Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
“I can’t believe we’re doing this!”
Dean laughed as his twin sister Hazel almost tackled him in a hug. They were meeting up on the sidewalk outside of Rosewood Beach’s jewelry store, and Hazel looked absolutely wild with happiness.
“My brother is going to propose to his girlfriend,” Hazel sang out, and Dean shushed her.
They were in the center of town, and townsfolk and tourists were milling around everywhere.
Across the street, some kids were playing with hula hoops in the town square, and Dean and Hazel kept being passed on the sidewalk by pedestrians carrying shopping bags or steaming cups of coffee.
“Someone Noelle knows might hear you,” Dean said, shaking his head at his twin.
“You’re right.” Hazel saluted him. “I’ve got to take this mission of mine seriously. Not only is it going to be the most fun I’ve had all year, it’s got to be top secret.”
Dean grinned. “The most fun you’ve had all year, huh?”
“Oh, absolutely. Helping you pick out an engagement ring for Noelle? I absolutely cannot wait. Besides, I think I’m pretty good at knowing what kinds of things other women will like. I think Noelle will want something beautiful and classic, but also on the more delicate side. Nothing too flashy.”
“Yeah? I was kind of thinking I would just buy her the biggest diamond I can afford. Maybe a square cut? One of those really big, flashy diamonds.”
Hazel blinked at him. “Are you joking?”
“No.” Dean laughed. “Why would I be joking? I want to buy her a really expensive-looking ring. Then everyone will know how much I love her.”
Hazel shook her head. “Everyone will know you love her because you proposed. Most women want a ring that they like more than they want a giant diamond, and I know Noelle is that type. Can you really imagine her with some giant flashy stone on her hand?”
“I can—it would look great on her.”
“But can you imagine her picking it out for herself?”
“Ah. Okay, I see your point.”
Hazel chuckled. “This is why you have me. Come on, twin, let’s go inside the jewelry store.”
They stepped inside the cool, well-lit store. Glass cases displayed glittering rings, bracelets, and necklaces, and over the loudspeakers, soft jazz music was playing. Dean felt suddenly very out of place, and he felt sweat break out on the back of his neck.
“Um, how does this work?” he asked Hazel in a low voice. “What do we do?”
Hazel thumped him on the back. “Don’t look so nervous. You look as jittery as you would be if you were proposing to her right at this moment.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “I guess I am a little nervous. All of a sudden it feels like such a big deal.”
“It is a big deal. Commitment is a huge undertaking.” For a moment, Hazel stared into space with a frown, but then her expression changed and she smiled at her twin brother. “But I know you’re sure you want to do this, and I’m sure Noelle wants it too. So chin up and onward.”
“It’s not that I’m scared of commitment,” Dean said. “I know I want to marry her. It’s that this whole proposal thing suddenly seems really daunting.”
Hazel grinned at him. “It does, huh? Well, don’t let yourself be nervous about it yet. Noelle isn’t here right now, remember? You’re still in the rehearsal phase. The performance comes later.”
“You’re right, but—” Dean gestured helplessly to all of the display cases that surrounded them. “I don’t even know where to begin. There are so many options.”
“Hey, that’s why you have me, remember? We’ll start looking, and as soon as one of us sees something that we think Noelle would love, we’ll point it out.”
“Okay.” Dean smiled at her.
“Hi there.” A smiling saleswoman entered the shop through a doorway. “Can I help you find anything today?”
“I’m looking for engagement rings,” Dean said. “I mean—just one engagement ring.” He could feel the tips of his ears turning pink, and he felt as if he was a kid having to explain himself to a salesclerk who had found him lost in a department store.
“Congratulations,” the woman said warmly. “Do you know what ring size you’re looking for?”
Dean froze. That was a flaw in his plans, without a doubt. “Um, no, I never thought to?—”
“We do.” Hazel smiled politely, but Dean could see gleeful triumph glittering in his sister’s eyes. “She’s a size six.”
“Perfect.” The woman smiled. “If you have questions about anything, feel free to let me know. And if you want to look at any of the rings more closely, just ask and I can take them out of the display case.”
“Sounds great, thank you,” Dean said, wondering if the sweat on the back of his neck was visible or not. Once the salesclerk had turned away, he looked at his twin with surprise. “How did you know that?”
