Page 40 of Must Love Mistletoe

“Because she’s wondering if the reason you bailed on her last time is still there? At a guess.”

“Doyouthink I should tell her?”

At which point Cal was beginning to wonder if Mason was addled in the head, because this was twice in one day that he was asking Cal for advice!

“If Cara’s any judge of character, she might not even be surprised when you tell her what went down. She might be relieved to finally get it out in the open and work through it.”

“Sheisa lot of work,” his big brother grumbled.

“And you’re an angel.”

“I asked Cara to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.”

Interesting. “Did she say yes?”

“She would have, except she’d already agreed to go to her mother’s place. She asked me to go with her.”

Cal couldn’t quite hide his wince. “Pass?”

“Hard pass.”

Which probably brought Cara full circle when it came to wondering why Mason kept leading her on and then bailing on her. “Tell her why.”

“How’s Beth?”

Cal grinned at his brother’s abrupt change of subject. “Well enough.” He’d heard from her this morning. “She’s making pumpkin pies with her sister. Sam’s having a ball with his cousins.”

“Your face changes completely when you talk about them.”

“How?” Cal wanted to know. “It’s the same face.”

“Less Northwest Face of Half Dome, El Capitan, more downhill ski run in a pristine back country valley. I’m glad for you.”

“Thanks.”

“Is marriage your end game?”

“Yes.”

Mason pulled a worn velvet ring box from his jacket pocket and set it on the workbench. “Then you’ll need this. Mom says it’s been calling her for weeks, wanting to come out of the drawer. It’s Great-Grandma Casey’s engagement ring. Apparently, Great-Grandma wants you to have it.”

“Since when has our mother been into woo-woo?”

“Says the man who talks to the dead.”

“That’s different. You should try it sometime. It’s useful.”

Mason grinned and tapped the top of the ring box with his forefinger. “This could be useful, too.”

True.

He opened the little box with care. The ring was a dainty little thing with a winking sapphire in the center, surrounded by petal-shaped colored stones in paler blues, blue-green, and green. The colors reminded him of earth and sky and the shape reminded him of a pasture daisy. He could picture it twinkling on Beth’s slender finger, catching the light and making her smile. Alongside it would sit a wedding band of simple gold. He could picture it as easily as breathing.

“Mom says they’re all Yogo sapphires, and that’s Montana gold. She says our great-grandfather made it. Not that he knew how to begin with. He got the tools, the stones, and the gold and started practicing. It took him three years to get it right, and he refused to propose before it was done. Probably where you get your patience from.”

“Har-har.” But he shut the box and closed his hand around it. “You don’t want it? Don’t these types of heirlooms usually go to the firstborn?”

“Nah. I think it’s yours to give to Beth.”

---