Page 73 of Ten Years and Then…
She wondered if Mom had ever ordered anything custom from her brother. And if she had, how many different versions she’d made him go through before she was happy with the final design. But she wasn’t going to ask him about that.
“Can you make it?”
He nodded. “You already knew I could.” He gave her a look. “You want to know if I can finish it before you go back to school this weekend.”
She hadn’t wanted to say it that bluntly, but Uncle Bruce was like that, always getting to the heart of things without much small talk. “Yes. I knew you were closed this week, so I was hoping.”
He finished his coffee before answering. “You didn’t know I was supposed to go on a cruise this week, but your Aunt Dorothy got chicken pox—who knew you could get that when you’re fifty? So instead of being in—I think it’s the Bahamas today—I’m here helping my favorite niece out.”
Wow. That sucked. And she hadn’t known that adults could get chicken pox, either. “I’m sorry. If you don’t want to do it …”
“I was just giving you a hard time, Nora. I’m happy to do this for you. And since I’ve got all this free time, I can definitely get it done by the end of the week. Especially with your help.”
She hadn’t been expecting that. “But I don’t know anything about making jewelry!”
He gave her a kindly smile. “Neither did I, once upon a time. You’ll learn.” He paused. “We didn’t talk about paying for it, by the way.”
“I don’t care. Whatever it costs, that’s fine. I’ve got money saved up.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, mumbling to himself and tapping his fingers one at a time. “Since you’re going to work on it, and because you’re family, I’ll just charge you for the materials. Depending on the stones, it’ll be around $400, give or take. But something like this, if I was selling it, I’d probably charge $1,500. Maybe $2,000.”
He waited for her to react, but she just stared back at him. She would have paid the $2,000 if she had to. She didn’t know where it would have come from, but she’d have made it work somehow—this was too important. “I’ve got $400 in my savings account, Uncle Bruce.”
“Okay, honey. Then let’s get to work.”
Over the next two days, she got a crash course in creating fine jewelry. She’d never really watched her uncle before, and it amazed Nora how he was able to do such exacting work with his huge hands.
He had her do the final adjustments on the heart—while he used the torch to soften the metal, he had her shape it as she’d drawn it. It took two hours to get it exactly right.
“Now all that’s left is putting the clamp on for the chain. I’ll do that—it’s tricker than you’d think. And then we have to set the stones. And you’re going to help with that, too. First we have to pick them out.”
He opened a drawer, pulled out two little trays filled with precious stones—sapphires and aquamarines. She went through them slowly, picking up each stone in turn before she finally found two that were just right.
“Very nice. You’ve got a great eye, Nora.” Neither stone was huge—Uncle Bruce estimated them at just over one carat each—but they were cut perfectly.
It took another two hours to set the stones, with Nora doing the final step herself.
“Now we let everything cool off and settle overnight. Tomorrow morning we look it over, polish it, and put it in a pretty box for—you never did tell me who this is for.”
No, she hadn’t. “Daniel. His name is Daniel. We broke up two years ago, but he’s—he’s still in my heart, so I have to give him this. That way my heart will always be with him, even if we never see each other again after he graduates. I think it already is, but I have to be sure.”
He gave her a searching look. “Your mother—she used to talk like that. Not always, just once in a while. And then not at all.” He looked down, sighing. “I wish she could have held on to it. I think she’d be a lot happier if she had.” Another sigh. “I’m glad you’re doing this, Nora. Even if this Daniel doesn’t appreciate it—he’d have to be a moron not to—you hang on to how you’re feeling. Love isn’t ever wasted. Ever. You remember that.”
She already knew that.
Because of Daniel.
Daniel, March 16
They’d just been wandering around Manhattan all afternoon. Bianca was being very patient, just following him around wherever his feet took him.
“Enjoy it now, Danny. Who knows when you’ll get to spend any time down here, once you start that job.”
That’s exactly what Daniel was thinking. That, and the thing he hadn’t told his cousin—he hoped he’d see inspiration for a gift for Valerie somewhere, in one of the countless storefronts they’d passed by. But so far, nothing had caught his eye.
They were on Madison, just crossing 59th St., and something jumped out. He stopped in his tracks, and shouted, “Mont Blanc!”
It was perfect—except not for Valerie.
