When the Music Ends (The Winter Rose Chronicles) (18 page)

            "To
each his own, baby. I think I just want to major in you for a while."

            "That
sounds lovely. So, what’s next?"

            "Let’s
get something to eat."

            "Hungry?"

            "Very.
I had this insatiable wench trying to ride me all afternoon and evening."

            "I
don’t remember you complaining."

            "Nope.
There’s nothing wrong with a wife who really likes sex."

            "Or
a husband either. You know, if we go to the mall to eat, there’s a little
jewelry store right there. We could look for some wedding rings."

            "Sure.
Sounds good."

            "Do
you want me to call Sheridan, let her know what’s happening?"

            "Good
idea. She’ll be so proud of herself."

            "It’s
great to see. I didn’t know that playful part of her survived."

            Sean
raised Erin’s hand to his lips.

            "No
more of that. This is our wedding day. I don’t want to talk about a four
year old tragedy anymore."

            "Okay."

            Arriving
at the mall, they strolled to the food court. Erin bought herself a small roast
beef sandwich and a side salad while Sean piled into an enormous burger. Erin knew one of her jobs as Sean’s wife would be to monitor his nutrition. But he
had certainly gotten enough exercise last night to burn off all those calories.
She really was an insatiable wench. How wonderful.

            They
finished about the same time, and, dumping their trash, headed over to the
jewelry store. Despite being inside a shopping mall, it was a very small
establishment. Not a chain, but a local business owned by a jeweler who was
very well respected in the community. His pieces were of high quality and many
were unique. Erin worried a little about the cost, but at least there would be
no need for an expensive solitaire. A set of simple gold bands should do the
trick.

            Except
that there were so many gold bands inside those cases that Erin didn’t
know where to begin. It was overwhelming. Some had diamond chips or other inset
stones, others had silver accents. Some were thick and others were thin.

            "Hello,
sir, ma’am, how can I help you?"

            The
owner, a dapper elderly gentleman, came out from a back room to assist his
bewildered clients.

            "Well,"
Sean told him, "we’re getting married. Today, actually. And we
would like some rings."

            "Yes,
I have rings." He stated the obvious with a wry smile. "What kind
of rings do you like?"

            "I
don’t know," Erin said, shaking her head. "I don’t wear
jewelry. I’m a musician and most rings just get in the way."

            "Well,
something smooth would get in the way least."

            "Okay,
but that doesn’t really narrow things down much does it?"

            "Do
you want them to match?"

            "Yes."

            "Erin," Sean called from in front of a case in the corner, "Come here a
minute."

            She
drifted over and gasped. Tucked into the back, behind some really chunky heavy
jewelry that made Erin think of old ladies with hair like meringue, there was a
forgotten ring set, dusty from having been ignored so long. The man’s
ring was massive, the woman’s dainty, and they were flat broad gold bands
featuring a running pattern of Celtic knots all the way around. The heavy black
antiquing made the shining twists of that ancient symbol of eternity stand out
in sharp relief. They were perfect.

            "Sir,
can we see these please?"

            "Those?
Why those?"

            "We’re
Irish."

            "Of
course you are. Here you go."

            Erin slid the small band onto her finger. It fit perfectly. She tried very hard not to cry,
but a tear escaped anyway. Sean noticed and brushed it away, softly caressing
her cheek. Then he tried on the larger one. Despite its size, it wouldn’t
quite go onto his work-roughened finger.

            "It’s
too small."

            "Normally,
it would take me a few days to fix it, but we’re a little dead right now,
as most of the customers are at work. Friday will be a different story. I can
have it fixed for you by three."

            "Great.
The wedding is at four, so that should work."

            "See
you then."

            "Well
now what?" Erin asked as they left the store.

            "I
don’t know. Do you want to shop for anything else, like a dress?"

            "Hmmm.
The only dress I own is a black one I wear to performances."

            "That’s
not very festive."

            "No,
but do I need to dress up? I mean, what are you going to wear?"

            "I
have a pair of slacks and a dress shirt at the hotel. I thought I might take Sheridan to mass on Sunday. That should work."

            "What
color is the shirt?"

            "Blue."

            "Well,
I’m not sure I’m entitled to white. I’m not exactly a virgin."

            "You
don’t have to be a virgin to be perfect, you know. To me you look like an
angel. Wear whatever color you want."

            Erin knew she was far from perfect, but she appreciated the sentiment.

            "I
have an idea." Erin took out her phone and called Sheridan again. Sean
couldn’t really hear her conversation over the din of holiday music at
the mall. A few minutes later she hung up and turned to him.

            "Two
hours isn’t much time, really. Why don’t you go back to the hotel
and get ready. Sheridan is coming to meet me here. We’ll pick out some
dresses and meet you at the jewelry store later."

            "Oh,
okay. I hate leaving you though."

            "I
know. But just think, this time tomorrow, no distance on earth can separate
us."

            Sean
scooped Erin into his arms and kissed her.

            "I
love you, Erin."

            "I
love you too."

            Erin couldn’t help watching as he walked away. How very fine he looked in his jeans.
She couldn’t wait to get him out of them again, only next time it would
be as his wife.

