Laughing through the final two rings, Grace felt the carousel slow down to stop. She whispered something into Nolan’s ear before dismounting from her lion and handing the rings out to the children nearest to her. “If you give this to the man when he comes around, he’ll let you ride again.”
They stood and went to sit on the booth-like benches and smiled at the children’s delight in riding again. As they exited the carousel, Grace noticed Nolan slipping a bill to the operator as he passed. “Did you pay him for the rides?”
“Well, the brass ring tradition wasn’t meant for big adults like me. It wouldn’t be right to take advantage of them.”
“You are a fine man, Nolan Burke. A very fine man.”
They strolled hand in hand through the village as Nolan shared his childhood memories. From the fountain, he fell into after making a wish, to the little shop where his father purchased his first knife, he had a story for almost every brick and cobblestone.
Grace found it fascinating to discover the rich heritage that a man, completely alone in the world, could have hidden away in another side that others didn’t see. “Thank you for sharing this with me.”
They ate lunch in an authentic Austrian restaurant, sampling Weiner Schnitzel and Apfel-strudel. The proprietress tried to encourage the couple to try a sachertorte, but overfull from their lunch, they refused as graciously as possible.
“This river runs into Lake Danube near Fairbury. I remember thinking that they should have built this village down there,” she mused as they neared the water.
Skipping rocks across the surface of the side creeks and throwing an occasional snowball at each other, the couple spent a glorious afternoon just enjoying each other’s company. As the day drew to a close, Grace found herself not wanting it to end. The thought of sending Nolan home alone disappointed her.
~*~*~*~
Friday dawned bright and clear. Fresh snowfall was evident by the hushed sounds of children hurrying off to the bus. Grace dressed quickly and brushed her hair as she threw open her living room drapes. The sight before her sparked an uncontrollable fit of giggles.
On her lawn, in all their tacky glory, sat six of the most ridiculous Easter geese she’d ever seen. Dressed in prissy bonnets, the ‘geese’ had laid plastic Easter eggs all over the snow-covered lawn. The incongruous mixture of pastel and lace bonnets with Christmas wreathes draped about the necks of the geese was a remarkable sight. Children giggled and pointed as they passed her lawn with its gaggle of carefully positioned geese—designed for maximum comical effect.
She picked up her new cordless phone and dialed Nolan’s cell number. His drapes were closed and the driveway showed tire tracks, so she was certain that he’d gone to the city for a lunch meeting or to de-bug some program that he’d written. Nolan answered on the fifth ring.
“Sorry, Grace. I had to pull over. The traffic is murder out here. What can I do for you?”
Grace stared at her phone before speaking. “How’d you know it was me? Why didn’t you just ignore the call?”
“I have the phone Velcroed to my dash, and the phone flashes your name and number if I enter it into the address book in my phone.”
“Oh, duh. Craig’s does that too. I forgot.”
Nolan smiled at the mental picture he had of Grace. He could imagine her nodding into the phone and trying to keep a straight face as she commented on the spectacle he’d made of her lawn. Leaving that morning without seeing Grace’s reaction to his artwork had been hard. Nolan observed that work could be a serious detriment to one’s social life.
“Grace? Did I lose you?”
She shook her head and answered. “There is a spectacular sight on my lawn. I’m likely to be in tomorrow’s paper, you know. Meanwhile, I’m becoming quite nervous about the next few days.”
His hearty laughter warmed her heart. “I assure you, there will be no more fowl play at your house.”
She dissolved in a fresh burst of giggles and said goodbye. Seeing her little dog come crawling out from his bed on the back porch, Grace picked him up. “Rolex, would you just look at what that man did out here?”
Rolex bounded into the yard the moment she opened the door. The pooch yipped and yapped at each goose, pulling on some of the wreaths, and knocking a couple over. With a triumphant bark, the fur ball grabbed a green egg in his little snout and dashed back into the house.
Grace spent her day with Melanie and Gracie-Anna, finishing the plans and the shopping for Christmas Day. On their way through the mall to Melanie’s favorite home store, she saw an exquisite sweater in a store window. In an instant, she threw aside her desire to be fiscally responsible.
