“I’d love to,” he said. He stood and walked around the table. I lifted the back of my hair as he draped the chain around my neck. The pendant fell to the top of my cleavage.

“I’ve never had anything so nice before,” I said.

“Then it’s about time,” he said. I stood up and hugged him. “Thank you.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“I don’t like it, I love it.”

We finished our desserts, olive oil and rosemary cake with a pistachio gelato, then we took a cab to Rockefeller Center to see the tree. Even though it was cold enough to see our breaths, I left my coat open to reveal my new necklace.

The eighty-foot tree was brilliantly lit, and the plaza was crowded with tourists. Beneath the statue of Prometheus, skaters glided gracefully, and some not so gracefully, across the rink.

We had been there for a while when I said, “I have something for you too.”

Nicholas looked at me in surprise. “You do?”

“Remember when we signed the contract, I asked you if you had a pen? You said, ‘I’m a lawyer. That’s like asking me if I have a lung.’ ”

He grinned. “And you made a snarky remark about me not having a heart.”

“I was wrong,” I said. “You’re all heart.” I took the pen from my purse and handed it to him.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a present.”

He unwrapped the box. “You bought me a Montblanc pen.” He looked up at me. “Elise, this is way too expensive.”

“It’s nothing compared to what you’ve spent on me.”

“You can’t . . .”

I touched his lips. “Remember when you got mad at me for complaining you spend too much? Now I’m telling you the same thing. I know it’s not much in your world, but it’s all I have. Please let me enjoy this.”

He just stood there quietly as the world noisily swirled around us. He looked deeply affected. “Thank you.”

“I just wanted to give you something that you would use. And maybe when you saw it, you would think of me. And remember this time we’ve had together.”

“I don’t need a pen for that,” he said softly.

“Thank you for bringing me to New York. Thank you for everything you’ve done this season. I don’t know why you’ve done all this, but thank you.”

“You still don’t know why?”