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I get up and walk to the mirror, staring at the seagulls that represent my parents so well. I look closely and I see that he has made the wedding bands a little different from the drawing. “How did you…”
He lifts the chain from my neck and dangles the two wedding rings that I always wear in front of my face. They’re my parents’ rings, and I keep them with me always.
I lay a hand on his arm. “Thank you,” I say.
“Come back in a week and we can do some more.” He gives me a question face.
I nod. “Definitely.”
I can’t even begin to tell him how much I appreciate what he gave me, because I’m drowning in my own emotions right now. I feel like that tide is going to sweep right over me.
He silently cleans my arm and applies some lotion, and then he wraps it in clear plastic and pulls my glove back up over it all.
“Same time next week?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“I’ll come up with a good drawing by then. I think you’ll like it.”
“I already do.”
He grins and opens the curtain, and I follow him back out to the front of the shop.
I am surprised to find both my sister Finny and her fiancé getting tattoos from the Reeds. I shake my head and smile at them.
“Are you done?” Finny asks.
“That’s all we can do today,” I tell her. I smile over my shoulder at Ryan. He really does beautiful work and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.
“So, what’s Ryan like?” Finny whispers at me. She’s not signing and he’s not looking in her direction, but it doesn’t feel right to talk about him, regardless.
“Don’t talk about him like he’s not here,” I sign and say at the same time.
Finny makes a face at me.
“And he’s very nice.”
He grins at me as he reads my hands.
I take a minute to look at both Finny and Tag’s tattoos. They are so freaking much in love. They’re getting tattoos in the same damn place and they’re about one another. I never thought Finny would ever settle down, but apparently she has. And now she’s raising a kid. God, it’s crazy.
My stomach protests loudly with a growl. I lay my hand over my belly and wince. I was too nervous to eat this morning.
“You better get some food,” Paul Reed says. He motions toward Finny and Tag. “They can’t leave yet.”
I hesitate for a second, but then say to Ryan, “You want to join me for lunch?”
He shrugs. “Why not?”
“You should wait for Mark to get here so he can go with you,” Finny says, her brow furrowing. Mark is my personal security officer.
“We’ll just be next door.” I brush off her concern.
Ryan holds the door open for me and we step out into the street. Suddenly a bike messenger blasts past me, and Ryan grabs me and pulls me against him. He holds me there until I’m steady, and I can feel his heart pounding.
After a moment, he sets me back. He asks me if I’m okay, with an arch to his brow. I nod. He opens the door to the deli next door and motions for me to precede him. We sit down at a table and suddenly he flinches.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
