Broken (33 page)

“About three weeks. Today is my third day back on the job here. Almost feels like high school again,” she said with a wink.

“Does Reed know you’re back?” I asked with a chuckle.

She tilted her head and gave me a shit-eating grin. “Reed Moore? Is he living in Llano still?”

I nodded. “Yeah, he works for the Texas Parks and Wildlife, and he helps me out on the ranch a lot as well. Trying to talk him into going in as business partners.”

She nodded and seemed to be making a mental note. “Well, when you see him, tell him to stop by. I’d, um…I’d love to catch up with him.”

I agreed and made a mental note myself to call Reed the moment I stepped outside this store. He had been drinking himself drunk almost every night for the last few months—ever since Courtney had started dating Mitch.

Maybe Anna is the distraction Reed needs to move on from Courtney.

“So, what brings you in, Layton?”

I felt my whole body start shaking again. “I, um…well…um…I’m actually looking for…well, I’m looking for a ring.”

She let out a small giggle. “What kind of ring?”

I looked around and then back out toward the windows. When I looked back at Anna, her smile caused me to chuckle.

“A, um…well…an engagement ring.”

“Oh, Layton! Are you and Olivia getting married?” she asked as she jumped up and down.

Wait—what?

“No! God, no! Damn, you have been gone a while.”

She stopped smiling and came to a complete standstill. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Um…I didn’t know if I should bring this up or not, but I’m really sorry to hear about your brother. He was a really great guy.”

I gave her a weak smile. “Thank you, Anna. Yeah, he was. Back to the ring. It’s for my girlfriend, Whitley.”

“Oh my God! Whitley Reynolds? The girl from New York?”

“Yeah. How do you know her?” I asked.

“She came in here the other day, looking for a little silver locket. She said she was buying it for a special little girl. We got to talking, and she told me how she moved here from New York. She mentioned that she’d fallen head over heels for a cowboy here, but I never dreamed that cowboy was you, Layton! Congratulations. My God, that girl is beautiful.”

I couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear, just hearing someone talk about Whit. “Yeah, she is beautiful, inside and out. Kate’s birthday is this weekend, so I’m guessing she was buying her a gift.”

“I bet that’s what it was. She didn’t mention whom it was for, just a special little girl. So, back to this ring! You’re going to pop the big question, huh? Did you have a certain shape in mind? Were you wanting a loose diamond, and maybe design your own setting? Platinum, white, or yellow gold? What were you thinking?”

I just stood there, staring at her. “I’m thinking I was nervous as hell before I walked in here, and now, I’m just plain scared to death.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “I’m so sorry. I guess, sometimes, I get a bit carried away. Let’s start with the basics, shall we? First off, is this the first time you’ve looked for a ring?”

I nodded.

“Okay. Next question. Do you know what size you want? What shape of diamond?”

“I don’t want anything huge…but nothing small. She’s mentioned liking a princess cut and an oval shape before.”

“Perfect! Now, metal?”

“White gold or platinum for sure. I’ve never seen her in yellow gold.”

“Got it. Let’s walk over here. I have a few rings I’d like to show you.”

As I followed her, I glanced up and out the window and saw Whitley walking toward the jewelry store.

Holy fuck! What in the hell is she doing? Is she coming into the store?

“Holy shit! Anna! It’s Whitley!” I shouted.

Anna jumped. “What? Oh my God. Um…hide!”

I just looked at her. “Where?”

She grabbed me by the shirt, practically dragged me down the counter, and then yanked me behind it. She pushed me down right as I heard the door to the store open.

“Whitley! Oh my gosh, what brings you back so soon?” Anna said in an overly chipper voice.

I could just see Whit’s face now, wondering what in the fuck was wrong with Anna. I couldn’t help it, but I let out a chuckle—which was followed by a grunt when Anna kicked me with her fucking high-heel shoe.

“Hi, Anna. It’s so nice to see you again. Well, I got a picture that I wanted to see about putting into that locket I bought the other day. It’s for my boyfriend’s niece. It’s her birthday this weekend.”

I could practically hear the smile in her voice. I grinned, thinking about Kate’s face when she opened the gift.

“I see. Okay, well, I’d be more than happy to do that for you. Do you have the picture with you?”