“Melanie. I want that sweater. I could wear that with my royal velveteen skirt to that party at Nolan’s friend’s house next week. I’ve got to have it.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, she went into the store, found her size, tried it on, paid for it, and left the store swinging her shopping bag and feeling wonderful. Melanie dropped Grace off at her doctor’s appointment, where Nolan planned to meet her, and drove straight to Craig’s office. When Craig heard the story of Grace’s purchase, the man smiled a special smile that Melanie knew was reserved only for his sister. “She’s in love, Mel. My baby sister is in love.”
~*~*~*~
Grace sat in the doctor’s private office waiting for the verdict. Dr. Kline took her suggestion and let her sit in the office and rest from her shopping trip while he took the next patient. Nolan hadn’t arrived yet and she hoped he’d make it before she received her “verdict.” Moments after she finally relaxed, an attentive nurse ushered Nolan into the office.
Nolan sat next to Grace and took her hand in his, startled by how cold it was. “Grace, I’m so sorry I’m late. Your hands are like ice. Are you nervous or just cold?”
Smiling at the handsome man next to her, Grace shrugged. “I’m always cold. You know that.”
A voice behind them spoke out. “Not for long. My suspicions were confirmed. You have low-thyroid function. I’m going to start you on a synthetic replacement for the thyroid hormone.”
For the next several minutes, the doctor told Grace what to watch for in order to determine if she became over medicated. Nolan had many questions for the doctor and Grace took notes. Surprisingly, the answer seemed to be simple. The doctor instructed her to take a tiny little pill, and the pill was “instructed” to make her well.
At home, Marci brought Amber to Grace for a few hours while she went to dinner and a movie with Todd Mercer. When Nolan noticed his little friend bouncing her way into Grace’s house, he gathered a computer video game console, a new soccer game, and made a beeline for Grace’s house. He’d noticed that the girl needed male attention and had made a point of spending as much time with her as he could, whenever she was with Grace.
After a meal, hot chocolate and a frenzied game of Yahtzee, Grace begged for a nap. Nolan encouraged her to rest while he and Amber battled it out on the electronic soccer field. Twenty minutes later, the score stood tied. Amber tried not to squeal as she scored another goal.
“Are you going to marry Miss Grace?” Amber’s voice was hushed over the sounds of the game in which both were engrossed.
“I hope to. What do you think? Should I ask her to marry me?” Nolan was somewhat taken aback but intrigued by the girl’s question.
Amber nodded emphatically as she swerved to kick an electronic soccer ball that rolled across the screen. “What will you say?”
“Say?”
Amber sighed and tossed her joystick aside, allowing Nolan to score the winning point. “How will you ask her? Will it be romantic?”
Nolan shrugged as he packed up the game gear. “I’m not sure. I’d like it to be, but that’s kind of personal.”
“You’ve got to make it romantic. She’s going to remember it for the rest of her life! You can’t just go in there and say, ‘Oh, by the way, I thought it might be cool to get married. What do you say?’” Amber sounded quite affronted that the perfect situation hadn’t been arranged before now.
Nolan chuckled and tweaked her hair. Amber’s giggles resounded through the room. “Shhh! We don’t want to wake up Grace. She needs her rest. So, where did you get your notions of romantic proposals?”
Amber grinned. “My mom likes to watch old movies. They’re really mushy sometimes. The guys always say something really romantic to the girl, and how can she say no when he says something so great? You gotta say it right.”
Nodding absentmindedly, Nolan began mentally rehearsing how to ask Grace to promise to become his wife. Looking over at Amber, he sighed. “I’ll never come up with anything that sounds as good as a movie. I’d be smart to just drop a ring in her lap, get on my hands and knees, beg, and pray for the best.”
“No way. You need to do it right. Miss Grace deserves the best, and you’ve got to give it to her.” The little girl’s voice showed traces of disgust. “Hey… I have an idea. I’ll be Grace, you practice on me.”
“Like I said—kind of personal. I don’t think Grace would like to know that someone else heard her proposal before she did.”
Amber clapped her hands and bounced on the couch in delight. “If you can’t tell me then it’s perfect. And then the preacher will say you may kiss the bride!”
Nolan lifted Amber’s little hand and kissed it in the manner of days gone by. “Thank you, Milady Amber. I can’t wait to ask her.”
“Do you have a ring? You’ve got to have a ring. Grace is old fashioned. She won’t want to have to pick it out herself. It’ll make her feel weird. You really should have one.”
