Page 71 of The Plus-One List

She hesitates, her fingers gripping mine. Then she takes a breath. “Yeah. I do.”

We enter the shop to a light tinkling of bells. A woman in her twenties, wearing a pair of funky glasses and a black top with a parrot emblazoned on it, looks up from her phone.

“Hola, buenas tardes,” she says, smiling at us. The shop is full of unique pieces that would fit right in in my neighborhood in Bushwick. There are thick ceramic bangles in a giraffe print, necklaces shaped like snakes, and earrings featuring all manner of animals, from black cats mid-stretch to smiling hedgehogs, to every breed of dog imaginable. I point out a ring in the shape of a black pug.

“Look, it’s Charleston,” I say to Eloise. She gasps.

“Oh my god,” she says. “Can I try it on?”

“Of course,” the woman says to her in English.

Twin pink spots appear on Eloise’s cheeks but she slips the ring on and it fits her index finger perfectly. “I love it,” she says quietly. “Oooh and that,” she adds, picking up the giraffe bangle and slipping it onto her wrist. “This place is so cool.”

“Let’s look at those earrings,” I say.

“You would like to see something else?” the woman asks.

“Yes, can we see those chihuahua earrings in the window?” I ask her in Spanish.

“Claro que si,” she says, getting up from her stool. Eloise hovers behind me as she takes them out. “They’re so cute, aren’t they?” she says in English.

“Do you make all of this jewelry?” I ask her.

“I do,” she says proudly.

“It’s a great shop.”

“Yeah, it is,” Eloise says, and my heart fills with pride. Look at her, talking to a stranger. I think it helps that she’s pretty much obsessed with everything in this store. She holds one of the chihuahuas up to her ear. “How does it look?”

“Great,” I say.

“I love it,” the woman says. “Chihuahuas are my favorite.”

“She has four dogs at home,” I tell the woman. “A chihuahua, a pug, a dachshund, and a German Shepherd.”

“Wow,” the woman says. “So many, that’s like my dream.”

Eloise blushes and mumbles something that might be “Thanks.”

“Oh, let me show you this,” the woman says. She leads us over to a glass case where there’s a thin gold chain with an enameled dachshund pendant. “I don’t have anything with German Shepherds,” she says apologetically.

“What do you think?” I ask Eloise.

She nods.

“We’ll take these,” I say, laying all four items out on the counter. The woman chats to me in Spanish as she wraps the items. When I tell her we’re here for the Alvarez wedding she gasps and says she read about it in Quién. Eloise hands over her credit card as the woman rings her up.

“Gracias,” I say, as we head to the door.

Eloise clears her throat. “Gracias,” she says.

“Buen día,” the woman says with a little wave.

We step out into the street and Eloise exhales in a big whoosh. “That store was so cool!”

“I’m glad we stopped,” I say.

She smiles up at me. “Me too.”