Chapter 13 #2
“Get something you like,” Hayes murmured discreetly against my temple. His thumb stroked a soothing pattern across my lower back.
I shot him a look that meant to say, “What are you doing? This is just temporary.” But Hayes must have read it as fear.
“I think just a plain gold band for me,” I said. “Something that matches.”
“What about something like that?” Hayes asked, pointing to a ring that was displayed all on its own.
Mary Lou cooed. “Yes. Good choice,” she said as she reached into the display and pulled the ring from the velvet box.
“The diamonds are small but have a beautiful cut and clarity. The wow factor comes from the design. Gold band, but you can’t really see it.
The marquise diamonds go all the way around, alternating between vertical and horizontal so you get a stunning pattern and texture.
It’ll sit nicely against the engagement ring since the main stone is elevated in the setting just a bit. ”
“It’s nice,” Hayes said as he inspected it casually, like he was picking out fruit at the grocery store.
“Nice” didn’t even begin to cover it. The ring was breathtaking. It also had a lot of zeros on the tiny tag.
But before I could argue, Hayes took my hand in his. “Try it on and see how it looks,” he said as he slid it onto my ring finger.
I didn’t even want to argue with him. It fit like a dream, complementing the engagement ring while adding its own kind of sparkle. It was a match made in heaven.
But it was too much to spend on something that wasn’t real.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered in an attempt to hold back from gushing and squealing like a schoolgirl.
I avoided Hayes’s eyes because I knew he could read me like a book.
“But enough about me. I have one ring already. My dear fiancé needs to catch up,” I said with a cheery lilt as I slipped the band off and handed it back to Mary Lou.
Hayes’s eyes never left me as Mary Lou shifted down to the men’s rings. I didn’t dare look up.
She brought over a selection of gold, silver, and platinum bands to choose from. Some had engravings or diamonds, but Hayes seemed to gravitate toward the plain bands.
“Now this is a tungsten band,” Mary Lou said.
“Lotta men are getting tungsten these days. It’s scratch resistant and could withstand a nuclear blast.” She made herself laugh.
“Just know that if it ever gets stuck on your finger, the fire department and the ER can’t cut it off.
When I say they’re indestructible, I mean it. ”
“No,” Hayes said. “I’d like gold. Something that matches her ring. Smooth on the outside. I don’t need engravings or anything like that.”
“A classic, although gold isn’t as durable. The higher the karat, the softer it is.”
“I’m alright with that,” he said as he studied the options. “My granddad’s ring always had scratches. I think it adds character.”
Mary Lou winked at me. “Wise man.”
“Something like this?” I said as I pointed to a smooth band. I picked it up and offered it to him. But instead of taking it from me, Hayes held his hand out, making me slide it onto his finger.
He inspected it and nodded. “It’s a little big, but I like it.”
“I can have it resized by the day after tomorrow,” Mary Lou said.
“Do you have one that matches that?” I asked. “Maybe a little bit thinner?”
Mary Lou glanced at Hayes, then me. “Sure do. Let’s get you sized, and I’ll give you a call when you can come pick ’em up.”
—
“Come on,” Hayes said as soon as we broke free from the chatterbox that was Mary Lou. He took my hand in his and tugged me down the sidewalk. The back end of a black-and-white trailer poked out from beside the ag supply store.
“Is that what I think it is?” I asked as I hurried along beside him.
Hayes pulled me around the corner just in time to see Jeremiah lowering the service window.
My heart sank. “They’re closing.”
“Any chance we could get a drink before you close up?” Hayes called out.
“Nope!” Jeremiah called out.
“Please?!” I begged.
The lowering window jolted back up and both Jeremiah and Mike poked their heads out. “Well, you should have said something before!” Mike shouted. “The queen of Honey Hollow can get coffee whenever she wants.”
I cringed at the spotlight that being a future Wilder had put on me. “Just a banana bread latte, please,” I said with hope in my voice. I needed the pick-me-up and I wasn’t above begging.
“Coming right up!” Mike hollered.
“What about you?” I asked Hayes.
“Just coffee for me.”
I wrinkled my nose. “That’s it? No sugar? No flavors?”
Hayes arched an eyebrow. “If it’s good coffee, it doesn’t need any.”
“It is good coffee, and the banana bread latte is the best. Brown sugar and cinnamon syrups, and they steam the milk with a little bit of banana puree, which sounds weird but it totally works.”
Hayes grimaced. “Just eat banana bread and drink a cup of coffee.”
“Try it,” I begged.
He huffed. “Make that two, please.”
While Jeremiah insisted the drinks were on the house, Mike pestered us about working the wedding. It wasn’t until Hayes paid and left a handsome tip that we were able to make our escape.
I stopped Hayes beneath the shadow of a raucous forsythia that was creeping onto the sidewalk. “Try it. Tell me it’s not the best thing you’ve ever tasted in your entire life.”
Hayes arched an eyebrow. “That’s a little dramatic. It’s just coffee.”
I waited with bated breath as he took a sip, and then another.
I grinned when he took a third.
“Good, right?” I said with a victorious smile.
Hayes sighed and looked at the cup as if he was disappointed in how much he liked it. “You’ve created a monster. I hope you know that. You think they’ll give us the recipe? We can get an espresso machine for the kitchen.”
I shook my head. “What’s the rule? Coffee tastes better when someone else makes it.”
We crossed the street, moseying back toward Ranch Dressing. Maybe I should have checked to see if Savannah was there before showing up, but Savannah was always there.
Bells jingled overhead as Hayes opened the door for me.
“Savannah?” I shouted as I started pawing around the new selection of ladies’ jeans that had been added to a hanging rack. I adored the roses she had embroidered on the back pockets.
Hayes stood in front of the boot wall, assessing the selection.
“Coming!” she said as tools clanked and clattered in the back. Savannah appeared in a leather apron. Her hair was in a long braid. She was dripping in jewelry and rocked a pair of the rose jeans I was currently salivating over. “Hey, lovebirds,” she said. “What brings you to my shop?”
“Monday. Dress shopping. Did you see Hallie’s text? I have an appointment at a fancy bridal boutique in DC.”
“I saw the text. I have not had time to reply to the text,” she clipped. “But I’ll be there.” Her eyes tracked to Hayes. “Anything I can help you with?”
Hayes was inspecting a boot. “Do you have these in thirteens?”
“I can make ’em in a week or two,” she said. “I’ll even throw in a hat.”
He hummed something indifferent. “Do you have any on hand that are in my size?”
Savannah studied his feet from afar. “Square toe?”
Hayes nodded.
“You need steel?”
“Nah.”
“Sit tight,” she said as she spun. “I’ve got a pair in the back.”
I wandered over, circumventing the racks of clothes I was dying to get my hands on. Even though my first five grand had magically dropped in my bank account, it didn’t feel right to use it for anything outside of the necessities.
“You’re getting boots?” I asked.
He nodded, inspecting another pair. “A good pair lasts a long time. The ones I have at the house are from high school. They’re a little tight.”
I laughed under my breath. “I’d say that’s a long time. They’ve lived a good life.”
“How about these?” Savannah asked as she came back with a pair in Hayes’s size. “They’re no-nonsense. You can dress ’em up or work in ’em. Wide toe box so they’re comfortable as hell. The shaft is flexible so it doesn’t take long to break ’em in.”
Hayes studied the boots, then looked at me. “What do you think?”
Suddenly, all I could imagine was Hayes in blue jeans and boots. No shirt.
It was like a wet dream on demand.
“You should get them,” I said. Because whether or not it was a good idea, I wanted that fantasy.