True Love

  Victoria smiled. “Still my favorite. Shall we indulge and forget about men?”

  “Gladly!” Alix said.

  At about four that afternoon, Alix got a text from Lexie. TOBY AND I ARE GOING TO DRESS UP AND GO OUT FOR DRINKS. PICK YOU UP AT 7:30? She read it to her mother. “I’m not sure I’m in the mood to go out.”

  “I want you to,” Victoria said. “Freddy is coming over and we’d like some time alone.”

  Alix still looked hesitant.

  “What if I lend you my blue silk Oscar de la Renta?”

  “With the Blahnik heels?”

  “The black ones with the rhinestones on the side?” Victoria put her hand to her heart. “The sacrifices one makes for her child.”

  Alix pushed three magazines—all bridal—and two rolls of wrapping paper off her lap and started for the stairs. “And your silver earrings with the pavé diamonds,” she called as she ran up the stairs.

  Victoria gave a loud, melodramatic groan, which wasn’t easy considering she was smiling broadly.

  When Lexie appeared at the back door, she looked at Alix and said, “Wow! You look like—”

  “Cinderella,” Toby said from behind her.

  They were dressed nicely but Alix looked like she was about to step onto a runway. “Mom did my hair. Like it?” Victoria had pinned it up, with soft tendrils framing her face.

  “You look wonderful,” Toby said. “I wish we’d hired a limo.”

  “But my truck will have to do,” Lexie said.

  Victoria kissed all three of them, wished them a good evening, and waved goodbye.

  The three young women got into the front of Lexie’s pickup. Alix had no idea where they were going, but she was surprised that they were heading toward where the chapel was being built. She hadn’t been there since they’d found Valentina’s journal, which right now seemed like a long time ago. When Lexie pulled onto the dirt drive, Alix began to suspect something was up. “What are you doing?”

  It was Toby who answered. “We’re sorry, Alix, but Jared asked us to bring you here. He’s in the chapel and he wants to talk to you.”

  Alix frowned. “If he wants to talk to me, he didn’t need to put on this charade. He could have—”

  Toby put her hand on Alix’s. “Please go. He’s been quite upset since your argument.”

  “Does everyone on the island know about that?”

  Toby looked at Lexie, then back again. “Pretty much, yes.”

  Alix couldn’t help laughing. “Whose side are they on?”

  “Yours,” Toby said.

  “Most definitely yours,” Lexie said.

  “In that case I’ll go.” She opened the truck door and stepped out—and sank into Nantucket sand. She removed her heels and walked barefoot toward the chapel as Lexie backed the truck out.

  She could hear the ocean in the distance, and the chapel silhouetted in the bluish dusk was beautiful. Alix couldn’t help a feeling of pride at the sight. To see something that had existed only in her mind in solid form was inspiring. It made her want to create more buildings.

  The windows were in now and she could see candlelight flickering inside. She paused before the big doors, touched the hinges that she had designed and Jared’d had made, and got her shoes on before the door swung open.

  Standing there was Jared, all six-feet-plus of him, wearing dark trousers and a soft linen shirt. He still had his beard but it had been trimmed, as had his hair. With the candlelight behind him, he took her breath away.

  “Please come in,” he said, sweeping his arm back and taking her hand. “And may I say that I’ve never before seen anyone as beautiful as you are tonight.”

  There was no furniture in the chapel yet. Instead, a large, beautiful rug of blue and gold had been spread on the floor. Around two edges were what looked to be a hundred pillows of silk and cotton, embroidered and plain. On the other side were a couple of chairs and a little table with champagne in an ice bucket, two crystal flutes, and plates with cheeses, crackers, and chocolates.

  “It’s beautiful,” she whispered as Jared went to the table to open the wine. She looked around at the chapel with its hundreds of candles, some on tall stands, some suspended from ropes attached to the overhead beams, and many of them on the floor.

