by Terri DuLong
I pushed aside the clothes and removed the box from its hiding place. Taking it with me, I sat on the bed and traced my finger over the initials on top. Thinking back over the past five months, I felt in many ways I’d experienced a lifetime during that short span. I wondered about the twists of fate that had brought me to where I was now. And I wondered if Emmalyn and my dreams really had anything to do with all of it. Maybe. I’d never know for sure. But I did know I’d always be grateful for my dreams and especially for Emmalyn Overby entering my dream world. I knew now the reason I wanted to keep that box in the closet of Emmalyn’s old bedroom was because it belonged there. Just like some form of Emmalyn would always belong in Koi House.
Chapter 48
I parked in the guest parking spot of the condo garage next to Henry’s car. Basil and I took the elevator to the third door and as I slipped the key in the lock, I smiled. Henry had insisted a few weeks before that I have a key. He said ringing the intercom from downstairs made me seem like a guest.
“We’re here,” I called as Basil and I stepped into the foyer. I unclipped his leash so he could accept Delilah’s greeting.
“Hey, there, beautiful,” Henry said, coming from the kitchen with a towel slung over his shoulder. “I’ve missed you.”
I laughed. “It’s been less than twenty-four hours,” I told him and felt his arms go around me.
“Precisely. Much too long.”
His lips touched mine and as the pressure increased, desire surged through me. I pulled away and let out a sigh. “Maybe we need to do something about that.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
He took my hand and led me toward the kitchen, where I saw a bottle of champagne chilling in a silver ice bucket on the counter next to two flutes.
“I thought we’d celebrate your news,” he said as he filled the glasses and then passed one to me. “Congratulations on the coming arrival.”
I touched the rim of his glass and smiled. “Thanks. I still have to pinch myself.”
“Let’s go out on the balcony before dinner. I have a casserole in the oven. Nothing fancy but we’ll have fresh bread and salad with it.”
“Sounds great.” I followed him out to the balcony and inhaled the strong aroma of salt air.
“I’m very happy for all of you,” Henry said. “And I hope you won’t think me presumptuous, but I’m looking forward to sharing these coming months with you and the birth of your grandchild.”
Once again I felt my heart skip a beat and knew I loved Henry a little bit more. “That’s so sweet of you to say. And you’re not being presumptuous at all. There isn’t another person in the world that I’d rather share this event with.”
He reached for my hand and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you. I’m as excited as you are. I’ve never had children, so being a part of your happiness means everything to me.”
I smiled. “Then I look forward to sharing it together.” I took a sip of champagne. “I have some not so great news though.”
His eyebrows lifted. “What’s going on?”
“Well, I spoke to Isabelle earlier today. She just didn’t sound right. At first I thought maybe I’d woken her up, but she said no. She’s having a hard time finding a job and I think she’s in a slump. I think the breakup of her marriage affected her a lot.”
“That’s understandable. Anything you can do to help?”
I added another item to my list of why I loved Henry. “Well, I tried asking her to come and stay with me again. I don’t think I got very far, though. She said she’d think about it. I did call Haley afterward and she seems to think her mother is depressed. She said her mom spends most of her time in her room. I feel bad for Haley too. That can’t be a pleasant house for her right now.”
Henry squeezed my hand again and nodded. “No, it doesn’t sound like it. But unfortunately, if Isabelle isn’t willing to change things, there isn’t much more that you can do. Except hope for the best. Relocating here might be the best thing for both of them.”
Following dinner we walked the dogs on the beach and then returned to the condo to have coffee on the balcony. It had been another perfect evening and I knew the time had come to tell Henry my decision.
We sat there quietly, holding hands, watching the sky darken over the ocean. My thoughts wandered to all the changes that had occurred in my life. I thought of Dreamweaver and how in many ways it was similar to Yarning Together—but in many ways it differed. I couldn’t help but feel that the biggest difference was me. I wasn’t the same person who had fled to Cedar Key looking for comfort and healing. I wasn’t even the same woman who had arrived in Ormond Beach five months before. That woman was gone forever and that was a good thing—because in her place had emerged a woman who had healed once again, but most important, a woman who had learned to forgive. I had found friendship and a community of people who opened their arms to me and gave me a sense of self. I had come to Ormond Beach to heal and I had found so much more. I had found love. And love was the most important thing in life.
