The Meaning in Mistletoe - Rachael Bloome Page 0,53
tugged. The entire base resting beneath the pen shifted, separating from the box to reveal a hidden compartment underneath.
Penny and Kat gasped in unison as they glimpsed a sprig of mistletoe crafted from gleaming gold and gemstones.
“I can’t believe it,” Kat murmured. “It’s even more beautiful than I imagined.”
“Here.” Penny passed her the box. “You’ve waited long enough.”
Taking it gingerly, Kat blinked back tears. “Thank you,” she whispered, suddenly too overcome with emotion to speak.
“Do you want to call Fern with the good news?”
“Yes! Of course.” Sniffling, she dug into her coat pocket for her cell phone, unable to tear her gaze from the sparkling stones.
Fern picked up on the first ring. But before she could say anything, Kat blurted, “We found it, Fern! We actually found it!”
“Found what?”
“Helena’s brooch. The answer to our problem. A miracle!”
“Slow down, mija. You’re not making any sense.”
Grinning broadly, Kat paced the room, too excited to stand still. “I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want to get your hopes up. But I came to Poppy Creek hoping to find the brooch Helena always talked about.” Kat glanced at her open palm, still stunned by the brooch’s beauty. “It took Penny and me a while to find it, but it was worth the wait. It’s gorgeous. And I know it’ll sell for enough money to keep the shelter open, at least until we can find more donors.”
She paused, waiting for Fern’s reaction.
But instead of a jubilant exclamation, she murmured, “Oh, mija….”
“What’s wrong?” Kat stopped pacing, and Penny shot her a curious glance.
“I’m so sorry.” Fern’s voice fell away and Kat strained her ear against the speaker.
“I don’t understand. Why are you sorry?”
“It’s very sweet what you two girls did. But… the brooch isn’t worth very much.”
“What do you mean? It has to be! All these diamonds and gems—”
“They’re not real.”
The room started to spin, and Kat sank onto the twin bed, the springs creaking beneath her weight. “What?”
“They’re imitations.”
“They can’t be,” Kat argued, her chest tightening. “The way Helena went on and on about it, I thought—” She scrunched her eyes shut, her temples beginning to throb. “How do you know it’s not real?”
“Because your mother told me. The same night she admitted that mourning the loss of the brooch was simply a transference, a less painful way to grieve her greatest loss—the love she left behind.”
At Fern’s words, a small sob escaped Kat’s lips.
Penny rushed to her side, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, although she could hear only one half of the conversation.
“It was a gift from Penny’s father on their wedding day,” Fern explained. “It wasn’t the monetary value that made the brooch special. It was the meaning behind it.”
Kat sat motionless, too distraught to speak. She couldn’t even answer when Fern called her name, worry etched into her voice.
Finally, Kat managed to whisper, “I’m sorry, I have to go.”
And with that, she hung up the phone.
Leaning against her sister, she cried until she had no more tears left.
Jack rolled to a stop in front of the Windsor place and released a sigh. He’d hoped to spend a few hours alone with his thoughts, but Reed’s vintage VW van that he’d converted into a mobile flower shop sat at the end of the driveway.
Jack opened the passenger door of the truck, and Fitz hopped to the ground. He sniffed the air a moment before bounding behind the house, his tail wagging.
As Jack rounded the corner, he laughed when he spotted Reed squatting down to pet Fitz, only to receive a slobbery greeting.
“It’s nice to see you, too, buddy.” Reed scratched the scruff around Fitz’s neck before standing and wiping the slime from his face with his sleeve.
Fitz proceeded to roll around in a shallow puddle, caking his white coat in mud.
Jack groaned. That would take some time to scrub out.
“Hey, Fitz enjoys the dirt as much as I do,” Reed said with a grin.
“Don’t encourage him.”
“What are you two doing out here?” Reed asked, retrieving his sketchbook from the ground by his feet.
“I thought I’d pull up a few broken planks from the front porch before heading in to work. What about you?”
“Sketching out some landscaping ideas. I can tell there used to be an impressive garden back here at one time. And check out the gazebo.” He nodded toward a structure covered in wilted vines. “It’s still in pretty decent shape.”
“Great,” Jack muttered. “At least one thing in my life isn’t falling apart.”
“Meeting the family didn’t go well?”