Chapter Twenty-Seven #2
"A windchime. I don't even know if you make them," Delaney said. "I don't see how you could with pottery. But whoever this is, is willing to pay that much for one. If I were you, I'd figure out how to make one."
Callie laughed at first — and then it hit her.
"Are you okay? Are you still there?" Delaney asked. "You've gone really quiet."
"Sorry. Yeah. I'm good."
"So, should I get back to them and say yes?"
Callie worried at her bottom lip. "Who's the order from?"
"Some woman in LA," said Delaney. "Why?"
"I'm just curious." Callie knew who had to have placed the order, but she wasn't going to voice her suspicion to Delaney before she told Ollie. "Can you stall her? Say I'll come back this evening or something?"
Delaney laughed. "See, you're getting the hang of it. If they want one this badly, they might just up their price to try to persuade you."
Callie couldn't help laughing. "That's not the reason."
Delaney laughed with her. "I figured it wasn't. I figure you have your reasons, and you don't need to explain them to me. Just let me know what you want to do, okay? Anything else you want to talk about?"
"Not right now," said Callie, glancing up when the dogs ran to the window. "But I will let you know about this wind chime order later, okay?"
"Sure, whenever you're ready."
"And thanks, Delaney. Thanks for everything. I'm sorry that I wasn't more enthusiastic to start with."
Delaney's voice sounded warmer when she said, "That's okay.
It's not a problem. We got there in the end, and that's what counts.
I know how I come across; it's enough to put most people off.
I won't say it's intentional, but it's definitely fine by me.
I find that only the people who are worth knowing stick around long enough to become friends. I hope you'll become one."
"Yeah, I do too," said Callie. "I wasn't sure about you in the beginning, you know that. But yeah."
Delaney laughed. "Awesome. And sappy moment over. I'll talk to you later, okay? See ya."
Callie laughed as the call ended. "Yeah, see ya."
She looked down at the dogs, who whined.
"Is he home?"
Butter barked.
"Let's go see him then."
She opened the door, expecting them to run out to meet Ollie. But they waited and escorted her to him instead.
He looked a little panicked when he spotted her. "Oh, hey. I didn't realize—"
He closed the door of his SUV and came to wrap his arms around her waist, dropping a kiss on her lips.
"You're back early," she said.
"Yeah. I want to go find that lilac bush. Are you ready?"
"I will be in just a few minutes. Are you ready to go?"
"I am," he said with a smile. "I'll wait here for you."
She ran back into the house. She wanted to grab her phone so she could show him Delaney's text about the wind chime order. She didn't know if she could bring herself to say that much money out loud — especially since she thought she knew where the order had to have come from.
As soon as they set out toward the pond, Peanut and Butter ran on ahead, and Ollie took hold of her hand.
"Are you okay?" she asked. "You seem a bit... weird."
He laughed. "I'm fine. I thought you loved the weird about me."
"You know I do."
"I'm good," he said. "If I'm weird, it's just because I'm happy."
"Oh, I'm happy too."
"Happy but expecting a call?" he asked, nodding at her phone that was still in her hand.
"No, not expecting a call. Just wanted to show you something. And to ask you something."
"What's that?"
"Delaney had an order come in — or at least a request, or whatever you call it — and it's for a heck of a lot of money."
Ollie grinned. "Told you. You're going to be stealthy wealthy."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Maybe so. But that's not the point."
He looked more serious. "What is the point, then? What's bothering you?"
She opened the text and held her phone up. He let out a low whistle when he saw it.
"Damn. Someone really wants one of your wind chimes, don't they?"
She nodded. "Yeah. But Ollie, the thing is — no one's seen my wind chimes."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I don't make many, and the ones I have are hung around the cottage. At home."
She watched his face as realization dawned, hoping he wouldn't be mad. She really didn't want this to be a setback between him and Miles. But there was no way she would have hidden it from him.
He stared ahead of them down the avenue between the rows of vines as they carried on walking, looking thoughtful.
"It has to be your dad. How do you feel about it?" she asked when she couldn't take it any longer.
He turned to her and smiled. "Sorry. It took me a minute to figure that out."
"You're not mad at him, are you? I really don't want you to be mad at him."
"No. I'm not. It's okay. In fact, I kind of like it."
"You do?" She was thrilled but surprised.
