It was the most dazzling gift and, for two women, it changed everything
Ginny Swart
The postman was clearly in a hurry. ‘Mrs E Miller? Sign here please, love.’ He offered Eva a tiny parcel and the delivery book to sign, whipping it away as soon as she had done so.
‘Is there any record who this is from?’ asked Eva, to his quickly retreating back. ‘I wasn’t expecting anything.’
‘From your secret admirer, I have no doubt,’ he called as he strode off.
I’ve never had one of those, she thought, excitement stirring. A gift from a secret admirer would be just the thing to cheer her up.
Eva had maxed out her credit card and she hadn’t bought anything online for at least a month. Not since the coffee machine, which had cost a small fortune and caused Andrew to hit the roof.
‘We don’t even like coffee!’ he exploded when he saw the invoice. ‘And we already have a coffee plunger!’
‘But this looks beautiful on the counter,’ she argued weakly. ‘All this stainless steel makes the whole room look so upmarket.’
‘We can’t afford upmarket! We can’t afford downmarket either. Truth be told, we can’t even afford a packet of filter coffee right now! You know what the car repairs are costing. My whole bonus will go straight to the panel beaters, and then some.’
‘There’s no need to be mean about it, Andrew,’ she sniffed. ‘It was an accident. It could have happened to anyone. And who puts a concrete bollard in the middle of a car park anyway?’
He growled. ‘For both our sakes, stop buying stuff, Eva, OK?’
‘You’re always so bad tempered!’ she had huffed.
Now she opened the small box and gasped. Nestling on elegant black tissue paper was a magnificent bracelet, studded with sparkly stones that looked awfully like real diamonds. Not that Eva was well acquainted with this many real diamonds. Her engagement ring had only one small glittering chip set on a narrow gold band.
She held the dazzling bracelet up to the window, sending spangles of light around the room. Then she slipped it onto her wrist, turning it this way and that. Perfect.
Given their financial situation, this couldn’t possibly be from Andrew. But if not him, then who?
Amongst the expensive-looking wrapping paper, she spotted a gold envelope with a discreet little card inside with the words in script… Sorry for everything. Am I forgiven?
So it was from Andrew! Although not a very eloquent apol
