Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 74766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
CHAPTER 5
Celia felt very self-conscious about the rock on her finger when she reached the station house. In her excitement, she’d forgotten all about the nosy men she worked with and the fact that they had their noses way up in her business even though she pretended not to know. In this small town, even the men are terrible gossips she’d found and were sometimes the ones carrying news to their wives.
She knew they’d been and still were many whispers about her and Riley, but she’d chosen to keep her head down and let the novelty wear off on its own. She’d made the mistake once of saying something to Riley about the rumor mill’s take on their relationship, and since she’d much rather have him home than in a jail cell, have decided never to make that mistake again. The man has the shortest fuse in creation, especially when it comes to her she’s found.
There was no way to hide the thing though huge as it was, and the last thing Riley said before closing the truck door after belting her in was that she wasn’t allowed to take it off ever for any reason. Since he looked like he would take her head off if she argued with him, she took that to mean that he meant business and resigned herself to wearing the thing that felt like it weighed half a pound every day for the rest of her life.
She couldn’t help grinning, though, each time the sunlight flashed off of the center stone. As nervous as she was about answering her colleagues’ questions, once they got a look at her finger, she couldn’t help the feeling of immense joy, she felt every time she looked at it.
If she were the girly type, she’d pinch herself to make sure that this was real. It wasn’t lost on her that someone like her should not be wearing a ring like this. Not only because of the monetary value but the fact that it was a couple hundred years old and was a family heirloom. She never would’ve expected her life to take such a turn when she was practically forced to move here. Speaking of which, she reminded herself to call her old captain at some point today to give him the good news.
As she drove through the quiet streets of her new home so far removed from everything she’d known before, she reminisced about everything that had happened since she moved here. She recalled the first time she ever laid eyes on Riley, and that hit to the gut feeling she had, the same one she gets now each time she sits across the table from him or climbs into bed beside him.
She felt a slight pang of guilt at the thought of his now-dead wife and the fact that her happiness came about after the other woman’s demise. And though she played no part in that, she sometimes can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened had the other woman lived. Then she feels even guiltier for being happy that she was now the one at Riley’s side.
She’d been tempted to ask if his ex-wife had worn this same ring but remembered that the other woman had worn a completely different style ring. As if reading her thoughts, though, he’d explained over their last cup of coffee that he had indeed offered her the ring since it’s a family heirloom, but she’d refused. He brought it up, he said, because he felt just a tad bit guilty about offering her the same ring, but it meant so much to him that his wife wore it he couldn’t resist.
Celia didn’t actually mind. She’s not really the jealous type, and besides, she, like Riley, choose to look at it as the ring was meant for his ever after wife, the woman he would truly spend the rest of his life with, so it was only fitting that she be the one wearing it now. He’s such a sweet talker, something she would’ve sneered at back in the city where guile was the order of the day, and men and women said whatever was needed to get them what they wanted.
Not that the people of Briar Reef were much better, but when it comes to Riley, she has no doubt that what you see is what you get; the man has no filter. So, there were no lingering feelings of doubt though a week ago, she was the one saying they were moving too fast. Somehow with him, maybe because she’d carried a torch for him for so long, things just seemed right no matter the speed at which they moved.
The thought of planning a wedding, though, was rather daunting, so she chose to ignore that part of it and just enjoy being engaged though another one of Riley’s warnings was that he wasn’t down for any long-term engagements. Six months was all she was getting.