Page 157 of One Good Puck
When she opens the small jewelry box, her big blue eyes go wide.
“Oh my gosh…” She stares down at the delicate, teardrop diamond earrings set in rose gold. She looks up at Gavin. “These are mom’s earrings.”
Gavin’s eyes are misty as he looks at his daughter. “She’d want you to have them. You can wear them on your wedding day, if you’d like.”
Sophie sniffles and hugs her dad. “I will. It’ll be like a small part of her is with me.”
A sad smile pulls at Gavin’s mouth. I blink back the tears in my eyes, watching this special moment between father and daughter. I notice Jeannette is teary-eyed too. Xander gives her hand a gentle squeeze and hands her a tissue.
“I hope it’s okay, I got you something too.” I hand Sophie a small box.
She smiles at me. “Abby, you shouldn’t have.”
When she opens the box and sees the rose gold hair clip adorned in diamonds and pearls, she gasps softly.
“I saw it in a vintage shop,” I say. “They reminded me of your mom’s earrings.”
Sophie looks at me, her eyes misty as she smiles. “It’s beautiful. I’m going to wear this in my hair on my wedding day. It’ll go perfectly with my earrings. Thank you, Abby.”
My chest swells. I’m so touched she’d want to wear my gift on her special day.
We stand up and hug. When we break apart, we chuckle and wipe our eyes.
“Glad I’m not the only one crying,” Jeannette says. We all chuckle.
“One more gift,” Gavin says, handing me a card when I sit back down next to him.
I’m smiling when I open it. When I see the plane tickets to Paris, I gasp.
I look at him. “You didn’t…”
That half-smile I love so much appears on his face. “I did.”
“You’re taking me to Paris?” I squeal.
He nods. I lunge-hug him. I’m tearing up, I’m so happy. My dream trip to Paris.
“A trip to Paris is the most romantic gift ever. Way to make the rest of us guys look bad, Coach,” Xander teases. Sophie and Jeannette chuckle.
When we break apart, I hold Gavin’s face in my hands. Emotion bubbles up inside of me. I’m so happy, I feel like I’m going to explode.
“I don’t know what to say.” My voice is soft and shaky with how overwhelmed I am. I didn’t know I could feel this much joy. I didn’t think it was possible.
The man I’m head over heels in love with just smiles. “Say you’ll go to Paris with me.”
I beam. “I will absolutely go to Paris with you.”
***
