I blink away a happy tear and stare at Sam. He’s kneeling down on his bad leg. He needs to get up off that leg. I answer him quickly. “I love you so much, Sam. Yes, of course I’ll marry you.” He stands, and I wrap my arms around his neck. I get up on my tiptoes and kiss him with my whole heart.
He pulls away. “You haven’t even seen the ring yet.”
He opens up the black box, and I gasp. Inside is the most exquisite ring I’ve ever seen. It’s an art deco style with filigree around a huge bezel-set cushion-cut diamond. It’s got to be almost two carats. I did an internship at a jewelry store one summer in college. The owner taught me all about precious stones including diamonds. That’s how I can tell it’s an old diamond and that the setting is vintage. “It’s beautiful,” I say with awe. It’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.
“My dad gave this ring to my mom, and it was his mom’s before that. Mom wants you to have it—if you like it, that is.”
I can’t believe this is happening. “Yes, of course. I love it.” I look up at Sam’s mom. “Thank you, Valerie.”
“I couldn’t be happier that I’m passing it on to you, sweetheart.”
Sam’s not finished. “So, does that mean I can live with you in your cool house? My place is so boring.”
I giggle again. “I guess.” I shrug.
My family all laugh, cheer, and clap. I see a few tears from Valerie and Lauren. Perri is beaming. Bobby is even smiling. He and Sam came to an understanding, and now Sam’s got a little brother, too. I tear up right along with my girls.
Gill pats Sam on the back, and they do that man-hug thing. When we all hug and get congratulations all around, Sam steps out into the hall and returns with the platter of meat. “Got a new grill out on your deck. Thought I’d test it out.” He moves outside, and I see he’s got a replica of his own grill set up on my deck. Our deck.
People run back to Sam’s place and gather up the rest of the food and bring it over to my place. While they’re setting up, Lauren and I walk into my new bedroom. The bed is much larger, but the room is blue like my old bedroom. My quilt is on the bed, and the rest of my bedroom furniture is all there.
“Mac? Are you okay?”
“Um, I think so. I’m not sure what to think, honestly. On the one hand, Pops is still here with me, on the other hand, so much of him was in the walls of that old house.”
Lauren wipes a stray tear from her cheek. “I know. Sam and I talked about that.”
“You knew he was doing all of this?”
“Not until last week. Gill couldn’t keep it from me, so he brought me over to see it for myself. Sam came over, and we talked for a long time. I told him he missed a few things, like the built-in shelves, the medicine cabinet, the kitchen drawers, and the box in the parquet floor. He was shocked at how clever Pops was, but we aren’t, are we?” she says, leaning over to hug me.
I nod but don’t interrupt.
“He understands that this may not work for you. He said he’d move everything back to your place if that’s what you want. He said he’d live with you there. He was planning on telling you all this himself tonight, but I think he got sidetracked.” She chuckles.
I look around my space. It’s my stuff, but it’s not. The floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto Lake Michigan change it a lot. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful. I’m not. It’s just going totake some time to get used to it. The first thing I felt when I saw all of Pops’s work was relief that it was all still here, with me.”
“I know. It’s just feels out of context.”
“It does.” I look around one more time as Valerie peeks around the doorway.
“MacKenzie? Is everything okay?” I give her a sincere smile and then look down at the ring. It’s elegant, just like Valerie. “You may prefer to create your own ring, honey.”
“No. I love the idea that we’re sharing this ring. It has meaning, and it holds the love that you and Sean had for each other. I’m all about keeping that going.” I smile at Valerie. “I love Sam. More than I ever thought possible. I’ll wear your ring proudly because it’s part of your family.”
Valerie wipes her eyes and hugs me. “I’m so glad you’re going to be my daughter, MacKenzie. I feel blessed you’ll be part of my life,” she says, pulling me into a hug.
“I feel the same about you and Perri. I feel very lucky that I’ve got a family again.”
Lauren gets in on the hug action. She whispers, “Bachelorette party in Vegas, bitches.”
Valerie starts to laugh. “Vegas is on me, girls. I can’t wait.”
After our guestsleave for the night, Sam and I are alone in the new apartment. I’d spent the better part of the evening just looking around the place. I checked out all of my little cupboards and shelves, peeking inside each one, discovering my things are in the exact same spots they were at my house. Sam must have taken great care to return everything to the right place. It’s overwhelming; all of these feelings I have right now are overwhelming.
“Let’s go to bed,” says Sam in my ear. He’s smiling, but his expression is also a bit worried. His expression is saying,Please don’t be angry that I did all this. I place my hand in his and pull him into the blue bedroom. I realize that my clothes are all over at his other place, but I peek in one of my old drawers, and sure enough, there’s one of my nightshirts.
“How did you do all of this without me finding out?” I wonder aloud.