  At the end was the stained-glass window that Jared had bought in Maine. She’d seen photos of it but hadn’t seen it outside its crate. Since there was no electricity, she saw that there were candles behind the big window, which meant that it had been set forward in its frame. That hadn’t been in her drawings, and it was something she should have specified. She turned to him. “Did you extend that?”

  He handed her a flute of cold champagne. “It’s my single contribution. Do you mind?”

  “No,” she said. “Maybe you can teach me more about lighting. You could—”

  “Not tonight. No teaching. Tonight is for …” He looked up at the knight in the stained glass. “Tonight is for the future.” They clicked glasses and took a sip.

  It was when she looked back at the window that she realized the knight looked like Captain Caleb. “Ancestor of yours?”

  “Could be, couldn’t he?” He paused. “Alix, I have something I want to talk to you about.”

  She took a breath. Was this about New York? About who would live where? Work where? Would he tell her how often he would visit the island?

  He took her hand and led her to one of the chairs. She sat but he stayed standing. “First of all, I want to apologize for our argument. I was being a jerk.”

  “No,” she said. “You were right. I’ve been following my mother around like I haven’t done since I was a kid.” She glanced around the chapel, at the candles, the rug, the table, the food. “I must say that no one apologizes better than you do. Daffodils and now champagne. But in this case, half the apology is mine. It’s just that I’ve felt so guilty about neglecting Izzy’s wedding that I was overwhelmed—still am, for that matter.”

  He was standing over her looking down and smiling. “That you care about people is one of my favorite things about you. Tyler’s mom said he was asking for you.”

  She smiled. “I’ve missed him these last few days. I’ll have to invite him and his parents to Izzy’s wedding. Did you hear that Mom is inviting lots of island people? And that Jilly has asked some of her relatives from Warbrooke? She and Cale are trying to get the family to buy that big house at the end of the lane and—” She looked at him. “Why are you smiling at me like that?”

  “Because I’ve missed you and because I love you.”

  Alix just sat there and looked up at him, blinking, not sure she’d heard him correctly. It was so very beautiful around them, with all the candles flickering and the brilliant colors of the rug and the pillows—and Jared. To her eyes, he was by far the most beautiful thing in the room.

  Still smiling, Jared reached inside his jacket and pulled out a ring box.

  Alix was sure that her body stopped: heart, lungs, brain, all came to a halt.

  He went down on one knee before her. “Alixandra Victoria Madsen, I love you. With all my heart, with all my being, now and forever, I love you. Will you marry me?” As he picked up her left hand and prepared to slip a truly gorgeous ring on her finger, he waited for her answer.

  But Alix was too stunned to react. She just sat there, not moving, not breathing, a human statue frozen into place.

  “Alix?” Jared asked, but she didn’t answer. She just stared at him. “Alix?” he asked louder. “Are you thinking of saying no?” He looked worried.

  She managed to take a breath. “No. I mean yes. Yes and yes! And—” She threw her arms around his neck. Since he was still on one knee and not expecting her leap, he fell backward onto the rug, his body between Alix and the floor.

  “Yes, I’ll marry you,” she said. “A million times yes.” She punctuated her every word with a kiss to his face and neck. “I can go with you to New York?”

  Jared was laughing. “Yes, of course
you can. Who’s going to tell me that my every design is wrong if you aren’t there?”

  “I thought you were going to leave me behind.”

  He put his hand to the side of her face. “Not ever. I’ll never leave you.”

  Alix began to unbutton his shirt.

  He put his hand over hers. “No, not now.”

  She pulled back. “The chapel hasn’t been consecrated yet, so—”

  “It’s not that. I just think that we should wait until after we’re married.”

  She drew back to look at him. “But that could be a year. My mom says—”

  Jared kissed her to silence. “You don’t want to see the ring?” he asked. “It’s rather nice, if I do say so myself.”

  “The ring! I’m an idiot.” She rolled off him and started searching for it on the rug.

  Jared held up his hand. A platinum ring with a large pink diamond was on his little finger. “This what you’re looking for?”

