AllFreeNovel
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“She looks like she means it,” Katie grumbled.
“I do. Now sit, all of you.”
She didn’t wait until they were settled, but instead escaped to the kitchen where she collected more glasses. But her hands were shaking and she had a bad feeling that her cheeks were bright red.
“They’re teasing you because you’re important to them,” David said, coming up behind her. “You okay?”
She nodded without turning. “I’m sorry.”
“Why? Because you have people who care about you? Isn’t that the whole point of life? They’re comfortable here, with you. And I like them.”
Somehow she was turning and facing him and he was standing really, really close. “They are good friends. I’m lucky to have them.”
“Yes, you are. Ready to go back?”
She would rather stand here, next to him, his hands braced on either side of her. She liked the heat of his body easing in hers and the way she felt safe. As if she could count on him. As if this were real. As if he really wanted to see her naked.
“I’m ready,” she whispered.
He stepped back and picked up the glasses. She took the two bottles of wine and they returned to the living room.
David had already laid out a couple of dozen pieces of jewelry. Several were from his trip to the mall, while others came from the Worden store. A couple were Jayne’s QVC purchases, and there were three pieces Rebecca had given her. He asked her friends to look over the jewelry and then tell him what they liked and didn’t like.
“These are yours, right?” Gigi asked Jayne, holding up a pair of faux-diamond hoops. “I love these. Sparkly and I don’t have to mortgage my house to afford them.”
Katie picked up a pendant from the Rivalsa collection. “I love this,” she said. “Look at the lines. It’s so beautiful.” She rubbed the curves. “It’s real gold, right? A couple of thousand dollars?”
Jayne shrugged. “It was a gift, but yes, it’s expensive.” She happened to know that pendant sold in the high five figures, but there was no point in mentioning that.
“What do you like about it?” David asked.
Katie handed it to Charlotte. “How it looks. The weight of it. I don’t know. I just like it.”
“Me, too,” Charlotte said. “Are there earrings like this?”
Jayne nodded.
“Would you like it in sterling?” David asked. “If you could buy it for, say, a couple hundred dollars?”
“I would,” Katie said.
“I’d want the earrings.”
David took them through the rest of the pieces. Of the mall jewelry, only two pairs of earrings were a hit. Everyone loved the Worden pieces, but it was like wanting a house on the beach—lovely in theory, but not in this lifetime.
“Unless the lottery comes through,” Gigi added.
He listened carefully, taking notes and asking specific questions, obviously interested in their opinions. Jayne watched her friends watch him, noting the looks they exchanged. There would be plenty of phone calls tomorrow, she thought. Mostly to ask if he had a brother.
David cleared off the table and asked the women to show him their favorite pieces from their own jewelry boxes. Katie held out a pretty sapphire-and-diamond ring.
“My mom adored Princess Diana,” she said. “Bought all the books when she got married. She even had a collector’s edition doll. The Christmas after Mom had me, my dad got her this. It’s like Diana’s engagement ring. A sapphire surrounded by diamonds. A couple of years ago, she gave it to me.”
“What do you like about it?” he asked.
“The stone is beautiful. It changes color in the sunlight. The ring is lovely, but what I like most is that it makes me think of my mom when I wear it.” She shrugged. “That’s probably not helpful.”
He made more notes. “Sure it is. The setting is classic. Do the rest of you like it?”
