Seven mates for seven brothers

43- That is so corny.

As soon as Sam stopped crying hysterically Brian asked her if she felt up to finding a ring.

She nodded her head eagerly, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.  “Can my mother come with?”

“Anything you want my love.”  He kissed the top of her head and searched for his phone in his pockets. 

After looking for a number, he spoke a few hurried words and turned to see if Sam and Dave needed any help.  Ellen was dressed warmly in sweat pants and a top and Sam was busy running a brush through her mother’s hair.  Ellen even insisted on putting on some make up to hide the paleness of her skin.  Brian almost told her that it would not make any difference because the jeweler he was taking Sam to was a pack member and he would be able to see and smell right away how sick Ellen was.  Ignoring Dave’s protests, Brian picked her up and carried her downstairs and outside, he waited for Dave to get in first before putting her down gently on the back seat.

By the time the stopped at the jewelers, all the lights were on inside and a heavy set man appeared in the door soon after Brain cut the engine.  He opened the security door for them and led the way to a room he had already prepared for them.  It had a lovely wooden table with six luxurious leather chairs around it.  Dave put his wife down in one of the chairs and made sure she was comfortable.

Brain introduced the heavy man to them as Zack, and he moved around shaking all their hands until he came up to Sam.

“So you are the girl responsible for interrupting my sleep?”

Sam was much too happy to be bothered, besides; Zack was smiling at her, so he couldn’t be that upset about losing sleep.  “Yeah.  That’s me all right.”

Instead of just shaking her hand, he folded her hand in both of his for what felt like a long time.  “It is a pleasure to finally meet the woman that has the whole pack in uproar.  Frank at the Frying Pan was sure he was going to lose his reputation over you.”

“Oh?”  Sam smirked at Zack and turned to face Brain.  “You cheated!”

“No I didn’t!  You never said anything against me using my connections to get you that Sunday Special.”  He shrugged.  “In any case, I would cheat death itself if I could get you.”

Sam chuckled softly.  “That is so corny.  Sweet; but still corny.”

Brain and Sam stared into each other’s eyes until Zack cleared his throat.  “You can carry on staring at each other after you choose the ring.”

That drew their attention and Sam reluctantly turned away from Brian to face Zack.  He was indicating at the table.  For the first time, Sam noticed the six velvet covered boxes on the table and she watched as Zack opened them all.  She drew in her breath.  Zack had definably not taken out his regular stock for this.  The pieces that were displayed on the black and wine red velvet were breathtaking.  They were reflecting the overhead lighting and she understood why diamonds were kept on velvet; it did not reflect the light, instead, it seemed to feed off of the reflected light from the rings nestled safely amongst the soft folds of the fabric.  Sam gazed at the beautiful designs; some had hard, strong lines while others were so delicate she thought they might break if she touched them.  And although all of them were stunning, they did not really look as if they would suit her fingers.

Zack noticed the way she was looking through the rings, and he knew that she did not find anything she really cared for, so he walked to a cabinet at the side and took out two boxes.  These were also wooden, and they were darkened with age.  He put them on the table reverently and closed the other boxes and put them to one side.  With care he unlocked first the one, then the other box.