Chapter 50
50
KAISEN
A year later
I held my hand over Dorie’s eyes as I carefully guided her out of the car and onto the sidewalk. “Keep your eyes closed,” I said.
“You have your hands over my eyes,” she said. “If I had them open, you would be massaging my eyeballs.”
I laughed. “Good point.”
The sounds of New York City erupted all around us—honking cars, distant chatter, the hum of the city that never slept. She stumbled a bit over the icy patches still clinging to the sidewalk, her laughter bubbling up as she gripped my arm for balance.
“I smell bagels,” she said. “Are we going to get bagels?”
“Nope.”
I led her a few feet down the sidewalk.
“Kaisen, where are we going?” she asked, her voice equal parts curious and amused. “And why do I have to keep my eyes closed? This feels very dramatic. Are people watching us right now? I’m going to be embarrassed if people are watching and laughing.”
“Just trust me,” I said, my voice steady despite the nerves coursing through me. “We’re almost there. Keep your eyes closed.”
I fumbled with my keys, trying to keep one hand on Dorie while unlocking the door to the building I’d been working on securing for months. Finally, the lock clicked, and I pushed the door open, guiding her inside. The space was dark, but I didn’t want to turn on the lights just yet.
I let go of her, stepping back.
“Don’t open your eyes yet,” I said. “Just give me a second.”
She stood there, her hands still covering her eyes, a small smile playing on her lips. I took a deep breath, my mind racing as I looked around the space. This was it. The moment I’d been waiting for. The moment I’d been planning for months.
“Is something going to jump out at me?” she asked. “I don’t want to scream.”
“Nothing is going to jump out at you. I promise.”
“You better not be lying,” she warned.
The past year of my life had been nothing short of incredible. Meeting Dorie had been the catalyst for everything—the moment my trajectory changed, the moment I realized what I’d been missing all along. She’d brought light into my life in a way I didn’t think was possible, and now, standing here with her, I felt a surge of gratitude and love so strong it nearly knocked me off my feet.
“Dorie,” I said, my voice soft but steady. “This past year… it’s been the best year of my life. And it’s all because of you. You’ve changed everything for me. You’ve made me believe in love again, in the kind of love that’s real and lasting and worth fighting for.”
She grinned with her hands still over her eyes. “Kaisen, what are you doing?”
I smiled, my heart swelling as I looked at her. She looked beautiful in the form-fitting dress I’d surprised her with earlier that evening. The earrings I’d given her were in her ears. She was wearing the necklace I’d gotten her for her birthday and the bracelets I’d tucked into her Christmas stocking. And now I was hoping she’d wear a ring on her finger. At least, whenever she wasn’t elbow-deep in cake batter and icing.
“From the moment I met you,” I continued, my voice trembling slightly, “I knew you were different. You were this force of nature, this incredible, passionate, talented woman who somehow saw something in me that I didn’t even see in myself. And when you licked icing off your finger that day in the bakery… I was done for. You were it for me, Dorie. Even if it took me a minute to realize it.”
I reached into my pocket, pulling out the ring box that had been burning a hole in my jacket for months. I dropped to one knee in front of her. I opened it, the diamond catching the light as I held it out to her.
I still had a chance to back out. She hadn’t seen the ring yet. I was suddenly getting cold feet. This wasn’t right. I should have gone with a million candles.
“Kaisen, are you still there?”
“I’m here. Open your eyes.”
She dropped her hands and opened her eyes. She frowned and then seemed to notice me in front of her. I saw the shock in her eyes.
“Kaisen?” she whispered.
“Dorie, will you marry me?”
She blinked, like she wasn’t sure she was seeing what she was seeing. For a moment, she didn’t say anything. Tears filled her eyes. Then, she nodded, her hands trembling as she reached for me.
“Is that a yes?” I asked, my heart pounding in my chest.
“Yes,” she sputtered, her voice breaking as tears streamed down her face. “Yes, of course, yes.”
I got to my feet and slid the ring onto her finger, my hands shaking as I did. It was my mother’s ring, the one she’d saved for me for this very moment. She would have loved Dorie. She would have been so proud of us.
Dorie threw her arms around me, pulling me into a tight embrace. I held her close, my heart swelling with emotion as I buried my face in her hair. This was it. This was everything.
After a moment, she pulled back, her eyes scanning the space around us. “Where are we?” she asked as if she just figured out we were in an empty building.
“Surprise,” I said.
“Surprise?” Her breath caught in her throat. She gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “Kaisen… is this…”
I smiled, my chest swelling with pride. “Yeah. It’s yours.”
When Dorie had shut down her bakery in Cape May and moved to New York to live with me, we’d toured this place. It was a Park Avenue storefront, one of the few buildings in the city I didn’t already own outright or have a stake in. Securing it had been a battle—a bidding war that had lasted months—but I’d done it. For her. Because she deserved it.
