“No, Tanner’s a widower. Why do you ask?”
“I was just wondering if he had plans for Thanksgiving. Earlier today, I invited Meg and her family to join us Thursday.” She smiled. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re in-laws before too long, so I thought it might be nice to get to know her family. Besides, at this point, what difference would a few more people make?”
Ben gave her hand a squeeze. He knew that Jake was doing more than just thinking about proposing to Meg. Jake had come to him a couple of weeks ago to get some advice about buying an engagement ring. Ben had directed him to a salesman at Tiffany’s; and Ben had called the salesman himself to give the guy a heads-up that Jake Parker was a member of Ben’s family. “He’s like a son to me. Take good care of him.” Ben had told the salesman.
Since Ben exercised his Black American Express card there frequently since he had begun dating Lane, he was sure the salesman understood what he was saying. Then Ben had told Jake that he’d be doing some Christmas shopping there himself and suggested that Jake come along. Jake had taken him up on the offer and the two of them had dropped in last weekend.
*****
Ben had done introductions and the salesman had discussed the four c’s (Cut, Clarity, Color, and Carat weight) of diamond buying with Jake. Ben had told Jake that the old standard of spending two month’s salary on an engagement ring was just that, old. The important thing was to buy something Meg would love and to stay within the price range that Jake had in mind.
“You don’t need to go into debt to buy the ring.” He’d told Jake.
Ben knew that Lane had paid for college so that Jake didn’t have any student loans he needed to pay off. He also knew Lane had given Jake money from the trust she’d learned about a few months ago and that Jake had bought a house with it. Chances were that Jake had a sizable nest egg he could use for the engagement ring.
Jake nodded, “I see a lot of couples shopping for rings together, but you bought Mom’s ring on your own. How did you know what she’d like? I don’t want to open the box and have Meg look at the ring like it’s the ugliest thing she’s ever seen.”
Ben shook his head. “I’d known your Mom for a while, and I had been noticing her jewelry all along. But, I also had an idea of what I wanted to say with an engagement ring. I love your Mom, and I knew she loved me so, I was as confident as I could be that she’d be happy with what I designed. What have you noticed about the jewelry Meg wears?”
Jake shook his head. There was a look of utter confusion on his face. “I’ve never seen her wear a ring, so I’m flying in the dark.”
Ben offered an encouraging smile, “But she wears other jewelry. Earrings, a watch, a necklace. Something. What do those look like? Your Mom wears classic jewelry. Jess wears either bold and modern or vintage jewelry. What does Meg’s jewelry look like?”
Jake thought about it for a few minutes. “More like Mom’s than like Jess’s, that’s for sure.”
The salesman, Evan, took them to a private room and began by showing Jake the shapes: round, princess, pear, heart, emerald, asscher, oval, marquise, cushion, and radiant. He laid a one-carat stone in each shape on the velveteen pad in front of Ben and Jake. Jake quickly eliminated the heart, pear, and emerald shapes.
“How do you choose something classic and still get something that she won’t see on every other woman’s hand?” He asked, struggling with self-imposed pressure to pick the perfect ring.
“Round and princess are the two most popular shapes.” The salesman had told him. “They will never go out of style. The oval is classic and yet has a little edginess. It accentuates the hand and creates a slenderizing affect.”
Jake had eventually narrowed it to the oval or the cushion. All he had to do now was look at settings. They’d spent the better part of Sunday afternoon looking at stones. Jake had eventually settled on a cushion cut and had chosen a stone just over one carat. Evan had shown him settings and he’d chosen one that had small round diamonds around the center stone and had more small round diamonds on the shank. Evan hadn’t asked what Jake’s budget was, and Jake hadn’t spoken of it. When the total had come to nearly thirty thousand dollars, Jake hadn’t batted an eye; he’d held out his credit card and made the purchase.
Ben had promised Jake that he wouldn’t tell Lane. Perhaps it was another case of a lie of omission, but he planned to honor his promise to Jake. Ben didn’t know when Jake was planning to pop the question, but until he did, Ben wasn’t going to say anything to anyone about that shopping trip.
*****
Lane wasn’t surprised to see Jake standing next to his Chevy Silverado truck as they pulled into the parking lot. She also wasn’t surprised to see Meg and Abbey Kelly with him. Ben parked the Escalade, walked around the SUV, opened Lane’s door, and helped her get out. Little Abbey broke free from her mother and ran toward Lane. Ben scooped her up and held her so she could kiss her MizWane. Abbey who would soon be three years old was talking better every time they saw her, but she still had a little trouble with her L’s. Lane smiled remembering how shy Abbey had been when they’d first met almost four months ago. She’d come a long way since then.
Abbey squirmed and looked at Ben. “I walk now.” She said, and Ben let her down. She immediately reached for Lane’s hand.
They walked into Papa’s where Ben’s father, Dante Bellini, greeted them, hugging Lane, and kissing her on both cheeks. He tucked Lane’s arm in the crook of his elbow and walked the group back to the Board Room, which was the private dining room for the members of the Bellini family and their guests.
Although Meg had attended Ben and Lane’s wedding reception in the Ballroom at Bellini’s, it was her first time in the Board Room. She’d grown up in Kansas City and had heard the whispered rumors about the Bellini family being part of the mafia for as long as she could remember. The rumors didn’t fit with the family, as she knew them. Sure Jess Parker had called Ben’s cousin Daniela a couple of months ago, and asked her to handle the situation with Meg’s ex-boyfriend. Daniela had come with her father, Vincenzo Luciano. They’d wanted to take DNA samples, and when Meg had confessed that Scott Coyle was the only man she had ever had sex with, it seemed to be beside the point. Uncle Vinnie had told her, “You’d be surprised what DNA tests might show” as he’d taken a cheek swab from Jake and had Meg do the same with Abbey. He’d given the samples to Ben’s youngest brother, Pauli who was a doctor, and spoken something in Italian. A couple of days later, Daniela had called Meg’s ex, and gotten him to believe that Abbey was Jake’s daughter and that he needed to leave them alone. At the time, Meg’s only thought was keeping her abusive ex-boyfriend away from her daughter and she really hadn’t cared how it came about. It had worked and she had neither seen nor heard from Scott Coyle since.
Jake scooped Abbey up as they walked toward the Board Room. Meg glanced from her daughter to Jake. Abbey was a blonde haired, blue-eyed, cherub who easily could have been the child of the tall, blonde haired, blue-eyed man who carried her, except for two small things. First, she hadn’t even known Jake when Abbey was born and second, she still hadn’t had sex with Jake. She might have had a child “out of wedlock” but she was far from what anyone could call promiscuous.
Chapter 9
As everyone else took seats around the table, Ben excused himself and went into the kitchen. His brother Tony was the head chef at Bellini’s. It was common knowledge that Tony bet on sports. If anyone had information on the sports betting and the odds on the state championship game, it would be Tony. The kitchen was full of people and as usual when others were around, the Bellini brothers communicated in Italian.
“Hey, Bro. Qual è la linea della partita di campionato?” Ben asked.