I swallowed back a torrent of emotions and cleared my throat to keep it from closing completely. The ring, my grandmother’s ring, was blinking back at me, but I could barely make it out through blurry, unseeing eyes.
This would not do.
I closed the ring box and set it down on the table. Then I stood up and circled around the high bar top table in one step, tugging Sylvia against me in one breath. I held her there while she sniffled against my chest and I clung to her, just needing someone close that felt the intense heartbreak of my grandfather’s thoughtfulness.
We stood like that for a long time. The busy bar burst at the seams with people, hectic from a rushed lunch hour or trying to squeeze in anywhere to sit. And we stood in the middle of it all, lost in the tangled path of our own memories.
Finally I pulled myself together and came back to the present. I loosened my grip on Sylvia and took a step back so that I could look down into her eyes. She smiled up at me, confident and at peace. And it was then, when I saw the encouragement on Syl’s face that I was able to sit back down and open the box again.
The ring was breathtaking; simple but elegant. The single pearl was raised up from the simple gold band. There was nothing spectacular about the ring, except that it was my grandmother’s and that my grandfather had given it to her as a symbol of his love. I plucked the ring out of the box and turned it over in my hands. The setting was tiny and I had a feeling it would fit perfectly on Amelia’s slender finger. On the back was an engraving that I had to extend my senses with magic in order to see clearly.
Eternity is only forever with your love.
I swallowed back a fresh wave of feeling and tore my eyes away from the engraving, away from one of the only men that would understand my future. She was looking at me with a mixture of hope and love and I was so thankful that she was the one I shared this moment with.
“I hope you didn’t buy a ring for Amelia,” Sylvia broke our silence from across the table, more like startled me back to the painful present. “I wanted to give this to you right away when you mentioned buying one, but I had to get it from my safety deposit box. It is absolutely perfect for her; she’s going to love it.”
Damn it. I knew Sylvia heard we broke up. I felt Eden telling her yesterday and had keenly shut off every single emotion and connection to Eden so I wouldn’t have to suffer through it. I decided to take back my gratitude that it was Sylvia I shared this moment with.
“We’re over, Sylvia,” I choked out on a harsh voice just barely above a whisper.
“Avalon St. Andrew, since when do you just give up?” she scolded from across the table.
“Syl, she doesn’t feel the same for me. She wouldn’t look twice at this ring,” I explained. The thought of Amelia rejecting not just me, but this invaluable ring made me regret eating so much for lunch. I was going to throw it all up. I wouldn’t be able to handle her saying no to this ring…. this ring that single-handedly seemed to hold all of my real feelings and hopes and dreams.
“Trust me when I tell you that Amelia is a girl, and no girl walks away from a ring without at the very least looking at it twice.” She smiled at me and I found myself smiling back. She would know more about girls than me. “Amelia was in love with you once, remember that.”
“Not real love,” I countered. “She had a crush on me, that’s all. And I was a jackass.”
“Avalon, don’t minimalize a girl’s feelings. We know our hearts better than you do and if she says she was in love with you once, than she was. Besides that, I was there. I was at the wedding, so I can confirm that she had it bad for you. You might have messed things up with her back then, but you don’t have to do that now. Besides, since when have you ever given up a fight before?”
I thought carefully about Sylvia’s words and wondered if there really was room to hope. “I guess, never.” I answered her question, knowing without a doubt that I never had walked away from a fight in my life. And what better thing to fight for than Amelia?
“So why on earth would you walk away from someone you love?” Sylvia leveled her gaze with mine and I gulped. She was right.
In fact, in this moment I couldn’t remember why I ever let Amelia walk away from me to begin with.
“Thanks, Syl,” I met her gaze, confidently this time. She blushed and then waved me away, signaling the waiter for our check.
Amelia fell in love with me once for fighting for our people. My only hope was that she would have the same reaction while I fought for her heart.
Chapter Thirty-Five
A gasp, aggressive hands and a hard yank greeted me when I got back to Sylvia’s house. Eden dragged me into the kitchen and shoved me against the kitchen counter. What the hell?
“Let me see it!” she squeaked in a not so hushed tone.
“You little eaves-dropper!” I accused but I couldn’t hold back my smile.
“Shut up and let me see it!” she danced around in front of me, hopping back and forth on her feet and wiggling her greedy little fingers.
I sighed a long-suffering sigh but pulled the velvet box from my pocket. I held it out to her as if it was the most boring possession ever, but had to chuckle at the way her black eyes lit up like sparkling jewels at the sight of it.
She took it carefully out of my hands and opened it excruciatingly slow. I suffered through her theatrics and when she gasped another sharp inhale of breath it was worth it. Immediately she turned into a hysterical mess, tears streaming down her face, her nose running uncontrollably.
“Oh good grief, E, it’s not like I’m proposing to you,” I whispered, pulling her against my chest.
“But it’s so beautiful,” she whispered in a reverent tone. “And it’s perfect for her.” A sob hitched in her chest and she sniffled against me.