Page 30 of Second Chance Christmas

She was speaking calmly, with a sad stoicism to her tone that made the air around them hum rather than crackle. These were all just facts. She’d thought about each of her objections before voicing them and knew they were valid.

“We’ve agreed to keep it casual this week. We could keep it like this. I can come back, stay at the pub…”

“No.” She put her hand on his knee then removed it quickly. “This has been nice. Really nice. I’ve needed it. But let’s just…leave it at that.”

Eight

WHEN CASSIDY ARRIVED AT the hotel on the afternoon of Christmas eve, she knew she wouldn’t have long. “It’s the church nativity, dad’s doing the lights, and Audrey is champing at the bit to get there. Then afterwards, there’s the dinner, and I know you’re invited, but we need to be so careful not to be obvious, because—well, you know why,” she said, smiling tightly. “But I wanted to see you.”

“I’m glad you came.” He turned and moved deeper into the hotel. “I wanted to give you something anyway.”

Cassidy lifted her brows, her heart moving into her throat. “Oh yeah?”

He reached into a black paper bag and removed a velvet box, the type synonymous with rings.

Her heart slammed against her ribs.

“What is that?”

“Open it.”

She shook her head. “I can’t—,”

“I bought this for you, back then. I was going to give it to you before…and then, I knew I couldn’t ask you to marry me unless you know the truth. I didn’t want our marriage to be based on a lie. I couldn’t have lived with myself. But I kept the ring, and I always wished I’d at least found a way to get it to you, so you’d have had it and known how much I loved you. It was never going to make up for what I did, but I wanted you to understand that I had looked in every jeweler’s shop I could find to choose something just for you. I wanted you to know that I loved you hard, even though I’d hurt you.”

She shuddered again. Those thoughts were so like Grant, and yet Leonardo was different. She knew he meant this from the bottom of his heart. His remorse was genuine, so too his desire to never hurt her again.

With fingers that were unsteady, she took the box and popped it open, catching a single glimpse of the ring before squeezing her eyes shut. A large emerald-cut solitaire diamond, sparkling white, in a four claw setting with an amber solitaire on either side of it, set in platinum gold, it was very beautiful, and clearly very expensive.

“You can sell it if you want,” he said, eyes on the ring. “Use the money to start your new life.”

Cassidy shook her head, her eyes filming with tears. “I won’t sell it.”

“It’s your choice. It’s your ring. You should do whatever you want with it.”

She had to cough to hide a sob. “Thank you. It’s so beautiful.”

“I had them add the amber stones. They remind me of your eyes.”

Cassidy blinked at him. Everything about it was so beautiful and thoughtful. Her brain was flooded with ‘if onlys’, but she ignored them.

“I love it.”

He expelled a long sigh then smiled. “I’m so glad. I hoped you would.”

“I can’t believe you kept it.”

“What else was I going to do with it?”

“Sell it? Give it to someone else?”

He shook his head. “It’syourring. I just hadn’t found a way to give it to you.”

“Well, I love it.”

“If you don’t sell it, I hope you wear it sometimes. And maybe even think of me when you do.”

Cassidy didn’t tell him that she didn’t need a ring to bring Leonardo to the forefront of her mind. He was right there, just as he always had been, and probably always would be. No matter what, she was destined to have him there, a part of her, and in the last couple of days, she’d not only made her peace with that, she’d come to like it.

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