“Could I help you?” a petite blonde asked.
And he looked right into the eyes of Macy, his ex-fiancée.
“Creed?” she asked with a catch in her voice.
“Hello, Macy. What are you doing here?”
“Just a little job while school is out for the holiday. I teach down in Hereford, Texas, these days. What are you doing here?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Well, you are looking at wedding rings, Creed. I suppose that means you are doing something in the store.”
“I guess I am at that. How are you?”
He didn’t want to talk to Macy and he damn sure didn’t want to buy a wedding ring from her, but there it was: a set of matching bands. And right beside them was a little red velvet box with an engagement ring. One diamond set on a thin band. Sage could wear them both or just the wedding band when she was painting or feeding the chickens.
“I’m fine. My husband got transferred to this area last summer. It’s not home and it’s taking me a while to get used to the place, but it’s only for two years and then we’ll probably be going to the East Coast for a while.”
“Can I see those rings and that engagement ring beside them? I’m buying a ranch in the Palo Duro Canyon,” he said.
“What for? We drove through there one time. I hated it.” She pulled the rings out and handed them to him.
If the man’s ring fit his finger and if the woman’s ring fit his pinky, he would buy them. If not, it wasn’t meant to be. He picked up the smaller ring and it slipped on his pinky perfectly. The larger ring fit his ring finger just as well.
“Who is she?” Macy flipped her blond hair back over her shoulder.
“It’s complicated.” He put the engagement ring on with the band and held his hand up to the light.
“That’s a fine diamond. One of the best we have in the store. Not the cheapest or the biggest but the best for fire and brilliance. Personally, I’ve always liked gold but some women do prefer white gold. That’s platinum, by the way, and it’s expensive,” Macy said.
“I’ll take them and now I need to look at a bracelet.”
“Tell me about her and I’ll make a recommendation.”
Creed shook his head. He didn’t want to buy something for Sage that his ex suggested. He wanted something very special that only he would understand the reason behind the gift.
“Tennis bracelets are here. All women love diamonds,” Macy said.
He barely glanced at them before moving on. He checked his watch. He had fifteen minutes.
Macy pointed toward a plain gold bracelet and that’s when he got the idea.
“Show me some of those things that dangle on a bracelet like that.”
She pulled out a tray of gold and silver charms and set it before him. “Like these.”
“Do you have a bracelet like that only in white gold or platinum?”
She put a tray of white gold bracelets in front of him.
She pointed to one substantial enough to hold the charms he had in mind. “Then that’s what I want. Can you put these charms on it and have it ready to go in ten minutes?”
“I can put them on as you pick them out.” Macy reached for a tool under the counter and held it up.
Creed picked out a dog, a cat, a Christmas tree with a sparkling diamond at the top, and a round disk engraved with mistletoe in the middle. Tiny opals created the berries. It was a perfect gift. Each year he would add a charm to it that signified something wonderful that had happened in their lives.
“Wow! That is some present,” Macy said. “Really, Creed, tell me about her.”
“Like I said, it’s complicated. So you are happy?” he asked, changing the subject.
He hadn’t seen her since she’d come home from that trip and told him that their engagement was over. But now, looking at her and hearing her talk about how happy she was and what a wonderful marriage she had, he wondered why he’d ever fallen for her anyway. Nothing stirred inside him. Not anger. Not bitterness. Certainly not passion.
She handed him the bracelet tucked inside a long red velvet box that matched the engagement ring box. “There you go.”
Fingertips brushed together and still he felt nothing. She rang up his bill and he didn’t even flinch.
She handed him the credit card receipt. He signed the bottom and shoved his copy into his shirt pocket.
“Creed, I never meant to hurt you. I really did think I loved you when I accepted your proposal.”
“Macy, I’m over it. I’ve got to go now. Merry Christmas.”
He looked at his watch and hurried out into the mall before he realized that the small bag had the jewelry store logo on it. He had five minutes so he went to a kiosk that sold small-tooled leather items.
“Help you?” a lady wearing boots and a denim miniskirt asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “What kind of wallet are the ladies using these days?”
She picked up one that looked like an oversized old-time cigarette case and handed it to him.
“I’ll take it. And how about cell phone cases?”
She showed him a rack where dozens hung.
“This one. This one and this one.” He laid three out on the counter.
She rang up his bill and he’d barely gotten the items paid for when his phone rang.
“Yes?” He expected to hear Sage telling him that she had been waiting for ten minutes, but instead she was out of breath.
“I ran into an old friend and we got to talking and I’m just now in the paper store. Give me ten more minutes.”
“You got it,” he said.
A window display caught his eye as he slowed
