“See?” Roxie turned to the salesman and gavehim a smug grin. “If he has a female best man, you should, too. Me.I already have a dress picked out.”
The salesman held up both hands in defeat.“Wait. Who’s getting married here, exactly? I’m afraid I don’tquite understand.”
“I’m getting married,” Matt explained. “So Ineed two rings, sized ten and thirteen. She may or may not be inthe wedding. We haven’t discussed this yet,” he added, raising hisvoice to speak over Roxie’s protest.
With a sour frown, she muttered, “I’m goingto be and you know it. So why you’re even playing like Iwon’t…”
Matt rolled his eyes and turned away. Hecould see the sun wink off his car on the other side of the store’sglass doors. How bad would it look to cut this visit short and headback to the gym? He could return after work…but that wouldn’t workbecause he’d pick up Sadie from doggy daycare and would have herwith him then. Still, it would be much nicer to look at ringswithout Roxie’s comments…
As he frowned at his car, debating, henoticed three young men milling around outside. They wore hoodiesand jeans, their hands shoved deep into the pockets of theirjackets. Matt watched one of the guys break off from his friendsand circle behind the Jaguar, obviously checking it out. If he somuch as touched the car…Matt closed his hand into anunconscious fist. Just keep walking, he thought, wishing foronce the telepathy he shared with Vic extended to others, aswell.
He felt a sharp poke in his side and turnedto find Roxie glaring at him. “Hello? Aren’t you looking for aring?”
“Oh, yeah.” Matt bent over the case again andscanned the rings. With so many in one place, they seemed to runtogether until none stood out from the others. This must be whatVic means when he says they all look the same, he thought,trying to narrow his attention to one or two rows at a time.Vaguely he heard the bell above the door tinkle as someone enteredthe shop.
Beside him, Roxie leaned in close. Her voicewas low, intimate, and not the least bit antagonistic when shemurmured, “So what exactly are you looking for? Do you evenknow?”
“I’ll know it when I see it,” he toldher.
Movement made him look up at the salesman,who glared past him at whoever entered the shop. Matt suspected heknew the reason, and when he glanced back, he saw that he wasright—two of the guys who had been loitering outside were nowinside. The third was visible through the window, his back to thestore as he stared at Matt’s car. Something in Matt’s stomachchurned nervously. “Roxie, let’s go.”
She gave him an odd look. “What? Why?”
The trio bothered him for some reason.Inside, one of the men stayed near the door, hands shoved deep intohis pockets, while his friend strolled through the place like apotential buyer checking out the space. When his gaze met Matt’s,there was a hardness in his cold eyes Matt didn’t like one bit. Thesooner they left, the better. He’d come back after work, or maybenext weekend with Vic in tow.
If only Vic were here now. Matt would feelworlds better with his lover near.
To the salesman, Matt said, “You know, Ithink we’re going to go…wait.” A particular ring caught his eye andhe reached past Roxie to point at it through the case. “You havethis one? I was told it was only available online.”
The salesman’s grimace turned to a wide grinwhen he saw the ring Matt indicated. “We were just approved to sellit and no other jeweler in Richmond has it in stock. Gorgeous,isn’t it? Comes in white gold and silver, depending on yourpreference. There’s one full carat of diamonds in the design. Wouldyou like to try it on?”
“Can I?” Matt watched eagerly as the salesmanunlocked the case and retrieved the ring. This was the ring he’dseen before he even started looking—this ring, right here,with six diamond chips forming a triangle on the front of aroughened surface made of white gold, it had caught his eye when hesaw it online months ago and set him thinking about rings in thefirst place. When he got serious about buying a ring, he had calledthe website’s customer service line only to be told the ring wasn’tavailable anywhere in his area.
More than any other he’d seen since, thisring spoke to him. It said only one word, but it was the only wordthat captured the essence of his relationship with Vic.Forever.
With something like reverence, he held outhis palm as the salesman handed over the ring. It fit snugly onMatt’s ring finger as if it belonged there. Beside him, Roxiegasped. “That’s perfect.”
Matt held out his arm to admire the ring.“Does it come larger? Vic wears a thirteen.”
“I can get it up to seventeen, if you needit,” the salesman said, pride in his voice. “We have smaller sizes,too. If you need a ladies’ ring—”
“I don’t.” Matt felt the price tag rubagainst his palm but ignored it. This was the ring; he’d known itsince the moment he first saw it all those months ago. How oftendid Vic tell him the price meant nothing? You’re the only manI’ll ever love, he’d told Matt. The words echoed within him andwarmed him inside. This isn’t a frivolous purchase, Matty. Yousaid yourself, it’s an external sign of our love, and what itsymbolizes is priceless. I’ll never buy another ring, so we mightas well make this one worth it.
He had the money on his credit card, he knew.Add in the coupon from the paper, and it wouldn’t be as expensiveas he had feared. “Do you need to order the size thirteen?” heasked, turning his hand to watch the ring catch the light.
The salesman reached below the counter andextracted a velvet-lined box. When he opened it, Matt saw the samering he now wore mirrored in a dozen different sizes. The salesmanplucked one from the box and held it out to Matt. “Thirteen.”
“I’ll take it,” Matt breathed. He couldimagine slipping it onto Vic’s finger and almost creamed himself.His pants felt too
