God, she'd been so excited.
Lauren pressed her hands over her face, the memory making her skin hot with shame even now, alone in her living room.
The way she had been so sure he was about to give her that damn necklace. The way she’d felt her heart lift, breath held, waiting for him to take out a small velvet box.
Instead... instead he had handed her a check.
Her laptop chimed. She dropped her hands and stared at the screen.
A reply. Already.
Her stomach lurched as she opened it.
Yes.
No haggling. No questions. No hesitation.
Just belief.
Lauren’s throat went tight.
This was nothing like giving Tom the quilt.
Nothing like standing in front of Tom's family, vulnerable and hopeful, offering her love and having it folded up and set aside.
Thiswas what she’d wanted from Tom. Not the money, not the admiration—just for him to look at what she’d made and see value.
Instead, it had taken a stranger.
Someone out there valued what she made.
But the man she’d made it for never had.
CHAPTER 32
Tom
This couldn't bethat hard.
He was an architect. He designed entire structures from the ground up.
A craft project? Easy.
The room was packed with options. Bins of yarn. Shelves of paint and brushes. An entire drawer system filled with what looked like every possible crafting supply known to mankind.
He could work with this.
Tom pulled open drawers methodically. Glue guns. Ribbon. Stencils. Stamps. Decorative paper in every color and pattern.
His eyes landed on a wooden picture frame. Unfinished. Waiting to be decorated.
Perfect.
He'd make Lauren a frame. Something personal. He could paint little scenes around the border. Simple images that would showher he understood now. That he saw what she'd been trying to give him.
How hard could it be?
He flipped open the notebook and looked at the pathetic checklist he’d made.
