Page 13 of Independence Bae

That of course is what I assumed she’d say, and also what I feared. I didn’t have any more time to think about it though, as Odette returned with two consultants in tow, seemingly having pulled every dress from the store for me to try on.

Each dress she presented was more spectacular than the one previous. Princess, A-line, Mermaid, Trumpet, over and again attendants helped me into and out of dresses.

“I saved the best for last.” Odette winked, a dress slung across her arms.

From the bag she pulled out a dress not quite white but not ivory either. The delicate assemblage of fabric was embroidered with tiny rosettes and pearls, fitted at the bust and flaring from there. The dress was undoubtedly a Shakespearean fairytale.

“Marley!” Raven stood so quickly, the look book in her lap bounced off the wood floor and slid beneath the settee. “I’m… well shit! It’s beautiful!”

I couldn’t stop staring at myself in the mirror. A few layers of gathered tulle and pearl appliques had turned me from Marley the average girl with the average life to a mystical creature in a fairytale.

“It’s perfect,” Raven whispered beneath the fingers she still had pressed against her lips.

“I can’t,” I told her. “It makes no sense for me to buy a dress in Chicago when we live in North Pole.”

“Would you be able to Fed-Ex the dress to New York?” Raven asked Odette, ignoring my protests.

“Of course! Our dresses are sent to brides around the world!” Odette countered, a hopeful smile splashed across her face.

“Marley, hon that dress couldn’t be more perfect for you if the designer had sat down and asked you exactly what you wished for. I don’t want to push you into something you don’t want, but I think you should get it.”

“I only need a ten percent deposit today,” Odette, sensing a sale, placed a flower adorned tiara in my hair, and tied a bejeweled belt at the waist line as she spoke. “The rest would be paid once it’s ready to be shipped to you.”

“And, ten percent would be what, exactly?” Raven asked digging for her wallet in her oversized bag.

“Four thousand, three hundred, and eighty-seven dollars.” Odette replied, not even batting her eye.

“Four thousand dollars? Is ten percent?” I nearly expired right there on the little perch they’d set me on. “You mean to tell me this dress costs as much as a BMW?”

Chapter Ten

While the womenwere on their afternoon shopping adventure, I’d asked Ted to join me in a shopping excursion of my own. All the talk of contracts, places to live, and career considerations made me realize I didn’t want to consider our lives as separate entities anymore. From the moment she had waltzed back into my life five months ago, there was absolutely no question in my mind she was my forever.

“You don’t think it looks to plain?” I ask, holding the solitaire up so Ted could see it under the light.

“Rave isn’t pretentious in the least.”

“How did you know what to get Marley?” I ask, handing back the solitaire unsatisfied.

“I pictured what her face would look like when she opened the box. And then what it would look like holding it up for others to see. When I did that, I knew she wouldn’t want somethingtoosimple, but also something vintage and ornate”

None of the ones we’d seen seemed right. Buying a ring at Tiffany had seemed too… expected. We’d gone to Cartier hoping for something different. But nothing screamed Tillie Raven. Technically, as the first between my brother and I to get married, I was entitled to my grandmother’s ring. Somehow that didn’t jive either.

“Would it be weird if I didn’t get her a diamond at all?”

“Princess Diana and now the Duchess of Cambridge have a sapphire and diamond engagement ring. It isn’t out of the ordinary.” The sales guy at a local jeweler answered me before Ted could. “I have a yellow sapphire and a pink diamond in the back.”

We were escorted to a secured viewing room where we were shown a smattering of colors and styles that didn’t wow me.

“Sir, we had this in our safe as well,” he gently shook another ring out of a claret-colored velvet bag. “It’s antique, acquired from Queen Margaret the First of Greenland—one of our collectors brought it in. The style of ring is called aToi et Moiwhich means you and me. I apologize for listening in on your conversation, but I think this may be that special touch you’re looking for. It has two separate stones that join together in a kiss—or they brush against one another along the sides of the stone. The one on the right is an ascher cut ruby and on the right is a cushion cut diamond.”

The moment it bounced against the velvet display I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. It was gorgeous but understated. Symbolic. Historic. Interesting. Absolutely perfect for someone who was without a doubt the most unique woman I’d ever known.

“I don’t want to push you into any decisions, man.” Ted held up his hands as if he was prepared to defend himself. “But I can feel it. That ring—”

“It’s perfect.” I tell him, handing over my credit card to the jeweler.

“So,what do you think about this contract?” Ted asked on our walk back as we entered a local pub for lunch.

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