True Gift (An Anya Maynard Novella)

Chapter Three

   “It’ll be about fifteen minutes Mrs. Brown,” the saleswoman addressed me as she handed back Connor’s credit card. 

   “Thank you,” I told the saleswoman as I signed my name, with my new surname, “that’ll be fine.”

   I was sure it would take some time for me to get used to that, to being a Brown…

   The woman gave me a nod and a smile and went to help the next customer at the jewelry counter, after she glared at Maddie for what had to be the fourth or fifth time. With reason I’ll admit. She, like her boyfriend Pete, had a habit of drawing pictures in fogged up glass. Of course Pete tended only to take advantage of what Mother Nature created, where Maddie continuously huffed on the glass to keep her drawings visible, much to the chagrin of the women working in the jewelry store.

   It was just me and Maddie for the time being, Jess was over at the salon getting her nails done for the party. She tried to convince me and Maddie to do the same, but Maddie said it’d be pointless- she’d melt them off the next time she used her magic- and I declined because it was the perfect opportunity for me to get Jess’s present.

   It was the last stop before we grabbed something to eat and headed home. And I couldn’t wait. The mall was horribly crowded, people bumping into people everywhere, endless checkout lines, cranky sales people- I had to hold Maddie back when a sales woman had the gall to tell her that her choice in clothing was tasteless- I was ready for this evening to be over so I could go home and curl up next to Connor in bed.

   The three of us had picked out our dresses and shoes, I had picked up Connor’s tux from the tailor’s, Jess grabbed the stuff for Mel’s mom, and all the other presents that needed to be bought were bought.

   But besides waiting for Jess to finish with her nails, I was waiting for the jewelry store people to engrave the necklace I had picked out for her. Jess had thrown away just about all the jewelry she owned after things settled down some. It was mostly from her ex and she wanted nothing to do with it. And not that I wanted to replace any of it, but I wanted to give her something from me, something kind of personal. She wasn’t just my sister in law, she was my best friend. My first in my life, and I wanted to show her how much I appreciated her.

   The necklace was simple in design, just a single white gold heart on a chain, but I was having them engrave “sisters in spirit” on the back of it. This apparently was something that usually had to be ordered ahead of time, like a week in advance. I didn’t know when I came in, but Maddie and her big mouth said that money was of no concern to me and that I demanded it be done right away.

   I smiled to myself and shook my head as I wandered around the shop looking at all the baubles. As red as I was sure I had turned when she said that- completely embarrassed when everyone began looking at me, trying to figure out who exactly I was- it worked…after they tagged an extra hundred dollars on my bill for the rush order.

   I paused when I reached the wedding counter, looking over all the sparkling diamonds and bands.

   “What are those?” Maddie asked she came up behind me.

   “Engagement rings…what a hum-what a man gives a woman as a way of asking her to spend the rest of their lives with them.”

   “They’re so…plain, those ones over there are better,” she said as she pointed to the gemstone counter full of its emeralds and rubies for the season, “if a guy thought giving me one of those boring things would keep me with him I’d laugh at him.”

   “It’s not about color, it’s about the purity of love,” another saleswoman stated as she came to stand before us, pulling her keys out to unlock the case, “would you like to see one?” she asked me.