The rest of the month flew by as we made up for lost time. Before we knew it, we were back in court, as well prepared as we could be for Aunt Bertha’s attack. It seemed like torture sitting on the bench waiting for our time in front of the judge, but when it came, it was surprisingly brief. Beau countered her claims that I was somehow unfit to hold the property that had been deeded to me with the facts that I was engaged and in the process of relocating here from Los Angeles. Jon was asked to affirm that no arrangements had been made to transfer the property, and he did so.
When all was said and done, it seemed to be enough. The judge ruled in my favor, and we left the courtroom.
“Thank you, Beau.”
“Oh, don’t thank me yet. You haven’t gotten my bill.”
“Well, I’ll look forward to that,” I laughed.
“Do you really think this is over?” a voice said from behind me.
I turned to find Aunt Bertha standing there, looking at me defiantly and then at Jon with disdain.
“Aunt Bertha, you heard the judge. You don’t have a case.”
“Don’t be so sure. You have no idea who you’re dealing with,” she said before making a hasty retreat toward her car.
“Wow. She’s some piece of work,” Beau said.
“That she is,” I replied.
“Come on,” Jon said. “Let’s go celebrate. I’ll buy, since you’re about to go bankrupt paying off Beau here.”
The three of us parted, Jon and I heading down to the 3D for a bite of fattening lunch. We ordered greasy hamburgers, fries, and milkshakes to rejoice and possibly have heart attacks.
“Oh, here. While my fingers are greasy, let me slip off your mother’s ring and give it back to you.”
“No, no. Not yet. It might be best if we don’t immediately end our fake relationship. Your Aunt Bertha is ruthless. I don’t want her dragging you back into court and accusing you of lying about your engagement. She could bring you a lot more trouble than you want.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Unless you don’t want to wear it. I mean, you could just avoid your Aunt Bertha.”
“Oh, I will be doing plenty of that, don’t worry.”
“Can’t say that I blame you for that,” he joked.
Once we were done, we returned to my grandmother’s house. My house. It was really mine now.
Jon sat in one of the armchairs and observed the open space where the sofa used to be. He gestured toward it.
“Are you ever going to tell me what happened to that sofa?”
“Probably not.”
“Fine. I’ll get it out of you someday. I guess now that this whole engagement thing is over, we won’t be spending as much time together though.”
“What? Why would you think that?”
“Come on, Rain. I know we maybe got caught up in the moment, rekindling old flames and all that. We might still have to do some of that from time to time, but the pressure is off now. You’ll wear the ring for a while and then give it back when you feel comfortable that we’re out of hot water.”
“Just that simple, huh?” I said, trying to suppress the hurt that I was feeling.
Where was this coming from? Hadn’t he told me that he wanted to marry me one day when he had given me the ring? Now, that seemed to just not mean anything. Had I just been fooling myself into believing that he was too afraid to say he loved me? My head spun with thoughts about how many cues I might have missed or misinterpreted and I could no longer hear his words.
“Rain? What’s wrong? Rain?”
I pulled the ring from my finger and handed it to him, placing it squarely in his palm and folding it closed. His face searched mine, looking for answers that I didn’t have.
“Please leave, Jon. You’re right. Our little game is done, and there is no need to continue pretending we mean anything to one another. Tell your father I said thanks for letting me borrow the ring. It meant a lot, for a while.”
“Rain, that isn’t what I meant. I just meant that we don’t have to pretend anymore.”
“And I agreed that you are right, we don’t have to pretend anymore. You are free to do whatever you want, and I will do the same. I appreciate you helping me out with my problem. You’ve been a good friend.”
“I thought we were more than just friends,” he replied.
“Of course. We also had some benefits.”
“Rain—”
“No. You said what you wanted to say and now I get to say what I want to say. This is over and done. Please leave!”
“I just want to talk through this.”
“There is nothing to talk through, Jon. You just made it clear that we had an agreement, and it was over now. You were doing me a favor, and we got a little out of hand. It’s all over and done now. Let’s not beat the proverbial dead horse. Please just go.”