3. Aspyn #2
“How’re you hanging in there?” Deacon asks, raking a hand through his slightly wavy golden hair, before grabbing the empties from me and setting them on the bar.
“Tired of people talking about me and Sean reproducing.” I roll my eyes so hard an eyelash dislodges, and I wipe it carefully out of my eye. “Can’t believe I ever wanted a baby with a man who doesn’t know how to love anyone but his own goddamn self.”
“Love blinds.” Deacon punctuates his words with a shrug.
“I don’t think that’s the expression, but it’s not far from the truth.
” I chuckle, reaching out for Wendy’s refill.
“Ugh. I should get back over there. You know, to hell. At least your brother is over there making nice. You’d be welcome to join us and talk about anything but fetuses, sperm, or my empty womb. ”
I point at the table where Sean stands chatting with his cousin. Wendy and Steele appear deep in conversation.
Deacon grabs his whiskey on the rocks and follows me to the table of doom. He stands between me and Sean, with Steele on the other side of me. In this Ambrose sandwich, I finally feel protected from Sean, who’s on his phone texting, potentially inquiring about a particular nurse’s nether regions.
Deacon suddenly takes a baggie out of his pants pocket.
“I forgot to tell you. I was going through my mother’s things,” his mother had recently passed away from brain cancer, “and I found this funky turquoise ring that screamed your name, Beck. There is a certificate of authenticity stating that it’s one of a kind.
I think she got it in Sedona. Let me see that finger. Maybe it’ll fit.”
My head spins when I see the beautiful cushion-shaped turquoise ring, and I reach out my hand, all the while telling him he should keep it to remember her by.
Glancing down, he slides it on, a glowing halo of onyx surrounds the center stone, and I’m stunned by its beauty.
The ring looks like it was made for me, so I’m not surprised by how well it fits or how perfect it looks on my right hand.
Normally, I wouldn’t accept such a pricey gift, but it’s from Deacon.
If he wants me to have his mother’s ring, he’ll be insulted if I don’t accept it.
Plus, oh my god, it’s stunning. I spot silver filigree containing tiny diamonds around the entirety of the delicate band and nearly drool.
Opening and closing my mouth like a fish, I shake my head in total awe. Staring down at the ring on my finger, then back up at Deacon, I’m touched by this gift.
“Are you sure? It was your mom’s,” I whisper. My thumb rubs over the turquoise as I admire it.
“Yes. I don’t have sisters. Aunt Louise says she has fat fingers, and I know turquoise is your birthstone and favorite color. It was always meant to be yours. I knew it when I saw it, and Steele has no problem with it either.”
Steele stares down at it and nods. “It’s nearly as beautiful as you are, my friend.” He sets his hand on my shoulder blade and squeezes me gently. My head tilts to his shoulder as my hand hikes into the air, the diamonds glimmering in the sunlight.
Sean opens his mouth like a guppy, but instead of closing it, he just walks away without a word. Good.
Jett calls after him, “Hey, I guess if you don’t put a ring on your lady’s finger, someone else might!” Jett glances down at the ring and smiles.
“It might be the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever received,” I say, squeezing Deacon’s hand tightly at my side.
Wendy and Jett share a private look that seems to exchange words, and I sigh against Steele’s shoulder.
“I love it so much, guys. Thank you doesn’t express how I feel well enough.” I can’t stop staring at the ring on my finger, nor remembering Lillian, Steele and Deacon’s mother I’d loved so much.
Jett eventually walks away, following Sean, and they seem to be exchanging intense words. I had been hoping Sean wouldn’t tell Jett we’d broken up yet, but what else could be happening? Shit. I hadn’t wanted to cause a scene on Tara’s big day.
“Of course I would give it to you, doll face. You’re my best female friend, Beck, and you have the same tiny piano-player fingers Mom had.
It was a no-brainer, and there’s no need to thank me.
It helps to give her favorite things to people she loved, and she loved you.
I have so much more I’d like you to go through.
You were also about the same size, and she was a fashionista right until the end. ”
Wendy frowns. “Steele, Deac, I’m so sorry, again. Your mom was my favorite of Jett’s aunts. She always made me feel welcome on the holidays and at all the family gatherings.” Wendy and Jett had been dating for years, and we all became fast friends after the first couple of months.
“Maybe I can help determine what you should sell and what to give away,” I tell the guys, formulating a plan to help them go through Lillian’s closet.
Deacon squeezes my hand and agrees, but Steele insists that I go through it first, call all my dibs, and then get the rest of the girls over to have them dive into the closet too.
It’s a good plan, and they shouldn’t have to go through her things alone.
Someone whistles off in the distance, which I suppose means we’re off to take photos. Reluctantly, I walk toward the clearing where Tara and Cody stand surrounded by family and wonder how I’m going to play this one.