Thank you for the favourite!

EPISODE TWO: Surprises

CHAPTER ONE

"Should we tell them?"Justin asked.

Char looked at him with some consternation. "Tell who?"

Justin looked as though he thought the answer was obvious but attempted one anyway. "Emma, Dan, Sutton…I don't know, anyone who's affected by it."

Char considered the matter for a moment. In truth, it was a question she'd been asking herself, ever since she received the call from Mads filling her in. "No,"she said at last. "I mean, with any luck, they'll never have to know. And if they do, someone else will tell them, right?"

"What did Mads say?"

"As far as she knows, they're not planning to come back to Scottsdale." Char gave a decisive nod, her choice made. "So, that's it. No-one needs to know. We'll just let it lie."

Dan paused in the living area of their flat. He was about to head out to work, but he couldn't resist stopping to take in the sight of Sutton sat at a desk, studying. It wasn't something he'd expected to see after she dropped out of college, but their experience foiling Nisha's attempt to frame Emma had caused her to make the decision to resume her studies. "You going to be all right here on your own?"he asked.

She looked back at him and smiled. "Don't worry, I can manage for a few hours without my fiance. Anyway, I need to concentrate on this if I'm going to pass law."

Dan hesitated. "You know I don't need you to do this, right?"he asked. "I mean, I love you anyway."

"I know. I want to do this for me. I'm not really the police officer type but getting to work in the DA office is a good way for us to work together."

"And you've got all the qualities needed to suss out when someone is lying. Yeah, I know. And I am actually quite looking forward to it." Dan kissed Sutton on the top of the head. "All right, I'll see you when I get back."

The friends were meeting in Ethan and Emma's flat: Ethan and Emma, Laurel and Jordan, and Char and Justin. "So, basics to start with,"Laurel declared. "We're organising a surprise engagement party for Dan and Sutton." She looked around and was pleased to see a series of nods.

"Where are we going to have it?"Justin asked.

"We could ask at the country club,"Jordan suggested.

Ethan nodded. "Right. We could check that it's free for Friday night if that's okay for everyone?" All those present indicated that was fine.

"So, assuming we've got it for then,"Laurel continued,"who's going to do what?"

"Justin and I could sort out decorations,"Char suggested.

Laurel nodded. "I can sort out the invites. I'll ask Mum about getting some food together."

"I could help with that too,"Emma added.

Char raised a hand nervously. "Um, who exactly are we inviting?"

"Well, those of us here,"Emma noted. "Our mum and your dad, Lexi, we could see if some of Sutton's friends from school want to attend…"

"I'll have a word with Dan's friends from the station,"Ethan added.

"What about my mum?"Char asked. "I know she's not exactly your favourite person but I think she really is trying this time. And it'll be easier to keep an eye on her if she's there."

Emma thought for a moment, then nodded. "We should ask her, yeah."

"We should give Mads a call too,"Laurel added.

"I'm not sure if she can come,"Char said. Every set of eyes in the room switched to her, Justin's with concern, everyone else's with confusion. She wished she hadn't said anything, but since she had, she ploughed on. "It's just that last time I spoke to her, she said she had some family stuff going on."

"We can still ask her, though,"Jordan argued. "She can only say no."

Char nodded awkwardly. "Yeah, yeah, of course. It's probably nothing."