I Was His Waiting Room novel · Chapter 4 of 32

Chapter 4: The Jeweler

The jeweler on Newbury Street had a doorman in a gray coat and a buzzer by the glass.

I was wearing a fleece with dog hair on it and work boots with paint on the toes.

He buzzed me in anyway.

It was warm inside and smelled like lilies.

Glass cases ran down both walls. A couple in matching scarves were looking at watches. A woman in pearls was having a bracelet sized.

Kiera's chair was parked at the long case in the back, under a chandelier.

Ronan stood beside her with his credit card already out.

A saleswoman was holding up a second ring on a little velvet pillow.

"This one sits lower," she was saying. "Easier with the wheels. You won't catch it."

"Oh, I love that you thought of that," Kiera said.

Then she saw me in the mirror behind the case.

For one second her face did nothing at all.

Then it lit up.

"Maura! Oh my God. Did you see my post?"

Ronan turned.

He'd changed his shirt since last night. He'd shaved.

"Maur," he said, low. "Not here."

"Here's fine," I said.

I walked down the length of the store. My boots squeaked on the marble the whole way.

The couple with the scarves stopped talking.

I took the top invoice out of the folder and laid it flat on the glass, right between Kiera's hand and the velvet pillow.

"What's this?" Kiera said.

"You know what it is. It has my name on it."

Ronan picked it up. He read it.

His forehead creased.

"Service dog training," he said. "Nine hundred a month. To who?"

"To the Prendergast family," I said. "For thirty-six months. In my name. I never sent a bill to anyone in my life."

Kiera laughed.

"Prendergast? Maura. That's so random."

"Niall Prendergast came to the firehouse this morning. He's Brendan's brother."

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