He had no idea about Lina.
He’d never once even asked if I liked my new job or not.
I quickly typed a message that was short and to the point.
Me:We’re done. I will FedEx the ring back to you. Please don’t contact me again.
As soon as I pressed send it was as if a huge weight had been taken off my shoulders.
I walked back into the auditorium and beelined over to the punch bowl where Bianca was holding things down with a line of kids and parents forming for Nonna’s “Fancy Punch.”
“Thanks!” I said as I scooted beside her and took the ladle from her hand.
“No worries. Everything okay?”
I nodded. “I just broke up with Trent.”
“Are you good?”
“Better than good.”
“Any chance you get to keep the ring?”
I shook my head. “I don’t want it.”
If I ever did get married, I wanted to wear Nonna’s ring. It meant something to me. It wasn’t just some overpriced piece of jewelry.
As I filled cups for the kids, I wondered if I did ever get Nonna’s ring, if one day I could pass it on to Lina. Or was that not my place because she had a mom. She had a family with their own traditions and keepsakes.
“Get ready, game time,” Bianca said as another swarm of students entered the room.
I put a smile on my face as I scanned the newcomers. Maddox was not signed up to chaperone. Lizzy, Hannah’s mom was, but I still found myself hoping he’d make an appearance.
I had a feeling that this state was going to be the new normal for me. Always hoping that Maddox would make an appearance.
43
MADDOX
“Daddy, hurry!”Hannah exclaimed as she ran down the hall toward the auditorium where the Valentine’s Day dance was being held.
The pink polka dot dress that she’d bought when she went shopping with Lizzy and Lina fanned out as she did two ballerina spins. The girls had spent the day shopping, having lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, and getting manicures and pedicures.
Lizzy and Lina had both sent me pics from each of the activities, which I, of course, forwarded to Peyton. She ‘loved’ all of them and thanked me for sharing them with her.
“I’m coming.” I hadn’t planned on chaperoning the dance tonight, but Lizzy wasn’t feeling great, and Ryan was at the firehouse on a shift, so I was called off the bench to get in the game.
Part of me hoped that Peyton would be here, but another part was hoping that she wasn’t. It had been two weeks since I’d seen her in the hospital wearing her engagement ring. I was still trying to come to terms with everything that had transpired in the past month.
It just seemed so unfair that after all this time, we came so close, or at least I thought we’d come close, just for it to be too late. But, I’d learned a long time ago, life wasn’t fair.
She’d insisted that she wasn’t engaged, that she hadn’t said yes, but the ring was on her finger. And to me actions had always spoken louder than words.
But she was also wearing my shirt. The one that she’d “borrowed” from me the night she left for Germany. And I had questions about that.
Did she wear it every night?
Had she specifically put it on because she’d gotten engaged?
