He ignored her comment. “Tell me more about your friend.”
Maisy was beginning to get an inkling of where this conversation was leading. Chase was considering paying it forward by helping her friend. She sincerely hoped that was the case.
“Laura’s such a good mother. She does her best,” Maisy continued. “College is expensive. She works part-time at the airport and does odd shifts at the hospital. Laura does her best, and Bella does, too, but it’s hard being a teenager these days.”
His voice was low. “It was hard for me, too.”
She knew it must have been. Chase had been a vulnerable agewhen his mother left. Even though she’d never met Michelle, from the things Maisy had learned from her friends, his mother had lived with a lifetime of regrets.
Chase was silent for several moments.
“Anything else you’d like to know?” she asked.
“No, not really.”
“Are you going to tell me what this is all about?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” he assured her.
A long silence followed, and Chase seemed to be deep in thought. Finally, Maisy said, “It was nice talking to you.”
“Yeah,” he answered, his mind elsewhere.
She found his response almost comical. “Have a good evening.”
“You, too.” With that, he ended the call.
What an unusual man. Shaking her head, Maisy returned to her dinner salad and checked for text messages on her phone.
Chapter Eleven
A week later, Maisy was at the counter, cleaning the display glass, when a young woman shyly approached. “Are you Maisy?” she asked.
“I am. How can I help you?” she asked as she stifled a yawn. She’d gotten only a few hours’ sleep after volunteering into the wee hours of the morning with her church group.
The shy young woman withdrew a small box from her purse. “My boyfriend…my fiancé, told me that if this ring didn’t fit, you would resize it for me.”
“Of course.”
“I’m Morgan. Carter said this is where he bought the ring.”
“I remember Carter.” He was the submariner who’d come into the store seeking an engagement ring for his girlfriend.
Her face broke into a huge smile. “He proposed right before he went to sea. I think he was afraid that I wouldn’t want to waitsix months for him, but I’d wait a whole lot longer than six months if I had to. I love him, and he loves me. I was the happiest girl in the universe when he gave me this diamond. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“It is lovely, and one of the store’s exclusive designs. It’s one of a kind.”
“I didn’t know that. This makes the ring even more special. I don’t plan to ever take it off. Do you know how long it will take to get it resized?”
“I’ll have it back to you within the hour,” Maisy promised.
Her face broke into a huge smile. “That would be perfect.”
—
Maisy was able to keep her promise and have the engagement ring properly sized at the time she said. Morgan spent the next several minutes looking at wedding bands for Carter.
“We plan to marry as soon as he returns. My mom is already looking at wedding venues. It won’t be a large wedding; Carter and I prefer a more intimate one. I’m just so happy.”
