Chapter Thirteen
February 13th. 2009© 2005 Kimberly J. Fish
An Emerald Marks the Spot
Chapter Thirteen
Kali sat on the faded chintz sofa surprised she didn’t hear wailing from the nearby bedroom. Between the walls decorated with vacation photos and the odd assortment of childhood mementos, Kali knew Brad’s mother was someone who took family integrity seriously. There wasn’t going to be enough morphine to dull the pain of hearing about the secret engagement. Or about the ring.
Kali fiddled with the emerald’s velvet pouch. She knew what she was going to do even though Brad tried to talk her out of it during the long drive from Provence Farms.
The bedroom door creaked as it opened. Brad stepped over the threshold with sorrow on his face.
“How did it go?” Kali asked.
Brad collapsed on the sofa next to her. “Well, let’s just say Mom’s a bit mad at the moment.”
Kali sighed. “I knew when your mother found out I was the one you gave the ring to she was going to be furious.”
“That ranked low on her list of reasons why I was no longer her number one son.”
“But she hated me.”
“I think you exaggerated her impression. Compared to some of the other women I’ve dated she remembers you as the perfect candidate.” Brad leaned back against the cushions and closed his eyes. “I, on the other hand, have wasted precious years she could have known a daughter-in-law or become a grandmother. All this time she thought I was just being picky. Now she knows I gave me heart away ten years ago, she’s furious.”
“Oh.”
“And she’s humiliated beyond belief that I asked you to return the engagement ring.”
“Oh.”
“And mortified that you’re going to walk in there and give her the emeralds to wear. Pity for a dying woman is something my mother cannot abide.”
“Oh.” Kali felt her fine-tuned presentation melt into the background of her mind.
“But I do know one thing that would make my mother happy in her last days.”
Kali saw Brad’s eyes open with expectant light. “Short of me getting on the first Greyhound Bus out of here, I can’t think of what it is,” she said.
Brad sat forward, reaching to clutch Kali’s hands in his warm grip. “Ten years ago we were two kids crazy in love with each other. We wanted to spend our lives together, but got misdirected with our careers. Now we’ve got a second chance. We’ve grown up. We’re who we were meant to be. So why can’t we correct the biggest mistake in our lives?”
“Brad, I don’t know where you’re going with this, but you’re scaring me.”
He laughed. “Scaring you? I haven’t even begun to tell you what I want to do with this ranch and your goat farm, but we’ll get to that later.”
Kali watched Brad slide onto the carpet and prop his knee next to hers. When he looked into her eyes she felt the déjà vu moment of a long-ago Valentine’s dinner.
“Kali Cavanaugh, I love you.” Brad lifted her hands and brushed them against his lips. “Will you give me the honor of marrying you?”
A tidal wave burst in her soul. “Brad? We hardly know each other.”
“We’ve known each other forever.”
Okay, it did seem that way but she was stretching for reality. “If this is some demented, bizarre plan to get back into your mother’s good graces then I will never forgive you.”
“The only influence my mother has on this moment is to remind me how precious life is and that time is the one commodity you can’t buy back. I wasted many years trying to plug a hole in my heart only you could fill. And I don’t want to lose another day without you in it.” Brad leaned closer to Kali. “Please say yes.”
A thousand images of life swam in Kali’s mind. She was comfortable with her self. She had a business she adored. She had oodles of potential market growth ahead. But would money and self-confidence keep her warm at night? Could she choose to make room for Brad in her careful plans? Could she afford not to?
She hated cross roads. Making snap decisions and spontaneous choices were for others, not her. But looking into Brad’s eyes she saw children and seasons and dreams all mesh into one green valley and she knew she’d eternally regret not accepting God’s gift of new paths.
Slipping her hands out of his grip, she cupped his jaw and leaned her forehead against his. “Yes, I will marry you.”
“Thank God,” a heavy voice carried from the doorway.
Kali looked over Brad’s head to see his emaciated mother clutching the door jamb. “I’m so sorry we’ve disturbed you,” she said pulling away from Brad’s embrace.
“Don’t apologize,” Mrs. Williams replied. “This is the best news I’ve heard in I don’t know when.”
Brad stood, pulling Kali up next to him. “Mom, let me help you back to bed.”
“Not until you do the right thing by this girl,” his mother insisted. “She’s not wearing the emeralds and if anyone ever deserved them it’s this girl, Kali.”
All manner of chaos erupted under Kali’s skin that she almost missed the emeralds sliding back onto the third finger of her left hand. Brad sealed the moment with a kiss. Thankfully, she was coherent enough to enjoy that promise.
“Come here, daughter,” Mrs. Williams said, “I don’t think we’ve been formerly introduced.”
Kali glanced at the emerald ring. Where one treasure hunt had ended a new one began.
THE END