The Magic of Love

Chapter sixteen

"Okay, so what happened next?" I asked instead of what I was really curious about. I didn't want to push him tell me what he meant before but I really hoped to find out later!

Oliver stared at me for a long time, frowned slightly, sighed, and continued, "When I made sure Isabella wouldn't turn down my brother's proposal..."

"Wait. Excuse me for interrupting you again", I smiled, and Oliver nodded, saying there was no problem, and I carried on with my thought, "So many people nowadays start families without getting married, what makes you think she wants to marry him. She might want family without marriage, right!?" I asked.

Oliver frowned.

"I'm a little old-fashioned and I believe that when you find the right person, the first step to starting a family is to connect your lives with a ceremony, and with your loved ones beside you", Oliver said, still a little frowning.

"I'm old-fashioned, too, but my question is why did you decide that Bella is one of us, so to say", I explained, and smiled at my joke.

Oliver's features relaxed and he smiled brightly. I looked at him questioningly. What a reaction!?

"Didn't I tell you earlier why the ring is so important?!" Oliver asked.

I thought about it, and when I remembered, I closed my eyes and bit my lower lip in embarrassment. How could I forget that?! I was so upset that we didn't find the ring at the first address precisely because of its significance for Isabella! What's wrong with me?Why was I so distracted?!

"Off", I sighed, "I don't know where my mind is. You told me, of course! At the cabin. The ring belonged to her grandmother, and she dreams of being engaged and to wear it, etc. Ohh, Gosh!" I hid my face in my hands and shook my head. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I am so distracted!" my voice came out muffled because my tomato red face (I knew it was quite red, I could feel the heat!) was still hidden in my palms.

He laughed merrily and replied, "Don't worry! I'm glad you forgot your worries from before."

I looked up, "Yes, but now you're going to think I'm a scatterbrain."

He laughed, "Where did you come up with it?! You forgot, big deal! It happens to everyone. Don't worry!"

I nodded, still embarrassed.

"So. I was searching for ideas, and I discovered your bakery and I found out from your site that you have such beautiful branded holiday boxes, so I thought why not to put the ring box in one. It's a gift box and will be a double surprise, right!? I suggested it to my brother, and he agreed."

"So far so good", I said, "And then. How did he know the ring wasn't there?"

"He had planned to offer it to Bella on Christmas Eve. He will give her the box in the evening, she'll open it and find the box with the ring and so on. Well, yes, but it didn't work out that way", Oliver laughed, which frankly surprised me a lot, "After I brought it to him, they called him urgently from the office and he didn't hide it well. He put it in the coat closet next to the front door", we both rolled our eyes,"Yeah! I believe you can guess what happened next."

"She found it, right?"

He nodded.

"Bella came home before him, and when she opened the closet in the hallway to hang her coat, she saw the box. She decided it was another promotional item for her and opened it."

I laughed. Branded gift box for an influencer - how appropriate and inappropriate at the same time a gift.

"My brother came home from work that night, tired of the nonsense of some client - the usual family heritage story about greed, and what to see - Bella sits on the couch and eats cookies from her gift box. And I'll tell you his exact words, "My heart skipped a beat, and then another, my tie felt unbearably tight and icy sweat broke out on my forehead because my whole plan had blown up in my face", and we both laughed, "She was sitting calmly when he approached timidly and with a hoarse voice asked her, "How about what you found in the box?", Oliver laughed, but tried to control his laughter and continued, "Wait a minute. Let me stop for a moment, because I can't drive like that."

I nodded, and waited for him to pull over the car, and the tension inside me grew. I didn't know how funny this story was but I kind of sensed it.

He turned off the engine, and turned to me, "Bella answered his question with", Oliver pursed his lips to suppress the laughter, breathed in and said, "Ah! Was the box from you? I thought it was a PR package!" Oliver and I laughed so loud that the whole car vibrated from our voices.

"My brother was even more confused. He grabbed the box from her hands, looked inside, and saw only a few cookies. He asked, "Where is it?" And she replied in embarrassment, "Sorry darling! I wanted to take two or three, but the aftertaste is SO good that I couldn't resist them. I nearly finished the whole box. Sorry! I'll leave the rest for you!" He looked at her confused and asked, "Was there only cookies in the box?" She looked at him even more confused and nodded, "What else?!" He gathered himself, called for his professionalism, and said, "Oh, nothing, darling. I'm glad you liked them. I'mmm... going to change now... and I'll come to you later. Okay?" And then he called me and there was a lot of yelling", Oliver finished.

"And she really had said that about our cookies?!", I asked in disbelief

"I swear this is the story exactly how he told me!", Oliver said.

I stared into his eyes for a long time, and finally concluded that he was honest.

"Well then, I must prepare for her a bigger box with orange cookies as a compliment", a content smile stretched my lips.

"I'm sure she'll love it!" Oliver smiled.

"At least with my mistake I created a fun situation for you to recall from time to time and laugh", I said, and looked down to my hands. The embarrassment rose in me once more.

Every trace of laughter disappeared. That nasty thought that had bothered me before now returned in full force, "What if we don't find the ring?!"

Oliver reached over, took my hand, and squeezed it slightly.

"Hey, Ashley!"

My breath caught. For the first time Oliver said my name. I didn't know why but my heart fluttered as his voice caressed every letter of my name.

I looked up at him without caring about the redness on my cheeks, but I didn't say anything, hoping he'd say the two syllables again. It made my ears so happy to hear how his velvety voice caressed my own name. And he did not disappoint me.

"Ashley!" He repeated.

Oh, it was so simple, but so incredibly... hmm, what's the word?!

"Ashley!" Oliver said again, and smiled. I didn't understand this smile, it was different from before. And I couldn't help but wonder - whether it was such an important thing for him or not!?

"Ashley!" He repeated. And the word lit up in my mind - Sensual. And chills ran through my whole body. Pleasant chills!

I swallowed hard and tried to focus on his words again. I saw his lips moving but couldn't hear a thing.

"Would you...", I tried to speak but my voice was weirdly weak. I cleared my throat and tried again, "Would you repeat?"

"I said... Don't worry, we'll find the ring, you'll see!" Oliver replied.

"What ring?", I only thought, fortunately.

But then I remembered, and nodded embarrassedly.

Yes, I wanted to believe in it so much because my conscience was tormenting me. Even though other parts of my brain were tuned to a different frequency.

I took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Come on, let's go and try our luck with the second address", Oliver said with an encouraging smile.

"Yes, let's go. Maybe we'll find it in the restaurant!" I said, and smiled at him, trying to summon my hope. He was right, we had two more addresses and two chances to find the lost ring.

Oliver started the engine and we set off again.