"So what is it?" Gage said as she unwrapped her sub.
"What's what? I can't invite my friend to my office for lunch?"
"Uh-huh," Gage said. "I only get free lunch from you when you want to talk about something...usually Grace."
Carey leaned back in her chair and smiled. "You know me too well."
"That I do, my friend." Gage picked up her soda and took a sip. "So out with it. What's on your mind?"
"Well, it is about Grace," Carey said. "We got a postcard from our parents yesterday. It was their wedding picture, and Grace got all sentimental and misty-eyed."
"What'd she do, ask you to marry her?" Gage joked, then took a bite of her sub.
"No," Carey said. "She just mentioned how happy they looked, and that she could imagine us standing at the altar."
"Earth to Carey, in the real world that's called a hint," Gage said.
Carey nodded. "That's kinda what I was thinking."
"Better get those two months' pay saved up."
"Two months' pay? For what?"
Gage shook her head. "A ring, oh dense one. You are going to give her a ring, aren't you? Standard rule of thumb is two months' pay on an engagement ring."
"That's outrageous," Carey said. "You know how much money that is?"
"It's a small price to make your wife happy," Gage said. "Or do you call her something else?"
"I have no idea," Carey said, still in shock. "Two months' pay?"
Gage nodded. "That's what I hear. I wouldn't know from personal experience though." She took another bite of her sandwich and watched Carey sit and fiddle with the wrapper on hers. "Do you think you'll ask her?"
"I can't imagine life without her anymore, Sue. It took me some time to get it through my thick head that she really is the one, ya know?" She smiled sheepishly and shook her head. "I can be really dense sometimes."
Gage laughed. "That's the understatement of the year."
Carey relaxed a little and laughed too. Finally she picked up her sub and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. "I'm going to ask Reverend Pellegrino if he would be willing to marry us. You think he will?"
Sue shrugged. "Only one way to find out."
Carey spotted the jewelry store. "You know I've never gone past this place without there being a sale going on?"
Grace smiled and walked over to the large display window.
"Different sales," she said. "One week it's a gold sale, the next it's a diamond sale. This week it's engagement rings and wedding sets." She pointed at the sign showing a bride and groom exchanging rings. "Some of these are so gaudy."
"Which ones?" Carey asked casually, hoping to pick up clues as to what kind of ring Grace would like.
"Well, like that one," Grace said, pointing at a large solitaire. "That's a 'no glove' ring. The diamond's so big you can't wear a glove with it."
"So you don't like large stones?"
Grace shook her head. "Not that kind. Now this one is nice." She pointed at a ring with two bands of small diamonds. "That's pretty."
"You like that one?"
"Well, it's nice, but not for me," Grace said. "First of all I could never afford it, and secondly I like white gold, not yellow."
White, not yellow. Got it. "But you like that style?"
"It's nice," Grace said, then pointed at a similar one. "But see how that one has a larger diamond in the middle of the band? That's nicer, I think."
Carey looked closer. "But it is pretty."
Grace pointed to one of the wedding and engagement ring sets on display. "I think it's silly to wear two rings when one will do. I mean, why spend all that money on an engagement ring and then get a band for the actual wedding. Of course, I wouldn't spend that kind of money on a ring." She looked at Carey's bare left hand. "At least, not for myself. What kind of rings do you like?"
"I don't have a jewelry box for a reason," Carey said. "I'm not really one to wear rings."
"Did Eve give you a ring?"
"We were in the Coast Guard," Carey said. "It wouldn't have looked good for us to be wearing matching rings."
Grace smiled. "I guess not. Come on; let's go to the food court. I'm starving."
Jan took a bite of her pizza, then froze in mid chew. She had noticed a couple of women holding hands in line at Pizza Express. But when they got their food and turned to find a table, she recognized her friend Grace and Scary Carey. She did it. She actually did it. "I'll be right back," she said to her friends at the table. "I think I see someone I know." She walked over and tapped Grace on the shoulder. "Hi there, stranger, long time no see."
Grace stood up and gave her friend a quick hug. "Carey, you remember Jan."
"How could I forget?" Carey smiled and pointed to an empty seat. "Good to see you, Bowen. Would you like to join us?"
"No thanks, ma'am. I've got friends waiting for me. I just wanted to say hi."
Grace laughed. "Ma'am? Jan, we're not at Sapling Hill any more. You can call her Carey."
"Or Scary, if you prefer," Carey said.
Jan's face reddened and she looked at Grace. "You told her?"
Carey burst out laughing. "No, she didn't tell me. She didn't have to."
"I...I'm sorry, ma'am."
"Just Carey. Okay?"
"Yes, ma'am." Her face reddened even more. She shrugged her shoulders. "It's a hard habit to break." She turned to Grace. "Call me and let me know what's been going on with you." She glanced at Carey, then leaned a little closer. "And I do mean everything."
"Come to my office," Carey said, tugging on Sue's arm.
"Why?"
"I want to show you something." She unlocked the door and stepped inside. "You can't say anything to Grace," she said, crossing to her desk and opening the top drawer
"You didn't," Sue said, smiling when she saw the black velvet box. "Let me see."
Carey opened the box, showing the white gold ring with two bands of small diamonds and a larger square stone in the center. "Think she'll like it?"
"If she doesn't, I'll marry you," Sue said, taking the ring and examining it from different angles. "Very nice. Must be at least two carats."
"Two and a quarter," Carey said, taking the ring back. "I can't believe I'm doing this."
"It's not a real marriage," Sue said. "It's a ceremony."
"It's real enough," Carey said. "I saw my lawyer while I was in town." She reached into the open drawer. "I had my will changed, drew up a power of attorney, and started the paperwork to make her joint owner of the cottage." She dropped the legal papers on the desk. "I'm not sure what was harder, getting the ring or doing this." Closing the velvet box, she leaned against the desk and let out a deep breath. "After Eve, I never thought I'd give my heart to anyone again." Shaking her head, she let out a small snort. "Certainly not a twenty-year-old."
"That's the problem with commitment," Sue said. "You have to give something of yourself. That's why I'm happily single."
"I love her," Carey said, staring at the box. "I can't imagine not being with her."
"So you said. Now stop being so nervous and go give her the ring."
"I can't just ask her," Carey said. "Don't you know you're supposed to ask the father for permission first?"
Sue laughed. "That is so archaic. Go ask her."
Carey shook her head. "If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right. The folks are in town and they're coming for dinner tonight." She closed her hand around the velvet box. "I'll talk to her father, then I'll..." She took a deep breath. "Pop the question."
"I don't know what you're worried about," Sue said. "You know she'll say yes."
"She loves me," Carey said softly. "She'll say yes...I hope."
"Joanna, what do you think?"
"Huh?"
Her mother tsked. "I said we're thinking of selling the house and buying an RV and I asked you what you thought."