Searching for Myself

Sparkly Ring

WYATT

"Good day!" Jerra yells when we walk into the jewelry shoppe.

"Jerra," I warn and look apologetically towards a salesclerk who is currently showing another man some rings. "Kids don't typically come in here so I need you to be quiet. Remember?"

"Sorry, daddy."

I walk to the counter where a woman has a huge smile on her face. "Good morning. How may I assist you?"

"We need to buy a sparkly ring for our Abbie."

"Well you've come to the right place then," she smiles at Jerra. "Engagement ring?" She asks me.

"Yes."

"Is there a specific style you're looking for?"

"Lots of sparkles," Jerra answers and I chuckle.

"No idea," I respond. "I have a feeling that my daughter gets the final say though."

She laughs at that. "I'll show you some different options. She walks around and begins pulling rings from the case. She places each of them in a small display for me to look at. I instantly ignore the solitaire. I don't care if this diamond is huge compared to the one Ivy had. Abbie's ring needs to be more than just a single solitaire.

Another salesclerk comes over with a small step stool and places it next to me. "I figured your little helper needed to be able to see better."

"Oh thank you!" Jerra cheers as she climbs up and closely studies the rings. She's so excited, I don't think I'm going to get her to talk quietly.

"Thanks," I say to the other lady before she walks away. "Don't touch," I warn Jerra. She looks disappointed at this.

"See any you like?" Our sales lady asks her.

"Hmm. We need more. These are boring." I shake my head at Jerra. Maybe it was a mistake to bring her. We might be here all day, or until she gets bored."

"What about this one?" I ask as I remove one from the velvet case set out before us. "It's pretty and has a lot of sparkle to it."

"Not big enough."

"Big enough?"

"Why don't you look around," she suggests to Jerra. Great. Don't encourage her. "Any of these you like?" She asks me.

"I hand her back the one in my hand with a nod. It's pretty. The band has twisted diamonds that make it unique. The center diamond has small diamonds circling around it. I really thought Jerra would like all the diamonds on it. "This one and this," I say as I point to a vintage styled one." She nods and puts the other rings away. She begins browsing through the display, pulling similar rings out. I'm starting to feel overwhelmed. I should have insisted Abbie come with us. Maybe I should have brought Leah.

"DADDY!" Jerra screams.

"Jerra, quiet down," I warn her.

"Sorry, but this is the ring! Look how sparkly and big and pretty."

The sales lady has it pulled from the case before I can even look at it. "She has really good and expensive taste," the lady giggles. Expensive taste? "This is a gorgeous ring. The center diamond is a 2.01 caret round diamond. The cut, color, and clarity are all really excellent. You won't notice any flaws when you look at it. It's flanked with eight round diamonds in a cathedral setting. It already comes with a matching wedding band, with seven round diamonds." I have no idea what she just said. She hands me the ring. It is gorgeous and I can easily picture this on Abbie's delicate finger. I feel a lump forming in my throat at the thought.