Page 21 of Over and Above (Mount Hope #4)
Chapter Twenty-One
Magnus
“I need a gift idea.” Diesel swept into The Heist on a bracing December afternoon. Thanks to dropping temperatures, the lunch rush had never fully materialized, and now we were decidedly in a pre-dinner lull where some staff ate while others rolled silverware in black linen napkins.
“You and me both.” I came around the bar to welcome him with a hug.
“Who do you need a gift for?” Diesel narrowed his eyes. The blue in his hair had faded to the color of the winter sky with dark roots, making him look older and wiser, some sort of snow wizard.
“Eric. The household.” I kept my tone vague. I probably shouldn’t have started this line of conversation. I’d been so happy to see Diesel for the rare daytime visit that I hadn’t thought through my commiseration, so I tried to choose my next words more carefully. “They’ve all gone over and above in helping out this year, but Eric especially. I should get him something.”
“Matching grandpa sweaters?” Diesel cackled before pulling out his phone. “Oh wait. I gotta suggest that idea to Maren.”
“No clothing.” I shuddered at the thought of a sweater, let alone an ugly holiday one. And the last thing I wanted was some sort of gag gift. “Something more…meaningful.”
Ideally, I needed something that could be opened in front of others. Diesel and I had been invited to join the family for Christmas, along with assorted other friends. After years of only Diesel and myself, having such a warm, welcoming group was unexpectedly wonderful. Indeed, my chest lifted every time I thought about Thanksgiving.
I would never look at a dessert brandy in the same light or watch the trio of holiday comedies Eric and I had indulged in without remembering his laugh. I expected Christmas to be more of the same because we were already discussing shared cooking duties. However, the added pressure of a gift for the holiday had me in as many knots as Diesel seemed to be himself.
“Meaningful.” Diesel rolled the word around in his mouth like it had a metallic taste. “See, that’s my problem too. Maren said she doesn’t want anything, but I think she’s trying to be nice because the baby needs so many things.”
“Yeah, you need to get her a present, but I know funds are tight.” I stretched, trying to think what a twenty-year-old mother-to-be might possibly want. “You’ll get a lot of baby gifts at the shower, so perhaps something small just for her?”
“Exactly.” Diesel nodded, stamping his boot-covered feet. His combat-style boots had seen him through Europe and the start of his present job and were battered—the leather decidedly thin and scuffed in places. He needed new ones, which, luckily, solved another gift dilemma for me, not that I’d reveal that brainstorm.
“Perfume? Bath products? A nice robe?” I suggested, but Diesel pulled a bored face.
“Maybe something other than what advertising wants us to buy for women?” Shaking his head, he made a frustrated noise. “The only ads that remotely get it right are jewelry.”
“Pricey.” I whistled low, not sure I agreed and also hoping he hadn’t come about a loan.
“Not always.” His cagey tone and nervous eyes had me decidedly on edge. “Which is why I was thinking… Your safe survived the fire, right?”
“Yes. Thank goodness.” I smiled more freely now that I had an idea of where this talk was headed. “You’re thinking of that envelope of jewelry we got from your maternal grandmother’s husband?”
“Yeah.” Diesel’s maternal grandparents had never been much a part of our life, but a couple of years back, after Flo died, her mother had also passed, and her mother’s third husband had sent us some family jewelry for Diesel to keep. Neither of us had been in the mood to sort through it at the time, so I’d simply placed it in my safe for a later time.
“The safe is actually in my office here now. Let’s go look.” I ushered him to the small room at the back that had undoubtedly housed some important banker when the building had been a functioning bank. These days, however, it was a mess of random chairs, papers waiting for me to file or trash, an older laptop, and several changes of clothes.
I’d stashed the safe on the floor near the desk, and I bent to retrieve the padded envelope of jewelry. “We should have thought of this before the courthouse wedding.”
“I know.” Diesel gave a pained groan as he kneeled next to me. “A bit backward to do the proposal, quickie wedding, and now worry about jewelry.”
“Hey. I’m proud of you.” I clapped him on the back. “The order doesn’t matter. You’re making this work, and you’re going to be amazing parents.”
“Thanks.” He opened the envelope and the light bounced off a necklace with a flower with a smiley face center.
“Oh.” I picked it up, a thousand tiny memories hitting me as the rough, cheap chain rubbed across my thumb. “I won this necklace for Flo at a street carnival the first time we hung out.”
I’d had no idea she’d kept it, let alone passed it on to her mother for safekeeping, and my chest gave a weird wobble.