******

            Back
at the hotel, Sean thought about what was ahead of him. He was strangely calm,
as though taking one of the most momentous steps in his adult life was not
frightening at all. He was giving up, for all time, the right to be with anyone
but Erin, and he wasn’t nervous in the slightest. In fact, the thought of
having her all to himself for the rest of his life was soothing. For three
long, agonizing years, he had tried to forget her, to move on. It had been an
abject failure. The first year, he had been too hurt even to consider other
girls. By December of Erin’s sophomore year of college, twelve months
after their last date, he had gotten a phone call... he could still remember
it. Jason had wanted to take him out.

            Thinking
back to that evening, Sean replayed the scene in his mind. He’d been home
from work, exhausted after a day of ripping out rancid, disgusting carpet. It
hadn’t just been tacked to the floor. The installer had used a ludicrous
amount of adhesive, and every inch they gained had been won with a sweat that
defied the lake effect snow hurling itself against the single pane glass of the
window. All he’d wanted was to crash on his ugly sofa with a beer and a
football game. That’s it... and then the phone had begun to ring.

            "Hello?"

"Sean, it’s Jason. Get your ass down to the Fish House
right away."

The Fish House was a sports bar both of them enjoyed.

"Jase, it’s twenty below outside and windy. I’ve
had a long day. I don’t want to go anywhere."

"C’mon bro. You can’t just sit home and brood all
the time. There’s..." Jason had hesitated, a little nervously,
"there’s someone I want you to meet."

"I don’t want to...."

"Not you, jackass. I want you to meet my girl."

"Oh." Jason dated a lot. He loved girls on a large
scale. But he’d never introduced one to his brother, not since they were
in high school. She must be pretty important. Sean took a deep breath. He
really didn’t want to go out, but he’d hardly seen any member of
his family except his dad in almost a month. And even he and dad, when they
were working, talked about... work. He knew they realized something was up with
him, but what could he do? He couldn’t tell them what had happened. It
was unthinkable to sum up everything that had passed between him and the love
of his life in one simple phrase: I broke up with my girlfriend. It was so much
more than that. And he didn’t want to start the conversation. And he
didn’t want to think about Erin. So he’d bundled up in his snow
boots and parka, scarf and hat, and gloves, and shivered to his Mustang, which
fired up grumpily in the cold.

The Fish House sports bar and grill was actually warm inside, packed
as it was with stir crazy bodies. He found Jason saving him a seat at the bar.
Sidling into it, he asked for a Budweiser longneck and took a long gulp before
turning to greet his brother.

"Okay, Jase. What’s up?" Sean asked, his voice a
little grumpy.

"I want you to meet... Lisa." Sean had never heard such
a hesitant, possessive tone in his brother’s voice. This girl meant a lot
to him. Sean glanced past Jason and stopped in stunned amazement. Actually, it
should have been no surprise at all that someone of Jason’s aesthetic
taste would have chosen a beautiful girl. But Lisa was more than beautiful. She
was unreal. Sean blinked several times.

She looked like a statue. A small statue, but perfectly
proportional, thin, and petite, with a shimmering sheet of blue black hair
falling to her shoulder blades. Her skin was perfectly smooth, her lips pouty,
painted a delicate red. And her dark brown eyes tilted exotically at the
corners. Jason’s girl was Chinese.

"Pleased to meet you, Lisa." Sean said politely, once he
had regained the ability to speak.

"And you, Sean. I’ve heard a lot about you."
Despite her appearance, she had a rather strong Minnesota accent. How adorable.

"Lies, all lies," he said.

"Knowing Jason, that’s probably true," she
laughed. Good thing the girl understood what she was getting into.

"Lisa and I just moved in together." Jason announced,
and a hint of color stained the porcelain cheeks. She didn’t want that
shared so blatantly.

"Um, congratulations. Mom and Dad won’t like
that."

"So? My life, my decision."

"And
my
decision," Lisa added, sticking up for
herself. Sean was struck by how young she was. If this girl was a day over
eighteen, he would be shocked.

"Excuse me a moment," she said, heading toward the
bathroom.

"Jase, what are you doing?" Sean asked.

"Introducing you to my girlfriend. Is that wrong or
something?"

"She’s so young. Is she even eighteen?"

"Uh, yeah," he replied sarcastically, "her
birthday was yesterday."

Sean gave him a look.

"What?"

"Too young, Jase."

"And you?" Jason sneered. "How old was Erin when
you... got with her?"

"That’s what I’m talking about. It didn’t go
well. I don’t want you to go through it."

"I won’t. Lisa’s different."

"I thought Erin was different."

"She wasn’t? Then why were you with her?"

"No, she was really special. Too special. I had to let her go.
I hated that. I would have..."

Jason gave Sean a sharp look.

"Would have what?"

"Married her."

Jason considered this for a moment. "Not me. I’m never
getting married."

"Why not?"

"It’s not necessary. It’s just a piece of
paper."

"Does Lisa know that?"

"Yep. Her parents never married. She’s fine with
it."

"I would make sure of that if I were you."

"Okay, bro. Can the lecture. I don’t want to hear it.
And for God’s sake quit moping. Get out there. Meet someone. Dance. Get
busy. Don’t just hang around your apartment dreaming of the past.
It’s over. Move on. How long has it been?"

"Not long enough." But Jason was right, and Sean knew
it. He’d finished his beer by this time, and started another, and the
alcohol was starting to make him feel a little fuzzy. So when the stool next to
him emptied out, and a sexy redhead in a tight dress sidled in, he’d
decided to flirt, just a little. The woman was smoking hot, and slightly
familiar.