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“I don’t want to settle down,” Charlie stated, tears sneaking down her cheek. “I can’t commit to someone again. I can’t go through that.”
“He would never do that to you,” her father assured her.
“Dad,” she shouted. “I won’t do that again. I can’t.”
Her father looked at her with disappointment in his eyes. He slowly removed his arms from her shoulders and walked toward the door. Charlie’s eyes closed as more tears streamed down her face.
“Before you make this decision,” her father said, turning around slowly. “Before you commit to never committing again, think of when you’re my age.”
Charlie opened her eyes slowly, staring at him with guilt raging in her chest.
“Would you regret not taking that chance?” he asked solemnly.
Charlie glanced at the floor, picturing herself old and frail. Would she think of Hammer, the adventures she had been on these past few weeks? Would she wonder where he was at that time?
“Would you wonder if you had missed out on true magic?”
Her father nodded and exhaled as he left the hotel room. Charlie walked to the couch and plopped down, holding her face in her hands, her chest heaving as she cried. She wiped the tears from her face and took a few deep breaths.
Shame washed over her as she thought of her dad’s disapproval. Her friends would be disappointed, too, and everyone would lecture her about not letting down her walls for him for the rest of the time.
The reality was she couldn’t open up to him, not entirely, anyway. She looked out the window and canceled out everyone else’s opinions for just a second. She felt relief and calm rush through her, and she realized she might have let everyone down, but she had stayed true to herself.
Standing from the couch, she walked toward the window and looked at the city lights, glimmering with the sunset. Amid the turmoil in her chest, she couldn’t help but think of the sparkle in Hammer’s eyes.
THIRTY
HAMMER
The jewels glowed in the fluorescent store lights as he paced around the room, examining each price tag. He thought of Charlie, her classic style and simplistic nature, but a basic ring wouldn’t express his love for her entirely.
“What about this one?” Hammer asked the store associate, pointing to an emerald stone in a gold setting.
“Ah,” the store owner said, taking the ring out of the display case. “This one is stunning, 1.5 carats.”
He picked up the ring and examined it, trying to picture it on Charlie’s dainty finger. He shook his head and handed it back to the store associate, pacing the room again.
It caught his eye immediately, an oval-cut moonstone ring set in rose gold. The price was hefty, precisely what he had hoped. He pointed at it in the display case.
“That one,” he said confidently.
The store associate smiled and pulled it out, showing it to him. “What size were you thinking?”
“Oh, shit,” Hammer stated. He hadn’t thought of that. “I guess there’s not a one-size-fits-all?”
She laughed. “Do her hands look like mine?” He stared at her fingers, thinking back to the times he held Charlie’s.
“Yes, long and perfect.”
“I’m a size six,” she replied. “That’s the most popular size. You can get it resized at any store. Do you want it today?”
Hammer’s heart leapt in his chest, and his gut twinged.“Today.”The thought rang in his head repeatedly, and he decided this was a sign he would ask her today.
He exhaled and paid for the ring before walking out of the jeweler’s and heading back to the hotel. He counted the cracks in the sidewalk as he thought of how he would ask her. The speech the other night was insane, terribly affected by his nerves.
Words flowed through his mind, but he knew he would forget them once he saw her face. He walked through the swinging doors to the hotel lobby and nodded at the receptionist before stepping into the elevator.
He pressed the button for the third floor and rode up in silence, wondering if he should have asked her father for his blessing. She was incredibly traditional, but he couldn’t wait any longer.
