Romantic love story

Chapter Twenty-nine: Taking Care of Maddie

The diamond sparkled, caught Madison's eye even though she was trying to ignore its brilliance. It was expensive, it had made Terry spend a lot of money, and yet with each flash, it seemed to say, "I am loved, I am loved." It was so pretty, a piece of sunlight trapped in a polished stone and set so prettily on her finger.

No, she wouldn't look.

It flashed, and her eye traveled back.

I am loved. I really am.

The jeep swayed as Terry moved onto the road for the drive back home, and she shoved her hand into her pocket rather than be caught admiring the very thing that she'd tried so hard to talk Terry out of buying. Something caught, and she had to pull her hand out.

"Anything wrong?" Terry asked, as she looked the ring over from different angles to make sure it hadn't been hurt.

"It got caught on my pocket, but I think it's all right." She sighed at the brilliance. She shouldn't have let him do it, no matter how pretty it was.

"It caught?" Terry frowned, and Izzy spoke up from the back seat.

"It didn't catch on the material, did it? That's good. I didn't think that particular setting would."

The frown on Terry's face deepened, he adjusted speed and glanced in the rear view mirror. "Izzy, do some rings catch on material more than others?"

"Of course."

"Could they scratch someone? Maybe even hurt skin?" Terry's voice had an alarmed rise to it, as though a car in a parking lot had been touched and a security alarm had gone off.

"I don't know how badly it would hurt if you were to do it on purpose, because I've never tried-- but yes, they could scratch. That's why I was so very careful about which ring I brought to your attention."

"'Brought to your attention?'" John laughed. "Izumi, you all but picked the ring, yourself."

"I did not. It was Terry's choice."

"Izzy-- back to the scratching." Terry blew out a breath, but his eyes stayed on the road. "I never thought to make sure it wouldn't scratch Maddie. It never even crossed my mind."

"It crossed mine," Izzy spoke with a smile in her voice, "so you can calm down. It's why I had such a hard time finding anything. Most everything they had was with the traditional prong setting, which is my favorite, but it isn't what Madison needs."

Madison looked at the ring in question and her heart bumped with secret joy.

"Its raised just like a prong setting, so it catches the light, but instead of prongs, this one is bezeled at the corners, so it looks traditional enough to be very classy and yet won't scratch like the other ones would. And I admit, I liked the diamond."

"Is that why you took so long before you suggested something?" Terry asked.

"That's why," Izzy said with a yawn.

"What if I had gone with something else?"

"Don't worry, I would have told you if you were about to make a poor choice." Izzy yawned again, and Madison looked into the back seat to see John hug an arm around his wife. Izzy cuddled into John's hug, smiled at Madison, then closed her eyes for a nap.

"Thanks, Izzy." Terry glanced at Madison. "It looks like we're in pretty good hands."

Nodding, Madison settled into her seat and started thinking about something else entirely. She had so much to plan, things to do, logistics-- that's a word she'd heard on TV and had remembered-- and then there were the scissors. She needed some. Terry had taken away all the sharp things, and that was a problem.