Chapter 8: Three Years Late

"It's not what it looks like," Gavin said.

"It's exactly what it looks like," I said.

"It's a ring in a locked drawer."

"Teddy says your mother told you not to give it to me."

He winced.

"Teddy talks."

"Teddy just saved me another five years."

He came into the study and stopped a few feet away.

He looked as tired as I'd ever seen him, with his tie loose and a button missing from his shirt.

"I bought it for you," he said.

"I walked out of that shop so happy I could hardly breathe."

"I went to tell her because I thought she'd be glad."

"And she wasn't."

"She said what she said."

"Gavin."

"She said you'd stay as long as you thought it was coming."

His voice cracked.

"I told myself I'd wait a month and ask anyway."

"Then it was three months."

"Then it was your birthday again."

"Then it was easier not to look at the drawer."

"You looked at it," I said.

"The velvet's worn through."

He said nothing.

"You opened that box over and over for three years," I said, "and every time you closed it again."

"I couldn't tell her no."

"You could tell me no," I said.

"You told me no every single day."

"Every time I asked when, you said not yet."

"Every time Teddy joked, you said nothing."

"Every time I made an excuse for you, you let me."

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