I furrow my brow, as if I’m seriously considering the suggestion. “That could work. Thanks, man. I’ll check that out.” I’m about to say my good-byes and flee the store until it’s safe to shop without being observed when the dark-haired man with the moustache behind the counter calls Mick’s name.
“Mr. Whitehouse, the ring is sized and is ready to go,” he says, smiling brightly as he lifts an arm in welcome. “Just let me grab it from the back.”
Mick shoots a panicked look my way before he says, “Great. That’s great.” He claps his hands, nodding at me as he moves farther into the store. “Guess I’d better go get that.”
I fight the urge to smile. “Sure thing. I’ll see you around.” I reach for the door. “Hope Maddie likes her present.”
“Um, yeah, me too. Later,” he says, looking relieved that I’m not sticking around to overhear anything more about the ring he’s allegedly picking up “for Maddie.”
Maddie, my ass.
I step outside and wander across the pedestrian walkway that makes this part of Main Street one of the busiest shopping areas in town. I know who that ring is for, and it certainly isn’t Mick’s sister. I ease into the shade beneath the ice cream shop’s pink and green awning to wait for Mick to exit Leonard’s so I can head back in, wondering if he’s planning to ask Faith to marry him tonight.
I was planning to wait until Maddie’s birthday tomorrow to ask her, but maybe I should go ahead and do it tonight. It’ll give Maddie and Mick a good story to tell the grandkids—about the night they both got engaged—and I won’t have to worry that Mick might say something to Maddie about seeing me at the jewelry store and ruin the surprise.
I doubt there’s much risk of that, but a part of me is looking for an excuse to end the suspense. I have a pretty good feeling Maddie will say yes—we’ve decided to start trying for a baby in six months, around Thanksgiving, and I’m assuming she’ll want to be married before then—but I can’t deny I’ll feel a lot more relaxed once my ring is on her finger.
My ring.
I’m about to dump a couple thousand dollars on a ring for Maddie Whitehouse. I spent half my life pulling her pigtails and teasing her like it was my job, too stupid to see how perfect we would be for each other. And now she’s my closest friend and, hopefully, one day soon, my wife.
It’s crazy. And wonderful.
And there’s no way I’m going to be able to wait until tomorrow.
As soon as that ring is in my hand, I’m going straight to the bakery.
It should be five o’clock by then. Maybe Lucy will leave the back door open again and I’ll be able to sneak up Maddie’s stairs and leave a surprise on her landing again. But this time, the surprise won’t be a shot of whiskey and a bad poem, it’ll be me on one knee.
A little cheesy, maybe, but it feels right.
A few minutes later, Mick leaves Leonard’s, slipping his sunglasses on as he starts down Main Street toward the fire station, a jewelry bag dangling from one hand.
I silently wish him good luck and head back into the store. I return to the engagement ring section, not surprised to find my attention drawn to the same ring I noticed before.
The diamond at the center isn’t as big as some of the others, but it’s surrounded by clusters of smaller diamonds that make the ring look like a flower. But in an elegant way. It reminds me of the flowers Maddie wears in her hair for good luck.
And I figure luck is never a bad thing, especially when it comes to a marriage. It honestly feels like Maddie and I are meant to be, but my mom died when I was too young to remember how she and Dad were together, and my aunt and uncle treat their marriage more like a traumatic event to be survived than something to be enjoyed.
Growing up, I didn’t get the chance to observe a lot of healthy marriages up close.
I’m not sure I’ll always know what to do to make Maddie happy starting out, but I love her like nothing else in the world.
Hopefully that, combined with a little luck, will be all we need.
“You look like a man who’s made up his mind.” The mustached man behind the counter—Robert, according to his tiny gold nametag—eases my way. “Which one can I get out for you?”
I point. “That one.”
“Lovely.” Robert unlocks the case and slides the ring off the red velvet finger it was displayed on, placing it in the palm of my hand. “I’ve always thought that looked like a ring for a woman with a ready smile for strangers.”