Chapter Twenty-Four
“Close your eyes.”
Bryan pressed his palms over my eyes as we reached the block with my parent’s store.
“Maybe you’d like to blindfold me?”
“I’ll do that later, don’t you worry.”
“Oh, I wasn’t worried.”
“Just keep them closed.”
“Since your hands are covering them, it’s safe to say I can’t see a thing. So don’t let me trip.”
“I won’t.”
He guided me along the sidewalk. I smelled the sea air, and it reminded me of long, lazy summer days here in Mystic. It reminded me of summer nights years ago falling in love. Right now with December upon us, the air smelled of pine and freshly falling snow. A few flakes drifted down from the darkening afternoon sky, promising a night by a warm fire and blankets of white in the morning.
I graduated two days ago. There was little fanfare, as is the custom with a business school graduation. I simply finished my exams, checked my grades online, and verified that I had, in fact, attained my MBA. The first person I called was Claire, who I now thought of as a super hero with a secret identity. She congratulated me and informed me that my necklaces were faring well the first week in her stores. The My Favorite Mistakes line was still selling online and in boutiques, but the Elizabeth’s customers favored my simpler styles. Rather than a star, a key and a sunburst jammed on one necklace, they were opting for single pendants, and embracing the European look of the charms, thanks to where I’d found them — the markets of Paris. Of course, there were shoppers too with quirkier taste, and for those the cat and dog charms appealed. Still others with a vintage flare liked the cameos and brooches. “Be charmed with a Kat Harper necklace,” Claire pronounced. “That’s the tagline.”
I’d have to remember to thank my parents for giving me a name that lent itself so well to jewelry, especially since I was starting to make real money from my work. I planned to pay off their loan in a few weeks from the revenue.
“Almost there.”
I held my hands in front of me, purple mittens keeping me warm. We passed the cafe. I could hear the bell on the door jingle when someone came out, and the tell-tale scent of coffee trailed behind.
“Here we are.”
I stumbled at the sight. He grabbed my elbow to keep me from slipping. Not only had Mystic Landing been transformed for the holidays, it had been totally transformed. As in a makeover and a facelift. There was a new sign made out of brushed metal, pretty window displays that married a sleek to a retro design, and a glass door that had been spruced up with the name of the store painted in my favorite color — purple.
He held open the door, and I wandered inside, mesmerized by the changes, my eyes the size of saucers. The old beige berber rug had been replaced by a warm cranberry carpet. The standard wooden shelves and displays had been extradited, and instead the frames and mugs, the books and cards, the vases and other gifts for sale were displayed on high and low wooden tables, some modern, some antique-y. It was the perfect mix of old rustic charm that had made this place a centerpiece of the town for many years, and a new twist to send the store into the future.
But that wasn’t all. The kitschier items — the little tchotchkes and such — had been banished. In their place were classier wares, small pitchers in brushed metal, a cute pink pot for making sauces, wine glasses with clever patterns on them. My favorite display was the his and her gift set, courtesy of Made Here and Kat Harper — a vintage key necklace coupled with a set of cufflinks fashioned from the padlocks from the lover’s bridge in Paris. It turned out Bryan and I were a good pair at a lot of things, including business partnerships. The chance to market this line of gifts together was Bryan’s proposition — that was all he wanted when he said I could make my necklaces at his factory. It was too good an offer to pass up.
My mom waved to me, and so did my dad. But neither one of them rushed over. They were too busy ringing up customers, and that made me so happy. Bryan had once said that maybe there was another solution to the store’s woes. It seemed he was right.
I turned to him. “Is my jaw on the floor right now?”
“Something like that.” He grinned, big and wide, and like he had a secret up his sleeve.
“Did you do this?”
He gave me a sheepish shrug.
“But how?” I knew he’d been out to visit the store and check things out. He’d told me that. He told me too that he was helping my parents figure out some new inventory plans. But this?
“That’s what I was up to. It’s a surprise. For you.”
“You did all this?”
He nodded.
“They let you?”
My parents were so stoic about taking help from me. I couldn’t imagine they’d accept it from Bryan, even if he was the boyfriend of their daughter.
“They did.”
“But how did you convince them?”
“I told them I wanted to do it as a gift to you.”
“And that was all it took?”
I eyed him skeptically. These were my parents we were talking about. There was a lull in the action at the counter and my parents came over, giving me quick hugs. My dad clapped Bryan on the back. They all looked like they had secrets too.
“Sort of.” Bryan glanced from my mom to my dad. They were both smirking.
“The floor is yours,” my father said, and took a step back, placing his arm around my mom, as if they were giving him space for something.
“What is it?”
“Well, see,” Bryan said, and I noticed the tiniest bit of red in his cheeks. He was nervous. “It’s really daunting being in love with a jewelry designer. You can’t really get her a necklace or earrings or even a ring to show your love, because chances are she has her own ideas in all those areas and might be a little particular. So this — “ he spread his arms out to indicate the revitalization of the store “— is my gift to you. But it’s more like a promise. It’s a promise that I don’t want to be your favorite mistake. That I want to be your forever mistake, if you’ll have me.”
My heart stopped for a moment, and I couldn’t move, or form words.
“What I’m really trying to say is I don’t ever want to lose you again. Now that I have you, I want to be with you always. Will you be mine?”
He bent down on one knee and my heart nearly stopped. But then he reached for his wallet. I raised an eyebrow, curiously, as I watched. He removed a tiny white bag that looked so familiar.
“You might remember the day I bought this. Back at a little shop in the Village with you. I’ve kept it since then. In my wallet, in this bag, for five years. I got it for you then and planned to give it to you as a promise. It’s just a little thing, but you always said it was a life-long kind of love you had for the cartoon cat.”
He reached into the bag and handed me a sparkly Hello Kitty ring, the same one I’d admired so many years ago.
“You kept this for five years?”
“Inside my wallet every single day. Kat, it’s always been you for me. Always.”
I grabbed his hand and pulled him to me, wrapping my arms around him.
“I’ll buy you a real ring,” he said. “But I want you to design it, okay?”
I nodded.
“So, this is a yes?”
Rays of happiness burst from my chest. “I’m yours. I always have been. I always will be.”
Then I kissed him, and though his kisses had always made me melt, this kiss was the very best of all. Because it was a new beginning. Here in my home away from home, in the town where I grew up, we’d come back to each other, and we weren’t ever going to let go.