“I’m Jewell,” she said, offering her hand.
“Ryder Donovan.”
“Let me give you a closer look.” Jewell unlocked the case and passed him the ring, saying something about it being a century old.
But Ryder only heard half of what she said, since his nerves fired on all cylinders and his pulse thumped through his ears. What was he doing holding an engagement ring?
Jewell handed him a loupe to examine this near-flawless diamond’s clarity and quality, and for the next fifteen minutes, Ryder learned everything he needed to know about the stone, the platinum setting, and how its previous owner was passionately loved by her husband. Then he handed it back.
“No?” Jewell said. “You don’t think she’d love this ring?”
“I’m afraid she doesn’t really love me enough to accept it.”
Jewell gave a nod of understanding and returned the ring to its case. “I hope it’s here when you do need it.”
“More like if I ever need it. At least with this girl.”
“Do you want to know the price? Just in case?”
“Not really.” Ryder backed toward the door. “Good luck with your shop. I’m glad this space is up and running again.”
“Come in anytime.”
He walked through the sun and heat of a late afternoon to Java Jane’s. He ordered a Cuban sandwich and a large sweet tea. Choosing a booth by the window, he watched Hearts Bend hustle past, the cool texture of the diamond ring still on his fingertips.
Elizabeth had walked the red brick paths of Shoemaker Green, visited residence halls and libraries. The Penn Museum Library was her favorite. From the Starbucks at 1920 Commons, she purchased a latte and cinnamon scone, then chatted with some students who raved about the university, especially Wharton—the world’s first collegiate school of business—and the Wharton Way.
By the time she made her way across campus to the Steinberg Hall–Dietrich Hall admin building, she was energized. Visiting had been the right thing. She had a definitive answer for Granny. This was in her heart, not just her head.
And today was the perfect midsummer day. A light breeze brushed through the campus of large, lush trees. The temperature was warm but without the thickness of central Tennessee’s humidity. It reminded her of summers at home in Boston. And she loved it.
Her phone buzzed from her crossbody bag with a text from Will. She opened the video to see him with Ethan and Jeff on the back deck of Pop’s Yer Uncle, working on triple-scoop ice-cream cones. They waved, hollering, “We miss you.”
Then the phone panned to the right and Ryder sat on the edge of the picnic table bench, tall cone in hand, giving Will and his video a slight nod and a short wave.
When the video ended, she lowered her phone, feeling all her Wharton zeal drain away. She batted away the mist in her eyes and caught sight of a bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin reading a newspaper while sitting on a bench.
“Hey, Ben,” Elizabeth said, dropping down next to him. “Nice school you got here.” She patted his bronze knee. “Me? I’m a Wharton candidate, waiting to be admitted.” She listened to the breeze for a moment. “Nothing is wrong. Well, honestly, I was having a great day until my cousin sent a video of two other cousins and a friend. A close friend.” She zipped up the one-sided conversation as a block of students passed, then continued once they were out of earshot. “The video…I mean, those guys are like my brothers. And I have a real brother. They said they missed me, and I know it’s more teasing than anything, but I can’t help but feel like they’re trying to bend my will to theirs.”
She paused to breathe. “They want me to join the family business. We make fine furniture. Yet, I’m kind of jealous. I wish I was having ice cream with them. Can you believe it? I’m sitting with Ben Franklin on the beautiful UPenn campus, a stone’s throw from the Wharton School, and I’m longing for a chocolate sea salt caramel ice-cream cone from Pop’s Yer Uncle in Hearts Bend, Tennessee. Who does that?” She glanced at Ben as if expecting an answer. “Yeah, it does seem like I’m the one who does that. What?” She leaned toward the statue. “Is it more than cousins and ice cream? I don’t know…maybe.”
No maybe. For sure, it was Ryder. Seeing him there with a drop of sunlight on his dark hair, polishing a few strands to a burnished red. She’d never noticed the firm line of his jaw the way she did in the video. Or how much he said with one glance of his brown eyes. Why didn’t he give her a goofy smile and wave like Ethan and Jeff? He acted like he couldn’t care less.
They’d had a great weekend together working on the fire tower, where their lips almost met. She flushed at the memory. Then he stayed at Granny and Pops’s all day after church. He pitched in with after-dinner cleanup and helped Pops carry fresh wood out to his workshop with Will.
Cousin Bobby’s wife, Mila, cornered Elizabeth after lunch, wanting to know her checklist for her Wharton visit. Mila was a lot like Julie. While Julie was classically down-to-earth, Mila carried an easy, elegant sophistication.
It was all Elizabeth could do not to tell her the truth. I’m going to persuade the admin office to move me off the wait-list.
Instead, she said, “I have to nail down where I’m going to live.”
They ended up online looking at the campus and the surrounding area. Mila texted a friend of hers about housing and passed on the info to Elizabeth.
Yet the entire time, Pops and Granny, Bobby and Ethan, cousins Jen and Kate, talked around them about the rest of the summer in Hearts Bend and how excited they were for fall and Rock Mill High football. Plans were starting for the October Festival, and Granny said at least ten times how colorful downtown was when the leaves turned gold and red.
There was talk of another barbecue on the back deck and a birthday party for Aunt Meryl, who turned sixty this year. Dad and Mom were secretly coming to surprise her. Which was news to Elizabeth. But she was going to miss all of it.
For the first time, she caught a glimpse of what Granny and Pops tried to tell her. The Dorseys were a unit knit together in this glorious thing called family. It wasn’t meant to stifle her but to accept and love her. Maybe even protect her.
