Ring of Truth (A Silver Script Novel Book 1) (6 page)

“Oh, so my parents aren’t the only ones, huh? They want me to have a date for this weekend. They won’t give it up.” Erin twisted the diamond ring around on her finger.

“They let you keep that ring?” Jake asked, surprised.

Erin held up her hand. “It’s fake. They told me I could keep it.”

“Wow, that’s really cool.” He took the ring from Erin and examined it. “Uh, Erin? Are you sure it’s fake?”

“Yeah, why?” Erin’s heart skipped a beat at the look on Jake’s face.

He held it up to the light. “Look at the inscription.”

There was a symbol that represented Smithson Jewelers engraved inside the ring along with a 14-Karat. “Maybe they do it with their fake diamonds too.”

“Maybe, but I still think it’s real. Watch.” Jake grabbed a piece of paper off a bench and set the ring on top of it. “If this diamond was fake, you could see through it. This one you can’t. I think they gave you the wrong one.”

“How do you know that?” Erin’s mind was reeling.

Jake shrugged. “My grandpa taught me how to tell a real diamond. I’m pretty sure that’s one right there.”

Horrified, Erin turned around to look for Mr. Smith but he’d already left, and Debra was gone as well. This couldn’t be happening. She’d be in so much trouble. Fired, arrested, something. She dialed Debra’s number, but it went straight to voicemail. She found Mr. Smith’s number in an email, but he didn’t answer either. She left a quick voicemail, hoping he’d get it soon.

Erin’s phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her purse, praying it was Mr. Smith. She groaned when she saw that it was her mom. “Hello?”

“Surprise! We’re here in New York. Dad got off a day early so we came up.” Her mom’s voice was nearly drowned out by a radio in the background.

“Where are you?” Erin held up a finger to Jake to let him know it would be a second.

There were a few whispers before her mom spoke again and rattled off an address.

Erin’s eyes widened. They were only a few blocks away. “I’m about to head to a store, but if you want to meet me, I could use a ride back to the apartment.”

“Of course, dear. What’s the address?”

Erin gave her the address and hung up. She looked up at Jake. “So … my parents got here early.”

“I heard. How far away are they?” Jake glanced around at the cars crawling by.

“They said they’re only a few blocks away. You can take off if you want.”

“I might do that. I have—”

“There you are, sweetie.” Erin’s mom came up behind Erin. “You look wonderful. Have you done something with your hair?”

Erin smiled and hugged both of her parents. “It’s the same always.”

“It’s so good to see you.” Her mom’s eyes flitted between Erin and Jake. “And who is this?”

Jake stepped forward and held out his hand. “I’m Jake. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Suzanne. This is her dad, Bill. Erin has said … nothing about you. How long have you two been dating?” her mom beamed.

“We’re not—” Erin blurted out just as Jake said, “A few months.”

Erin could feel her face redden. “Yes, what he said. We’ve been together for a … while. I just hadn’t told you yet.”

“Did you hear that, Bill? Our daughter’s been sneaking around with a guy.” Mom pretended to be upset, but she was practically dancing.

“It’s great to meet you.” Bill held his hand out to Jake again and pulled him into a hug.

Jake looked at Erin over her dad’s shoulder, and Erin cringed at his stunned expression. What had just happened?

“Do you have the ring already?” Her mom stared at Erin’s hand. “Oh, you do. Let me see!”

Erin held out her hand as she felt her face redden. She should stop this. She should tell them right now what happened. But she couldn’t speak as her mom oohed and ahhed over the diamond and had to show her dad.

“You two should come to dinner with us. We were just headed there, but your mom wanted to surprise you.” Bill rolled his eyes and laughed.

“Sure, we can do that. We’ll just catch a cab and follow behind you. We wouldn’t want to all squish into the same car.” Erin was desperate to talk to Jake without her parents around.

“Nonsense. We rented a car this time so we could do our own sightseeing. There’s plenty of room in the back.” Her mom beamed.

“Right.” She watched them head for the garage.  “Of course you did.”

Jake chuckled. “Your parents remind me so much of mine.”

“Sorry, about this. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” She hurried to catch up to them, wondering how in the world she’d ever pay him back. This was beyond embarrassing.

Jake caught up and took Erin by the hand. His warm, strong grip sent tingles up Erin’s arm. “Don’t worry about it. I have the perfect way you can pay me back.”

Erin looked up at him in surprise. “Do I want to know?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Jake winked down at her and stopped by the sleek black BMW 3 Series Erin’s parents had rented. “Nice car.”

“Thanks. Suzanne wanted the cheapest option, but I figured we don’t get out often and I wanted something with style.” He unlocked the car and climbed in.

Jake raised his eyebrows. “Well, he sure chose one.”

“Dad loves his cars. He’s wanted one of these for as long as I can remember.” Erin opened the door and climbed in, followed by Jake. “So where are we headed?”

Bill turned to face them. “We were going to ask you that same question. We have tickets to Broadway tonight, but need a good place to eat. What do you recommend?”

Broadway wasn’t too far from where Erin lived. “There’s a diner nearby that I go to all the time. We can eat there. That way you can park at my building and walk to the play.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea. Let’s do that.” Her mom beamed at Erin and turned back to the front.

“You’ll have to remind me how to get there again.” Bill started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

They constantly shot questions about where Erin and Jake had met and how he proposed, only stopping when Erin had to give them directions. Her head was spinning as she tried to keep up with the lies. She took short notes in her phone as they went so she could reference it later.

Erin was dying to know what was going on in Jake’s head as he stared out the window. He’d stayed quiet, but he’d put his arm around her as they drove. She leaned back against his arm, and he turned.

“So they always rent a car?” he asked quietly.

Erin nodded. “They want to do sightseeing on their own time.”