“Henry,” I said softly, “I’ve made my decision. About Hawaii. About us.”
He turned in his chair and waited.
I looked at his handsome face, saw a wary expression, and gave his hand a squeeze. “I’d love to go to Hawaii with you and I’d love for us to be a couple. Permanently. And right here, right now . . . I’d love to make that permanent commitment to you.”
His expression of wariness instantly turned to pure joy. “Oh, Chloe, you have no idea how happy I am to hear that. I didn’t want to pressure you and I know what we’ve found together has moved along very fast . . . but I think when a person finds that one special love . . . there’s just no turning back. I knew what I felt. I’ve just been concerned that maybe all of it was too fast for you.”
I thought of Mavis Anne and Jackson and I smiled. “I completely agree with you, Henry. When one has found the love of one’s life . . . that one great love . . . there’s simply no turning back. At all.” Although I’d been privately thinking about it, I had misgivings about voicing my next thought to Henry and then recalled what he’d said to me: “If not now, when?” I let out a deep sigh, took in another breath and said, “And you know what? Hawaii might just be the perfect place for a honeymoon.”
I saw the look of astonishment that crossed Henry’s face and smiled.
“Are you asking me to marry you, Chloe Radcliffe?”
I laughed. “I think maybe I am.”
Without one word, he jumped up and headed into the condo. He returned a few minutes later with something clasped in his hand. He turned his chair to face me directly, opened a black velvet box, removed a ring and reached for my hand.
“I admit that so far our relationship hasn’t been the most conventional. However, if there’s any proposing to be done, I’ll be the one doing it. So . . . will you marry me, Chloe?”
I felt the tears sting my eyes as my heart overflowed with love.
“Yes,” I said. “Yes, Henry Wagner, I will marry you.”
He slipped the gorgeous oval-shaped diamond onto the third finger of my left hand, then pulled me up into an embrace and kissed me.
He pulled away and held on to both my hands. “It’s official,” he said. “We’re engaged to be married. Do you like the ring?”
I held my hand out in front of me. “I absolutely love it. But how long have you had it? Were you that confident I’d say yes?”
Henry laughed. “Actually, I wasn’t confident at all and I wasn’t even sure the time would come when I felt it would be appropriate to ask you. I wasn’t sure you’d ever really be ready to make the commitment of marriage. But as you know, I’ve loved you long before I met you and after our first date, I was even more convinced. I hoped that someday you might feel the same. I was in Orlando, happened to pass a jewelry store and I went in. As soon as I saw that ring, I knew it was meant for you, and the sign inside the glass display case sealed it for me.”
“What did the sign say?�
��
“It was written in red script on a gray background and said What Dreams Are Made Of. I knew it was the perfect ring for you.”
I felt a chill go through me. Thank you, Emmalyn, I thought. Thank you for working your magic again.
“You have no idea,” I said. “You have no idea how much this ring was meant for me.”
“Let’s finish off that bottle of champagne to celebrate. I’ll be right back.”
I leaned on the railing and watched the moonglow catching the facets of my ring. I looked out at the ocean bringing in the tide and I smiled. Like the changing tides, our lives continue to change. They form patterns and go through cycles. Some good. Some bad.
Henry came beside me and passed me the glass. “Here’s to us, Chloe. I love you with all my heart and I always will. Here’s to all our tomorrows.”
“I love you too, Henry. To all our tomorrows.”
And I knew in my soul that no matter what those tomorrows brought, one thing was certain. Love would always surround us—because love really was the most important thing in life.
Author’s Note
A huge thank you to Karin Martinez, who designed and knitted Chloe’s Dream, the shawl mentioned in my novel. You were a delight to work with and I appreciate your professionalism and knitting expertise.
I hope my readers will enjoy making the shawl that my characters at Dreamweaver worked on during their knit-along.
Please visit my author website to view a photo of the gorgeous completed shawl!
