He stared at the ring tray again, then looked beseechingly at the very attentive assistant, the one who’d put up with an hour of deliberation in the hope that the good-looking guy with the two stroppy older women would actually bloody buy something.
Josie stepped in again. ‘Right, what’s the bottom end of your budget?’
‘Ten grand.’ Cammy replied, forcing Josie into a non-Benson and Hedges choke.
‘Sweet Jesus – ten grand? I don’t even want to know what kind of talents that girl has to warrant a ten-grand ring.’
The assistant tried not to sigh at the negativity. If this sale happened, the commission would be enough for the flights to New York that were on sale in Thomas Cook’s window. It had to happen. Fifth Avenue beckoned.
‘I could show you something else…’
Josie pretended to faint.
Thankfully, Val attempted to steer the situation in a more positive direction. ‘Look, Cammy, you don’t make a massive purchase like this in a hurry. There’s nothing here that’s close enough to the one that you originally picked. So why don’t we go home, look online, think it through.’
The assistant had a mental image of the plane taking her to New York screeching to a halt on the runway.
‘No. I need to get it now. I can’t propose to her tonight without a bloody ring.’
‘Then maybe you could wait a while, postpone the proposal… Give you time to think about it a lot, lot more,’ Josie mumbled. ‘Just saying.’
Val took up the mantle again. ‘Maybe you should buy a “holding” ring.’
‘What’s that?’ Cammy asked.
‘Just a lower-priced ring. A temporary measure. Something gorgeous to pop the question with – and then you can bring her along here afterwards to pick the perfect ring of her dreams. It means there’s less risk of making a monumental mistake because you’re being pushed into a panic buy.’
Cammy could see the sense in that and his mood slipped a few notches down the tension scale. ‘Okay, let’s go with that.’
Val took charge of adjusting the plan. ‘Let’s go with something under the £300 mark, maximum. Cubics are fine.’
The sales assistant tried not to grimace. Goodbye New York, hello day trip to Millport.
A tray of sparkly rings arrived and Cammy scanned them, hoping one would jump out. Nothing. A second scan. This time, one caught his eye. It was a plain, white gold band, one diamond (okay, a cubic) inset into the metal. He’d seen a similar one before and the thought made him sigh.
Mel. That looked exactly like the ring she wore on the third finger of her left hand. Her wedding ring though, not an engagement ring. She’d never been one for elaborate gestures and blinged up statement pieces. A thought struck him – she’d have hated the huge rock he’d been planning to buy for Lila. She’d have been embarrassed by it. Thought it too flash. Working with her for all those years, he knew everything about her. Loving her for all those years, there was not a single thing he’d have changed. Apart from the fact that she was married to someone else.
When he’d fallen in love with her, about ten seconds after he’d fallen flat on his face in the shop, she’d been married to her first husband, Joe. The fool had cheated and Cammy trod easy, waiting for the right time, trying not to blow it. It hadn’t worked. After he left for LA, Mel had married Josie’s son Michael and now they’d built a family together. It had taken him a long, long, time to stop wishing that he’d been the guy to make her happy. The only time he’d ever heard Josie’s voice crack with emotion was when she called him a year after he’d left to tell him that Mel and Michael had fallen in love, and had decided to marry.
‘I’m so sorry, son. I know how much you loved her.’
‘Is she happy?’ he’d asked.
‘She is,’ Josie replied softly.
It took Cammy a moment to speak. ‘Then I’m happy for her.’
He meant it. Most of the time. Since then, he and Josie had never discussed it with anything other than a casual ‘how are they?’ and ‘fine.’ It was all he needed to know and he was just glad it hadn’t affected his friendship with Josie in any way. He loved her. He’d loved Mel. The second one was past tense.
He pushed the thought back into his memory bank. Why was he thinking about Mel again now? On the day he was planning to propose to Lila, it should be all about her, shouldn’t it? His stress levels slid back up the pressure scale.
Why was this happening? Mel was over, a closed chapter in his history. He’d blown it with her, because even when he did have the chance, he’d made a huge mistake that had meant they could never make it work. End of story. Now, years later, it was time to move on. It had taken him until now to realise that he wasn’t going to find someone else exactly like her. That’s why it worked with Lila. She and Mel couldn’t be more different. Mel hated a fuss, hated to be centre of attention, wasn’t bothered by stuff like designer labels and flash cars. Stacey, the only other woman he’d loved, had embraced the trapping of the L.A. lifestyle, but she saw it for what it was and didn’t get too carried away with the pursuit for material things. Lila was the opposite and he loved that about her – she was entirely unapologetic about liking the finer things in life and going after them. Nothing wrong with that. And yet…
‘I’ll take that one,’ he said, pointing to the white gold band.
‘Hallelujah!’ Josie threw her arms up like she was singing the chorus in a gospel choir. ‘Okay, let me try it on.’
‘Isn’t there an old wives’ tale about that being bad luck?’ Val mused.
