diamonds—which is a complement to the ring I now wear on my left hand. Tears immediately spill from my eyes, and I choke on my words.
“I would love to be your mommy, Katie bug,” I say. I drop to my knees to embrace her. The ring box smashes between us, and I giggle when I pull back and ask Katie if she’ll place the ring on my finger next to the one from her daddy. As the new band presses up against the first one, my heart is full to bursting. When we’re married in a few months, a third band will join the other two. Three rings for the three of us.
My dream of having my own little family will finally come true.
+ + +
“I’m so happy for you,” my sister says through the phone when I call her later in the evening to share my news. I hear little Ben gurgle in the background. My sister had baby number five a month ago, and I’m so happy for her.
“You better not be pregnant when I need a maid of honor,” I tease her.
Grace laughs. “I’ll let Mark know, and we’ll plan accordingly.” I’d like to think my sister’s teasing, but sometimes, I worry they’ve moved from wanting a basketball team to producing the front line of a football team.
“Tell me again what Jess said,” she demands dreamily, and I repeat the key things.
He picks me. I pick him.
“It’s going to be wonderful, Em. Everything you deserve and more.”
I smile even though she can’t see me.
“I’ll be sending you the first payment soon,” I say, switching subjects and reminding her of our agreement. I’m buying the house from Grace through a payment plan over the course of the next year.
“You just worry about keeping that brooding man from brooding,” she jokes.
“He’s the one who’ll need to keep me out of trouble.” I’m not the most coordinated when it comes to home improvement projects, and on the occasions when I’ve tried to help, I’ve made a mess of things. The kitchen was renovated, as Jess had suggested, without much assistance from me.
“I think you need to stick to pulling weeds,” he’d mocked.
My eyes wander out to the garden as I stand inside the screened-in porch. The yard is still beautiful, healthy and lush, and now also free of weeds. Nana would be so proud.
I’m living my life, Nana. I’m doing it now.
I hear the front door open.
“Grace, I gotta go. They’re back from getting ice cream.” After dinner, Jess took Katie out for a special father-daughter ice cream treat.
“Love you, Emily.
“Love you, too.”
I’ll be hanging out in my office later tonight, after time with Katie and before bed with Jess. Estelle Prescott approved my outline for Nana’s book, giving me free rein to make decisions on layout and design. The biography will include my grandmother’s journey as a female columnist during an era when women didn’t work outside the home, as well as snippets of her old articles. The research is interesting and exciting, and I’m so proud of who my grandmother was and what she represented.
And she made me keep the column, a syndicate that shares books with meaning and explains why they’re important and relevant today.
After my permanent return to Elk Lake City, Jess and Katie drove back to Chicago with me to pack up my condo. We spent a long weekend in the city exploring all the kid-friendly places and included a special stop at the American Girl store for Katie’s birthday. I’d worried Katie would search for her mother around every corner, but Jess assured me the only mother she’ll need is me.
Nana would be so happy to have a little girl in the family. She’d be thrilled to have children playing in the playhouse again. Jess made it a priority to clean it up, performed a structural inspection to ensure it was safe, and gave it a new roof and fresh paint. He’s a daddy who looks after his girl.
I’m taking a page out of Nana’s final column. The advice isn’t far off from what she told me on her deathbed. She wanted me to love more than her, and I do.
And she wanted me to stop looking at the past or searching for the future and just enjoy the present.
Live for the now.
And I plan to do that every day, as that was Nana’s best advice.
+ + +
Thank you for reading.
Up next in the Heart Collection: Read With Your Heart.
Like Emily’s sister, Grace? Consider