He’d shut himself away from everyone when he hadn’t been working and had stewed on his own in a slow bubble of anger flavoured increasingly with despair. And then he’d made his decision.
If Caro wanted him, even half as much as he wanted her, then they could work something out. He didn’t know how, but maybe he could convince her to at least talk about it.
He took a couple of hours off work and drove into Penzance, without thinking about why he was making the trip. He wandered past shop windows, without properly knowing what he was looking for. But when he saw the ring in the jeweller’s window, he knew that this was exactly why he was here.
It was a platinum eternity ring, with blue-green emeralds inlaid all the way around it. When he went inside and asked to see it, the colours flashed and changed like the sea. Like the ever-moving, ever-fascinating workings of Caro’s mind.
‘What size would you like, sir?’
That was a problem. Drew brushed it away. ‘I’m not sure. Her hands are about the same size as yours, does it fit you?’
The assistant flashed him
an uncertain look, but she tried the ring on anyway. Drew tried to imagine it on Caro’s hand, and the comparison didn’t really work for him. This was Caro’s ring, and she was the only one who should wear it.
‘I’ll take it.’
‘It would be better if you could find out the size. This is a lovely ring, but it isn’t easy to resize something of this design. It’s a lot of expense to go to if you’re not sure.’
That was the least of Drew’s worries. He wasn’t sure whether Caro would even accept the ring. Or which finger she’d wear it on if she did. For the moment, all he could think was that he’d keep it in his pocket as a reminder. An expression of intent.
‘That’s okay.’
The assistant hesitated. He wondered if he should ask to speak to the manager and complain that that an assistant who wouldn’t sell him what he wanted wasn’t doing her job properly. Actually, she was doing her job very well, and this was madness.
‘Please. This is the ring I want.’
‘All right. If you bring it back undamaged within the next fourteen days, we’ll give you a credit note.’
The assistant put the ring into the box and started to wrap it. Drew found himself smiling at her and realised he’d been under-using those muscles recently.
He drove back to the clinic and spent the rest of the morning and the better part of the afternoon in his consulting room. Somehow the stream of patients didn’t seem quite so daunting when he knew that the ring was in his pocket. Drew didn’t think about what he was going to do with it, or whether he was going to get a chance to do anything with it. For the moment it was enough that it was there.
When he walked out of the clinic that evening, the air seemed fresh and clean. He wandered down towards the beach, slipping his hand into his pocket and tracing the shape of the ring with his fingers. As the waves lapped against the sand, he stared out towards the horizon. The view here was ever changing and yet still always the same.
Suddenly he knew. It had been staring him in the face, and he hadn’t seen it. Now that he did, Drew realised that the answer had been obvious all along. He turned, making for his car. He had to hurry; he had a tide to catch...
* * *
Caro was no particular stranger to crazy ideas, but this had to be the craziest yet. Sitting on the bench that overlooked the open sea, as the sun fell in the sky. She told herself that she was appreciating the view and getting a breath of fresh air, but when she closed her eyes all she could see was a light, fixed in the prow of a small rowing boat. Drew, pulling strongly on the oars, coming for her.
The longing to see him became sharper each day. Sometime soon it would be stronger than the fear of rejection, the dread of what he might say. Until then, she’d wait for him.
This evening, he seemed so real. She could almost hear his voice, calling her name...
‘Caro...!’
She almost jumped out of her skin. That actually was Drew’s voice. Or maybe she was just going completely mad. Caro sprang to her feet, whirling around, and saw a dark shape walking slowly towards her.
‘Drew?’ A shiver down her spine accompanied the thought that he couldn’t really be here at all. ‘How did you get here? The tide’s coming in...’
He was closer now. Clearer in the failing light. ‘I had to wade out to the steps.’
Caro’s gaze fell to the watermarks on his trousers, just above his knees. He had come. Not the way she’d imagined, but he’d come and that was all that mattered.
She swallowed hard, trying not to allow false hope to take root. ‘Why are you here, Drew?’
That smile. The one he always gave when she got straight to the point. It was just one of the things she’d been dreaming about...