Chapter 64 The Engagement Ring
Byron had something even more special planned for the next day. A small jewelery case tucked away in his suitcase held the diamond ring that he was going to use to propose to the woman he loved. While Emily was in the shower, he opened the case and took another glimpse at the princess cut diamond ring.
It was beautiful, but even its lustrous glitter couldn’t begin to express the love that he felt. He put the case in his pocket, preparing for later in the evening when he would take Emily for a walk on the beach and propose to her.
When Emily came out of the shower wrapped in a big towel she had a serious look that made him forget his glorious dreams for a moment.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I didn’t want to tell you last night because you were already asleep, but I got a troubling email from Katie. I think my brother might have dropped out of school.”
“Sh*t! Do your parents know?”
Emily sighed, too despondent to imagine how her parents would react. “Probably not. He usually does whatever he wants to do and doesn’t tell anyone. I’m lucky Katie let me know about it.”
“I guess you probably want to talk to him.”
“Yeah,” Emily said, “but he hasn’t answered his phone or replied to the email I sent last night. I’m really worried.”
“I’m sorry to hear this,” Byron said. More sorry than she knew, since he had been hoping to propose that evening. “I’ll call Darla. We should head back as soon as we can.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” Emily asked. “This time away from work has been so good for you.”
“No,” he said, “this is more important. You need to see your brother, and I’m coming with you.”
“Thanks for understanding.” Emily hugged him and felt comforted by his solid hold. “Maybe you could talk to him. He really likes you. I think he respects your opinion more than that of his family members since he’s so used to us trying to tell him how to live his life.”
“I hope I can help,” Byron replied, “I would like to talk to him.”
After Emily left the room to pack some of her stuff, Byron took out the little box with the ring in it.
“You won’t be making an appearance tonight,” he said regretfully.
He had the perfect venue and the most elegant ring, but the timing seemed all wrong now. The proposal would have to wait until this situation was sorted out.
A few hours later, they were back on the plane, but as a silver lining to the cloud, Quinn Faines joined them on the flight.
“Have to get back to the mainland and the old ball and chain,” he said. “I can’t stay away from her for long.”
Byron smiled, seeing that the rumors were true and he seemed to be happily married after all.
But there was one relationship that did not stand the test of time. When they arrived in Vancouver and Emily checked her email again, there was another message from Katie:
Hi Emily,
I’m sorry to give you more bad news, but I broke up with Nick. I hope we can still remain friends, and I still care about him very much, but I couldn’t handle his irresponsible ways anymore. I hope you and I can still be friends too, but I understand if you don’t want to.
Katie
Emily sent back a quick message saying that of course she still wanted to be friends with Katie.
“I’m actually surprised the relationship lasted as long as it did, knowing how immature Nick is, and Katie too in some ways,” she said.
But for the present, she seemed extremely concerned about her brother, who must have been even more unbalanced by this breakup.
“He’s going to be fine,” Byron assured her as they pulled away from the airport in his limo. “Young love can be traumatic, but it’s something we all have to go through.”
“I just hope he can still go back to school after all the time he’s missed,” Emily said, “though he might not want to. I’m sorry our holiday got ruined.”
“It wasn’t ruined,” Byron said, “Even if it got cut a little short, I had the best time of my life.”
“Me too,” she replied.
Byron grew hopeful that she would accept his proposal. There would be a better time for it.