Hazel bowed, grinning. “I checked months ago. I figured you’d need to know. I asked to try on one of her rings and then pretended I couldn’t get it off. I asked her what size it was and she said she’s a size six.”
Dean shook his head, laughing. “You’re a marvel.”
“I know!”
Dean and Hazel began to wander the store, looking intently at all of the beautiful rings.
Many of them were big and flashy, but when he saw those, Dean realized that Hazel had been right.
He could see that those didn’t match Noelle’s more delicate style, and he found himself looking for simpler rings.
He was soon completely lost in the process, becoming excited and a little overwhelmed by all of the options. After staring for a few moments at a ring that alternated diamonds and sapphires, he called to Hazel.
“Hey! What do you think of?—”
His voice trailed off when he saw Hazel’s expression. She wasn’t looking down at any of the rings, and instead she was staring into space with a troubled frown. It was clear that she was lost in her own world, and that something in her world wasn’t right.
“Hazel, what’s wrong?”
She turned to him, looking startled, as if she’d just noticed him speaking to her. “Nothing’s the matter.” Her expression quickly shifted into a cheerful one. “Which one did you want to show me?”
“Oh no.” He shook his head. “You don’t get to use those mom skills on me, I know you too well. Something’s the matter. Come on, tell me what it is.”
Hazel hesitated and then shook her head. “Now isn’t the time, Dean. I don’t want to spoil your moment.”
“Nonsense. You’re not spoiling my moment at all. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
Hazel sighed. “It’s just—I mean, I’m sure none of it is a big deal at all and I’m just overthinking, but Jacob has been acting oddly lately.”
“Yeah?” Dean leaned against the wall, waiting for her to say more. “How has he been acting weird?”
She pressed her lips together, staring into space. “Well, it’s not important, but?—”
“Sure it’s important. If it’s important to you, it’s important. What happened?”
She smiled gratefully at him. “Well, Jacob was acting strangely resistant toward my ideas for remodeling my house—I mean, it’ll be our house.
Usually, he gets really excited about things with me, but he seemed kind of—I don’t know, almost like he didn’t want me to do any of it.
He kept saying that I should wait and think about it, things like that. ”
“Hmm. And you weren’t proposing anything totally off the rails like pink pony wallpaper in the upstairs hallway?”
She laughed. “Hey, I think a tasteful, vintage-y pink pony wallpaper would look great. But no, it was nothing like that. Mom and Sally both loved my ideas, and they have great taste. I mean, I guess Sally’s is a little more on the whimsical side, but you know that if I’d wanted to do anything that wasn’t just generally tasteful, Mom wouldn’t be afraid to say something to me. ”
“Yeah, I know—and I’m just joking, anyway.
You have great taste—your whole house is very cute.
And I know Jacob loves it. So you’re right that it doesn’t make sense that he wouldn’t be excited about your ideas.
That doesn’t seem like him—but maybe he was just having a bad day or something.
I can’t manage much enthusiasm for anything if I’m really fatigued or achy.
Maybe he had a headache or something like that. ”
She scrunched her lips up as she thought.
“Maybe—but he usually tells me if he’s got a headache or something like that.
I’m just thinking that maybe he thinks it’s some kind of frivolous endeavor or something.
Like maybe he thinks I’m wasting too much time on unimportant things when I should be doing more necessary work.
I don’t know, that kind of attitude doesn’t seem like him either.
” She sighed. “He’s just been acting different, and I have no idea why.
If it had just been that one incident, I’m sure I would have forgotten all about it by now, but it wasn’t. ”
“Something else happened?”
“Yeah. I dropped lunch off at his place the other day, and he went around behind his desk and shut his laptop so I wouldn’t see the screen. It was really weird.”
“Maybe it was about to die or something.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. He’d just gotten back, so I don’t think he would have known if it was dying or not. And he just seemed generally flustered by me being there, which he’s never been before when I’ve showed up unexpectedly.”
“He was probably just looking for a Christmas gift for you or Sam on his laptop and he didn’t want you to see it,” Dean said reassuringly.
“And besides, I don’t think that’s connected to his home remodeling reaction in any way.
I don’t see any reason why he’d be opposed to you redecorating the house. ”
“Maybe he feels differently now that he’s going to move in with me.”