Although the pattern is here at the back of my novel, I know many of you like to have a hard copy of the pattern to follow. Therefore, you can visit Karin’s page on Ravelry to purchase this at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/chloes-dream
The yarn used in the sample was Universal Yarns Angora Lace, colorways Heartfelt and Foghorn, and was purchased at The Ball of Yarn in Ormond Beach. If you would like to purchase your yarn here and have it shipped, please call Sandi at 386-672-2858.
If you have questions on the pattern, please contact the designer, Karin Martinez, at [email protected].
Happy knitting!
Chloe’s Dream
By Karin Martinez
Chloe’s Dream is a two-color lightweight crescent-shaped shawl, featuring texture, eyelets, and an original lace border. Increases occur on each right side row, 3 at the beginning of the row and 3 at the end of the row, to create the crescent shape.
Also available for download at: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/chloes-dream
Materials Required:
• Size 5 (3.75mm) circular knitting needles, 32” or longer, or size needed to obtain gauge of approx. 30 rows and 24 stitches per 4 inches in stockinette (after blocking).
• Yarn: fingering or light fingering weight (where 100g = approx. 400 yards) Main Color (MC)—approx. 340 yards
Contrast Color (CC)—approx. 265 yards
• Tapestry needle for weaving in yarn ends
• Blocking pins, mats, and/or wires, as desired
Key:
• CO—Cast On
• K—Knit
• P—Purl
• YO—Yarn over
• K2TOG—Knit two stitches together.
• SSK—Slip two stitches, one at a time, knitwise. Pass them back to the left needle, then knit them together through the back loop.
• M1L—Make 1, left leaning. Lift the bar between the stitch last worked and the next stitch by inserting the left needle under the bar, from front to back. Knit into the back loop.
• M1R—Make 1, right leaning. Lift the bar between the stitch last worked and the next stitch by inserting the left needle under the bar, from back to front. Knit into the front loop.
• SL2WYIF—Slip 2 stiches purlwise with the working yarn held in front, between you and your work.
• SL2WYIB—Slip 2 stitches purlwise with the working yarn held in back, behind your work.
• SL1, K2TOG, PSSO—Double decrease. Slip 1 stitch purlwise. Knit the next two stitches together. Pass the slipped stitch over the newly knit stitch and off needles.
• CDD—Centered double decrease. Slip 2 stitches together knitwise. Knit the next stitch. Pass the slipped stitches over the newly knit stitch and off needles.
• [ ] Instructions between brackets are worked as a group for the number of times specified, as indicated by * followed by the number of repeats.
• RS—Right side
• WS—Wrong side
PATTERN INSTRUCTIONS
Cast on:
Begin with a garter tab cast on, using MC, as follows:
Cast on 3 stitches (long-tail cast on is recommended).
Knit 24 rows in garter stitch (knit all stitches in row, turn work, repeat). Do not turn work after the last row.
After row 24, turn work 90 degrees. Pick up and knit 12 garter ridges to create 12 new stitches.
Turn work 90 degrees. Pick up and knit the original 3 cast on stitches.
You now have 18 stitches on your needles, 12 body stitches and 6 border stitches (3 on each side of the body).
Stockinette section:
Set-up row (WS)—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Rows 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, & 13—[K1, M1L] * 3, K until 3 stitches remain, [M1R, K1] * 3
Rows 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, & 14—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Stitch count after row 14 = 60
Chain Section #1:
Start with CC. Switch between CC and MC every two rows.
Row 15 (CC)—[K1, M1L] * 3, K until 3 stitches remain, [M1R, K1] * 3
Row 16 (CC)—Knit all
Row 17 (MC)—[K1, M1L] * 3, K5, SL2WYIB, [K6, SL2WYIB] * until 8 stitches remain, K5, [M1R, K1] * 3
Row 18 (MC)—K3, P8, SL2WYIF, [P6, SL2WYIF] * until 11 stitches remain, P8, K 3
Row 19 (CC)—[K1, M1L] * 3, K8, SL2WYIB, [K6, SL2WYIB] * until 11 stitches remain, K8, [M1R, K1] * 3
Row 20 (CC)—Knit all
Row 21 (MC)—[K1, M1L] * 3, K until 3 stitches remain, [M1R, K1] * 3
Row 22 (MC)—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Rows 23–30—Repeat rows 15-22, continuing to switch colors, as noted.
