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“The pearl pendant, please,” she says. “The one with the blue and red stones.”
“Oui, mademoiselle. A beautiful piece.” He unlocks the case and pulls out the necklace.
“It is set in fourteen karat yellow gold, and it is a cultured saltwater pearl surrounded by rubies and sapphires. Blue, blanc, et rouge. Or as you say in the States, red, white, and blue.” He places it in Maddie’s hand.
“It’s such a unique piece.” Maddie holds the necklace up to the light. “Did you design this?”
“No, but all our pieces are crafted by individual designers whom we commission. It is one of a kind.”
“How much is it?” Maddie asks.
I shake my head. “Don’t tell her that. We’ll take it.”
“Dave…”
“Please, Maddie. Let me do this. We’re both giving up our vacation, and I want you to have this necklace.”
She nibbles at her bottom lip again, and I wish I were doing the biting.
“Your young gentleman is very generous,” the jeweler says.
“Yes, he is.” She looks up at me, meeting my eyes. “You sure about this?”
“Absolutely sure. And you know I can afford it.”
She scratches her arm. “I wasn’t worried about whether you could afford it. I just don’t…” She bites her lip. “I’m thinking about what my father would say.”
“Yes, your father’s a proud man, and I get that. But this is a gift from me.”
Finally, she nods. “Absolutely. It’s a gift, and instead of bothering you about it, I should be thanking you.” She grabs my hands and gives each of them a gentle squeeze. “So thank you, Dave. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
“I will ring you up at the cash register,” the jeweler says. “This will be on a credit card, I assume?”
I nod and pull out my American Express Platinum. The jeweler takes the card, runs the transaction, and then places the necklace in a black velvet box with the jewelry shop’s logo on it.
“I think I’d like to wear it,” Maddie says.
“Absolutely.” I take the box from her.
She pulls her hair up behind her neck, and I clasp the chain, my fingers grazing her soft skin.
She turns around, modeling it for me. “What do you think?”
My God, it’s like the piece was crafted for Madeline Pike. Not only do the colors accentuate her features beautifully, but the necklace just… It matches her spirit. The pearl at the center was once just an unassuming grain of sand until it ended up by chance in the right oyster, which then turned it over time into a thing of great beauty.
Like the pearl, Maddie and I have been through a lot in the past few days, and we’ve got a lot ahead of us, too. But everything that we go through only serves to bring out our most beautiful selves. The pearl doesn’t realize how beautiful it is for its trouble, and neither does Maddie.
Of course, she’s a thousand times more beautiful than any pearl.
The sapphire and rubies sparkle around the pearl, and the light bounces off them onto it, blending into a light lavender. The gold chain brings the whole thing together.
I realize that my mouth is wide open. I close it before speaking.
“It was made for you. It’s perfect. The chain brings out the gold flecks in your eyes.”
“I have gold flecks in my eyes?”
I smile. “Yeah. You didn’t know that?”
