Page 130 of Attached At Heart
Blake took it, examining it as he twirled it between his fingers. Then he leaned forward so my mom could have a betterlook at it, too. “You might not know much about jewelry, Mrs. Delacroix, but this ring is vintage. Are you familiar with Kashmir sapphires?”
I smiled to myself because I knew how much that comment was going to provoke my mother.
As suspected, she sat straighter. “Of course I am.”
Blake nodded. “Then you’ll know that they’re incredibly rare. Their unparalleled quality makes them highly sought after, but there was only a limited number of these sapphires mined over a century ago. This ring was my grandma’s and my great-grandma’s before that. She worked as a governess for the Rockefellers when they stayed at their estate in Duluth to tend to the mining on the North Shore, and they became fond of her. So fond that they actually helped arrange her marriage to my great-grandfather, who was a local philanthropist, and even gifted this ring as an engagement present. It became my great-grandmother’s wedding ring.”
My gaze shifted from my mom’s dropping jaw to Blake’s intent look, trying to puzzle together fact from fiction as he kept talking.
“My mom never wore the ring once it was given to her,” he said. “She tried to pass it down to my sister, but Natalie, like my mom, has never worn much jewelry and said that it should be saved for someone who it might complement better. Who might appreciate it.”
Blake looked directly at me, and I suddenly found breathing to be laborious. Challenging at best. Nearly impossible at worst.
“I met Delaney on my first day of med school,” he said, brown gaze still boring into me, melting me. “I called my mom that night and said I met a girl with sapphires for eyes and begged her for the ring.” He held out his palm, his lips curved as he gestured for me to place my hand in his. I did, and his touch burned its way through me, heating me at my core. “You’d think it wasdesigned for her. But no, it’s just a bit of fate. I’ve been waiting years to see it through. To put this ring where it belongs. See how perfectly that fits?” He slid the ring back onto my finger, and it felt heavier than before. “I didn’t even get it resized.”
Blake laced his fingers through mine, and I stared at our clasped hands, feeling entranced by his touch and his words and the weight of both of them. They felt unfabricated and unburdened despite the story he was weaving.
“I’ve been in love with your daughter since the day I met her, and I’ve been waiting to give her this ring for years,” Blake said, directing his attention back to my mom and causing me to jerk my head up. My lips parted in shocked awe as I struggled with what to believe. “We might have eloped, but this marriage is anything but sudden. Proposing to Delaney has been all I’ve ever wanted. When I saw the very first glimpse of an opportunity, I took it. And you think I’m counting down the days until I can take it all back? Not a chance in hell. I’m staying attached to this woman for as long as I fucking can, understood?”
I stared at Blake, trying to reason with his words and decipher what they meant—if they meant anything at all. I would have realized, wouldn’t I? If they were true, I would have realized. Hemusthave concocted that story. Had it ready in case my mom pressed him for details about how long our relationship had been going on. It was the responsible thing to do when you were someone who was faking a marriage and trying to make it seem like an elopement hadn’t been fake. And Blake had only ever been responsible.
But then Blake turned to look at me, and all of the little reasonings I was making in my head washed away.
And I was left with a pounding, aching heart.
No…it couldn’t be. It couldn’t all be true.
Because then that would mean that I’d spent the last ten years blind to what was right in front of me. Missingeverything.We could have been so much more for so much longer, but I’d just had no idea. How could that be? How had I missed it?
I wasn’t sure I knew how to accept what Blake was saying and what his eyes were telling me, wasn’t sure I knew how toprocessthat. My chest tightened. I struggled to get sufficient air into my lungs.
But at the same time, my stomach couldn’t stop flipping.
Butterflies hadn’t stopped fluttering.
And I knew I was falling, falling, falling.
“I understand,” my mom finally relented with a sigh. “I don’t appreciate the language, but I understand. And I believe that you’re not playing us, Dr. London. But have you ever stopped to consider that maybesheis playingyou?”
Blake opened his mouth, and I could see the fire in his eyes, his eagerness to defend me. But it was my turn to speak up.
“For crying out loud, Mom. I’ve known about the will since I was twenty. I’ve known what I wanted to do with that money since I was twenty-two. I’ve known Blake would marry me so I could get that money since the end of our first med school semester. That wastenyears ago. There’s a reason I never asked him. A reason I never even told him about it.”
I expected my parents to counter me, press me for more, but they were silent. Instead, Blake spoke, his voice gentle but demanding.
“What’s that, Lane?”
Our eyes met, and I knew, at my core, that we were having a real conversation right now. It wasn’t for show or to be convincing; Blake wanted to know. And shit, I wanted to tell him. I wanted to tell him everything.
“I’ve heard enough.” My dad cut off my response before I could even think of it. “Elizabeth, just let them have the damn money or at least ask the important questions.”
My mom threw up her hands. “Be my guest, Robert. Ask the important questions, then.”
My dad pointed his fork in Blake’s direction. “Do you have a good credit score?”
Blake laughed. “I have an excellent credit score, sir.”
“Well, there you go. Welcome to the family.”
