But an almost two-hour drive to the airport and a four-hour flight to get here meant it had been one hell of a long day. Faith was asleep before Cy managed to make that cup of cocoa for her. The rest of us sat down to have a coffee, and then one by one, everyone started heading to bed. Because of the number of rooms, the four of us were all staying in Ash's bedroom. Faith, however, had been given Violet's.
I moved her suitcase in there, turned down the bed, and then went to wake up my little girl. "Hey, cupcake," I whispered, shaking her a little. "You'll probably be more comfortable if you fall into Violet's bed. You have to get up and go down the hall."
She grumbled at me, but managed to get to her feet. Grabbing her shoulders, I walked behind her, steering her in the right direction. We made it into Violet's room, and Faith woke up just enough to appreciate it. She oohed and ahhed at the elegant yet beautiful decor, then kicked me out so she could change and go to sleep.
I passed by Ash's room just as the man in question slipped out. The gap in the door was enough to let me see that the room was quite a bit bigger than I thought, and the bed was clearly meant for a party. But before I could say anything, Ash caught my elbow and steered me back towards the living room.
"Remember that thing we talked about?" he asked.
"Little vague," I admitted.
So he glanced back up the hallway, then headed over to that soft briefcase and opened the front pocket. From there, he pulled out a collection of papers, waving me over to look at them.
"I sent a very rough drawing to Leslie, and she contacted a custom jeweler I know here in town."
I just looked at him. "That town you're talking about is New York City, Ash."
"Hence a lot of options," Ash admitted. "My point is that these are what the woman says she can make."
He handed me two color drawings. The first was a men's ring. It was colored gold, with a silver inlay made to look like a four-strand braid. At the top, right in the center, was a diamond shape made up of four colored stones: emerald, violet, cyan, and magenta. In other words, these were the wedding rings we had talked about that night in my room.
I had imagined something simple. Maybe we would be able to find some solid gold bands and have four stones set in a little row. Plain, boring, and simple. This? It was masculine, beautiful, and the sort of thing I would be proud to wear. I could imagine it on Cy's hand, or Ash's, and definitely mine.
"Do I want to know how much these cost?" I asked.
"No," Ash assured me. "Look at the next one."
That one was meant for Violet. There was no doubt in my mind that this was her ring. The pattern of stones was the same as in the men's rings, which made it look like it matched, but everything else was feminine. Then, below that, it showed that the finished ring was actually made of two bands. They fit together in some way that I couldn't make out from the picture, but one set was made with the violet and emerald stones while the other had the cyan and magenta.
"An engagement ring and wedding band?" I asked.
Ash chuckled. "Well, I didn't make the woman happy when I said that I wanted the men's rings to also have an engagement option. Then I made it even harder for her, because one of them needs to be violet and emerald while the other two are magenta and cyan. Yet I want them all to look exactly the same when put together."
"And that's possible?"
"She said they'll be a pain in the ass to take apart later, but she can make it happen. That braided inset part is going to be the wedding ring. The setting for the stones will lock it in place, and it might take a little engineering to get them ready for our wedding day, but what do you think? Is it worth it to do the engagement band?"
I didn't even have to think about that. "Yes. I think we deserve to brag about our engagement too. We just have to figure out when the hell we're going to pop the question."
"Well, it's gonna take us a bit to get the custom rings," Ash warned. "I'm also hoping that what I'm going to do tomorrow will remove any suspicions Cy or Violet may have."
"Why does that make me think that your announcement isn't going to just be a casual comment?" I asked.
Ash smiled at me. "Well, Faith says she doesn't think your relationship is something to be ashamed of. I will, however, ask her again tomorrow. And that, Luke, is all the warning you're gonna get. Let's move your stuff into our room, because I'm tired and tomorrow is gonna come much too early."
Chapter Sixty-Two
My dress was in my signature color: violet. It was what I wore to every fashion event I'd ever attended. Beside me, Faith wore a slightly lighter and pinker shade. In my opinion, it only barely qualified as lilac, but she didn't care. It was close enough, she assured me. Then, where my dress was sheer and cut to lay close to my body, hers had a little more flair and a lot higher neckline. Otherwise, the style of them was incredibly close. Ash had clearly intended for this to look like a mother-daughter set.
Then there were the guys. At Ash's direction, Leslie had picked up three formal tuxes. The kind with tails. Naturally, Cy's was accented with turquoise, Luke's with green, and Ash's with magenta. Side-by-side, the three of them looked stunning. The only question was who would escort whom inside. I couldn't help myself. I claimed Faith.
So, when our limo pulled up at the front of the event, it was Leslie who stepped out first. She turned to offer Noah a hand, and even while blushing, the man stepped up to offer his arm. Cameras began flashing, and journalists started asking her questions. Ash didn't give her the chance to answer. He stepped out next, then turned, bent at the waist, and offered his hand to his date.
Luke chuckled once, but took it. Just before he made it all the way out of the limo, Faith whispered, "Do it, Dad."
So the moment Luke was out of the car, holding Ash's hand on one side and his hat in the other, that cowboy stepped right up to Ash and planted a kiss on him. Leslie was immediately forgotten. The intensity of the photo taking was so loud that the clicks ran over each other, sounding like a swarm of locusts had descended. Naturally, Ash made a show of it.
Then, once their mouths finally separated, both men turned to reach for Cy. Evidently, he decided he wasn't going to be outdone. Cy stepped in to kiss Luke, then turned to kiss Ash. For a moment, the three of them shared a loving look, and the cameras captured it all. Beside me, Faith was giggling like this was the most fun she'd ever had in her entire life.
