Page 129 of Not Looking
“It’s… a promise ring.”
“That’s a term I haven’t heard in a while,” Dale said. “Is there a reason your man didn’t go for a full engagement ring?”
I gave a small smile. “He did it for me.”
“Oh?”
I nodded. “He proposed, then immediately told me he wanted me to wait on an answer. He didn’t want me to feel pressured or rushed, but wanted me to know that he’d already made his decision.”
“That’s sweet,” Simon said.
“Agreed,” Dale said with a nod.
“He said this ring is his promise to me, not a sign that I’d accepted the proposal.”
Dale leaned forward, elbows on the desk. “How’s it feel to wear it?”
I glanced down at it. “The fingers on either side aren’t used to it yet…”
He burst into laughter. “That’s not what I mean… and I think you know it. How does itfeel?”
Heat crawled up my cheeks. “It feels good… right.”
He leaned back in his chair with a smirk. “I think you’ve got your answer then.”
“Huh?”
He let out a long sigh, and his face softened in that way it did when he thought about Gerry. “You’re what… two years older than Simon?”
“Yeah?”
“Means you’re closer to forty than thirty. How much time will you get with your alpha? Thirty years? Forty? Maybe medical science will get better, and you’ll both go over a hundred.”
He sighed. “Take it from someone on the other side. Cherish every day you can get now, because eventually… one of you will be alone again. Maybe you’ll go first, maybe he will. But time comes for all of us. Do you want to look back and wish that you’d accepted sooner—that you’d had more days in the beginning because every one counted?”
I glanced down at the band on my finger—thought about how I’d run my thumb over the mountain motif when Craig wasn’t around.
He was my alpha.
Dale was right, I did have my answer.
It wasn’t right to make my alpha wait when I knew what I wanted.
I smiled.
Dale chuckled. “That’s the look of a man who’s made a decision.”
I looked up at him and nodded. “I think… you’re right.”
“Good,” he stated. “It’s time for you to get your happy ending.”
Chapter 26 - Craig
Ipulled into Randy’s driveway with a relieved sigh—noting the ice and small piles of fresh snow already accumulating along the edges.
I’d never understood the weird ways that retail could be draining until I started working at the mill. Part of me had thought nothing could be more exhausting than manning a chainsaw all day—then I found myself behind a register. Customer service might have been physically easier, but was mentally taxing.
The day had started off slammed with hobbyists picking up supplies for weekend projects, but the customers had practically evaporated as a severe storm started to roll in. It left me in that weird state of being prepared to help the next person, only for them to not be there.
