And he nodded with a broader smile and handed her the ring.
She carefully slid it onto her ring finger. Loose. But hers were more slender than Kate’s. She tried her index finger at his knowing suggestion. Apparently she'd said Kate had larger fingers out loud, as if everyone in the universe wanted a running commentary like Zoe.
And there. It wouldn’t go over her knuckle, which might be exactly the right size for Kate.
“I’ll take it.”
Then she nearly had a breakdown at the price.
“It’s an appealing antique,” the man said. “We’ll buy it back if you need to sell.”
“Right,” she said.
So transparent, it was unbearable.
She tucked the blue-velvet box into her coat pocket, and the doorbell jingled overhead as she stepped outside.
“Good luck,” the man said, with another smile over his glasses.
“Thank you,” she managed.
And ran straight into Kate coming from the Wheatsheaf alleyway. Her Kate. The Kate she woke up to every morning, and wanted to for the rest of her life.
Chapter 8
“Olivia!” Kate cried.
She threw her arms around Olivia's shoulders and hugged her tight. Comfort enveloped her back and held stronger than usual. Right now, Kate needed that urgent pressure. She clung to Olivia, and the reassuring sensation of her silky hair against her cheek, inhaling the familiar scent, and everything soothed in her chest.
Kate sniffed, then registered that Olivia had initially stepped back in surprise.
“Sorry, I surprised you.”
Olivia hated surprises.
But confusion dominated Olivia’s face, her shapely eyebrows furrowing.
“What’s wrong?” Olivia asked gently.
Kate breathed out a laugh. “I missed you.”
Then she did a gargantuan snuffle, which was clearly more than missing Olivia for the eight hours they’d spent apart.
“I just...”
Realised how significant Olivia was, and how unrecognised her position remained, and felt a fool.
Somewhere along the line of falling in love, wanting to be together, Olivia moving in, and having a baby, Olivia had become central to more than just Kate’s life. Every step such a natural progression, they’d become wives in everything but legality long ago, and perhaps only Kate had been reticent to consider that because of her past.
“It’s all been a lot today.”
Because that was true.
Olivia tilted her head, eyebrows peaking concerned.
“I’m OK,” Kate tried to reassure her. “And so much better now I’ve found you.”
And she meant that several times over, with several layers of meaning.
