2 Deja Blue (30 page)

He let out a quick sigh, reached into his back pocket
,
and looked up smiling at me.
“
Here.
I almost forgot. I got you something for your birthday.”  

He placed a small grey velvet box
on the table between us.
I slowly picked it up and cracked it open.
I inhaled a quick breath in surprise
,
and my mouth dropped open.
Inside the box, nestled in the gray cushion was a
wide-banded
silver ring, with beautiful
vine-like
twisted
metal
on
the
top of the
band
.
S
et into the center of it was a polished, shi
ny
,
dark emerald-
green spotted stone; not a gem
stone,
but
an actual polished rock.
It was not quite an oval, because it had a
bit of an irregular shape to it.
But that made it all the more beautiful, because it was so unique and
non-
traditional
. I looked up
at Brennan with won
dering eyes. “It…it’s…beautiful. Thank you
,.
” I said quietly, “What kind of stone is this?”

Brennan smiled, “Remember that little pebble you thought was sea glass? It’s the Isle
Royal
e
green
stone you found on the beach at Traverse City…remember? You gave it to me?” I nodded, still stunned at his thoughtfulness.
I didn’t know what to say.
Just then, Anya made her way back to
the table
and
a
huge smile appeared on her face
when
she saw what was in my hands.
“
Ohhh
!
Good! You opened it!
Isn’t it pretty?!?
Wasn’t it such a great idea that Brennan had? He
took
the stone
you gave him
to a jeweler
and
had him polish it up and set it for you! Do you like it?”

I nodded,
a teary-
eyed
smile slowly spreading across my face, and
lean
ed
over to hug Anya, “Yes, I love it. Thank you.”

She hugged me back and laughed, “Oh! Don’t thank me.
It was all Brennan’s idea.
That’s
from him
. I’ve got something for you back at the cottage. I’ll give it to you later.”
I glanced over at Brennan, who diverted his eyes.
Just then,
Jeremy walked up to the table with wads of paper towel and the bill. “What’d I miss? What’s
goin
’ on?!” h
e asked as he started wiping up the spilled water. Brennan grabbed the bill out of
Jeremy’s
hand and jumped up from the table, “I’ll just go take care of this,” he said and hurried up towards the register.

I watched him at the counter
for a moment before turning
the ring box
to show Jeremy. “Brennan got this
for me.” I said.

“
Ooooohhh
!
Purrrrdeee
!” he purred.

“Come on guys,” Anya said,
“
Brennan’s just about done paying, and we’ve got
to
get moving if we’re going to get Ruby home on time for
her birthday celebration with her family. Are
you seeing Nick today too?” Anya asked as we all got up from the table and followed Brennan out the door.

I nodded my head, while I
slipped the ring onto the
third
finger of my right hand and
carefully tucked the ring box into the pocket of my shorts, “Yeah. In fact, when we’re closer to home, can I use your cell to give him a call? I told him he could just meet
me
at my house
when you drop me off.”
It felt weird to be thinking about Nick. It seemed like ages ago when I saw him last. So much had happened in the last few hours…and I couldn’t tell him any of it.

Anya nodded, “Sure thing.”

We piled back into Brennan’s M
ustang and headed home. With the top down, the music blaring
,
and the wind blowing, conversation wasn’t easy. Anya and I talked a little bit, but we couldn’t really hear the boys in the front.
As we
near
ed
my house
,
something occurred to me. I turned to Anya and asked, “Hey Anya, what about who ever wanted to kill me? I mean, I know
Grobel
can’t,
because of the promise or bond-thingy he made with Brennan…
B
ut…have you guys figured out who helped
that nasty dragon,
Sirrush
, get
through the portal
? And,
who wants me dead
because I accidentally killed him?” Anya sympathetically shook her head, “Not yet
,
Ruby. But we will. My f
ather’s
been looking into it…and so have
Brennan and his guard
,
Simon.
I’m sure we’ll figure it out soon enough. But
,
in the meantime, you shouldn’t worry. We still have all the protective spells cast
upon you
, and
Grobel
will make good on his word…he’ll stall them
– whoever it is –
for
a little while longer.”

I nodded while I looked down at the ring on my hand. I thought about floating to my
near-
death at the bottom of Lake
Superior
,
and
how
I heard someone
whisper to me
in the dark
ness
.
I think I
finally
realized who
that someone was.
“Anya?”

“Hmmm?”

“What does
G
rá
mo
chroí
go
deo
mean?”

She thought for a second and
,
as Brennan
slowly
pulled
up into my gravel driveway
, she answered, “It means, t
he love of my heart forever. Why?”

I gulped, shaking my head. Whoa.
I didn’t know how to process that.
“No reason,” I squeaked out, while I fiddled with the ring on my finger.
Again, I was speechless.

Just then, Brennan sto
pped the car,
lowered the radio
,
and turned around in his seat. “
Home s
afe and sound!” he smiled
a
s
Jeremy
opened the door and
let me out. Standing on my front porch
,
waiting for me
,
was Nick. I looked over to him, smiled and waved. God, I forgot how good looking he was. Had
it
really only been a
few days since I saw him last?
Every time I s
ee
him, he ma
kes
me smile.
So why did my heart ache a little bit now?  What was th
at
tiny
, sick feeling
in
the pit of my stomach?

I said goodbye to my friends and walked towards the porch as I played with the ring on my finger.
It glistened in the
bright dayli
g
ht
,
and I pulled it off my finger to look at
it
more closely. As I turned the ring in the sunlight, I
saw that there was an inscrip
tion on the inside of the ring. I held it up closer to my eyes, so I could see what it said.
It read, “
Ka
nsas, there’s no place
like
h
ome.”

I blinked bac
k tears as I smiled at Nick
,
who
opened
his arms wide to greet me with a welcoming hug. “Happy Birthday R
u
b
e
s,” he said as he enveloped me with his big, bear hug. I wrapped my arms around his neck
and then turned
my head towards the road behind me. The
tears
finally escaped my eyes,
streaming down my cheeks
,
as I
watched Brennan, Anya and Jeremy drive
away.

The End

G
lossary of
Terms
:

U.P.:
             

Upper Pen
in
sula of Michigan

Apple Knocker:
             

A person from the Lower Pen
in
sula.
Usually a hunter who likes to hunt in the Upper Pen
in
sula.

Crawler Gear
:

4WD Low gear in a four-by four
; used for crawling along in treacherous terrain.

Da Mitten:
             

Another nickname
Yoopers
have for
the lower peninsula of Michigan

Dere
:
             

There

Da
:
             

The

Eh:
             

A word that ends practically every sentence spoken in the U.P.

Head ‘
er
for
Sagola
:
             

Let’s paint the town red!

Holy
Wah
!:
             

Really, Wow?!

Yah sure-hey
:
             

You’ve got to
be kidding. I don’t believe it.

Youbetcha
:
             

Yes, without a doubt

Pre’
Neer
:
             

Pretty near

Overseas:
             

Anything south of the Mackinac
Bridge

Raha
:
             

Mo
ney or other medium of exchange

Side by each
:
             

Standing next to each other

Troll
:
             

Refers to a native of the Lower
Pen
in
sula (south of the Mackinac
Bridge)
.
*A
lso refers to a species of the Earthen Court in
the world of Fey
.

Yah, Hey
!:
             

You’ve got to be kidding me! I don’t believe it!