“Yep, I sure do. I just printed it off and decided to take a walk up here. I just don’t think I could work with something so small. I wasn’t sure if you guys would do that or not.”

Anna giggled. “
You guys
—yep, you are so from the North.”

Both girls laughed. Then, I heard Anna gasp.

“Oh, Whitley, this is a great picture of you and Layton!”

I closed my eyes and shook my head.
Fuck! She’s not supposed to know about me!

Now, it was my turn. I hit Anna on the leg, and she let out a yelp.

“Are you okay, Anna? What happened?”

Anna leaned down and rubbed her leg before she gave me another kick. “Oh, nothing. Lack of bananas or something. Pain in my leg…among other things.”

I thumbed her leg, and she kicked me again—this time, harder.

“Oh, well, is this something I should just drop off and come back by later to get?” Whitley asked.

“No! Oh no, I can do this right now. Won’t take me any time.”

I leaned my head back and cursed to myself. Just then, the girl who had been cleaning the glass walked behind the counter. She quickly looked down at me and then back up at Whitley.

“Um…would you like to see the garden I’ve been working on out front? I remember you were asking about what type of flowers you could plant since you weren’t familiar with the Texas weather,” she said to Whitley.

Just then, the other girl came walking out from back and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me sitting on the floor. I put my finger up to my lips for her to be quiet, and she was just about to say something when the other girl grabbed her by the arm and started off toward the back again.

“Sorry, sweetheart. Just forgot I’ve got to talk to Jane about something. Maybe another time on those flowers.”

I slowly let out the breath I had been holding in.

“Okay…sounds good,” Whitley called out.

“There ya go! Easy-peasy!” Anna said.

“Holy cow, that was fast. Thank you so much! What do I owe you?”

Anna laughed. “Nothing! It’s on the house.”

“Thank you so much. That’s so sweet of you. I really appreciate your help.”

“Sure, no problem,” Anna said.

“So, you know Layton?” Whitley asked.

Fuck. I knew she would catch that.

“Uh…yeah, we went to high school together. So, y’all are dating, huh?”

“Oh, really?”

“Yep, I’m going to safely guess from that picture that you’ve stolen his heart.”

I heard Whitley giggle, and my whole body was covered in goose bumps just from that sound.

“I hope so. He’s certainly stolen mine. Well, I guess I should be…oh my God!”

I perked my head up and wondered why she had just let out a gasp.

“What? What is it?” Anna said with a panicked voice.

“That ring! Oh my God…it looks just like my grandmother’s ring,” Whitley said with so much excitement in her voice.

I noticed Anna did a little hop as she quickly looked down at me and then back up at Whitley.

Okay…is this really happening? Is Whitley going to pick out her own engagement ring and not even know it?

I couldn’t help but smile.

This is perfect. Everything happens for a reason.

There was a reason she’d walked into this store while I was here.

I poked Anna in the leg, and she kicked me again. I was going to walk out of here, broken and bruised.

“Which one, Whitley? I’ll show you it!” Anna said with a little too much excitement in her voice.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
Way to play it cool, Anna.

“Oh no, I couldn’t ask you to waste your time doing that.”

“Please…I have nothing important to do. Is this the one?”

“Yep, that’s it,” Whitley said with a giggle.

I looked up and watched as Anna unlocked the cabinet. She reached in and pulled out a ring.

“Whitley, you have very good taste. This is a Tacori platinum ring. It’s from their Heirloom collection. Rather fitting since you said it reminded you of your grandmother’s ring, wouldn’t you say?”

Whitley started laughing. “Yes, that is funny. Oh my God. It’s breathtaking. I can’t believe how much it looks like her ring. It’s almost unreal.”

“The princess cut center diamond is one-point-two-five carats. The channel set diamonds and crescent diamond details keep it contemporary, yet it has that heirloom look to it. Total carats of the engagement ring, minus the center stone, are about one-point-one-seven carats.”

Anna gave me another kick.

What the fuck? I didn’t even move!

“It’s perfect. I can’t believe how perfect it is,” Whitley said.

I could practically hear the smile in her voice.

Is it really going to be this easy?

“It is, isn’t it?” Anna said as she reached her hand down and gave me a thumbs-up.

