Dreamer: The Seeker Series Book 2

Chapter 3

" Who is it that can tell me who I am?"

Shakespeare–King Lear (1.4.230)

Cassie and I spent a wonderful, if chilly, afternoon searching through the stalls at the Christmas Market, finding some unique gifts to take home to our family members. Grams and Mom aren't much for trinkets, but I bought some beautiful Celtic design pendants I knew they would love. Grams prefers simple jewelry, so I chose a lovely Celtic knot design in sterling silver for her. For Mom, I found a lovely tree of life pendant I knew she would like. I picked out a bracelet with linked Celtic crosses for Tara. I was suddenly glad I hadn't had a chance to do any Christmas shopping before I left; I wouldn't have found anything this cool at the mall back home. I had downloaded an app before I left Albuquerque to figure out the euro to U.S. dollar conversion and figured I was keeping fairly well within my budget, all things considered. I was making some serious inroads into my babysitting money, but Grams and Mom had both slipped me some extra spending money for the trip. Cassie and I decided to devote today to shopping and save the sightseeing for tomorrow and the next day.

I told Cassie I wanted to check out the Claddagh shop Caoimhe had told us about. Jack had given me a beautiful charm bracelet for my birthday, and I thought it might be nice to get him one of the rings for his birthday, which was in a few weeks. I had to decide if I had the guts to buy him a ring. Was it too cheesy? Was I presuming too much? Did he even like jewelry? I have never had to buy a present for a man since I don't have a father, uncle, or grandfather in my life. What did I really know about Jack, anyway? I knew he liked cars and that was about it. Aagh! I was freaking out right there on Quay Street. I stopped on a nearby bench, put my head into my hands and tried to breathe. Cassie sat by me, reaching over to brush my hair back, as it had fallen over my face.

"Hey, what's wrong, sweetie? Are you tired? Do you need to go rest? I know you probably haven't fully recovered from your injuries yet."

I looked up at her with a horrified expression. "How on earth do you pick out gifts for a guy, Cassie? I want to get Jack a Claddagh ring but I'm afraid he'll think it's stupid or lame..." Yep. I verbally vomited a rant of insecurities for a good two minutes. When I finally stopped to suck in a breath, Cassie laid a hand on my arm to calm me down.

"Stop, Ally. You are working yourself into a froth."

I looked at her and nodded.

"Now, why don't you tell me why you want to buy Jack one of those rings? What's your reasoning?"

"Well, I've always thought they were beautiful and I really like what they symbolize: love, friendship, and loyalty. I think it's a perfect description of what I feel for him, and then there's the whole Irish aspect to it. Is it lame? Will he think I'm pushing?"

She laughed a little bit. "Oh, I really doubt he'll think you're pushing. Didn't he get you a bracelet with a compass rose on it? And I don't think it's lame at all. We'll make sure to find a nice masculine design. If it truly symbolizes how you feel about him, then it's a perfect gift. And don't worry too much about future shopping for him, or any man in your life. A man who's in love with you usually doesn't care too much at all about gifts. I find they almost always prefer you wrapped up in something sexy for them to unwrap," she finished with a knowing smile.

"Cassie!" I exclaimed. "Really? I mean, it's good to know, but Jack and I don't...I mean, we haven't... well, yet... but someday... if everything...you know."

She laughed and pulled me up from the bench. "Come on. Let's find this shop. I think I might need to buy one of those rings for Gregory as well," She said, referring to her gorgeous fiancé, whom she was planning to marry in June. "And tomorrow, we desperately need to find a hair salon for you because, damn girl, those doctors did a number on your hair. No offense, sweetie."