Shame the Devil (Portland Devils #3) - Rosalind James Page 0,186

he was going to take care of her. The night he’d told her he wanted her to move in.

She’d been so scared. So uprooted. It had felt like the scariest gamble she’d ever taken, and yet—here they were. On a terrace overlooking the lake, eating delicious things while the endless North Idaho twilight lingered over the lake and the mountains, all sapphire and gold.

Owen had just given Dyma her a graduation present. Earrings, a gift Jennifer somehow knew he’d pondered over during long hours riding the fenceline, figuring out what would be acceptable. What would let him express his feelings, but not be too much.

They’d come in a red box with Cartier stamped in gold, but the chunky white-gold half-hoops with a tiny diamond set into each were a little industrial-looking, a little funky. Dyma was hugging Owen, kissing him hard, and putting them into her ears then and there, and Owen sat there like a gratified boulder and looked pleased as punch.

Jennifer would bet anything that he’d wanted to give her a new car instead. She appreciated the restraint.

Dyma was talking now, using her hands, her face alight, and the look on Owen’s face almost hurt to see. Sure, he looked like he was thinking, This girl is adorable, and I want to put her in my lap and kiss her for hours. He also looked like he was thinking, I’m so crazy about this girl, and so proud. She couldn’t be wrong about that.

Dyma said, “And, Mom. Amber Duckworth texted me that her mom Googled everything you had on. While she was supposed to be watching the graduation! She said all the moms were texting each other that your bracelet cost eighteen thousand dollars, and your purse was something like twelve hundred, and your shoes were whatever. They were trying to figure out the necklace, too, but nobody got a good enough look. Can you believe that? Like they’re all playing The Price Is Right, when they’re supposed to be having elevated thoughts about their babies growing up. And seriously, Harlan? Eighteen thousand bucks? Way to make a statement.”

“Yep,” he said. Sounding lazy. Sounding casual. “A woman only turns thirty-five once. Just like she only graduates from high school once.” He pulled out the tote from under his chair and passed the package over. “From Annabelle and me. Happy graduation.”

It was a new laptop. A MacBook Pro.

“Wow,” Dyma said. “Wow.” She was, for once, speechless.

“If you’re going to school in engineering,” Harlan said, “you need a better computer. Owen said this one was right. Good for graphics and all.”

She came around the table and hugged him, then Annabelle, and said, “This is the best day. Thank you. I didn’t think the actual graduation part would mean that much, but it felt like a really big deal. So did you cry, Mom? You looked like you cried.”

“Of course I cried,” she said. “I cried like a … a faucet. I was awfully proud, baby girl. You should be proud of yourself, too. You worked so hard.”

“Not as hard as you,” Dyma said, back in her chair again. “I mean, sure, I worked at Burger King and all, and that wasn’t exactly a picnic, but most of school wasn’t that hard. I have a feeling college is going to be a lot harder. What do you think, Owen?”

“I think you’re right,” he said. “But I’m pretty sure you’ve got this. Even though you might not always be the smartest person in the room.” He smiled at her. “Maybe the second smartest sometimes. Never mind. Competition builds character.”

“I wish Grandma had been there, though,” Dyma said. “I missed her a lot. You know she’d have had something funny to say. She’d have loved all the Googling.”

“You’re right,” Jennifer said, and pulled the wrapped box from her tote. “I thought she should be here, too. That’s why my graduation present to you has a little bit of her in it.” And then slid the box across to Dyma and held her breath.

Dyma opened it, as excited as Christmas morning, and pulled out the bracelet that rested on a pad of cotton wool.

It wasn’t from Tiffany, or from Cartier, either, but it had love inside. A cuff made of bands of sterling silver, antler, turquoise, and dark, polished wood, with a little diamond embedded off-center, like the first star in the night sky. Jennifer said, “It’s the diamond from Grandma’s ring. I had the artist put it in there so you can have