  She lay down on the rug beside him, her head on his shoulder, and held up her left hand for him to slip the ring onto it.

  “With this ring,” he whispered as he put it on her finger.

  Alix held up her hand to look at it. Nothing sparkled like a diamond in the light of a hundred candles.

  “Like it? If not, we can get something else.”

  Alix closed her hand. “It’s perfect. The best ring I’ve ever seen. Even Mom is going to approve.”

  “About that,” Jared said as he rolled away, stood up, and held his hand out to her. “You can’t tell your mother until after we’re married.”

  “I agree!” she said as she got up. “Let’s elope. Mom’s been saying that my wedding will involve a cathedral and a dress with a fourteen-foot-long train.”

  He led her to a chair, she sat down, and he sat across from her. “I couldn’t live with myself if I cheated a girl out of a real wedding.”

  “I don’t mind,” Alix said. “If it’s a choice between an elopement and Mom’s extravaganza, I’ll take a Las Vegas drive-through with Elvis.”

  He sliced a bit of brie, put it on a cracker, and leaned across the table to put it into her mouth. “You see,” he said as he scooped up some hummus and ate it, “it seems that Izzy doesn’t want her wedding, so I thought that you and I would take it.”

  “Oh, no! Please don’t tell me that Izzy and Glenn have broken up.”

  “Not at all,” Jared said. “They’re going to Bermuda to get married and I’m flying his two brothers and her little sister down there to be with them. If you agree to everything, that is.”

  When Alix realized what he was saying, she just sat there, holding a slice of cheese on a cracker outside her mouth. Just holding it, not moving. Jared reached across and guided her hand to her mouth.

  Alix chewed for a moment, then said, “I can wear Aunt Addy’s dress?”

  “I’m sure she’ll smile down from Heaven and thank you.”

  “Lexie and Toby—?”

  “Will be your bridesmaids—if you approve, that is.”

  “Very much so.” She ate another cracker. “We’re talking about this Saturday, right?”

  “Yes,” he said and reached across the table to take her hand.

  Alix grinned so wide her face almost split. “Tell me more.”

  “I would love to,” he said.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  It was early morning, just three days before he was to get married, and Jared couldn’t sleep. Toby had sent him an email with details, such as getting the marriage license, the rehearsal times, and that she and Lexie were flying to New York for the day to buy new dresses. She said she’d sent Alix emails of more information.

  Jared lay in the bed with his hands clasped behind his head, looking at the ceiling. Last night he and Alix had stayed in the chapel and talked until midnight. It hadn’t been easy to keep their clothes on but they’d done it. But then they’d been feeling the solemnity of what they were planning, their lifetime together.

  Neither of them liked the secrecy of their plans, but they did like getting it done. They’d made up their minds and were now determined to go forward into their lives together. In other words, they wanted to continue in the way they had been, living and working with each other, with no further interference.

  Last night as Jared was getting into bed, he sent an email to Tim to come to Nantucket on Friday and bring his tux. Jared would only tell him in person that he wanted him to be his best man. In other circumstances, it would have been Ken, but he would be escorting Alix down the aisle.

  It wasn’t yet dawn but Jared got up, pulled on jeans, a T-shirt, and sandals, then quietly went up the stairs to the attic. As he stretched up to reach the light chain, he remembered why he’d been so angry that he’d torn off the pull string.

  For a moment he stood still, looking out the window. His anger about his grandfather and Victoria was gone now, replaced with a sense of What will be, will be. Somewhere in the last few days he’d come to terms with a feeling of destiny, that no matter how angry he became, he couldn’t change the future. He couldn’t stop what might happen—and he doubted if his grandfather could either.

  When he heard a sound behind him, he didn’t turn, but he knew he was no longer alone. “Do you know what I did?”

  “Came to your senses and asked dear Alix to marry you?”

  “Yes,” Jared said as he turned around—then drew in his breath. His grandfather was sitting in the big wing chair and he was as solid looking as any human.

