Page 49 of One Golden Ring
It’s definitely true that not having enough for your needs can make youunhappy.I remember those times from back when I was making a teacher’s salary. It’s a whole different world now that I don’t have to worry about keeping a roof over our heads or putting food on the table. But more and more often the need to run my business to please people that seem to think that thereisn’t enough money in the world just makes me feel empty inside.
And I find that the most sincere people I used to know have been exactly the ones who faded away from my life. Maybe they were afraid I would think they wanted something from me. Maybe they didn’t think we had enough in common once we weren’t in the same tax bracket anymore.
Or maybe I was the one that didn’t make the effort once I got swept up in the business. But I miss having people to talk to about how the kids are doing or what’s happening in the non-financial news.
These days the hangers-on all seem to have stuff like bailouts and investments in mind. Or maybe I’ve just gotten jaded. But you don’t have to have someone befriend you only to ask you for a shocking amount of money too many times before you start putting walls up.
Darcy’s been with me for a long time though, and she never complains about her duties or her pay. Admittedly, she makes twice what most assistants make, which I still think is about half of what the work she does is worth. But she really seems to enjoy the job. Sometimes I think that unlike the rest of the world, Darcy is at her desk every morning because she wants to be.
She’s always meant a lot to me, but until this trip I never realized just how much light she brings into my dark life.
“What?” she asks when I glance over at her.
The streetlights flicker over her face, showing me those big eyes and I want to pull over and take her in my arms, kiss her until she knows how she makes me feel—until she feels it too—this longing that keeps me up at night.
Maybe I could have survived feeling like this indefinitely in the city, but it’s different out here. Everything seems too possible, like it’s all right in front of us. All we need to do is reach out and grab it.
She’s doing this for a ring, not because she likes playing house.
But even the voice in the back of my head can’t deny the feeling I have every time we look into each other’s eyes, or our hands touch.
I should just tell her.
But before I can say anything stupid, we’re pulling up in the pet store parking lot.
It’s kind of late for buying a tree and the selection looks pretty slim. Back in the city, the housekeeper already set one up for me, like she does the day after Thanksgiving each year. I just have to hope one of the half dozen remaining on the lot here are good enough.
I open Darcy’s door for her and take her hand as she climbs out.
Even though I thought I was ready for it, my pulse still pounds at the touch of her hand.
“Hey there,” Phil Connelly says, heading our way. “Is that Derek Lockwood?”
“Hey, Phil,” I reply with a smile. Phil is my old friend Roan’s dad. “This is my fiancée, Darcy.”
The words get easier every time.
“A pleasure to meet you, Darcy,” Phil says, looking her over with dancing eyes. “I’ll have to tell Roan I saw you both.”
“Is he still in town?” I ask, surprised.
“Sure is,” Phil tells me. “He’s basically running the farm these days. I’m just a gopher.”
“A gopher?” Darcy echoes.
“You know,go for this, go for that,” Phil says and then barks out a laugh at his own goofy joke.
She laughs too, and I find myself chuckling, mostly just because it’s nice to be out here laughing together in the fresh air.
“If you’re here for a tree, I’ve only got a few left,” Phil says warningly. “And they’re all… well, let’s say they’ve got character.”
“That’s all right,” I tell him, smiling at his honest salesmanship.
Darcy heads for the trees and I follow, wondering which one she’ll be drawn to.
There are a couple of really small ones, and another that’s dropped a lot of its needles. A tree that looks nice and green but is almost as wide as it is tall catches my eye as a good compromise, but Darcy walks right past it to inspect a nice medium-sized one, with a big bare spot on one side.
“That one’s a nice shape,” Phil says. “But it’s missing some branches.”
