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I must have looked at six dozen rings before I finally saw it.
It was a beautiful silver band with tiny whorls of filigree, and a diamond held in place by delicate prongs. It was unlike any of the other rings I’d seen so far.
“Ah, that’s one of my favorites in the shop,” the salesman said when I picked it up. “It’s supposedly 120 years old.”
I looked up at him in surprise. “It’s used?”
“It has a past, sir,” the salesman said with a smile. “The man who sold it to us said it belonged to his great-grandparents.”
A family heirloom.
“Why did he sell it?”
The salesman shrugged. “He needed the money, I suppose. I didn’t ask.”
“How much is it?”
“I can let you have it for 7500 pounds, sir.”
The price was certainly right.
“Why does it look so different from everything else?” I asked.
“Well, there’s the age. In my opinion, they had a superior level of craftsmanship back then. Plus, most of the other rings are of British provenance. This ring supposedly came from Italy.”
I looked up at him. “Really?”
“That’s what the gentleman said who sold it to me.”
Rachel was half-Italian.
I took the ring being Italian as a good omen.
“What if she doesn’t like it, though?” I asked hesitantly.
I was mostly worried that the ring wouldn’t be her style…
But it was possible she might say ‘no.’
The man smiled. He probably got the question a lot. “You can return it at any point over the next 30 days for a full refund. After 30 days, we’ll provide store credit towards anything else in the store.”
That was all I needed to hear.
I paid for it with my bank debit card. Afterwards, the salesman placed the ring in a tiny black box with a velvet interior.
“Would you like it in a bag, or – ”
“I’ll just carry it in my pocket.”
“Good luck, sir,” he said as he handed it to me.
“Thank you.”
As I left the shop, I felt like I was walking on cloud nine. The sunshine seemed brighter and the air seemed sweeter than when I’d entered the store.
When I returned to my hotel room, I placed the box in my room safe and started wondering about when I should ask her.
I needed to do it within the next 30 days… just in case…