“I don’t know what she likes.” Suddenly, Nolan realized that marriage might be easier than the process of getting there.
“Well, Melanie told Mom that Grace likes apples and pearls, but Miss Grace told me that she likes Black Fools Gold.” Pride rang in Amber’s voice as she relayed this very important information while Nolan did his best to keep from laughing.
“What’s this about fool’s gold and pearls?” Grace’s voice startled the co-conspirators.
Nolan scrambled to find the right words to cover his tracks. “Well, we were just rehearsing.”
Amber interjected her contribution before Nolan could continue. “For kind of a play thing. Nolan was being the handsome prince. He makes a good one, huh? I was Milady Amber.”
“Sounds like a nice play. I want to see it when it opens, ok?” Grace heated tea as she listened to the pair joke about Nolan wearing tights and a medieval tunic.
Before Nolan could open his jaw, Amber quipped, “Don’t worry, you will.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Saturday dawned early. Day seven arrived. Grace wondered just what to expect as she tried to imagine what would happen with swans. “Lord, yesterday’s foray into the wonderful world of front page small town news was quite intriguing, but can you help him find something less public for his swimming swans?”
Two hours later, Amber arrived at her door shivering and dressed in a Swan Lake costume complete with tutu. Standing in Grace’s living room with her mother taping every minute for posterity, Amber read a short poem written for the occasion. Her sweet little singsong voice was filled with excitement.
Seven swans a-swimming will soon be swans a-dancing
You can just call it my peculiar form of romancing.
And I would like, to ask from you, if I may be so bold.
For just one hand, throughout the night, for this poor gent to hold.
The little ‘”ballerina” hugged Grace and handed her a creamy envelope of tickets to January’s performance of the classic ballet in Rockland. Grace’s eyes began to fill with tears. Nolan was going “all-out” with this little game of his. Ballet tickets were limited to Grace’s dreams and far away from her budget.
Marci nodded and pushed the camcorder into her hands. “Take this and go talk to him. He loves you, you know.”
“I know.” She hurried across the street, camcorder in hand.
Nolan stood shivering in his doorway. With less reserve than Grace usually carried herself, she jogged up to him as if to hug him but stopped short. “Thank you.”
A fleeting look of disappointment masked his eyes before he smiled down at her. “You’re welcome. Do you like ballet?”
“I watch it every time it’s on the TV, but that’s not very often these days… What’s wrong?”
Nolan waved off the question. “I’m glad. These are good seats. My father was a patron of the Rockland Arts Association, so I grew up on a wide variety of cultural things.”
“Nolan, you’re avoiding my question. I saw something in your eyes. What’s wrong?”
Marci watched the scenario with excitement. An engagement was looming. Nolan listened earnestly to something Grace said before bending low to whisper into her ear. Marci’s romantic side drank in the scene. Grace wrapped her arms around his neck before handing him the camcorder. Marci drove off with a wave and a sigh. It couldn’t happen to a nicer couple.
Grace waved to Nolan and Marci as she hurried back into her house. She had a busy day ahead of her, and she needed to get to work. They were having dinner at Craig’s house that evening, so she wanted to be well rested before they left.
~*~*~*~
The conversation around Craig and Melanie’s table was full of Christmas plans and special secrets. Nolan seemed jittery and nervous, which bothered Grace. Before she could gently kick his shins to catch his eye, Nolan stood.
“I have a, well, toast isn’t correct. Hmm… I guess I have a request to make of you, Craig.”
Grace’s eyes opened in surprise. This was not what she’d expected from him. Before she could react, Craig spoke. “Anything for you, Nolan. You’re almost like family now.”
Nolan swallowed hard at the word “family.” How would he ever say this right without looking like a fool? “Craig, I would formally like to request your blessing on my pursuit of Grace’s hand…”
A deep hush fell over the table as Craig worked his jaw trying to contain his emotions. Grace, strained to the emotional breaking point, finally spoke. “That’s odd.”
Nolan swallowed hard and asked, “What’s odd?”
“You only want a hand? No feet, legs, head, arms?” Grace interrupted Nolan’s rumbling chuckle with one last barb. “Oh, and by the way; if Craig won’t give his blessing, I will.”