“You do.”
“I recognize a ring. That doesn’t mean anything.”
Natalie laughed bitterly.
Ryan spun toward her.
“Shut up.”
That one sentence changed everything.
Several guests exchanged uneasy looks.
Someone turned off the music.
I stepped closer to Ryan.
“Do not talk to her like that.”
“This is between me and my sister.”
“No,” Emily said.
She lifted the ring.
“This is between you and me.”
Her voice shook.
“And I want to know why your sister thought the only way to get this in front of me was to hide it inside my gender reveal cake.”
Natalie reached into her purse.
Ryan immediately stepped forward.
“Don’t.”
I moved between them.
“Whatever she has, Emily is going to see it.”
Ryan stared at me.
“Dette, you don’t understand.”
“You’re right. I don’t.”
I pointed at the cake.
“But someone interfered with my daughter’s order and hid a ring inside food that fifty people were about to eat. So start explaining.”
Natalie looked down.
“I told the bakery to put it inside a sealed food-safe container.”
“That doesn’t make this okay.”
“I know.”
Suddenly Emily grabbed my arm.
“Mom.”
She was studying the inscription again.
I looked down.
Two initials were engraved inside.
R and B.
Beside them was a date.
Emily whispered,
“I know this date.”
Ryan went pale.
Natalie closed her eyes.
And in that moment, I realized Emily was no longer wondering where the ring had come from.
She was wondering why her husband looked terrified of it.
Emily read the date aloud.
Eight months earlier.
The backyard became so quiet I could hear the balloons tapping against the fence.
Emily stared at Ryan.
“That was the weekend you went to Chicago.”
Ryan shook his head.
“Don’t do this here.”
NEXT PAGE
For Complete Cooking STEPS Please Head On Over To Next Page Or Open button (>) and don’t forget to SHARE with your Facebook friends.
