever moving to a small town."

Nancy laughed. "Not the most flattering thing you could tell a girl," she told him softly, as she lifted a hand and rested it against his cheek. The dampness there told her that more tears had escaped.

"I was broken and had my focus set on only my career. I planned on keeping people at arms' length to keep from getting hurt again. Despite all odds, you still saw something else in me. You saw the hurt, perhaps because you were hurting as well, and you slowly found your way past my defenses. You became the friend that I was trying to deny I needed and so much more. You not only got to know me but I feel like you understand me. You taught me to love despite the pain of a broken heart and I can only hope that I have done that for you as well."

"You have," Nancy assured him, her heart pounded in her shift. She wanted to tell him to just ask the question already but she held her tongue. Just like he had not pressured her, these last couple of years, it was now her turn to not pressure him but to wait patiently.

"I can't believe I am actually doing this again."

The admission was said so softly that Nancy wondered if Abe even realized he had spoken the words. She had seen first hand how that first broken off engagement had hurt him. It was a pain that she doubted he ever would have shared if her natural investigative instincts hadn't kicked in and she hadn't located that engagement announcement and wedding registry.

"I'm not her," she whispered back, her thumb caressing his check, rough with the day's stubble.

Abe offered her a smile and even in the moonlight she could see his confidence return. Once burned, twice shy. If ever there was a good example of that saying, this was it.

Taking a deep, Abe let it out slowly even as he opened the jewelry box. The nine tiny diamonds which formed a diamond twinkled in the moonlight.

"Nancy Drew, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

"Yes!" Nancy said happily, launching herself at him. The move threw them off balance and Abe fell back onto the ground, with her on top of him. "Sorry," she said, though she made no effort to move from the spot.

Abe's response to the apology was to put one hand against her back as he captured her lips with his once again. Nancy wasn't sure how long they kissed but they were once again breathless when they broke apart.

After a few deep inhales to catch her breath, Nancy moved to the side, allow Abe to sit up. He didn't attempt to get to his feet thought, instead gently pulling her toward him to sit in his lap. Taking the ring from the box, he slipped it on her finger before kissing her hand. She held her left hand out admiring the ring in the pale light. Though she wanted to see it in better light part of her was content to remain right there with Abe.

Eventually, the two got to their feet, though her right hand found his left and interlaced their fingers. Silently, the two picked up their bottles of beer. Moving a little closer to the edge, Nancy and Abe looked out over the ocean, the moon reflecting in it's ever moving surface. Letting go of her hand, Abe wrapped a hand around her waist and pulled her close to him.

"My life began up here, somehow it seems fitting that the next chapter of my life should begin here as well," Nancy mused out loud, before taking a swig of the beer.

"All I was thinking about was asking you in a place where I knew there would be no audience in case you said no," Abe admitted sheepishly.

Nancy chuckled. "Given how your first engagement turned out, you are forgiven. Though I suppose, you wouldn't want a long engagement."

"I don't want to pressure you, Nancy," Abe assured her. "I want you to have the wedding that you want, whatever that might look like. Though I will admit, I will be nervous until you actually meet me at the altar and say 'Ido'."

Nancy could only imagine the fear he would feel waiting for what happened the last time to happen again. She didn't want to put him through that for long. Nor did she want to wait a long time to become his wife. Still, she did need some time to plan.

"What do you say to a November 19th wedding?" Nancy asked. "It will be nice to think of that day as something other than my fake birthday and I think it is a Friday this year. You and I can continue to celebrate my birthday on August 31st and our wedding anniversary on November 19th."

"Are you sure you will have enough time to plan? I don't . . . "

Abe trailed off as Nancy put a finger to his lips.

"I don't need anything special. As long as my two fathers are there and hopefully my friends, I will be happy because I am marrying you. What about you? Is there anyone from out of town that you would like to invite?" she asked. Though she knew his mother had passed and his father suffered from early onset Alzheimer's, she didn't know if there were other relatives or friends he might like to invite.

"No," Abe answered quickly. A bit too quickly.

"There was something behind that no," Nancy stated.

"My family gave me a hard time after the broken off engagement. I guess I just don't want to share the happiest day of my life with people who couldn't be supportive on what was one of the worst days of my life."

"I can understand that," Nancy conceded. "So we have a small, intimate, ceremony at the Claw? No handcuffs though. We don't need a repeat of our first November 19th together," she teased.

"I was just doing my job," Abe told her. "Though you never did tell me how you got the cuffs off."

Nancy smiled. "I simply borrowed your key while you were unconscious. I know, not exactly compassionate but I didn't think Hampton would have taken the cuffs off."

"Probably not," Abe agreed.

The two fell silent, finishing the beers as they stood together watching the moonlight dance upon the waves below. The bluffs had been a place of both life and death but tonight only hope and possibilities dwelled there.