I filled out the check and handed it to Mrs. Harris, the first check I’d filled out in my life. Nan showed me how that morning, and I nailed it on the first try.
“Congratulations, Luke!” Briar’s only jeweler smiled my way, one of the few people that didn’t treat me like crud. “The payment plan is detailed on the back here. Any questions?”
“You said you engrave, right?” I asked, eyeing the white gold setting I’d selected. I wasn’t sure how much it’d cost, but personalizing it would make it extra special.
“Yes, did you want it engraved? I can do it for free if you’d like.” She waited with a pen and a slip of paper for instruction.
“Oh, anything I want? What do people usually get?”
I felt like an idiot. I didn’t own a piece of jewelry, and Nan wore a simple gold band. I knew I should’ve brought her along.
She smiled, pleasant despite my ignorance, a tiny gesture I appreciated more than she realized. Most people would’ve laughed. “Usually an anniversary date or initials. Sometimes a word or two that means a lot.”
“Oh…” I trailed, tapping my fingers on my jeans, trying not to touch any of the cases in front of me. They didn’t have any smudges, and I’d headed over straight from work. I’d washed my hands but still didn’t feel right touching anything so clean after working in a body shop all day. “Barrett Always.”
“Oh, that’s precious!” She scribbled it down, her thick, stubby fingers sliding along the page as she skimmed instructions, dotting her Is and crossing her Ts as Nan always said.
It reminded me of Josie, stirring up a smile, my love rescuing me from the unrelenting nerves that gnawed at my guts.
Other than cars, I’d never spent so much at once, and I’d never signed up for a payment plan before. The word debt was scary enough. Going into it was a whole other ballgame.
But Nan said I needed to build credit if I wanted to buy a house, so there I was, signing my name on the dotted line, sticking my neck out for the bank to hack at if I didn’t keep my word.
“Well, you’re all set, Mr. Barrett.” Mrs. Harris offered a hand which I readily accepted. No one had ever shaken my hand in town before, too afraid to be seen with a Barrett. “The ring will be ready for pick up in two to four weeks. Did you need it by a certain date?”
“Nope, by then, hopefully, it’ll clear up more,” I gestured at the disaster going on outside, a late April winter storm bringing a mix of slush and rain to Briar. “I’m going to take her to Briley Canyon when the weather gets warmer.”
She smiled, reaching out to pat my hand. “That’s where Mr. Harris took me many moons ago for the same thing.”
I nodded, grateful for the support, one of the few elders who seemed happy for me outside of Nan. The man at the bank was a total jerkoff about it, telling me to wait until I was thirty to get engaged. I didn’t take it personally, though. I’d met his wife. She was a witch.
Not Josie. She was an angel. I’d be a fool not to marry her as soon as possible.
“Great minds think alike,” she cooed, closing her order booklet. “Have a good night, Luke. Drive safe, okay? It’s getting nasty out there.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I strolled across the tiny shop and onto the sopping wet sidewalk of Main Street, stuffing my hands in my work jacket pockets to save them from the frigid sludge falling from the sky.
With each step, the soupy ice squished, leaving me grateful I’d left straight from work in boots. If I’d been in sneakers, they would’ve soaked straight through.
I had to head home to shower and change, dinner plans with Nan and Josie set for seven o’clock. Josie was probably already there with Olivia. Nan was teaching them how to make Fancy Hungarian chicken as she called it, a recipe she’d found in a magazine that she couldn’t pronounce.
The late-season storm left most of downtown deserted, a single car parked in the lot of Sammy’s, the gas station everyone knew closed at five. Stupid, but the grumpy bastard wasn’t budging in his ways, leaving everyone scrambling for gas before he closed up shop each day.
As I got closer, I recognized it as Ed’s car — Josie’s dad. It was definitely his gray sedan, the tinted windows and ROBERTS vanity plate giving it away.
Huh.
Maybe he ran out of gas. He had been making a lot of trips to their cabin, leaving Josie to watch Olivia now that she was old enough.
I hadn’t talked to him since I asked him for her hand a few weeks earlier when he told me to pound sand, but maybe giving him a lift home or letting him siphon some gas from my car could win me points.
I hurried over, a splash of wetness flying up my pant leg as I stepped into a goopy puddle. Fat drops fell from the sky, a mix of slushy flakes and frozen rain taking turns pelting me.
As I got closer, I saw Ed in the front seat and a blonde in the passenger seat.
Trish?
Weird.
Josie said she was staying in Portland overnight for a speaking event. That’s why Olivia was coming to dinner with us.
He was leaning back, so they must’ve been there a while. He’d probably appreciate the help.
Hopefully, he would, anyway.
He didn’t seem like the kind of guy to say please and thank you.
A foot from the car, I saw something no one should ever see: my soon-to-be father-in-law’s dick and balls jutting out the front of his pants with a pink ring of lipstick around them.
I went to run, as horrified as I’d be walking in on my own parents, but not before I saw Lynette Stephens in the passenger seat,
