Page 86 of The Encounter
Since it was already late, they made plans to go see the jeweler tomorrow and then get Christmas decorations afterward. Maddie couldn’t wait. It felt like Christmas had already come.
27
Jace helped Maddie out of his car and then held her hand as they walked up to the entrance of the jewelry store. He pulled the door open for her and she smiled before stepping through, with him following close behind.
The store was empty except for a couple speaking with an employee on the far side of the room looking at a piece of jewelry.
An older man stepped out from around the counter and held his hands up. “Jace! How wonderful to see you!”
“Stephen, it’s wonderful to see you, too.”
“What’s bringing you in?”
Jace gestured to Maddie. “This is my girlfriend Maddie, and she’s looking to have a custom necklace made.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Maddie,” Stephen said, taking her hand in his and giving it a light squeeze.
“It’s nice to meet you, too.”
“So tell me what you have in mind.” Stephen led them over to a counter where he pulled out a sketchpad.
Maddie took a deep breath and Jace settled his hand on the small of her back and rubbed soothing circles.
“It actually looks like the piece you did for the auction. I tried to buy it, but I was outbid.”
Maddie pulled out her phone and pulled up a photo of a couple with a young girl smiling back at the camera. Jace immediately recognized the man from the craft fair, and his skin prickled. To think a man he had spoken with, who happened to also be Maddie’s father, had passed away shortly after they had met.
She zoomed in on the necklace the woman wore. “I know this isn’t a great picture, but it’s the best I could find. It looks nearly identical to the one you did for the auction. I didn’t snap a picture of that one.”
“I did,” Jace said. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and immediately pulled up the photo, producing it for Stephen and setting it on the countertop.
Maddie smiled up at him. “I didn’t know you took a picture.”
“I wanted to make sure you got your necklace eventually, and I knew I wouldn’t remember the details.”
“Thank you. That was very sweet of you.”
He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her into his side before dropping a kiss to the top of her head.
Stephen interrupted their moment. He examined the photo on Jace’s phone and shook his head. “Unfortunately, I cannot reproduce this. One guarantee for the auction piece was that it was one-of-a-kind. It would be unethical for me to make a replica.”
Maddie’s face instantly fell. “Oh. Okay. I understand.”
Jace asked to see Maddie’s phone, and he zoomed in on the photo. The necklace looked almost identical to the one from the auction, except for one part.
“Stephen, would you be able to remake it if there was a slight alteration?” Jace asked.
Stephen nodded. “Yes, as long as it isn’t identical. What did you have in mind?”
Maddie looked at him curiously.
Jace pointed at the top of the necklace. “I could be mistaken, and Maddie can confirm this since she has actually seen it in person, but it looks to me as if there are two small diamonds alongside the amethyst, not just one like you did for the auction.”
Maddie squinted at the photo. “I think you’re right. It’s been so long since I’ve seen it, but now that you say that, I think there was actually a cluster of three small diamonds.”
Stephen looked at the photo and then began sketching a necklace on his pad of paper. Maddie looked up at Jace with the biggest smile he had ever seen. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and waited in silence with her as Stephen sketched. Within minutes, he had finished and turned the pad around for them.
Maddie gasped and held a hand up to cover her mouth. “It looks identical. I just… wow. Oh my God. I’m speechless.”
