Page 20 of One Golden Ring
6
DARCY
The fireplace in the dining room is crackling, snow is drifting down outside the window, and I’m congratulating myself on an hour well spent.
As busy as Derek is, and as little time as he spends outside of work, I’m amazed at how quickly I was able to reschedule his week.
It hits me that maybe he doesn’t really need to be spending quite so much time at the office.
But then I wonder what it’s like at home without the people he cares about. I don’t exactly love going back to an empty apartment at the end of the day. It’s one of the main reasons that I don’t mind the long hours I work as much as I probably should.
Does Derek feel the same?
“All finished?” the elderly lady at the table next to me asks.
She and her husband have been sipping coffee allmorning, smiling at each other, and exchanging sections of the newspaper. It’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.
“Yes,” I tell her.
“Well, that’s good,” her husband declares. “Young people work too much these days. You’re not supposed to work when you’re on vacation.”
“That’s good advice,” I tell him with a smile, not bothering to let him know I’m actually here for work.
“Of course, we don’t work at all anymore,” he says, chuckling. “We retired many years ago.”
“We’re celebrating our anniversary,” the lady tells me. “We had our honeymoon here. We come back every year.”
“That’s so romantic,” I tell her, honestly inspired.
“We’re the Applebaums,” the lady tells me. “Ethel and Walter.”
“Darcy Keller,” I tell her. “Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Applebaum.”
“What brings you to Angel Mountain?” Mr. Applebaum asks.
I feel Derek’s presence before I even look up. He’s standing in the threshold, just watching me chat with the Applebaums. When he catches my eye he nods his chin toward the doorway. Time to go.
For some reason I feel good down to my toes with him back here, even though he’s probably just going to assign me some more work.
“A visit with family,” I tell the older couple, since that’s why Derek is here at least. “Excuse me, please.”
“Of course, dear,” Mrs. Applebaum says, glancingover at Derek with an appreciative gleam in her eye. “Don’t keep that one waiting.”
I manage not to smile as I stand to shove my laptop back in my bag to follow him out to the lounge.
“Come on,” he tells me when I reach him, taking my arm and leading me out to the porch.
The air outside is so cold I picture my lungs crystallizing when I take my next breath. But it’s also beautiful out here and I feel more awake and alert than I have in a long time. Out by the entrance to the parking area a groundskeeper is stringing Christmas lights around the sign for the lodge.
“I got you a ring,” Derek tells me, pulling a box from his pocket.
I know I’m not going to keep this ring. It’s a gift intended to be sold. But I still feel a little crackle of excitement.
But when he opens it I’m not sure what to say.
This is thelastring I would ever wear. Practically speaking it’s so enormous that I don’t know how I’d be able to type or even get my hand in and out of my pocket.
It’s also the opposite of my taste. Whenever I’ve pictured an engagement ring on my finger it was nothing like this. To be fair, I haven’t really spent a whole lot of time picturing rings. It’s kind of putting the cart before the horse when you don’t even have a boyfriend.
