Page 21 of One Golden Ring
“The stones should get you a pretty penny back in the city,” he tells me. “You’ll have all the paperwork on them.”
At least I won’t feel bad taking it off to sell it when this is over. Nothing about wearing this monstrous ring will feel real.
And maybe that’s healthy. Because these last few days, instead of just harboring a harmless crush I’m starting to feel things I really shouldn’t about my boss.
But I know I’m just setting myself up for a heartbreak if I think he could ever feel the same.
“Thank you,” I tell him. “It’s very generous.”
“You deserve it and more,” he says softly, his eyes going down to the big ugly ring like he doesn’t want me to see his expression.
The door to the lodge opens and Derek shoves the ring back in his pocket as an older gentleman steps out.
“I’m heading out,” the man tells Derek. “He’s in good hands here, but I’ll be back every day until you’ve got a nurse for him.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Derek says. “You couldn’t convince him?”
“I’m sorry, son,” the doctor tells him with so much sympathy in his eyes it almost hurts me to see it. “His odds aren’t great no matter what, and it’s hard to argue with someone so determined. You know your grandpa.”
“You tried,” Derek says. “That means the world.”
The doctor looks like he wants to say something more. But he just shakes his head and continues down the stairs and out to the parking lot instead.
“I’m going to go check on him,” Derek tells me. “And I’ll let him know I’m planning to propose.”
Derek looks so excited that I almost feel bad about the twinge of guilt in my stomach.
I keep having to remind myself why we’re doing this. If it brings Michael happiness for the rest of his time here then I can live with some discomfort.
We head back inside and Maddie Stone waves to me from the table by the fire where she sits with a sweet little boy and two even smaller girls. All three kids are bent over a pad of paper.
“I’ll be right back,” Derek tells me as he slips off to his grandfather’s room.
I head over to join Maddie and the kids. Maybe doing something normal for a few minutes will help me shake the feeling that this is all some kind of strange dream.
7
DEREK
When I step into the room I catch my grandfather sitting on the edge of the bed and gazing out the window, a thoughtful expression on his face.
He’s thinking about Grandma, I know it. I remember sitting on his back porch with him when I was a kid. He would be reading me a story and stop mid-sentence to gaze at her while she hung up clothes on the line out back, and he always had that same look on his face.
I would watch her too—I can still picture it now, her gentle movements and the way the silver streaks in her dark hair lit up in the sunlight. Something about it is familiar now though, and I try to think what it could be.
Then I see Darcy in my mind, the way she looks through my office door when she rises from her desk to greet someone. She’s facing away from me, her long hair brushing the back of her cardigan as she moves. I can tell by the smiles of the people she greets that she’s exuding her usual warmth. And when she turns to lead them tomy office, I get to see it too—that smile that lights you up inside the moment it’s trained on you.
Beautiful.
“How was your trip to the village?” Grandpa Michael asks, bringing me back from the edge of those dangerous thoughts.
For a second I’m tempted to abandon my plan. How can I lie to this man?
But then I remember how he made my lonely childhood magical, and I know I would do anything to make this time happy for him.
“I’m going to ask Darcy to marry me,” I hear myself tell him.
Surprise flashes in his eyes for just a second.
