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“Or spank you,” I add to lighten the mood.
She draws her hand closer. She spreads her fingers, holding her hand in the air. And she just stares.
Finally, a smile spreads across her face. “It’s really the ring. It’s the one. How did you…” Her words trail off, overwhelmed by having the actual ring in her possession.
“A gentleman never tells,” I say, wanting to keep the details to myself.
If she knew what I paid…
“I can’t believe it.” Finally, she breaks out of her daze, shaking her head. “I can’t accept it.”
“It’s not up to you. For your safety, you must stay in the Village. To stay in the Village, we must be engaged. To truly be engaged, in this family, a woman must have a magnificent ring.” I reach up, slipping a tendril of hair behind her ear.
I know she doesn’t want to marry me. But we both made choices that brought us here. The least I can do is give her a ring she will love.
“Thank you.” She smiles up at me. “It’s beautiful.”
We are quiet for some time while she admires the ring. She narrows her eyes at me. “Is this engagement for real?”
“There may be other options, other ways to keep you safe.” I haven’t yet spoken to Rockland about what to do with Lindy. I figured it should be a face-to-face convo. I wanted to wait until I was back in the Village to talk to him about this whole situation. “But for now, this is what we need to do.”
“Okay,” she says.
“We’ve had a long day. You should rest.”
She gives a sigh, settling into her seat, closing her eyes, fatigue hitting her. “I am tired. Can you have Arie check on Angel for me? Please? Tell her to be careful not to disturb your dad.”
“Of course. I’ll take care of everything,” I say. “Just rest.”
I’ll do as she asks, but I want to let her fall asleep first.
Moments later, her head is lolling to the side, resting softly on my shoulder. I slip an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. She nestles into me, quickly drifting off to sleep.
My entire world has changed in a matter of days. What do I do? I can’t think about the future, I can only focus on the now. And right now, I have a beautiful woman, one I fell for moments after seeing her picture for the first time, sleeping on my shoulder.
One who was right by my side during one of the most frightening moments of my life.
I close my eyes, the image of my father haunting me.
I see the blood, the dazed look in his eyes as he laid there on the ground, not responding to our pleas to wake up. It looked like he fell in the bathroom and hit his head; he was unconscious. My first thought was that he took something that made him dizzy enough to fall.
We were begging him to speak to us.
To come back to us.
It was Lindy who finally got him to respond.
She knelt by his side as the doctor dressed his wound. Placing one hand over his chest, she leaned down, and softly whispered something into his ear. She pulled back to look into his eyes for a response.
When she didn’t get one, she repeated the action.
The second time she spoke to him, he blinked a few times, then his lips started to move.
“Okay,” he said, before closing his eyes.
Once he was cleared to travel, we boarded the jet. The doctor gave him a sedative to keep him still for the entire length of the trip. The doctor is traveling with us as well, sitting in the cubicle beside my dad’s, both doors open so the doctor can keep an eye on Dad for the whole flight.
Sitting beside my father is Angel.