"Yeah. I mean, think about it. He fell in love with the wind chime the moment he saw it — the same way I did.
That meant something to me, that he saw things the same way.
And now, if he buys one from you, takes it home to his place in LA — it's like us reconnecting over the broken pieces.
" He smiled. "Seems fitting, really, doesn't it? "
He leaned in to press a kiss to her lips. "Especially since you're the one who made it happen."
"Oh, Ollie. I love that. But it wasn't me. It was the two of you. Your dad didn't give up trying. And you decided to give him a chance."
He rested his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes. "Maybe so. But we wouldn't have gotten there without you. So, yeah. I'd say take the order. Or call him."
She shook her head. "That's the other thing. It's not his name on the order."
"Oh." Ollie frowned. "Then maybe it's not."
"It is. It has to be," she told him. "No one else has seen them. Delaney didn't say his name, though. She just said some woman in LA"
Ollie grinned. "That makes sense. No matter how much he wants a wind chime, he'll have one of his secretaries figure out how to order it for him. But next time we talk to him, I'll ask him."
"Do you think that's okay?" she asked, not wanting to be the source of any friction between them.
She was relieved when he smiled. "Yeah. I feel like I can talk to him now. And I want to make sure he knows he can do the same." He gave her a wry smile. "Since, as we've learned, sneaking around and trying to keep secrets only makes things worse."
She chuckled. "Yeah. That's true."
They'd reached the pond now, and the dogs were sitting at the edge, panting eagerly, waiting for Ollie to give them the go-ahead.
She was surprised when he didn't, saying instead, "Just hang on, guys. We want to find this lilac bush first."
He grabbed Callie's hand and led her down the path that circled the pond and past a low stone bench. She gave him a puzzled look. He seemed to know where he was going. As if he'd found it already.
"Have you been down here with these guys and not told me?" she asked with a laugh.
He turned back with a sheepish smile. "Would you be mad if I said yes?"
She laughed. "No. But I would wonder why you asked me to come help you find it if you already knew where it was."
"Well, now, see — that's part of the last secret I'm ever going to keep from you."
She smiled. "I don't think all secrets are bad. Maybe we can have them sometimes, when they're for fun things. And I get the feeling this is a fun thing. Isn't it?"
"I hope so." He stopped walking. "In fact, would you do me a favor and stand right there for a second? Turn your back. And no peeking."
"Okay." She laughed, not knowing what he was up to, but happy to turn her back.
Peanut and Butter came to sit facing her. And when Ollie called, "Cover your eyes, guys," they lay down and covered their noses with their paws, making Callie laugh harder.
She heard him rustling with something and called, "What are you up to?"
"You'll see in a second. Just promise me you won't turn around."
"I promise."
She sensed him come closer, as if he was standing right behind her. But then his voice came from lower down when he finally said, "Okay. You can turn around now."
She turned around, and the dogs jumped up and came to stand one on either side of her. It took her a second to register what was going on. She thought he was squatting down to greet them.
But he wasn't.
Her heart started to pound when she realized he was down on one knee.
"Oh my gosh, Ollie!"
"Don't say no yet," he said with a laugh. "Just hear me out. Please."
She laughed. "I wasn't about to say no."
His eyes grew wide. "You weren't?"
The words surprised her too, but she wasn't going to take them back. She shook her head. "No. But go on. Say whatever you were about to say."
He grinned up at her and brought his hand out from behind his back, holding up a bunch of flowers. They were beautiful — blues and whites and soft purples. And then it struck her.
"That's Becca's bouquet, isn't it?"
He nodded happily. "It is. Willow had it preserved. I know you don't need flowers for a proposal, but I wanted you to have them."
He held them up, and Peanut stepped forward to sniff them as Callie took them.
"I know this isn't exactly conventional," he said.
"I know you might say we haven't known each other long enough.
But I love you, Callie — I know you're it for me.
I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you.
I want you to be my wife. I want to be your husband.
We can be engaged for as long as you want.
Just say you want to share your life with me. I'll wait forever for you."
Happiness buzzed in her chest as she asked, "Forever and a day?"
"Forever and a day, and an extra forever just in case."
She got down on her knees to join him and cupped his face in her hands.
"I never wanted to get married, Ollie. I think you know that's what I was running away from when I moved out here. I didn't want to be tied to someone else for the rest of my life."