Page 140 of Unexpected Entanglement

Rowan glared at Rae. “Chris and I had fun, that’s it.”

“Uh-huh. That’s why you’re still wearing the ring he gave you?” Rae looked pointedly at the gold band on Rowan’s ring finger.

Rowan’s gaze flew to the ring. The ring had twisted on her finger, so the stones were in her palm. With a laugh, she fixed its position. “This ring?”

Dean sat up to look closer at the ring. “Chris gave you that ring?”

“He thought we needed a prop. He slipped it on me at the wedding to ward off my ex-boyfriend. It worked like a charm.”

“A prop?” Dean repeated the word as he reached out a hand. “May I?”

Rowan shrugged, took the ring off, and gave it to Dean. He used the flashlight function of his phone to shine a brighter light on the stones and looked inside the band.

“It must be vintage costume jewelry he might’ve gotten downtown,” Rowan said.

Dean exchanged glances with his wife before returning the ring to Rowan. “I know that ring. It is vintage, but it isn’t costume jewelry.”

Rowan stared at Dean with a dumbfounded look. The ring suddenly felt heavy in her palm. She didn’t know what Dean’s revelation meant.

“It belonged to Evelyn Sullens, Chris’ late mother,” Dean elaborated.

Rowan’s jaw dropped as she stared unblinking at her brother-in-law.

“Breathe, Ro.” Rae touched Rowan’s hand, and Rowan automatically sucked in a breath.

She hadn’t realized she’d stopped breathing.

“Chris showed it to me once. When she died, she left him her engagement ring so he could give it to the person he wanted to spend his life with. There’s an inscription inside the band.”

Rowan was afraid to look, but she picked up the ring and read the writing. “For love. For life.” She quickly handed the ring to Dean. “You need to give it back to him.”

Dean didn’t move to take it. “Chris wouldn’t give that ring as a prop.”

“He left in a hurry. He must’ve forgotten to ask me for it,” Rowan reasoned and tried handing it to Rae. “Please, he’s your friend. Give it back to him.”

“He gave it to you.” Rae took Rowan’s hand and folded Rowan’s fingers over the ring in her palm. “The only person who can give it back to him is you.”

What the fuck, Chris?

Rowan fell back into her chair, feeling the ring making an impression on her skin. “I don’t understand. Why would he give his mother’s ring to me?”

“I think you know why,” Rae said. “You just need to see how he looked at you and the way he touched you, stood by you, calmed you, how he’d do anything for you.”

Rae squeezed Rowan’s hand with a smile. “The man is crazy about you, Ro.”

forty-eight

Osterville, Barnstable, Massachusetts

This had been the most pleasant visit Chris had ever had with his father. George Sullens was like an entirely different person. No, he was like the father Chris remembered growing up, before they’d lost his mom.

To think about it now as an adult and at this stage of his life, Chris realized losing Mom had affected his dad in a way he hadn’t comprehended before. He wished Dad had allowed them to grieve together, and maybe they wouldn’t have wasted two decades avoiding each other.

Sitting at the breakfast table with Dad and Rosemary, Chris watched as his dad took a pillbox out of his pocket, slid three pills out, and showed them.

“I told you I’ve been in therapy weekly for a year now, and my doctor prescribed me this.” He took it with some water. “It took several trials and dosage adjustments, but I’ve never felt this light. As if a weight has been lifted off my heart. I buried myself in work all these years, thinking it’d pass. Instead, it festered. I wish I had listened to my mother then, but I was too proud to admit I needed help.”

Chris nodded, taking in his dad’s story. George said the other two were for blood pressure and a low-dose aspirin.

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