Chapter 10 - THE RING
Emma kept the engagement ring in her dresser for seventy-three days.
John never asked where it was.
They still saw each other.
But differently.
Dating after engagement felt strange.
They went to coffee.
Walked through parks.
Had difficult conversations that should have happened before a ring entered anything.
John answered every question.
Emma asked whether he had ever wanted Sarah.
“No.”
“Ever?”
“No.”
“Did you enjoy her attention?”
John thought before answering.
“Once.”
Emma appreciated the pause more than a quick denial.
“When?”
“The first night she told me you always described me as the responsible one.”
Emma frowned.
“Why would that feel good?”
“Because I was alone in London, overwhelmed at work, and somebody said something flattering.”
“So you liked it.”
“For about ten seconds.”
“And then?”
“She asked if you were always so cautious in relationships because you’d been cheated on before.”
Emma stared.
“I never told her that.”
“I know.”
That meant Sarah had been collecting Emma’s vulnerabilities long before London.
Family gossip.
Private history.
Information treated as communal property.
John continued.
“She was trying to make intimacy out of things she knew about you.”
Emma looked away.
That sentence unsettled her.
Not because John fell for it.
Because it described Sarah perfectly.
Emma asked another question.
“If this ever happened again—with anyone—what would you do?”
“Tell you.”
“Immediately?”
“Yes.”
“Even if my father asks you not to?”
“Yes.”
“My mother cries?”
“Yes.”
“Someone says it’ll destroy the family?”
John looked at her.
“Then the family gets destroyed by the truth instead of preserved by a lie.”
Emma almost smiled.
That was the answer.
Not perfect.
Better.
On day seventy-three, she took out the ring.
John was in her kitchen making pasta badly.
She placed it on the counter.
He stopped.
Emma said:
“I’m not putting it back on tonight.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
“I want us engaged again eventually.”
His eyes filled.
“But not because we already were.”
He understood.
“If I wear it again, I want it to mean I chose after knowing everything.”
John nodded.
“That’s fair.”
Emma slid the ring toward him.
“For now, keep it.”
John picked it up.
No proposal.
No dramatic speech.
He put it safely into his pocket.
Then the smoke alarm went off because he had burned garlic.
Emma laughed so hard she had to open a window.
That was how their relationship began again.
May you like
Not with a diamond.
With honesty and ruined dinner.
