The Devil You Know by Laurie Paige

Author:Laurie Paige
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2004-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

“You don’t have to do this,” Roni told Adam on Monday at noon. She’d been up since four that morning, working on the new project, and felt tired and disheveled.

“I think it’s customary,” he replied.

They’d met downtown at eleven and gone through the arrangements for the marriage license. She’d spoken to the pastor at the Lost Valley church and to Marta, who was the church pianist and who would also make the cake.

Amelia and the other Dalton wives would take care of the flowers and food for the reception at the newly completed lodge next to the lake. Later there would be a dinner for the family and close friends. She and Adam would then retire to their honeymoon suite on the second floor.

Everything was under control. All she had to do was relax and enjoy. Right?

Adam held the door to the jewelry store. She went inside, with him close behind, as if to cut off any escape attempts on her part. But there was no backing out. She’d given her word.

“May I help you?” the woman behind the counter asked, giving them a bright, expectant smile.

“We need wedding bands,” Adam explained. “And an engagement ring. A diamond one.”

“No, no.” Roni shook her head. “There’s no need to waste money on a diamond.”

“What would you rather have?” he asked.

“Nothing. I mean, you don’t have to get an engagement ring. I’ll hardly have time to wear it before we’re…before the…”

“Ceremony?” he supplied. “We have the rest of the week. Besides, your uncle will expect it. We’ll look at the one carat diamonds,” he said to the jeweler.

The woman visually measured her hand, then removed a black velvet tray filled with shining gold circles encrusted with sparkling diamonds. “Try one of these on,” she invited.

Roni tried to pick the smallest and plainest of the rings on the tray. Adam selected one with a large diamond in the center and two sprays of smaller diamonds curving gracefully on each side. It wasn’t the largest or most ornate, but Roni thought it the most beautiful.

When he slid it on, she had a selfish urge to close her hand into a fist so he couldn’t change his mind and remove it. She resisted the impulse.

“Will this do?” he asked.

She tried to read the numbers on what was surely the smallest price tag in the world. “How much is it?” she asked the woman.

The store owner read the tag without hesitation.

“Bionic eyes,” Adam murmured to Roni.

He gave her a conspiratorial grin when she gazed at him in alarm at the cost. “That’s too much.” She tried to remove the ring.

His hand closed over hers. “She’s very practical,” he told the jeweler. “We’ll take it.”

“Would you like them engraved?” the owner asked. “Most couples put their initials inside the band. We can easily add a phrase—”

“No,” Roni interrupted, unable to go that far.

She was silent while Adam’s credit card was run through the machine. The sale was approved. He signed the credit slip and pocketed the white

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