Page 53 of Finding Parker

Kenton looked up from admiring the ring, “My boy Parker believes it to be perfect for his beautiful Victoria, Ryan. Everything can be bought. The price?”

“Three hundred thirty two,” Ryan responded.

Thousand.

He means thousand.

Three hundred and thirty-two thousand dollars.

As my knees buckled, I almost dropped the ring. I felt as if I was a little boy again, and someone had just let all of the air out of my birthday balloons. I held the ring for a moment to save some embarrassment, and extended my arm toward Ryan and smiled.

“Give us a moment,” Kenton whispered as Ryan accepted the ring.

His hand still resting on my shoulder, Kenton slowly turned away from the display and faced the entrance of the store. Slowly, he slid his hand across my upper back and rested his arm along my shoulders. Softly, he pulled me in closer to his chest, as if her were preparing to tell me a secret.

“Let me take care of this for you, son,” he whispered.

“Kenton, no. Absolutely not. This isn’t remotely close to proper,” I whispered through my clenched teeth.

“How much money have you saved?” Kenton asked.

Although I had been proud of the amount of money I saved for the ring, I now looked down at my feet as I responded, somewhat embarrassed, “Ten thousand.”

Kenton paused for a moment. I stood without speaking and stared at my feet as I continued to fill with shame.

“Would you give me thirty dollars? Right now? If I were getting married, that is?” Kenton whispered.

I looked up from the floor, “Absolutely.”

“Well, thirty dollars is the same percentage to ten thousand that three hundred thousand is to one hundred million. I have far more than one hundred million, but let’s consider only the money I have safely tucked away at four percent. Let’s see…” he paused.

“I’ll make three hundred and thirty thousand this month in interest alone, on my money that is. Look at it as a wedding gift Parker, the equivalent of a thirty dollar wedding gift. The more I think about it, I’m a cheap bastard,” he raised his eyebrows and waited for my approval.

I looked down at the floor as I nervously swirled the toe of my right shoe in a circle, “Kenton, I can’t allow you to buy the engagement ring.”

“Fine, you buy it. But, I insist upon your acceptance of my wedding gift a little early. Today, that is. I’ll have Downes write you a check for a million. It’s the minimum I’d give in cash as a gift to the two of you,” he pressed his index finger against the bottom of my chin until my gaze met his.

“Fine,” I whispered, “after we’re married. I can’t accept it now.”

Kenton shook his head slowly, “Alright, you little smart ass. Now, ask yourself this. On your wedding day, I’ll hand you a fucking gym bag with a million dollars cash in it. Mark my words. I will. And as you hold that bag of money, smiling from ear to ear, would you have any regret of not being able to use a portion of it for this ring today? Something your wife will wear for a lifetime?”

I thought about his statement. I certainly would wish I had been able to spend a portion of the money today. This particular ring was gorgeous – there would never be another like it.

I nodded my head, “I would, yes. But this isn’t proper. It isn’t right. We should just leave.”

Kenton comically raised one eyebrow, “You stubborn little fuck. Okay, look at it like this. I’m going to loan you three hundred fifty thousand today. Buy the ring. Propose. If she says yes, you’ll have a nice wedding gift of a million cash on your wedding day. You can repay me at that time. Look at it as a simple loan. You’re borrowing the money from me. If she says no, give me the ring back. The bottom line? You bought the ring with your money. Fair enough?”

It made perfect sense and saved me some embarrassment. Three hundred thousand dollars was an enormous amount of money to spend on a ring, but at this particular moment it seemed rather reasonable, considering all things.

I studied his face, “A loan?”

He nodded once.

I made an unsuccessful attempt to hide my excitement. As my mouth formed an embarrassing grin, I responded, “Fair enough.”

Kenton’s head immediately swiveled toward Ryan, “We’ll take it,” he shouted excitedly.

Ryan’s face quickly changed to one of disbelief, “Sir?” he asked, still standing with the ring in one hand and the cloth in the other.