  Walking toward him, Jared reached out to touch his grandfather’s hand. It was real, almost solid and almost warm—and it was the first time in his life that Jared had ever touched him. Jared drew back and sat down heavily on the threadbare couch. He had a horrific vision of Caleb putting his arm around Victoria and the two of them walking into the fog and never being seen again. All Jared could do was stare at his grandfather.

  “I still don’t know,” Caleb said in answer to the unasked question. “I don’t know how or why or what will happen. Everyone is here now. Did Alix tell you that she saw my father at Parthenia’s wedding?”

  “No,” Jared said, still staring.

  “His spirit is in Dr. Huntley’s body. My father was a man of great integrity and kindness, and my mother was his strength.” Caleb sighed. “I’ve had to see them die four times, and three of those times were just alike. First my father went, and he was followed soon by my mother. But this time your modern medicine has made them leave each other out of order.”

  “What does that mean?” Jared asked.

  “It’s yet another thing that I don’t know, but I hate to see him the way he is now. He misses my mother so much that he’s only half alive.”

  Jared was studying his grandfather, very aware that in a few days he would no longer be there. “Have you been spying on Victoria?”

  “Not in the way you mean,” Caleb said with a bit of a smile. “A bit of talk while she’s asleep, but nothing more.” He waved his hand. “If I got near her the way I am now, she’d see me. However, I’ve been considering allowing that. One last time.”

  “You won’t get to see number eight,” Jared said, meaning the son that he and Alix would have. “But then I guess we should drop the numbers.”

  “Perhaps you’ll name a son Caleb.”

  “I would be honored,” Jared said. “Maybe on that last day you would be allowed out of this house long enough to come to our wedding.”

  “I wish I could!” Caleb said. “With all my might, I wish I could be there. I would like to hold Valentina in my arms one last time, see her smile at me.” He sighed. “I have paid for my greed.” He gave a little laugh. “The irony is that the treasure I thought I had to have was left behind on my ship and my brother brought it back to Nantucket.”

  “Are you talking about the shipload of goods you bought in China?”

  Caleb waved his hand. “It doesn’t matter now. Are you going to let Victoria in on the secret of your wedding?”

/>   “Absolutely not!” Jared said. “You know what she’s like. She’ll want to take over everything.” He looked sharply at his grandfather. “Have you had a hand in this? Did you persuade Izzy to step out of her own wedding?”

  “How could I have done that when I’m not allowed to leave this house?”

  “What you can do is answer questions directly.”

  “Can I?” Caleb asked. “I hear someone. I think your Alix is coming up the stairs.”

  Jared watched, fascinated, as Caleb got out of the chair and walked across the room. When he reached the wall, he kept walking.

  As his grandfather vanished, Alix appeared at the doorway. Jared opened his arms to her and she snuggled beside him on the couch.

  “Is this your hiding place?” She didn’t want to tell him that Lexie had ratted on him.

  “Since I was a kid.”

  “Did you sleep well?” she asked.

  “Not much,” he answered. “Too much on my mind. Did you get an email from Toby?”

  “I looked at my phone and I had five of them, so I turned it off. I’ll read them later. You look like something’s bothering you. You still have time to change your mind.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “My only worry is that you’ll wise up and run away. You sure you want to take on all the Kingsleys?”

  “I guess you mean Captain Caleb.” When Jared didn’t say anything, she turned to look at him. “Has he been here?”

  Jared could hear the apprehension in her voice, but he wasn’t going to lie. “Yes, he was here. I came up to talk to him. He’s going to leave the earth very soon.”

  Alix didn’t know what to reply to that. She’d never heard of anyone saddened because a ghost was leaving. Weren’t people always trying to get rid of them? “Why is he going?” she asked.

  “I don’t understand it. People reincarnated from the past have gathered, so Granddad’s leaving.”

  “It has to do with my mother, doesn’t it? She was Valentina.”

  Jared nodded, afraid to say more.

  “Maybe now that he finally gets to see her again he can leave.”