“I thought you said it was already spoken for?” she said.
I grinned. “What my baby wants, my baby gets.”
She giggled softly. “This is crazy. I can’t believe you actually managed to get this. For real?”
“For real. I bought it in cash. It’s in your name. The massive commercial kitchen in the back is your belated Christmas gift. I wanted to wait until you saw the place to decorate and design the storefront. But I paid attention to all the ovens and tables and mixers you’ve been storing on your web browser.”
She stared at me, her eyes wide with disbelief. “How did you… how did you even manage to get this place?”
I shrugged, trying to play it cool, but the truth was, it had been one of the hardest fights of my life. “I was in a bidding war for weeks,” I admitted. “But you deserved this place. Plus, you’ve been baking all those Christmas and holiday-themed cakes in the kitchen of our penthouse for months now, and no amount of running is making up for the amount of sugar I’ve been consuming since you moved in. I have to get you out of the home kitchen.”
She laughed, the sound bubbling up from deep inside her. I felt my heart swell with love. She looked around the space, her eyes shining with tears, before turning back to me.
“Kaisen… I don’t even know what to say.”
I reached out, cupping her face in my hands. “You don’t have to say anything. Just be happy. That’s all I want.”
She leaned into my touch, her eyes searching mine. “I am happy. So happy.”
I kissed her then, deeply and tenderly, pouring everything I felt into that kiss.
“I love you,” I said, the words feeling more natural than they ever had before. “I love you so much, Dorie.”
She smiled, her eyes filled with tears. “I love you too, Kaisen. More than anything.”
“Want to see the kitchen?” I asked.
“Uh, duh!”
I followed Dorie as she practically bounced into the kitchen, her excitement radiating off her like a kid on Christmas morning. The space was massive—industrial-sized mixers lined the counters, shelves stacked with every baking tool imaginable, and ovens so big I could’ve fit inside them if I wanted to.
She stopped in the middle of the room, spinning in a slow circle as she took it all in. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth hung open in awe. “Kaisen,” she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper. “This is incredible. Look at this oven. It must have cost a fortune.”
I glanced around, trying to see it through her eyes. To me, it was just a kitchen—bigger than most, sure, but still a kitchen. But to her? It was everything. I could see it in the way her fingers twitched, like she was already itching to start baking.
“What’s this?” I asked, pointing to what looked like a giant metal bowl with arms attached to it.
She laughed, shaking her head. “That’s a planetary mixer,” she said, walking over to it and running her hand along the side. “It’s for mixing large batches of dough or batter. It’s basically my dream machine.”
“Planetary mixer,” I repeated, nodding like I knew what she was talking about. “Got it.”
She grinned at me, her eyes sparkling. “You have no idea what that means, do you?”
“Not a clue,” I admitted with a laugh. “But if it makes you happy, it makes me happy.”
“Is there a reason you got me all dressed up?”
“I plan on taking you to dinner to celebrate our engagement,” I said.
“Oh my gosh!” She gasped and held out her hand, staring down at the ring. “You overwhelmed me. I didn’t even look at the ring!”
She held her hand up to the light, her eyes widening as she took in the ring. The diamond sparkled brilliantly, catching every ray of light that filtered through the windows. My mother’s ring was a timeless piece, simple yet elegant, just like Dorie.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, her voice trembling with emotion. She turned to me, her eyes glistening. “Kaisen, this is perfect.”
“It was my mom’s.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “It’s perfect. I’m honored.”
I felt a lump rise in my throat at the mention of my mother. She had always talked about this moment, about the day I would give this ring to the woman I wanted to spend my life with. And now here we were, standing in the middle of a dream come true—for both of us.
“She loved you before she even met you,” I said softly, reaching out to brush a tear from her cheek. “She always said I needed someone who could keep up with me, someone who could challenge me and love me all at once.”
Dorie smiled through her tears, leaning into my touch. “And here I thought you were the one keeping up with me.”
I chuckled, pulling her close again. “Guess we’re a perfect match then.”
She nodded, resting her head against my chest. “Yeah,” she murmured. “We are.”
“So,” she said, her voice teasing. “When are we getting married?”
I laughed, my heart swelling with love. “Whenever you want. I figured you’d want to make the cake, so we’d need some time to plan…”
She shook her head. “No cake. What time does the courthouse open tomorrow?”
I blinked, caught off guard. “The courthouse?”
She nodded, her grin widening. “Yeah. And can you have your jet ready to fly us somewhere tropical afterward?”
I stared at her for a moment, my mind racing, before a smile spread across my face. “You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
“You don’t want the big wedding with the dress and flowers?”
“No, do you?”
I thought about it. I always assumed I would see her in a wedding gown. But did it matter? “Tomorrow, then?”
“Tomorrow.”
I laughed, pulling her into my arms. “I’ve never been so on board with something in my life.”
“Alright, now, you owe me a dinner.”