by Portia Moore
I let out a long breath. Katie’s right, I know it. I want to go to Chicago and ask her right this minute, but Katie’s logic wins out. I still want to buy the ring—but I’ll hang on to it for a little while. I’ll make sure Megan is ready, too. “I’ll wait until the end of the year,” I promise.
“A Christmas engagement is always nice,” Katie says, more enthusiastic now. We go inside and a salesperson promptly greets us.
Megan and I haven’t talked very much about marriage, or what kind of rings she likes, so I’m a little at a loss. “She always wears really simple jewelry,” I say. “I don’t think she’d want something huge. But I want to get her something special. Something really pretty.”
“What does she look like?” The salesperson guides us towards a display of glittering diamond rings.
I pull out my phone and show her a picture.
“Dark hair, pale skin.” She nods. “White gold would be pretty on her complexion, I think. What about this?” She pulls out a solitaire and shows it to me.
“Maybe too simple?” I hedge, glancing at Katie.
Katie nods. “She likes delicate, pretty things,” she says, peering down at the display.
The salesperson shows me a few more—one with a large center diamond that I know Megan would think is gaudy, one with sapphire side stones I don’t care for, and another cluster ring that I think looks cheap. Then Katie nudges me and points at one to the left. “What about that?”
I glance in the direction of her finger. The ring she’s pointed out is gorgeous. It has an oval center diamond with a delicate halo around it, and a twisted white gold band. It’s beautiful, just like Megan, and I can see it on her finger. I can picture her face when she opens the box, and I nod. “That one is perfect,” I say.
“Do you want to know the price?” the saleslady asks, and I shake my head, pulling out my credit card.
“Whatever it is, that’s the one.”
---
The ring is in my bag when I fly back to Chicago for spring break. Despite the fact that I plan to keep my promise and not ask Megan until Christmas, I still want to have it with me.
I have an appointment with the dean of the University of Chicago, and it’s the first place I go after I land. He’s a friend of my father’s, and I’m hoping that will make it easy for me to make the transfer between universities. I don’t plan to go back to Purdue after spring break. Regardless of how long I wait to give Megan the ring, I want our life together to start now. I want to learn how to live with this with her, and how to help her. I want to start anew, and put all of the days of us being separated, all of the fear and worry and secrets behind us. I believe she wants that, too. Otherwise, why would she have taken me to her appointment with Helen, and told me about the disorder?
I’m ushered right into the dean’s office and he shakes my hand firmly. “Nice to meet you, Kameron,” he says. “Your father called and put in a good word for you. Not that that matters, your grades are excellent. I looked over your transcripts and your hard work speaks for itself.”
“Thank you. I’d like to transfer as soon as possible,” I tell him. “I know it’s mid-semester, but I’m on spring break right now. I’d like to stay here, and not go back after the break. Do you think that might be possible?”
“Absolutely,” the dean assures me. “Family aside, your transcripts are impeccable. We’d love to have you as a student. We’ll do everything necessary to transfer you over, and I’ll send you everything you need to fill out. We’ll get this taken care of before the week is out, Kameron.”
When I leave, it feels as if a weight has been lifted, like everything is falling into place. The transfer is going smoothly. Megan is going to be thrilled to have me here. I can slip easily into life in Chicago, back into her life, and it will be like nothing ever went wrong. We can start fresh, exactly the way I wanted. I’ll be a part of her family, the way my family made her a part of theirs. The things Alana did won’t matter—it’ll be Megan and I, against her, against the world. The two of us can handle anything that comes.
I have at least another hour before Megan is expecting me, so I find a local park not far away, and grab an Uber there. I change into basketball shorts and a loose t-shirt. I can get in a run before it’s time to meet Megan. Maybe I can convince her to get into the shower with me after, I think, grinning to myself. And then I’ll take her out for a nice dinner, to celebrate my transfer to the university and a new start together. It’s tempting to ask her the question burning on the tip of my tongue, and give her the ring. But I promised, and I’m going to do my best to stick to it. We have the rest of our lives; I don’t have to rush it.
I’m almost a mile into my run when I feel my phone vibrating, bouncing against my leg in my shorts pocket. Thinking it might be Megan, I slow to a stop, fishing it out.
I’m slightly disappointed to see that it’s my father, not Megan, but he probably just heard that I’m going to be admitted to the college and wants to talk about it. I answer, slightly breathless. “Hello?”
“Hi, Son.” His voice sounds grim, and I feel my heart speed up a little in my chest.
“Is something wrong?”
“I need to talk to you as soon as possible. I found something…something you’re going to want to know about.”
“I don’t plan to be back in Indiana for a few days,” I say slowly. “Not until the end of the week. And then I’m just going to be getting my things together to come back to Chicago. I’m transferring as soon as the dean can process my application.”
I wait for him to congratulate me, but he doesn’t. There’s silence on the other end.
“The dean was really excited to have me, he says my transcripts are impeccable—”
“Kameron.” My father cuts me off, and I feel a chill start to creep up my spine. Something is really wrong…my father has never been a man to interrupt.
His voice is hesitant as he starts to speak. “Kameron, I found information about Alana.” He pauses. I know that he did. He gave it all to me. I don’t understand his hesitation or the urgency he’s speaking with now.
“Okay…” I say, waiting for him to elaborate.
“Kameron…she was married. She is married, still, legally…to a man named Ian Cage.”
The next installment US relates on 2/14/20 you can preorder here.
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Let’s Connect!
To sign up for new release alerts text 797979. Want to discuss my books with other readers?! Sign up for my reader group on Facebook for sneak peeks, new release info and book chat! Here.
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Afterword
Thank you so much for reading. I appreciate every single reader that I have and truly am grateful that you allow me to do this for a living. Please feel free to reach out to me on any social media platforms below. :)
Also by Portia Moore
If I Break Series
#1Before Him
#2 If I Break
#3Before I Break
#4Almost Broken
#5 Beautifully Broken
#6 Shattered Pieces
Time Duet
#1 What Happens After
#2 The Trouble With Before
Stand Alones
He Lived Next Door *A Clean Romance
Collided Series
#1Collided
#2Crushed
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