Page 20 of Just Between Us

She deflated against the side of the car. “I do like you, Andy.”

Despite being the bare minimum requirement of pulling this sham marriage off, I couldn’t help but smile. At least she liked me.

“You trust me?”

She sighed, a hint of a grin pulling at her lip. “I wouldn’t do this otherwise.”

“Good.” I risked reaching my hand out again. This time, Nora peeled herself off the side of the car and listed toward me. I wrapped an arm around her. She relaxed her head onto my shoulder, breathing in and out softly.

“This’ll be the hardest part,” I promised her, hoping I was right. “We’ll do it together. You and me.”

“You and me,” she repeated, taking a deep breath and picking her head up again. “Let’s get it over with.”

“Wait.” I fumbled in my pocket, finding the blue velvet box I’d pulled out of my safe earlier that morning. I’d sat on the floor, watching the light hit the ring that’d been in my family for the last three generations—a ring I’d wanted to place on Nora’s finger under completely different circumstances.

“Is that the ring?” Nora asked, taking the box.

She opened it and sucked in a breath.

“I’ll buy you something new, if you want. If that’s not your style.” I reached for the ring, a sudden surge of regret taking hold.

She pulled the box away. “No. I love it. It’s gorgeous. Where did you get this?”

“It’s a family heirloom. Although, my mom got a second engagement ring after wearing this one for a year. She didn’t like the emerald.”

Nora drew her finger over the center stone and down the diamonds flanking it. “Why?”

I shrugged. “She wanted a bigger diamond. She didn’t like the stone; she called it a trash gem.” Her eyes bugged, and I laughed. “Trust me, you’ll understand when you meet her, but let’s not worry about that now.”

While the news of our engagement had made its way around Franklin Notch, that information hadn’t trickled down to my mom yet, and hopefully wouldn’t anytime soon. My dad had been our family’s link to the community and Mom left that all behind the moment she moved to Connecticut. I’d have to tell her, but I didn’t see any point in rushing that phone call.

I plucked the ring from the box and took Nora’s left hand. Her breath shuddered as I ran my thumb over her knuckles and, for a heartbeat, I imagined my touch was the reason. I slipped the ring onto her finger, the band easily sliding over her knuckles with room to spare, and when I let go, the emerald dropped loosely onto her palm.

“We’ll get it resized tomorrow,” I said, feeling ridiculous for assuming the ring would fit.

She shifted the stones back in place, smiling at the sparkling gems. “It’s so pretty, Andy. I promise I’ll be careful with it.”

My chest warmed at the sincerity in her voice. My mom wouldn’t care either way, but I liked that she cared as much as I did about the heirloom.

“Oh, I think I have bandage tape!” She said, pulling her hand away from mine. She withdrew a roll of tan tape from her purse and pulled off the ring, wrapping a piece around the bottom of the band until it fit firmly over her finger. “Perfect.”

“We’ll bring it to the jeweler’s tomorrow,” I said with a laugh, pushing back the strange tightening around my chest at the word “we.” “Are you ready?”

Nora nodded. I put the car back in drive and navigated up the rest of the steep driveway to Len’s house.

Bunny had summoned us before dinner to talk privately, but Cal’s truck was parked in the driveway. Bunny stood on Len’s porch, her fingers wrapped around the banister as she waited for us to arrive.

I parked my car beside Cal’s and stepped out. Despite her age, Bunny nearly skipped off the porch, yanking open Nora’s car door and wrapping her in a hug as soon as her feet touched the ground.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Warn me, at least?” Happy tears rolled down Bunny’s face, smearing her orange-tinted makeup.

Nora pulled away, smiling so brightly that, for a moment, she even fooled me. “I’m getting married, and I want you to be the first to congratulate me.”

“Marriage is something to rush to?” Bunny responded, a pat response that didn’t fit the conversation but made them both melt into each other. “Congratulations.” I rounded the car, and Bunny pulled me into a shockingly fierce hug. “Both of you. Now, why am I just hearing about this?”

“We were planning on telling everyone today,” Nora said.

“Unfortunately, Tammy beat us to it and spread the word,” I added.

---