Page 77 of Searching for her Heart
I take a seat again on the bed and reach out to rub her back. “Penny, Honey? Will you look at me?” She sniffles but slowly turns her head to me. “I’m sorry I’ve upset you again. I’m fucking this all up. Will you tell me why you don’t like being called that? It might help us understand you better.”
“Besides,” Brax adds. “I want to know everything about you, including things that happened in your past.”
“It’s not a fun story, you’ll think less of me,” she whispers.
“Impossible,” I tell her.
She sniffles for a moment before she starts speaking. “Years ago, after I lost my parents, I was really into extreme sports. I found it helped me forget about my parents for a little while and made me feel less lonely. Well, I went on a skydiving excursion.” She glances at my confused face. “Oh, it’s hard to explain since you don’t have planes, but it would be a bit like jumping off a skyreacher while wearing this special backpack. Then you pull a cord and it releases a giant parachute that stops your fast fall and lets you slowly lower to the ground.”
That did sound extreme.She did that?The thought of her jumping off a skyreacher mid-air had my stomach churning.
“I made some friends while I was doing it. This guy, Mike and I, hit it off pretty good. He invited me to hang out with his friends at the beach afterwards. We stayed up all night, just talking. I felt like we were really getting to know each other. And as the sun started to rise…” She licks her lips nervously, like the next part is hard to say. “Well, I admit I was probably overly tired from staying up all night, but I kinda jokingly suggested we should get married.”
I try to school my expression, but now I can’t hide the shock completely. She asked another man to marry her?
“I didn’t mean it though. I wouldn’t have gone through with it. But I was tired and lonely and, well,it all blew up in my face, anyway. He freaked out, calling me crazy. His friends too. What hurt the most was that, even if I didn’t mean it, and it was a little extreme, we had gotten on so well all night, and it was like he turned into a different person. He said he was only hanging out with me so he could have sex with me. His words were so harsh and cruel, it stung. I didn’t know how I could have read him so wrong.”
“Baby,” Brax says, squeezing her shoulder.
She turns to face him, looking a little panicked. “I didn’t want to tell you because I don’t want you to think I would marry just anybody. I mean, you might be the first men who actually wanted to marry me, but it doesn’t mean I would have wanted to marry anyone else. And, even if I had, I already know that my connection with any of them isn’t a tenth of what I feel with each of you.” She glances at me and Indy before asking, “You don’t think less of me now, do you? Or think differently about me? Please be honest with me.” She sounds desperate and we all instinctively reach out to soothe her, Indy kisses her head.
“Baby, I promise I don’t feel any less of you.”
“No, Sugar. If anything, it helps me understand you better,” Indy says, hugging her to his chest.
“Honestly, it just makes me worry about you more,” I tell her.
“Why?” she asks, looking at me.
“I can’t get the image of you jumping off a skyreacher out of my head. I’m realizing the similarities between that and how I met you.”
“But thankfully, our date had a much better ending,” she says with a smile.
I nod. “Yes, and I’m so thankful for that. But I realize you don’t seek out trouble and danger specifically, you’re drawn to it, whether you realize that or not.” She frowns as she looks at her hands, like she’s considering my words.
“I never thought about it like that.”
“Do you think you do that because of what happened to your family?” Indy asks carefully.
She glances up at him as she whispers, “Maybe.”
The atmosphere feels tense and I think it’s time we get our happy Penny back. “So, what were you going to buy for us?”
Her eyes light up. “Oh! I got them! I forgot, so much has happened since then. Where did I put them?” She frowns, looking towards her wet clothes.
“Stay there, I’ll grab it, where is it? What am I looking for?” I jump off the bed and pick up her dress.
“In the side pocket, three little velvet bags.” I get lucky on my first attempt and pull three tiny bags free.What could be in here?I pass them over to her and lay with my head on her thigh, smiling up at her.
“Thanks,” she says, taking them and peeking inside each bag. “I wasn’t sure if these have any meaning here. None of you had mentioned them, so I’m guessing it’s not tradition here. But in the human realm, when we get married, we exchange rings. We call them wedding rings or wedding bands. The circle shape represents our never ending love for each other, and every married person wears one as a symbol of their commitment to their partner. People see a ring on someone’s hand, and they know they aren’t available.” She glances into one of the bags, then holds it out to Indy. “This one’s for you, Indiana.” She passes the next one to Brax at her side. “This one’s for my yeti.” Then she looks down at me. “And this one’s for you, birdman.” She passes me the pouch and I open it, pulling out a beautiful silver ring. I hold it up to the light and realize what idiots we’ve been.
Indy speaks first. “In Dyconia, you would normally be presented with an engagement ring when your group of men propose to you. Usually it follows a period of courting so there is plenty of time for them to purchase one.”
“Penny, I’m so sorry we didn’t give you one when weproposed, it was all so quick,” I rush to explain.
“We were also trapped in the middle of a mountain, Ryker,” she says with a smile.
“Usually we would give you a wedding band at the marriage ceremony. But only the woman gets one, because it’d be difficult to wear as many rings as she had men. We thought we’d wait until you’ve completed your harem, we didn’t mean to make you feel less than important, we didn’t even think about it, to be honest,” I explain further, feeling guilty about her getting us rings and us giving her nothing.
