Page 6 of Born for Starlight

“Absolutely not! Where’s the romance in that?” I looked over at Priscilla. Even she shuddered at the thought.

“Where’s the romance in me guessing wrong and buying her something she hates for the rest of her life?”

“You won’t guess wrong.” I assured him. “You’ll know it when you see it.”

He went quiet, which was when I knew he’d stopped listening to me and started actually looking. His eyes had caught on something in the case Priscilla had opened for us, and he leaned in, forehead creasing.

“That one.”

I looked where he was looking. It was beautiful. It was understated and over-the-top at the same time. How the hell it could be both of those things at the same time, I had no idea. I looked closer.

“Priscilla,” I called. “Tell him what that is.”

She came over, unhurried, and lifted it free with calm ease.

“Two carat oval, excellent clarity. Platinum setting, one of our own designs. No side stones, just the band weaving up into the shoulders to frame the diamond.”

Adam took it from her like it might go off in his hand. He turned it slowly, watching the platinum catch the light along the woven twist of the band, the metal looping and crossing itself on its way up to the stone.

“I don’t know anything about diamonds,” he said. “But I like that there’s nothing else fighting for attention.” He kept turning it. “Just the one thing that matters.”

He turned to me and I nodded.

“This is the one,” he said.

“It absolutely is,” I agreed.

Priscilla smiled, looking like a woman who’d just watched a sale close itself. “What size does she wear?”

“Seven,” Adam said, then stopped, frowning at the tag still dangling from the band. “Wait.”

“It’s a seven,” Priscilla confirmed, checking. “Would you like us to verify before we do anything further?”

“It’s already a seven.” Adam looked at me, something almost stunned crossing his face.

“See?” I said. “Meant to be. I told you, you’d know it.”

“We’ll still want it inspected and cleaned before it goes out the door,” Priscilla said, already carrying it toward the back counter. “A day or two, and we’ll have paperwork for the appraisal and insurance ready when you pick it up.”

“That’s fine,” Adam said. He sounded like he’d agree to anything at that point.

I turned to follow Priscilla with my eyes and clipped the edge of the display case with my cast, hard enough that the whole thing rattled.

“Ow. Dammit.” I rubbed at it through the plaster like that would help. “I am so sick of being this clumsy.”

“You’re not clumsy. You’re wearing a cast.”

“I’m clumsy and I’m wearing a cast. Two things can be true.” I glared at my own arm like it had personally betrayed me. “Stupid small planes.”

Adam’s humor faded a notch. “Did they ever figure out what caused it?”

“Still reviewing it, officially. Unofficially, Marty heard it’s looking like something got missed at maintenance. A part that should’ve been swapped out and wasn’t.” I shrugged, trying to look casual and probably failing. “Which is a nice, boring, non-conspiracy explanation, and I’ll take anything boring these days.”

“Good.” He watched me for a second too long. “How are you doing? Really.”

“Really, I’m fine. Which is the annoying part.” I leaned against the case, careful this time. “You know what’s actually driving me insane? I’ve gotten more popular since the crash. Like, significantly. Isn’t that the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard?”

“What do you mean, more popular?”