“Yes you will, but you have to really do it right” Kelly said “You have to make her see that you mean it, because if you don’t you will lose her”
“Do you think she’ll see me” he asked a pitiful note of hope in his voice as she had sighed
“Philip, you are now in the phase we women like to call the last chance. She’ll see you but you had better make the very best of it”
He had looked at her softly
“I knew you would help” he said a small tremulous smile coming to his face
“So what’s our next step?”
“Our...” she had exclaimed in astonishment
“You have to help me” he pleaded his large eyes looking forlornly into hers “please”
Kelly had groaned
“What do you want to do?” she sighed seeing the determined look on his face
“Go down there and demand that she take me back and marry me”
With another groan she had looked at him impatiently
“OK which part of last chance did you not get? If you are going to do it then you have to do it right”
Philip had gone silent, his mind thinking before turning to her his eyes full of confusion
“How?” he had asked
“Phone her up and organise to meet her in a nice restaurant. Then get down on one knee and ask her to marry you….preferably with a ring”
“OK I can do that” he had smiled “but I need help with the ring. You’ve got great taste with that kind of thing ….. and you’re a woman so you know what women like…. Will you help me pick a ring?”
Looking at his sad sorrow filled eyes Kelly had with a sigh agreed to help him
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow afternoon about 1” He said with relief before looking at her his expression serious
“Don’t tell anybody about this Kelly… not even Marc. I want it to be a surprise for Theresa”, seeing as she had nodded in agreement, as quickly he had rushed away, his stride a little more Phil like.
That evening at dinner Marc had looked over at her his face unreadable
“Beth said that Phil was around”
Kelly had nodded
“Yes he needed a shoulder to cry on” she had responded carefully, mindful of her promise
Marc frowned in surprise
“Why?”
“He and Theresa broke up” she had told him gently, seeing as Marc had become very quiet, his eyes watching her carefully
“Why did he come here?”
Kelly had shrugged
“Just needed somebody to talk to”
Marc had dropped his gaze to his plate a strange mood coming over him. For the rest of the meal Kelly found it hard to pull him into a conversation, as he had seemed lost in deep thought.
The next day at precisely 1 Philip had appeared at the villa as they had organised. As his sports car did not have enough space for Max and his baggage they had parked his away from the flotilla of cars and vans and taken her car instead.
Philip was great company, much brightened by the fact that when he had called Theresa she had agreed to meet him. However, she had only been able to make it at lunch time on the Saturday as she was working out of town until then and would be leaving that night for a business trip which had seen her phoning Marc to apologise for missing his party.
They had travelled into the main city itself where Philip had arranged for several jewellers to meet with them to show them their finest stock.
Kelly had enjoyed trying on the many beautiful rings which were brought out for her to wear and she had been dumb-founded by the size and price of them. However, she knew that he could more than afford it.
After several different stores she had elected a 2 carat solitaire platinum ring, with 2 half carat accent diamonds on the shank, delighting Philip.
“Is this the kind you would have” he had asked her, seeing as she had shaken her head, a sad poignant look entering her lovely face
“No mine was more of a cluster”
Phil had looked at her in surprise.
“I’m sorry, you were engaged…married?” he had asked
“Engaged” she had replied her thoughts once more turning to Danny
“He died before our wedding”
There was a stunned look on Phil’s face as he stammered
“I’m sorry…. I didn’t know”
Kelly instantly wished she had said nothing, as she had put her hand up to stop him and with a small smile said
“It was a long time ago”
“No I chose this because when I met Theresa her jewellery was simple. I got the impression she liked simple classic styles”
Phil had smiled back at her
“Good job I brought you along” he grinned.
After paying for the ring he had then treated the three of them to a meal at a local family pub, with a child friendly play area in which Max crawled around happily. Kelly had to keep a close eye on him, as since his birthday, he was starting to pull himself up on furniture and toys and she was sure that he was ready to walk at any time.