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I nodded and made my way over to the case she'd directed me to. I looked down at all the unique rings. There were so many options, and I was a lot lost as to what she would even like. I knew what her previous engagement ring looked like, and I wanted to steer clear of that as I’d come to learn that she hated the thing.
"They are beautiful, aren't they?" the salesclerk said, coming over and opening the back of the display case.
I nodded, finally seeing one that I knew in my heart was perfect. "Could I see that one in the corner please?"
"The solitaire?" she questioned, reaching into the case, pointing at the ring.
"Yes, please."
"Wonderful choice. It's my favourite. Although I can't seem to get my boyfriend to commit." She giggled as she placed the ring in my hand. "White gold band, diamond is colourless and flawless. I believe it's the best one we have in the store at the moment."
The girl droned on, and I eventually shut her out while I looked down at the ring. It was beautiful and simple, yet elegant, exactly like my girl. I looked up at the girl who was still speaking away and smiled. "I'll take it."
November 30 – 6 Weeks Later
White Christmas lights twinkled brightly in the trees around the manmade rink in the park. Tess sat on the bench while I knelt before her, holding the skate. She held onto the top of her sock as she pushed her foot inside.
"How's that?" I asked, making sure that her foot was all the way in.
"It’s okay, but I don't know about this, Maddox," she said, a worried expression lining her face as I pulled at the laces, tightening them for her.
I looked up at her and smiled. "Do you trust me?" I questioned, repeating the same steps with the other skate.
"Of course." She laughed. "It's just the whole sliding and balance issue, remember."
"I remember." I chuckled and sat down beside her, quickly lacing up my own skates. "I'm going to have you skating circles around me before you know it."
“I seriously doubt that.” She laughed, looking down at her skates.
I reached into my pocket and felt the velvet box I had tucked inside earlier. "Here, put your gloves on," I said, handing over her the gloves she'd placed inside the bag for tonight. She slid her hands inside and I stood, holding my hands out to her.
She slid her hands into mine and stood. I didn't give her any time to back out. I stepped onto the ice and held onto her as she placed one foot on the ice and then the other.
She wobbled for a minute as she held onto my shoulders, finally steadying herself.
"All right, so you can stand," I teased.
She gave me an annoyed look. "Of course I can stand." Then she laughed.
"All right, let's go. Just push off with one foot. Like this, watch," I said, pushing off with one foot and sliding a bit of a ways away from her.
"Oh, I don't know." She hesitated, her voice shaky as she looked at me.
“You can do it,” I urged, watching as she tried to find the courage within herself. She concentrated hard and shoved off with one foot, then the other. She was doing okay making her way toward me, when she suddenly lost her balance, her arms flailed about, her face filled with panic. I reached out and grabbed her, breaking her fall just before she went down.
"Oh my God," she yelled, as she reached out and grabbed hold of me.
I laughed while steadying us both, holding onto her tightly as she regained her balance.
"I told you I can't do this," she said, breathing hard, frustration lining her face.
"It’s not happening overnight, baby. It takes time. You'll get it, I promise." I moved around her until I was behind her, and placed my hands on her hips. Then I slowly pushed off and began gliding around the rink with her in front of me.
We had the entire rink to ourselves, so once I had gotten her comfortable enough, I began the lesson all over again, and by the time we were ready to go, she could skate off the rink just holding onto my hand.
"Did you see that? I did it," she said, excitement lining her voice. She looked proud of herself, and once she was on the bench, I knelt down in the snow and pulled her skates off.
"I did. You were amazing, baby."
