One Winter's Sunrise: Gift-Wrapped in Her Wedding Dress. Alison Roberts

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СКАЧАТЬ he was concerned, this ring was hers. She could keep it or sell it or give it away—he never wanted it back. ‘Now, shouldn’t I be getting that diamond on your finger?’

      He was surprised to find his hand wasn’t steady as he took the ring out of its hinged case. It glittered and sparkled as the afternoon sunlight danced off the multi-cut facets of the diamonds. ‘Hold out your hand,’ he said.

      ‘No’, she said, again shaking her head. ‘Give it to me and I’ll put it on myself. This isn’t a real engagement and I don’t want to jinx myself. When I get engaged for real, my real fiancé will put my ring on my wedding finger.’

      Again, Dominic felt disappointed. Against all reason. He wanted to put the ring on her finger. But he understood why he shouldn’t. He felt a pang of regret that he most likely would never again be anyone’s ‘real fiancé’—and a pang of what he recognised as envy for the man who would win Andie’s heart for real.

      He put the ring back in its case. ‘You do want to get married one day?’

      He wasn’t sure if she was still in love with the memory of her first boyfriend—and that no man would be able to live up to that frozen-in-time ideal. Melody had been his first love—but he certainly held no romanticised memories of her.

      ‘Of course I do. I want to get married and have a family. I... I... It took me a long time to get over the loss of my dreams of a life with Anthony. I couldn’t see myself with anyone but him. But that was five years ago. Now... I think I’m ready to move on.’

      Dominic had to clear his throat to speak. ‘Okay, I see your point. Better put on the ring yourself,’ he said.

      Tentatively, she lifted the ring from where it nestled in the velvet lining of its case. ‘I’m terrified I’ll drop it and it will fall into the pool.’ She laughed nervously as she slid it on to the third finger of her left hand. ‘There—it’s on.’ She held out her hand, fingers splayed to better display the ring. ‘It’s a perfect fit,’ she said. ‘You did well.’

      ‘It looks good on you,’ he said.

      ‘That sales guy knew his stuff,’ she said. ‘I can’t stop looking at it. It’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.’ She looked up at him. ‘I still have my doubts about the wisdom of this charade. But I will enjoy wearing this magnificent piece of jewellery. Thank you for choosing something so perfect.’

      ‘Thank you for helping me out with this crazy scheme,’ he said. The scheme that had seemed crazy the moment he’d proposed it and which got crazier and crazier as it went along. But it was important he sealed that deal with Walter Burton. And was it such a bad thing to have to spend so much time with Andie?

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