AllFreeNovel
Share Us
16
Jon
Now that Rain was back, I felt like I’d been given another chance to finally find happiness. Allison was right when she’d said I had always been in love with Rain and that I always would be, too. I had no intentions of ever letting her go again. I’d made a mistake when I had made her feel like she wasn’t my forever. I meant to change that.
I headed into the small stretch that made up the town of Muskrat Creek to see my dad’s old friend Betty Sue.
“Jon! It’s so good to see you.” She greeted me with a hug. “How’re you getting along?”
“I’m good, Betty Sue. How are y’all doing?”
“Oh, we’re just fine. You know my daughter, Hannah, just got into UGA. We’re tickled pink.”
“That’s great. Tell her congratulations.”
“I will. What brings you by today?”
“I need some help with a ring.”
“What sort of ring?”
“I don’t know exactly. An engagement ring.”
“Oh, wow. Who’s the lucky girl? That lovely little Allison Clarke?”
“No. I, um…no. Raintree Harper.”
“Oh, right. Are you sure this time? First, Allison. Then, Raintree. Didn’t she run back off to California on you?”
“She had to take care of some business. She’s back now,” I said, knowing the rumor mill would say what it would.
“Well, that’s grand. What did you have in mind? My selection here isn’t huge, but I’ve got catalogs. I can order you in pretty much anything you want.”
I reached into my pocket, fishing out the small piece of velvet inside and pulling the ring free of it. I handed it across the counter and she looked it over for a moment before looking back up at me.
“Something like this?”
“No. I want something completely different from that, but I want the stones in that ring and the metal in that ring incorporated.”
“So, you are wanting Tommy to create a special piece for you.”
“Exactly. Is he here?”
“No, but he’ll be back tomorrow. Let’s talk about what you have in mind as far as style, and I can get him started on it, let him put together some ideas for you.”
“I want something unusual, perhaps a gothic filigree-type band with my mother’s diamond in the center, and two new diamonds on either side.”
“And you want to stick with the white gold?”
“Yes.”
“What about size?”
“That ring is the correct size. She wore it for a while.”
Betty Sue looked at me with an odd expression but said nothing else. Instead, she pulled out a stick that looked like a long cone and placed the ring on it, writing down the size in her notes.
“You got a phone number, Jon?”
I rattled off my digits for her, and she nodded, tapping her pen on the notepad before laying it down and looking back up at me again.
“How’s your father?” she asked.
“He’s good. I haven’t seen a lot of him lately. Been really busy with a bunch of renovations.”
“I haven’t seen him lately either. Tell him I said hello next time you do.”
“I’ll do that,” I told her. “Tell Tommy I’m counting on him to make me look good.”
“That’s what he does.” She laughed.
Betty Sue’s son, Tommy, had gotten a creative gene that both his parents lacked. He had a keen eye for jewelry that made a statement but wasn’t gaudy. I had no doubt that whatever he came up with would be amazing. Ordinarily, I would have given Rain my mother’s ring just as it was, but after what had happened when she had given it back before, I didn’t want to dredge up bad memories. Having Rain back was like an internal light that warded off the darkness that sometimes overtook me. I couldn’t lose her again, ever.
“Thanks, Betty Sue. Talk to you soon.” I walked out the front door.
“Jon?” I heard Rain say, and I thought I was hearing voices, but soon I realized that she was only a few doors down, having just stepped out of the veterinarian’s office there.
“Rain? What are you doing?”
“Oh, you know, begging for a job. I figured the only vet in town would need some help, but I guess not.”
“He turned you down?”
“Yeah. He said he’s doing just fine on his own.”
“I’m not surprised. He’s a proud man and more than a little greedy. You know he’s not doing fine though, right?”
“What do you mean?” she said, stepped toward me and giving me a light peck on the cheek. I loved how happy she was to see me.
“He only sees people with pets that can come to him. He doesn’t go out to see the ones that can’t be brought in.”
“Like Marilyn,” she replied.
“Marilyn?”
“Ben Tankersley’s stock dog.”
“Oh, right. Well, I was thinking more along the lines of horses, cows, pigs.”
“Ah, large animal medicine.”
“Exactly. Say, you want to go grab a bite instead of standing around out here on the sidewalk?”
“Sure. Are you done? What were you doing in the jewelers’?”
