just a moment ago. He helped Jessie settle into place before sitting beside her.
She leaned forward, inspecting the foamy surf below. “No sign of the tide pool,” she commented. “I guess they float away?”
“The tide’s just higher than it was that day.”
“Oh. Do you think—”
His warm touch on her arm stopped her words in midair between them, and she jerked her head toward him. Without a word, he lifted her hand to his face, kissing her knuckles tenderly.
A warm, unexpected grin wound its way upward and she asked, “What was that for?”
“For love’s sake,” he replied.
Jessie giggled. “You love me?”
“Is that really a question?”
She shrugged before leaning forward and giving him a sweet little kiss. “No. I guess not.”
“Good,” he said, “because I have a question for you now.”
“Okey dokey.”
He reached into the pocket of his jeans and produced his cell phone. “Hold this?”
“Sure.”
He placed it into her hand before digging back into the pocket again. This time, he came up with keys, a few random coins, and the stub from the parking spot. “These, too,” he said, placing them into her open hands in one lump.
“Umm, okay.” With a clumsy chuckle, he dug into his other pocket, and Jessie cocked a brow. “What on earth are you looking for?”
Danny smiled as he produced a small black velvet box and displayed it in his open palm.
“What’s that?” she asked him.
“Well, here,” he said. “First . . .”
Leaving Jessie with a glaze of cold perspiration on both palms, the back of her neck, and all down her chest, Danny slowly—with painful deliberation—replaced his cell phone, his keys, the change . . .
“Danny,” she finally exclaimed. “What’s in the box?”
“Oh. This?” he teased, glaring down at the velvet box. “This is just something I wanted to show you.”
Show me. Undefined disappointment curdled the words.
“Yeah. Okay. What is it?” The lid creaked as he opened it, and she stared down at an exquisite diamond and sapphire ring. “It’s beautiful. Whose is it?”
“It was my grandmother’s. Then my mom’s.”
His mom’s ring. Of course. He wants me to consign it.
Jessie swallowed around the lump she hadn’t noticed forming at the base of her throat. “Oh. And you’re showing it to me because—?”
“Well, I remembered that you’re into vintage jewelry, and I thought you might give me an opinion.”
“An opinion. What kind of opinion?”
“Just one in general. What do you think?”
“Well,” she started, then her lips closed tight.
“It’s nothing like the rings you’re used to, I realize,” he said. “But I thought it was kind of pretty. Mom said the diamond’s just under a carat, plus the two triangular—”
“Trillion,” she interrupted. “The cut of the sapphires is called trillion. And the band is really intricate.”
“Art deco inspired,” he told her. “Engraved art deco, I think she said.”
Realization dawned. “Oh,” Jessie said. “So you were thinking of placing it at the store. I could do that for you.”
“You really think a woman would want to wear it?”
“Of course,” she exclaimed. “It’s exquisite.”
“Try it on,” he suggested. “Let’s see it on your finger.” She grinned as she plucked the beauty from the box and slipped it on her right ring finger.
“Danny, it’s superb.”
“You think so?” Just before she pushed it all the way into place, Danny reached out and stopped her, removing it. “Not that finger,” he said. “This one.”
The exquisite ring had barely touched the ring finger of her left hand when Jessie’s pulse kicked into overdrive. She looked up at him, and their gazes locked as he pushed the band all the way into place.
“My grandmother said you have everything you need in this ring. All the somethings.”
“The somethings?” she repeated. “What are the somethings?”
“I don’t know,” he said with a shake of his head. “But one of them is a something blue, which is where the sapphires come in.”
“Ohhh.” She couldn’t help chuckling. “Something old, something new. Something borrowed? So, the woman who wears it has to give it back?”
“No. But she does have to pass it on to her firstborn son when he falls in love.”
“Ah. I see,” she said with a slow nod.
“So you really like it?”
Jessie smiled. “I love it.”
“It wouldn’t be a disappointment after the boulder you had before this one?”
“Not at all,” she said, still not entirely sure what they were talking about. “It’s unique, and it has vintage style of its own.”
“Yeah,” he said, inspecting it on her finger. “I guess it does.” After a moment, he added, “Hey. You want to wear it for a while?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Break it in or something.”
“Rings don’t really need to—”
“Just until you decide.”
“Decide what?”
“Whether or not you want to marry me.”
Jessie nearly choked, and it took a solid minute to recover. “Are you proposing?”
“That depends. Are you going to freak out or say yes?”
“I’m not sure,” she admitted.
“Then I’ll get back to you on that.”
So much for Danny’s predictability. Of all the unpredictable things he’d