“And we love it,” Bill said from the front seat. “Traffic jams are a nightmare, of course, but this way we can get where we’re going and not have to worry about which bus or subway we have to take.”

“That’s great. I usually walk everywhere unless it’s farther out for an audition, but I’d like to get a car so I can drive out into the country when I want to get away,” Jake said.

“Are you from the country?” Suzanne asked.

Jake nodded. “I’m from Georgia.”

Erin looked at him in surprise, but didn’t say anything. The twang had given away that he was from the south, but she hadn’t realized he was so close to where she grew up.

“Oh, that’s wonderful. We should have the wedding there. It would be perfect.”

“Uh, wedding?” Erin asked, blankly. Jake elbowed her, and she remembered the ring. “Oh, right. Wedding. “Um, well, we were thinking of a quiet event here in the city.”

“I think a small country ceremony would actually be nice. I mean, if that’s what your parents want.” Jake squeezed Erin’s shoulders.

Erin felt panic setting in. She glared at Jake for playing it up, but she couldn’t blame him. She was the one who started this mess by not admitting anything.

“Great. We can start the plans tonight after dinner. We should do a Christmas wedding. The colors are perfect, and that gives us a few months of planning. Unless you want a spring wedding?” Suzanne pulled out her phone and planner.

“We haven’t had much time to talk about it. We need to decide on a few things before we get into the actual planning.” Like what in the world was actually going on. Why was he going along with this? She was dying to get away from her parents so she get him to answer.

“Of course, dear. We can wait if you’d like.” Her mom put her phone away, and Erin groaned at the hurt look on her mom’s face.

Erin sighed. “We’ll let you know in the morning. Is that okay? We just need to talk first.”

Her mom brightened a little, but she wasn’t as talkative for the rest of the trip to Erin’s apartment. Erin told them how to get to the parking garage. Once they were parked in her spot, they climbed out and stretched.

“The theater is just up from this diner. Would you like to freshen up before heading over? We can go up to my apartment if you’d like.”

Erin’s dad looked at his watch. “We’ll need to be leaving for the theater soon. We can stop by your apartment on our way back to the hotel if you’d like.”

“No, I’m fine. Let’s head out.”  There was no way she would have guessed that any of this would have happened when she left that morning. And here she was engaged.

Jake breathed a sigh of relief when Erin decided not to go to her apartment. He didn’t know what he would do if she’d left him there with her parents.

“So how did you two meet?” Bill started walking toward the exit to the garage.

“I took care of her cat.” Jake hoped that the whole mess hadn’t come up with her parents, but he didn’t know what else to say.

Suzanne pursed her lips. “I see. So you do that for a living, then?”

“That’s just a side job. I’m actually working on a career in acting. I have a couple of different ads I’m working on right now.” Great. He’d picked exactly the wrong thing to say.

“How nice. Anything we’d know?” The approval in her voice made Jake relax just a little.

“Just commercials. So, how far away is this place, Erin?” He hoped they wouldn’t notice the extreme shift in subject, but he really needed to talk to Erin and soon.

“Where are we going exactly?” Suzanne and Bill fell into step with Jake and Erin.

Erin gestured down the street a few blocks away. “Carissa and I found it a while ago. This is where we meet when we need to talk. The food is amazing, and I love the old diner theme.”

Jake was surprised to see that it was the same diner he’d wanted to go to a few nights before. He’d have to come here more often if it meant running into Erin. Jake looked around while Erin found a spot to sit. The diner had an old jukebox in the corner, and the old-fashioned booths and barstools.

“This place is amazing.” He slid into the booth next to Erin, and her parents sat across from them.

“It really is. Just wait until you try their food.” Erin opened her menu, and the others followed.

A waitress came over and looked directly at Erin. “I see you brought new company. You want the usual?”

“That sounds good to me. I always tell myself I’m going to order something else, but I never do.” Erin handed her the menu.

Jake leaned over and whispered, “What’s the usual?”

“The James Dean. Burger, fries, and a shake. I always add mushrooms.” Erin looked up at the waitress.

“That sounds good,” Jake said. “I’ll have that, but without the mushrooms.”

“You’re not a mushroom person?” Erin asked while her parents ordered their food.

Jake shrugged. “They’re fine. I just don’t like them on my burger.”

“Erin has loved mushrooms since she was a little girl. We had to keep her from eating the wild ones in the forest behind our house.” Suzanne laughed.

Erin blushed. “It’s true. They had to run me to the hospital once. You’d think that would keep me from liking them, but nope.”

“Wow, that is quite the devotion you have to mushrooms.”

“That’s what you get with Erin. When she finds something she loves, she sticks with it.” Suzanne looked between Erin and Jake.

“Mom …” Erin groaned.

Jake took Erin’s hand and stroked his thumb across her fingers. “That’s what I love about her. I’ve seen how much she loves her job.”

Erin stared into his eyes, and suddenly jerked her hand away. Jake’s face burned when he realized how good it felt to have her hand in his.

The food came just then, and Jake could see Erin relax. Jake thanked the waitress and stared at the burger on his plate. It was larger than he’d expected, and suddenly the peanut butter sandwiches he’d been living off of didn’t seem quite so appetizing. He added ketchup and mustard and picked up the burger, fully aware that Erin was staring at him.

He took a bite and savored the juices that burst in his mouth. This was one of the most amazing things he’d ever tasted. He gave her a thumbs up and finished chewing. “You’re right. This is the best.”

She grinned. “Told you.”

Bill added more steak sauce to his steak, and Suzanne seemed to be enjoying her pancake and eggs. Bill told them all about his latest advertising campaigns and the sites he’d been to recently. While Erin seemed more focused on jewelry and clothing lines, her dad was more into ranches and farm equipment.