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Things are going to start picking up in the next few chapters which I hope will make the story more enjoyable

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What had caught Samuel's attention was a display of promise rings. That wasn't anything particular fancy about them. They were made of sterling silver and had an option to include the birthstone with them and an engraving. He didn't get a chance to see the price before he was called over but he couldn't imagine that with their simple design that they would end up costing too much.

The fitting of the ring took far less time than he had expected it to and was surprised that the older man was rather efficient with the work he did. In return for the kindness that Zane had shown him so many years ago, he was even willing to do the job for free since it wouldn't take him much trouble to get the rings adjusted.

Zane had turned around to follow Lena out the door after getting an appointment to come back in about a week to pick up the rings as he said they would most likely be done by then. Zane turned his head over when he felt a sudden soft grip on the back of his sleeve. He was surprised to see that it was Samuel who had stopped him leaving after his daughter.

"Go ahead and out before us." He told Lena who had turned around to see why the other two weren't following after her. She nodded her head but didn't say anything even though she gave Samuel a look that said she knew something was up.

"Is there something that you wanted while we were here?" He asked the other.

"Would it be asking too much if I did?" Samuel replied not really sure what the other man's reply would be."That depends on what you're looking to get and how much it would cost." He replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. He was rather surprised that the young man was asking him for something when they had hardly spent any time interacting since had returned to the estate.

"I don't think it should cost too much. It's one of the promise rings over here. I was hoping to get it for Lena as something she could wear in place of the wedding ring until we actually get married." He explained as he pointed to the display case that he was talking about.

Zane walked over to the case to get a better look at the rings he was talking about. They did look simple yet beautiful at the same time. He knew that his daughter probably wouldn't object too much to something as simple as this.

"Did you want to get her birth stone to go with it?" He asked looking over his shoulder at Samuel who had moved closer to further look at the display case since he didn't a chance to see all the available designs before he had been pulled over to get the rings fitted.

"If you think that she would like that. I didn't know if she would prefer something in a ruby color more though." Samuel replied. His eyes were set on one that took an odd heart shape. He thought it might be one she liked the most.

"How much would getting one of these with the birth stone and having an engraving done cost?" He asked the man standing behind the corner who came over to see what they were looking at.

"I see you have a fine eye, young man. These are actually quite popular recently. It wouldn't cost more than two hundred. Which design are you looking at in particular?" He asked as he opened the case. Samuel pointed to the heart shaped one that had caught his attention.

"Indeed a fine choice. You can hold if you want to get a closer look and see if it's what you're looking for." He said as he grabbed the ring out and handed it to Samuel. Despite it's simple look, it somehow felt heavier in his hand than he had imagined that it would. Getting a closer look at it however, he knew that it was the one he wanted to get.

"This one will definitely do." He replied as he handed the ring back to the man after looking it over for a moment or two longer.

"Very well. Do you know what you would like to have engraved on the inside of it?" He then asked, which Samuel did, but it was something that he wanted to write down rather than say out loud, especially with Zane standing there.

"Do you have a piece of paper and pen I could borrow to write it down on?" he asked, hoping that the answer would be yes.

"If you think that this will be big enough." The man replied as he handed Samuel a small sticky note sized notebook which he usually used to take his orders.

"It should Samuel replied as he took the pad and pen and carefully wrote down the message that he wanted engraved on the inside of the ring. He didn't want to pick something that seemed overly sweet or affectionate as he didn't think that Lena would like something like that as she evidentially wasn't much of a romantic from what he could tell. Instead what he opted for was 'I will kiss you everyday'. It was partly a promise and partly a joke based upon the fact that she requested a good night kiss from him most every night still that she was home in the evening. Finishing writing it, he handed it back to the man who read over it to make sure that it was legible. He smiled after reading it.

"What color should the birthstone be?" He then asked looking between the two as he wasn't sure who would have the answer to this question.

"Tourmaline." Zane replied knowing that Samuel most likely didn't yet know when his daughter's birthday was. He also reached into the left pocket of the pants he was wearing to pull his wallet out. Considering he had seen the work that jeweler had done before, he didn't think that there was a reason to wait to pay him until after the product was finished. Seeing that the other man was ready to pay, he smiled at the head of the Red Scorpions.

"I hope that this time you will refrain from over paying me so much. I still have more than enough money from last time that I don't know what I would do if you gave me anymore." Zane laughed at this.

"Very well. You may pay with the card yourself and charge what you see fit for the service. When did you say again that you would have it finished and ready to pick up?" He asked again, making sure that neither he or Samuel would forget what the date would.

"I will call and let you know, but for a job such as this, it should take more than a week or one and a half. The longest part will be getting the birthstone in, but I will make sure that everything else is finished up before then." the man replied as he rang the card up before handed it back to the other. With this they were finished and ready to head back outside where Lena was waiting somewhat suspicious and impatient to know what they were doing inside that they didn't want her to know about.

"I can pay you back later for it." Samuel offered once they were outside of the store. Zane glanced back at him when he heard what the other said.

"Don't worry about it. It hardly cost anything. Besides, you're almost family. Part of this money will soon be yours and since I can tell that you're think before you spend, I don't think that there's any reason to be pay me back." He replied as he walked over and opened the car door. This time Lena had decided to take a seat in the middle thus making it so that Zane and Samuel would sitting on either side of her.action

"Is there something going on between you two that I should know about?" She asked once they were both in the car and buckled up.

"Perhaps, but if there is, it would be a surprise anyways." Zane replied to the princess who didn't seem thrilled about this answer.

"Sometimes, surprises can be good things." He told her as he glanced over at Samuel who was being quiet. He was certainly not going to say anything to her so long as he wasn't forced to.

What he didn't tell Zane was that it was his intention to give to Lena as a surprise at their engagement party. It would mean that he would have to come up with a convincing argument for not using the other rings before then since they were supposed to serve as a symbol of their engagement prior to the wedding. Perhaps that was something else that Zane would be able to help him with if it came down to it.