Page 91 of Best In Class
She squeezes my hand. “I’m sure you will. I’ve never known you to fail when you went after something.”
Outside, the wind shifts, and I hear the sounds of the world waking up.
“Mama?”
“Yes?”
“Will you help me pick out a ring?”
Mama sniffles and then lets out a laugh that breaks whatever heavy was still in the room.
“I have the perfect one for you.”
I look at her, confused.
She pats my hand and rushes out of the kitchen. I button my shirt and put on my shoes. My phone beeps.
Fuck! I have a meeting in my office in thirty minutes.
I’m about to go to Mama’s place and tell her I have to leave but she rushes back, breathless, holding a small velvet box in her hand.
Her eyes are bright, her smile soft, but there’s something reverent in the way she clutches it—like it holds more than just metal and stone.
She hands it to me without a word.
The box is old. The corners are worn smooth, the hinge a little creaky. I open it carefully.
Inside is a ring.
Not flashy. Not big.
Beautiful.
A vintage gold band, the metal burnished with time. At the center sits a modest round-cut diamond, framed by two tiny sapphires, each set deep in delicate scrollwork. The band curves with just the slightest dip, like it was made to hold stories. The diamond catches the light—not because it’s flawless, but because it’s been worn with love.
“It was your father’s grandmother’s,” Mama tells me, her heart in her voice. “He gave it to me when he proposed. Saidif I was going to carry his whole heart, I should at least have a piece of his family’s, too.”
I look into her eyes, throat tight.
“I always meant to give it to you,” she continues. “But I wanted you to be sure. Not about the ring—but about the kind of love you’d be tying to it.”
The weight of her ring in my hand feels like a legacy. Like home.
“Mama….”
“She’s the one,” she says simply.
“Has always been.”
Mama nods happily.
Tears fill my eyes as I clutch the ring. It’s old and sacred, and the perfect start to my forever with Luna.
“Thank you, Mama.” I hold the ring box like it’s made of glass.Precious.
“Now, you be careful with itandmy girl.”
“I promise.” I kiss her cheek, and head for the door with twenty minutes to make it to a meeting, already knowing nothing I do today will matter more than what just happened here in Luna’s kitchen.
