“I was trying to find something for you.” I admit, lowering my voice a little, Ruth takes her cue and leaves us to have some privacy.
“Really?” Kane asks, his eyes shining with warmth and he squeezes me.
“What’d you pick?” he asks, and I feel like I don’t want to ruin the surprise.
“If I tell, then it’s not a surprise,” I tease him, but then his look changes, like he’s realized how serious I am.
“What’d you choose, Trudi?”
“A ring, I was gonna use my credit card to pay for it, but I left my purse at home… we left so suddenly… I feel stupid…”
Kane walks over to the other counter, leaning over and picking up the box, opening it and letting out a low whistle.
“This ring? Wow. You sure have an eye.”
“That’s what Ruth said,” I chime, happy I’ve made a dent in Kane's world.
“And how much did Ruth say she would charge you?” Kane asks.
I flush a little, but he probably knows how much all this stuff costs anyway.
“Only two hundred and fifty,” I tell him, wincing at how expensive it is, but vowing I’ll find the money somehow.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Kane
I could just kiss her. I will. But I think she ought to know. It’s easy to understand, for me it is, how she might be confused about the pricing in a place like this.
I cross the floor, clutching the ring in its box.
“You picked this for me?” I ask her again, feeling a real rush of warmth, like she’s touched my soul for the second, maybe the third time today.
Her head hammers a series of nods and I can see she’s proud of her choice, and I know Ruth wouldn’t have misled her deliberately. I do shop here sometimes, and money’s no problem. But…
“It’s two hundred and fifty… thousand, Trudi. All this stuff, it’s real. It’s a high end jewelry store.”
I can see her face fall in a second, she’s crushed. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but it’s the truth. This is an expensive place to shop. My watch is over a hundred grand, half that again to have it repaired.
“I love it though!” I tell her, which is true, I love her for choosing it.
I just love her.
Rings be damned.
I watch her lower lip tremble again, the silver of tears forming in her eyes. She tears herself away from me when I try to hold her, making a horrible croaking sounds like she wants to scream or something.
“Let me go, just get away from me,” she says loudly.
“I knew this was all too good to be true, I suppose you think it’s funny that I think stuff like this would be so cheap, like me? Is that it?” she spits out.
“Trudi! No!” I say, trying to get a hold of her to calm her down but she’s half way out the door, with the security guard grabbing hold of her now.
I make a pleading face with Ruth, who knows I’m good for the whole store if need be, and with a sharp nod, she lets the guard know he can let go of Trudi, who’s running off down the street.
“I’ll be here, Mr. Barret.” Ruth says, looking less than impressed as she purses her lips, waiting for her jewelry to be returned.
“Well?” She asks me coldly, “What are you waiting for, you do love her don’t you?” She asks, shocking me awake, like ice water’s been thrown in my face.
“I do! I do love her,” I announce, surprising myself with my own conviction.
“Then go get her!” Ruth says loudly, practically shouting, and I can hear her laughing to herself as I scramble past security too, forgetting I’m still holding the ring as well.
Pumped with adrenaline at the thought of Trudi not understanding what I meant, or worse yet, not being able to find her at all, I run out into the street. I look both ways but I can’t see her.
I clench my jaw, kicking the sidewalk with my heel, kicking myself for not realizing so many things.
If anything happens to her…
I can’t afford to think like that, and I take a few lunging steps one way before I realize something, no cologne.
If I turn the other way and jog some, I can smell her. I can smell me.
She’s wearing my cologne, and just enough which makes it easier for me to follow her scent long enough to catch sight of her.
She’s stopped running, but is still far up ahead, about to head into the park.
I trot after her, wanting to call out, wanting to tell her a million things, but I also don’t want to scare her off again. I’ve been ignorant and probably too damned cocky for my own good so far.
I’ll watch her from a distance, just for a few minutes until she’s calmed down, then we can sit down and talk about all this, sort this whole misunderstanding out.
I could run all day, I’d go anywhere she went just to keep track of her, to keep her safe.
I’m relieved that after a while, she’s clutching her side with a stitch and takes a seat on a park bench under a large oak tree. I breathe easier, knowing she’s at least in my sights and that she’s safe, but it kills me to see those tears in her eyes.
I clench my hands into fists, grinding my jaw until my neck hurts.
I don’t want to ever see her hurting again, so why am I the one who keeps hurting her like this?
I don’t understand, but I know one thing. Enough’s enough. Once we settle this, I’m taking her home and making her mine, this has gone on long enough. She needs to know she’s mine now forever not just for a day, not just for an afternoon or for a week.
Mine.
Forever.
After a little while she seems to have calmed down, the weather suddenly changes, with some unseasonal dark clouds bringing a chill to the air and the threat