Rows 30–36—Repeat rows 15-20, continuing to switch colors, as noted.
Stitch count after row 36 = 126
Eyelet Section #1:
Switch to MC. All rows in this section are worked in MC.
Rows 37 & 39—[K1, M1L] * 3, K until 3 stitches remain, [M1R, K1] * 3
Rows 38 & 40—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Row 41—[K1, M1L] * 3, [YO, K2TOG, K8] * until 5 stitches remain, YO, K2TOG, [M1R, K1] * 3
Row 42—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Rows 43 & 45—[K1, M1L] * 3, K until 3 stitches remain, [M1R, K1] * 3
Rows 44 & 46—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Row 47—[K1, M1L] * 3, K4, [YO, K2TOG, K8] * until 9 stitches remain, YO, K2TOG, K4, [M1R, K1] * 3
Row 48—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Rows 49 & 51—[K1, M1L] * 3, K until 3 stitches remain, [M1R, K1] * 3
Rows 50 & 52—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Row 53—[K1, M1L] * 3, K8, [YO, K2TOG, K8] * until 3 stitches remain, [M1R, K1] * 3
Row 54—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Rows 55 & 57—[K1, M1L] * 3, K until 3 stitches remain, [M1R, K1] * 3
Rows 56 & 58—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Row 59—[K1, M1L] * 3, K2, [YO, K2TOG, K8] * until 7 stitches remain, YO, K2TOG, K2, [M1R, K1] * 3
Row 60—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Row 61—[K1, M1L] * 3, K until 3 stitches remain, [M1R, K1] * 3
Row 62—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Stitch count after row 62 = 204
Chain Section #2:
Start with CC. Switch between CC and MC every two rows.
Row 63 (CC)—[K1, M1L] * 3, K until 3 stitches remain, [M1R, K1] * 3
Row 64 (CC)—Knit all
&n
bsp; Row 65 (MC)—[K1, M1L] * 3, K5, SL2WYIB, [K6, SL2WYIB] * until 8 stitches remain, K5, [M1R, K1] * 3
Row 66 (MC)—K3, P8, SL2WYIF, [P6, SL2WYIF] * until 11 stitches remain, P8, K 3
Row 67 (CC)—[K1, M1L] * 3, K8, SL2WYIB, [K6, SL2WYIB] * until 11 stitches remain, K8, [M1R, K1] * 3
Row 68 (CC)—Knit all
Row 69 (MC)—[K1, M1L] * 3, K until 3 stitches remain, [M1R, K1] * 3
Row 70 (MC)—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Rows 71–78—Repeat rows 63-70, continuing to switch colors, as noted.
Rows 79–86—Repeat rows 63-70, continuing to switch colors, as noted.
Rows 87–92–Repeat rows 63-68, continuing to switch colors, as noted.
Stitch count after row 92 = 294
Eyelet Section #2:
Switch to MC. All rows in this section are worked in MC.
Rows 93 & 95—[K1, M1L] * 3, K until 3 stitches remain, [M1R, K1] * 3
Rows 94 & 96—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Row 97—[K1, M1L] * 3, K4, [YO, K2TOG, K8] * until 9 stitches remain, YO, K2TOG, K4, [M1R, K1] * 3
Row 98—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Rows 99 & 101—[K1, M1L] * 3, K until 3 stitches remain, [M1R, K1] * 3
Rows 100 & 102—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Row 103—[K1, M1L] * 3, K8, [YO, K2TOG, K8] * until 3 stitches remain, [M1R, K1] * 3
Row 104—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Rows 105 & 107—[K1, M1L] * 3, K until 3 stitches remain, [M1R, K1] * 3
Rows 106 & 108—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3
Row 109—[K1, M1L] * 3, K2, [YO, K2TOG, K8] * until 7 stitches remain, YO, K2TOG, K2, [M1R, K1] * 3
Row 110—K3, P until 3 stitches remain, K3