“Office of Emergency Management? Why there?”
“Because everyone from One PP is over there. Commissioners, Commander McMains, The Hammer.…” Heat looked down and used a finger to scoop a cork crumb out of her glass. “I guess I got back on their radar today. They wanted to meet with me about the job on the task force.”
“And they offered it to you?”
She wiped the cork on a napkin and brought her eyes up to meet his, knowing how emotionally loaded this subject was, but getting it on the table, at last. “Yes.”
“And what did you tell them?” He held up a hand. “Wait. Don’t tell me. I mean not yet. I just remembered. I want to show you something first. Don’t move.”
Rook dashed out of the room with his robe parting in a most undignified way. She heard the zip of his overnight bag and he came out, hiding something behind his back. Keeping his hand hidden he rejoined her on the couch. Nikki’s mouth felt dry. The wine wasn’t quenching it.
“OK,” he said, “where do I start? Recently, while I was in Paris, I made a quick side trip to one of my favorite jewelers in the Marais.”
“Oh, really?…” The college theater arts actress in Nikki hoped she sold ignorance to him.
“Why, you may ask? Because…last spring I had left him my mother’s antique engagement ring to put a bigger diamond in the setting, and I wanted to pick it up.” He brought his hand from behind his back and opened a bag—the one she had spotted in his kitchen trash can—and pulled out a small case that he opened and held out to her. “What do you think of the job he did on Mom’s ring?”
Nikki didn’t need to act at that point. “Rook…I’m, I’m speechless.”
“édouard—he’s the master jeweler there. Been there forever. Probably designed those candlesticks Jean Valjean stole. Didn’t he do a great job?”
“Oh. Very, um, quite.” She was struggling to hold her composure, feeling foolish and, yes, crestfallen. “Very, very nice craftsmanship.”
“C’est très bon, n’est ce pas?”
“Ah.” Then she heard a wooden semblance of her own voice say, “…Oui.”
“Good, because otherwise you might not want to wear it.”
At first Nikki thought she’d misheard. She was so blitzed from the week’s ordeal, and so caught up in the shock of learning that receipt had been for his mother’s ring, that it seemed as if Rook was trying to indicate this engagement ring was actually for her. But that must have been what Rook meant, because he was taking it out of the case and holding the big diamond up to her. She stared at it, flabbergasted, as all the facets sparkled in an infinitely stunning display of pure light. “Rook. Are you saying…”
“I am saying this is for you.”
“Your mother’s engagement ring?”
“Don’t worry, Mom’s got a whole box of them. I dropped a quarter in the slot and worked the claw to pick out this one.”
They both laughed. “Romantic,” she said.
“Just because I ghostwrite romance novels doesn’t mean I have to be romantic.”
“No, this is plenty romantic. In a twisted, Rook kind of way.” Her face grew serious and she said, “I think before we go further we need to clear some air first.”
“…All right. Is this going to be about the task force?”
“In essence, yes.” She held a shielding hand up to the ring and chuckled. “Can you put that aside for a second? It’s very hard to concentrate.”
“That’s the whole idea.” He flashed it in her face again to tease, then slipped it back in the velvet and closed the lid.