Alex(113)

“Right now?” she says, still in bewilderment.

“I did just ask you to marry me and you said yes, right?”

“Right,” she affirms.

“Then let’s go,” I tell her as I stand up, gently setting her feet to the ground. I don’t need to pay as I had arranged all of that ahead of time with the restaurant. Instead, I step up to the iron rail that separates the outdoor seating from the rest of the sidewalk and step over it. No problem for my tall frame. I lean over and pick up Sutton, careful so her dress doesn’t ride up and lift her over to the other side.

I grab her hand and we wait for a break in traffic, completely jaywalking our way over to Finneman’s. She still has one more surprise and this is going to be my favorite by far.

As we step inside, Mr. Finneman is waiting for us. He’s impeccably dressed in a charcoal gray suit with a bow tie. He’s a third-generation jeweler, or so he told me when I came in to see him yesterday to make sure everything was set and to pick out some of my favorites so he could display them together.

“Miss Price…Mr. Crossman…welcome,” he says and motions us up to one of the glass cases. “I understand you’re going to be picking an engagement ring today?”

Sutton nods with a dopey smile on her face, and if I had to guess, I think she might be a little addled in the brain over all of this. She steps up to the case, where Mr. Finneman pulls out several velvet displays with rows upon rows of diamond rings.

“No,” Sutton says as she holds up a hand. “I only want to see the ones that Alex liked.”

Putting my hands on her shoulder and my lips near her temple, I tell her, “Sutton, you can have any ring in this store. You may not like what I picked out.”

“Yes, I will,” she says firmly. Then raising her eyes to Mr. Finneman, she reiterates. “Just the ones Alex likes.”

Mr. Finneman gives her a gracious smile and his eyes are sparkling. He pulls out the velvet display that has the rings I chose. There are seven in all and none of them has a price tag under five figures. Oh, well! I haven’t spent a damn bit of my money on anything nice in six years, so it’s about time to splurge a little.

“Oh, Alex,” Sutton says in wonder as she looks at the rings. “These are all so beautiful. They’re too much.”

“There’s no such thing as too much, where you’re concerned,” I tell her and kiss her on the head. “Now try each one on.”

She picks up the very first one and slips it on her left ring finger. It looks stunning there—three-carat oval in an antique setting with diamonds surrounding the center stone. It’s set in platinum, but then again, all of them are. Sutton’s not big on gold jewelry, so I figured she wouldn’t want a gold ring.

Holding her hand out, she admires it. Then she turns to look at me and says, “I don’t know how I’m ever going to choose. These are all just spectacular, and a little overwhelming.”

Smiling at her big, I say, “Well, then, I guess you could use some help.”

On cue, the door behind the glass case opens, which I know is the door to Mr. Finneman’s office, and out walk Penny, Jim, and Glenn. Sutton’s mouth opens again, but this time she closes it quickly, only to open it again and say, “Oh, my God. What are y’all doing here?”

Her family comes out from behind the case and then it’s all hugs and kisses and tears. Her mom starts crying pretty hard and Jim is patting her shoulder. He turns to me, sticking out a hand for me to shake. Glenn just leans against the glass case, checking out the rings.

Sutton turns to me and throws her arms around my neck. “You are too much.”

“I’m not done yet,” I tell her and then turn our bodies around toward the door that her family just came out of. It opens again and her best friend, Shelley, walks out.

I’m rewarded with a piercing shriek from Sutton as she tears out of my arms and practically vaults the case to reach her. I know they haven’t seen each other in over a year and a half, and I know Shelley will undoubtedly be her matron of honor, so I knew that she should be here for this occasion. I had her flown in last night and she’s going to stay with us for a few days.

Sutton and Shelley hug, and cry, and laugh. Sutton turns to me with tear-stained cheeks and mouths, I love you. I just smile back at her, because this was nothing.

There is nothing I wouldn’t do for this woman. There is nothing I wouldn’t give up, nothing I wouldn’t sacrifice for her. She is the most important person in my life and always will be, because she showed me that life is about overcoming struggles and opening yourself up to possibility. She brought color into my otherwise gray existence, and for that I owe her everything.