“Is that when you fell in love?” Diesel asked with all the surety of a young person in love for the first time. For his sake, I hoped he’d found the forever kind of love, but for myself, the question wasn’t so easy.
“One of the times.” I sighed. “We fell in and out of love more times than most people change their wardrobes. That night though? Yeah. I thought she was something special.”
“So you did love her,” Diesel prompted. Considering we didn’t often discuss Flo, the conversation was unchartered territory for us, so I took a moment to gather my thoughts.
“She was hard not to love. She was funny, charismatic, adventurous, and when she was happy, everyone in the room knew it.” I tried to be generous because this was Diesel’s mother, and he had his own set of memories to contend with, both good and bad. “But she was a complicated person, and ours was a complicated story. I loved her, but I hated what addiction did to her, to all of us. I love her because she gave me you, and you’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Aww.” Diesel bumped my shoulder. “Sometimes I think about who she could have been without addiction.”
“Me too,” I admitted roughly.
“I’ve always figured she gave you a broken heart,” Diesel said simply like he wasn’t launching a conversational grenade. “It’s why you never tried again.”
“I’ve dated,” I protested.
“Not seriously.” Diesel shrugged as he resumed pawing through the envelope, leaving me with my reeling thoughts.
I’d dated subtly when Diesel was younger, less clandestinely as he’d become a teen and then an adult. But he was right in that I hadn’t sought out serious relationships. In fact, my thing with Eric was the most committed, stable relationship I’d ever had. And I couldn’t tell a damn soul about it, including Diesel, because Eric didn’t want to admit we were anything other than temporary.
“A ring!” Diesel interrupted my stewing as he held up a vintage-looking piece. Gold with a setting I associated more with midcentury pieces, although I was far from an expert. “Do you think it’s real? It looks old.”
“It does.” I nodded. I liked that it had a family lineage without a direct link to mine and Flo’s ill-fated romance. “We can have it appraised and sized, but I think Maren would look lovely in it.”
“You want to walk with me to the jeweler down the block?” Typically impulsive, Diesel was already standing and heading toward the office door.
“Why not?” I grabbed my jacket from the back of a chair. I’d long ago figured out that following Diesel’s brainstorms was easier than trying to be the voice of caution and reason. “We’re slow.”
The walk to the nearby jewelry store was chilly, the sharp edges of the wind whipping against my face. I should have grabbed a hat for my exposed scalp. Once inside the store, an elegantly dressed male clerk cornered us and immediately swept up the ring for inspection and appraisal. Diesel followed the man to a low table with magnifying glasses and other jewelry tools, but I took the opportunity to wander.
Obviously, I wasn’t in the market for jewelry as a holiday gift, but for the first time in twenty-odd years, the idea didn’t terrify me. I stopped by a display of men’s rings. I glanced down at my bare left hand. I’d never remotely longed for a ring or what it symbolized, but a little tingle of what if had me looking more closely at the case. Eric undoubtedly still had his ring from his marriage to Montgomery, even if he didn’t wear it. Would he ever want another?
Probably not. That answer made me huff, a harsh sound in the near-empty room. Diesel swiveled to frown at me. Outside, sirens sounded in the distance, first responders headed to an emergency somewhere. Eric’s image flashed in my brain as it always did when I heard sirens these days. His job wasn’t without danger, and my pulse inevitably sped up.
Not waiting for permission, my hand reached for my phone. We rarely texted during the work day, but the urge to contact Eric exceeded my usual willpower.
You still off tonight? I’m letting Sandy handle closing again, so maybe you’d want to watch something later?
To my surprise, he replied back before I had a chance to pocket my phone again.
Absolutely. Wren has a rare sleepover with some Dungeons and Dragons friends who want a marathon game. It’s Friday night, so John’s likely gone with friends too. We can start watching early for once.
I texted quickly, glancing over to make sure Diesel was still occupied.
Or get wild and eat together. Come over to my place, and I’ll feed you. My TV is smaller, but I’ve got privacy.
Eric’s reply was brief.
It’s a date.
It wasn’t the most romantic text, nor was it an answer to the gift question, but anticipation surged through me nonetheless. Of course having a plan to meet up wasn’t the same as actually dating. However, maybe it could be a baby step in that direction.
I wasn’t one for new year resolutions, but getting Eric to step out of the shadows of secrecy with me wasn’t a bad goal. We were exclusive. We cared about each other. We spent as much time as possible together. Surely adding dating to the equation shouldn’t be too hard? Maybe if I sneakily romanced the man, he wouldn’t even notice enough to object.