Page 64 of Haunted Nights & Savage Sins
“Yes, we do.”
“Wonderful. I need to look at some rings.” She hesitates for only a second before she takes me over to a display with some run-of-the-mill rings.
“No, this won’t do.” I shake my head before she even has the chance to reach in and show me any of them. Brenna isn’t just a normal woman. She deserves the best of the best.
“Okay, do you have a certain cut or size in mind?” the woman asks.
I raise my eyebrows and shrug my shoulders. I don’t have the slightest clue. “It needs to be showstopping.”
“Okay, price range?”
“Show me your absolute best.”
She smiles bigger. “Give me a second, I have a few exclusive pieces in the back.” She walks away and I turn to stare at the woman on the other side. She quickly glances down as if she were embarrassed. It’s nice to know that I don’t have to be the one who is ashamed in this scenario.
Seconds later the woman helping me walks back out with a tray of about two dozen rings, some of them with diamonds bigger than my knuckle. I’m sure they are expensive, but they don’t say Brenna to me.
“Crap, this is hard… I don’t know which one. Any suggestions?” I look up at the helpful woman and she leans closer, but not so much as to intrude on my space.
“Well, let me ask you a bit of a personal question first.” She looks at me, waiting for my approval.
“Go on.”
“Okay, I assumed when you said you were looking for rings it was for an engagement, but now that I’m looking at your hand I see you already have a wedding band on. Did I get it wrong?”
My eyes drop down to my left hand and the black band there on my ring finger. “No, actually I wasn’t able to buy an engagementring for my wife. She has a plain band now. I want to make that right.”
“Aww.” She stands straight and claps her hands once. “That’s so sweet. So tell me a little something about her. Maybe I can help you narrow it down.”
Trying to put Brenna into simple words is tongue-tying. “She’s beautiful, long dark hair. She’s like a rolling storm. Sometimes she can be calm, peaceful, warm, a perfect angel, but there are times she can be fiery, strong, a force to be reckoned with.”
The woman laughs. “Sounds like she’s keeping you on your toes… good girl.”
“That’s an understatement.” I add, and actually chuckle along with her.
“Well then, based on what you’re telling me, I don’t think the plain solitaires would be a good choice for her.” She picks those out of the case and lays them to the side. “What about size, is she a particularly flashy woman? Does she wear a lot of jewelry usually?”
“No, not much at all. Though I do want this to be seen. Want it to be a reminder every day of how much I care for her.”
“Right, I’m thinking maybe one of these.” She directs my eyes to several rings that seem less conventional. Instead of the typical round diamond shape, these are diamond cut, emerald, oval. As I’m looking over them, one in the corner catches my attention. It’s tilted so I can’t see the full face of the ring. The entire band of the ring is set with diamonds, but the main diamond is a large emerald cut. What really makes it stand out is the pink or maybe reddish tint to it.
“Is this a mistake or is something wrong with it?” I gesture to the pinkish red colored ring.
“Oh no, it’s not a mistake. These are rose diamonds. They are rare and usually hard to set. But they are incredibly beautiful.” She hesitates before she continues, “I have to let you know it is one of our more expensive pieces.”
“Expensive, good.” I say loud enough once again so the woman behind can hear. I want her to know what she’s missed out on.
The woman in front of me smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. She probably doesn’t think I’ll make the purchase.
I pick up the ring and examine it in my hand. It’s still delicate, but the pink hue to the diamonds almost feels like the fire that sometimes burns so bright in Brenna.
Yeah, this is it. This is the one.
“I’ll take it.” I say, pushing the ring back in her direction.
“Wait,” she blinks in shock a few times, “don’t you want to know how much it is first? I can find you others similar to this, maybe one that is tinted?”
“No, I want this one.”
