Emma's marriage

did not reappear until dinner. They took their meals togeth

found herself in Elean

estry. Inside was a world frozen in time. Glass cases lined the walls, filled with j

ings. They were brilliant, necklaces, tiaras, brooches

ply began to work, correcting the settings, reinf

n. She didn't hear the wheel

fixing

d froze. S

e unreadable. He wheeled closer,

d. "The experts said they were impossible.

, a necklace of sapphires and di

"How does a girl from a village know more about jewelry

ost of a woman she had never met and a

est in the world. She retired to my village when I was twelve. She saw me drawi

ned withou

take a dream and make it real." She glanced at his mother's sketches. "Your mot

moment. Then he set down th

" he said. "Ca

es

w l

ths. May

en make it. Whatever

ward the door

end of the year. I didn't believe you. I thought everyone wa

u weren't lying. You have no o

idn't

you walked into this house," Alex said.

t before she

thing cracking in her chest that she h

found him in t

he moonlight streaming through. Alex sat in his wheelch

hen she entered.

are

. The silence between them was

s me at the wedd

know why. The performance,

at all

at her, "What do y

tru

nd pulled her down. The kiss was nothing like the weddin

reath away. Emma's fingers found his shoulders, his hair, pulling him closer. She w

t, both breathing hard, Alex'

not for my grandmother." Emma's heart

k, meeting he

gain. This time,