“How much is it?”

“Ah…”

I almost wanted to laugh. This was the first time I’d ever seen Anna stunned into silence.

“Oh, ya know…it’s up there.”

Whitley laughed. “I bet. What is it, like ten thousand?”

Anna glanced quickly down at me, and I nodded my head. It wasn’t like Whitley would never find out how much it cost.

She quickly looked back up at Whitley. “Well…um…with that center diamond, the ring is nineteen thousand dollars.”

“Holy fuck!” Whitley yelled out. “Oh my God, Anna. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to yell that out.”

Anna laughed. “Here, let me see your left hand. Let’s try it on.”

Oh yeah…I’m going to owe Anna big time.

“Well, now, it’s my turn…holy fuck! That fits you like it was made for you, Whitley. How does that feel on your finger?”

Shit…I’d give anything to be able to see Whit’s face right now.

“Wow…I’ve never tried on a ring that fit perfectly the first time. Okay, well, here ya go. I don’t want to break it or anything.” Whitley laughed. “Maybe someday, right?”

I watched as Anna put it back into the cabinet. All the while, she was kicking my leg in her excitement.

Shit, I’m not going to be able to stand. My leg is going numb.

“Thank you so much, Anna. I better run. I’m meeting with a potential client. She wants to throw her daughter a sweet-sixteen party.”

“Whitley, this was fun! Thanks for adding a little bit of excitement into my morning.”

Whitley laughed. “Anytime! Nothing like trying on a nineteen-thousand-dollar engagement ring for fun, right? Bye, Anna. Have a wonderful day.”

“Bye, Whitley. Good luck at your meeting. I hope you get the, uh…party.”

Whitley laughed. “Thanks, Anna. I’ll tell Layton I ran into you.”

“Sounds good! See ya around.”

I heard the door open and then close.

“Don’t get up yet. Wait until she walks away.”

“Okay,” I said. My stomach was flipping around and around.

Another thirty seconds or so passed by before Anna turned and looked down at me.

“You lucky son of a bitch! She just picked out her dream engagement ring.” Anna jumped up and down.

I got up and rubbed the ache out of my leg from where Anna had kept kicking me. “Well, if my damn leg wasn’t hurting so much, I’d be jumping up and down right along with you.”

Anna looked down at my leg and then back up at me as she frowned. “Cowboy up. Look at this ring, Layton. I have to say, she has exquisite taste!”

As Anna took the ring out of the cabinet, I walked around to the other side of the counter. One look at the ring, and I knew, without a doubt, I was doing the right thing. Everything in my body screamed that this was it and that Whitley was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

I looked at Anna and smiled. “I’ll take it.”

“Smart man. I knew I always liked you for a reason. Do you know how you’re going to ask her or when?”

I shook my head as I followed her over to the register. “I have no clue, but next week is her birthday. I was thinking of asking her on her birthday.”

After Anna rang up the ring, she put it into a box and wrapped it all up. She kept telling me to make sure I made it romantic. My heart started pounding.

Shit! Mike was always the romantic one, not me. What in the hell am I going to do to make it romantic?

“Layton? Layton! Snap out of it. I’m talking to you.”

I looked back at Anna, who was standing there with her hands on her hips.

“Did you even hear a word I just said?”

I shook my head. “I can’t do it.”

“What? What in the hell do you mean you can’t do it? You sure as shit can and will do it. Don’t you dare walk around, carrying that ring in your pocket for two years, because you’re too damn afraid to take a chance, Layton Morris.”

I just stared at her. “What if she says no?”

She raised one eyebrow at me, and for one brief moment, I felt like I was about to be sent to the corner for time-out.

“Please. No woman in her right mind would ever say no to you. Layton, you’re one of the sweetest, most caring guys I know. Trust me, she’s not going to say no. Promise me that you will at least attempt to make it romantic for her.”

I let out a laugh because Mike of all people had asked Jen to marry him in his truck. He had been so nervous that he’d just blurted it out. I smiled, just thinking about Mike and what he would say to me right now.

I winked at Anna as I took the small ring box and put it into my jacket pocket. “I promise, Anna. I’ll make it a night she’ll never forget.” I smiled at her, and I turned to leave.