Greg flipped open the box and smiled. ‘I know.’ He shook his head. ‘Man, it really is a beautiful ring,’ he said, admiring the diamond cluster in an antique gold setting. ‘Thank you, Dad. I appreciate you doing this.’
‘I’m glad to. It’s what your mother always wanted. Now put it away before Karen comes back.’
Greg did as he was told, putting the box in an inner pocket in his coat. Looking back to his father, he asked, ‘Always wanted what? Me proposing to Karen, or using the ring?’
Jeff’s brow crinkled. ‘What do you mean? Both of course.’
Greg shrugged. ‘I’m not sure. Maybe I’m imagining things, but I get the impression that she and Mom have never seen eye to eye.’
‘Why would you say that?’ Jeff questioned carefully.
‘Oh, I don’t know, I suppose that they’re both so different, Mom and Karen. We both know how sentimental Mom’s always been and Karen … well, she’s all business, a straight shooter. I’m sure you know what I mean.’
Jeff did indeed know what Greg was talking about, but didn’t see the need to expand on it. Not that it mattered now in any case. ‘So is everything all set for the big day?’ he asked, quickly changing the subject.
Greg smiled proudly. ‘Yep. I was able to get everything confirmed this afternoon. Karen wasn’t feeling well earlier, and while she was holed up in the bedroom, I was able to call Rob and make sure all was in hand. I can’t wait to see her face on Christmas morning when she realises … ’ His eyes sparkled with excitement.
His father smiled. ‘That’s great. Now, better hush, here she comes.’
Seconds later, Karen resumed her seat at the table and placed her napkin on her lap. She smiled easily at her dinner partners.
‘OK, what’d I miss?’
Greg cleared his throat. ‘Oh nothing much, just catching up on everything.’
Jeff nodded. ‘I understand you weren’t feeling well earlier, my dear. I hope you’re feeling better now?’ He picked up his flute of champagne.
Karen picked up the glass, somewhat gingerly Greg noted. ‘Yes, I’m fine now, just a bit of a headache. I didn’t sleep well last night.’
‘Ah, yes, I hear you had a client dinner. How did everything go?’
‘Oh, just business. Same old same old,’ she said airily. ‘So what are we toasting?’
‘Let me offer a toast,’ Jeff said. He raised his glass. ‘We all know that this year has been tough,’ he said, and Greg noticed his father’s eyes shimmering a little. He put a hand on his arm and Jeff gave him a grateful smile. ‘But we all know that if Cristina were here with us now, she’d want us to rejoice in the past, be happy in the present and look forward to the future.’ On this last sentiment, he fixed his gaze squarely on Karen and she provided him with a nervous smile. ‘To Cristina!’ he said, holding his glass up for a toast.
Greg and Karen chimed in. ‘To Cristina … ’
Setting his glass down, Jeff turned to Greg. ‘Oh, and speaking of your mom, there was something I wanted to ask you. This morning, when I was going through … er … some of your mother’s things,’ he looked at Greg pointedly, who got the reference, ‘I noticed something was missing and I wanted to know if you knew what had happened to it.’
‘What is it, Dad?’ Greg asked, leaning forward in concern.
‘Your mother’s charm bracelet. It wasn’t in her jewellery box, and I can’t remember the last time I saw her wearing it.’
Greg frowned and looked away, thinking hard. ‘She ah … didn’t have it on before um … ?’ He stuttered nervously and Jeff shook his head.
‘No, I thought of that too, and then I realised that I hadn’t seen her wear it for a while. Do you remember when she last had it?’
Greg thought back. He had countless memories of his mother wearing that bracelet, and the charms provided so many lovely reminders of the past. Hell, much of his family’s life was on that bracelet.
‘Well, she definitely had it on last New Year’s Eve. At the St Jude’s benefit,’ Karen put in quickly. ‘Remember when she won that prize? That beautiful jewelled egg.’ She shook her head enviously. ‘Leave it to Margot Mead to spend thousands of dollars on a charm that was just given away.’
Greg nodded. ‘Yes, you’re right there. I took the bracelet to Seventh Avenue afterwards myself to have it added for her. But I can’t remember her wearing it after that, can you Dad?’
Jeff bit his lip thoughtfully. ‘I have to be honest, I can’t either. Everything was so consuming over the last few months … I’m afraid I wasn’t paying attention to much, other than the way she was feeling or her doctors’ appointments, or well, the fear of losing her.’ His eyes went glassy again. ‘I wasn’t paying attention to those kinds of details. Although I’m sure that she’d have told me if she’d lost it. You and I both know she guarded that bracelet with her life.’
Feeling worried, Greg thought harder. ‘I know. I remember the last charm I bought for her, that time at the gallery,’ he said sadly. ‘I wish now that I’d given her more of them.’
Jeff reached across the table and patted his son’s arm. ‘Hey kid. Really, don’t beat yourself up. I didn’t buy her anything for it recently either. I guess I didn’t think there was much to commemorate in anything that was happening. Even that breast cancer charm, I could never understand why she’d want to carry that around on her wrist. Of course, your mother would say that that was me being foolish and that the sickness was simply part of her life, same as everything else.’ He smiled at the thought. ‘The last charm I bought for her was that “Date to Remember” disc. She promised me she’d be around to honour that this year, but … ’ Jeff’s voice thickened and he started to choke up. He looked away as if it would prevent the others from seeing his display of tears. He dabbed his eyes quickly. ‘Sorry about that.’
