Alphabet Weekends - Elizabeth Noble [132]
Sheepishly she reached into her bag and pulled out a small box. Tom’s face was baffled as she handed it to him.
He opened it and took out a ring, an enormous, revolting signet ring, shiny gold, with a sort of lattice-lace thing happening round the band, and a big slab of royal blue onyx set in the top.
Tom laughed. ‘What the hell is this?’
‘It’s a Z-sized ring. It’s for you. Z. Get it?’
‘But—’
‘Okay, I know it’s vile and horrid and deeply hideous, but it was the only size Z they had in the shop, and I was rushing, with the holiday being short notice and everything…’
‘And you thought I might verify the size?’ His dimples were out in force now, his hilarity barely contained. He was holding the ring up to the light, spinning it round on one finger.
‘I don’t know, do I?’
‘Tell me one thing, Nat?’
‘What?’ She felt almost sulky suddenly. She knew it wasn’t a great ring. Okay, it was possibly the worst ring in the history of rings, but that wasn’t the point, was it?
‘Will I have to wear this when we get married?’
Natalie looked at him for a few seconds without speaking, but her eyes filled, first with understanding, and then with tears. She threw herself against him, and they fell back on to the sun-lounger in a tight embrace. All she could say was ‘Tom.’ She put her hands on both his cheeks and kissed him again and again. ‘Tom. My Tom.’
He tolerated it for a few moments, then held her face still and kissed her slowly and deeply. ‘My Natalie.’
Behind them the waiters stopped polishing and watched.
Later, when the sun was touching the sea, and the heat had gone from the day, they collected the ring and the atlas and started up the beach towards their room, arms round each other companionably.
‘You’ll do it again later, won’t you? Ask me. Properly, I mean. At dinner, maybe. You know, the full-monty sort of thing.’
Tom hugged her tighter to him, and just laughed.
Acknowledgements
Thanks, by the heaped spoonful, must go to Timothy Barker, Caedmon, Pete and the staff at the Princetown Spirit of Adventure Centre, Stephanie Cabot, Peter Clarkson, Pam Clarkson, Suzanne Cluff, Mari Evans, Kate Fleming, Sue Fletcher, Denise Hayden, Jamie Hodder-Williams, Jonathan Lloyd, Wendy Middleton, Louise Moore and Hazel Orme.