Heavenstone 02 - Secret Whispers

fame; it had been built with the blood and effort of my ancestors. It was alive. Lucille would turn it into a tomb.
    There was Cassie in the mirror, shaking her head.
    “Okay, Ethan,” I said. “I’m all right. Let’s not talk about it anymore right now.”
    “Good,” he said. “I have some other exciting news to tell you.”
    He rushed forward, took my hands into his, and sat us both down on my bed.
    “What?”
    “Lucille was so impressed with my internal analysis that she discussed it with your father, and they called me into his office to tell me that Lucille had decided to make me her personal assistant, and at a whopping salary, too.”
    “Personal assistant?”
    “That’s right. I’m going to be involved in the most important and biggest corporate decisions. For starters, we’re going to visit every Heaven-stone Department Store, where I’ll be introduced. One of my chief assignments will be to evaluate each one the way I did this one. She also wants me to have input in hiring executive personnel.”
    “And my father approves of all this?”
    “Yes, he does. Aren’t you proud of me?”
    “You just got out of college. You don’t even have your MBA. Is this normal?”
    He laughed. “That’s just it. It isn’t, but I wasgiven an opportunity, and I took advantage of it. People do have natural talents and abilities, Semantha. Those who do don’t have to follow the same path as those who don’t. Your parents, who are pretty sharp people, saw it in me and decided to take advantage of me.”
    “Parents?”
    “Your father and stepmother. They’re your parents now, aren’t they?”
    I looked away. With Mrs. Dobson and Doris gone and Ethan now in awe of Lucille and in debt to her, who would be my ally in this house?
    “I will,” Cassie reminded me.
    “Aren’t you the least bit happy for me, Semantha? For us?”
    “Us?”
    “I hope you think of it all that way,” he said, holding my hand and looking deeply into my eyes.
    “Yes, I think of it that way. I’m also thinking how busy and involved you’ll be with Lucille.”
    “Not so busy that I won’t be thinking of you,” he said.
    “Right,” I said dryly.
    “It is right. After they promoted me today, my thoughts went immediately to you, to us.”
    I didn’t look back at him. I was sliding into my own dark places. He felt it and shook my hand to get my attention. When I turned back, he got it, fully.
    He had begun to slip a ring on my finger.
    An engagement ring!

Engaged
    “I HOPE YOU don’t mind,” Ethan said. “I went to the Heaven-stone jewelry department. I got something of a discount. Ordinarily, I could not afford a diamond this big with this clarity, but I wanted you to have a ring worthy of your finger, a ring worthy of you.
    “And don’t say it’s not the size of it that matters,” he added quickly. “I didn’t want to be embarrassed, and I certainly don’t want you to be embarrassed. I have my pride, too, you know.”
    I looked at it and then at him. The joy and excitement in his face were instantly replaced with worry and concern because of my controlled reaction. Some might say it was more like no reaction.
    “I’m asking you to marry me,” he said, as if there were some doubt about what it meant.
    When I replied, the words I spoke felt as if they had originated with Cassie. From the day I had returned, I had often heard them echoing throughout Heaven-stone. It was as if all of our ancestors captured on that wall of portraits had become a Greek chorus chanting.
    “Everything’s happening so fast.”
    He laughed. “Tell me about it. A few weeks ago, I was applying for an assistant floor manager’s position at a small department store in my hometown and worrying that I wouldn’t even be granted an interview.”
    “I don’t mean just about your career, Ethan. Everything at Heaven-stone, my family, my life, too. Before I can catch my breath after one change, there’s another and another.”
    “All for the better, I hope,” he said. “But you’re right about one thing. I never gave myself to one girl as quickly as I’ve given myself to you. From the first moment I saw you in that dorm lobby, I knew you were someone special, and I knew I wanted you to be in my life. I thought I saw the same feeling in you, too. I hope that wasn’t a mistake.”
    “No, it wasn’t,” I said.
    “Then this,” he said, running his finger over the diamond, “isn’t coming too fast. As Lucille says, if it’s