“You have time. Anna convinced Claire to get a mani, too.”
I was relieved but confused. “What the hell is a mani?”
“When you get your fingernails done. I’ve done a terrible job of educating you,” she whined. “I’m putting myself in girlfriend jail.”
I chuckled. “We’ve been alittlebusy, sugar. I wouldn’t beat yourself up about it.” Between my classes at the Police Academy and Freedom Reins, we hardly saw each other beyond sleeping. But I’d rather be ships in the night with Delilah than not have her at all.
“You get everything done you needed to?”
“Yep. Savvy and I are just waiting at Beau’s now. He’s a wreck.”
“I am not,” Beau shouted.
“I just heard you crying in the bathroom, you big man baby!” I chuckled. Beau looked like a tough guy, but he was really a softie.
“Whatever. I’m goin’ to Anna’s. I’ll be back.”
“I’ll let you go, so you can focus on driving. Love you.”
“In love with you, sugar.” She giggled and hung up.
Beau
I creptinto Anna’s house. “Dad?”
His deep voice carried down the hall. “Back here.” I found him in Joseph’s old study that they’d converted into his room since he couldn’t take the stairs easily after his hip surgery.
He put his newspaper down when I filled the doorway, looking genuinely pleased to see me. It’d been a new development that I’d not gotten used to yet. “Hey there, boy.”
I sat in the chair beside him. “Hey.” I glanced around the room, not really knowing how to start. Things were much less tense between us compared to when he moved out six months ago, but we were still figuring things out.
“What brings you by?”
I cleared my throat. “I got somethin’ to show you.”
His nose scrunched. “Don’t tell me it’s one of them new fancy gadgets for the ranch. You know I don’t know how that shit works, Beaumont.”
I chuckled. “No.” I reached into my pocket. “It’s this.” I handed him the small, black velvet box.
His forehead wrinkled, brows raising when he opened it. I’d agonized over the ring for weeks. Claire was a simple woman; she worked with her hands like I did. She didn’t need flashythings, so I knew rings like her sisters wouldn’t fit her, as pretty as they were. So I got her a gold band with five diamonds nestled in it. It was more like a wedding band than an engagement ring, but I wanted something practical that she’d actually wear.
“Oh wow.” His throat moved with a swallow. “You askin’ Claire to marry you?”
I ran a hand over my jaw. “After I leave here.”
He nodded, staring at the ring. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He handed me the box. “This won’t do, son.”
My heart broke a little. I’d thought we had moved past this, that he supported us being together. “Dad—” He held a hand up and got up from his chair.
He came back and slapped a box in my hand. “Open it.”
The box was old, creaking as I opened it. All the air left my lungs when I saw what was inside. My mother’s engagement ring. I hadn’t seen this ring since I was a boy. I thought she had gotten buried with it. My throat ached as I swallowed. “Dad, I can’t-I can’t take this,” I rasped, voice on the verge of breaking.
“You’re gonna ask your girl to marry you with your mama’s ring,” he insisted, sounding just as emotional. “It’s what she would want. It’s what I want—even if she is a damn Hayes.”
I laughed. “At least she’s not a Hollis.”
“I’d drop dead if you did that to me.” After our laughter faded, he shifted towards me. “You really love her? She makes you happy?”
