Diamonds and Dreams

by Brenda Bone

  Rafe continued to cry as she told Brant softly, “He’s responsible for my sister’s death. The guilt he carried inside him all these years finally spilled forth.”

  “I see.” Brant put Rafe’s knife in his pocket. “Lindsay, go call the police.”

  “What about your arm? Do you need an ambulance?”

  “No. I’ll take care of my arm later. Right now we need to do something with him.” He nodded toward Rafe, who whimpered, apparently no longer paying attention to them. “Call the police.”

  She hurried inside and quickly made the call. As soon as she finished, she rushed outside again, carrying with her a clean terry cloth towel that she gave to Brant to bind his wound.

  “Come into the house with me, Rafe,” Brant urged gently. “If you go quietly with me, no one will get hurt.”

  Rafe rose and took a few steps toward the driveway where his car was parked. “I’m going home now. You can keep my knife.”

  “Sorry. I can’t let you leave, Rafe.” Brant’s voice contained an authoritative tone.

  Flashing red lights and screeching sirens filled the night, attracting the attention of a few curious neighbors as the police cruiser arrived. Two men in uniforms emerged from the vehicle and seized control of the situation by hand-cuffing Rafe, who turned rebellious again. Before the officers led him away, Rafe called to Lindsay, “I hope you liked the roses.”

  Lindsay related Rafe’s story to the second officer who jotted down notes. “Would you like to press charges, ma’am?”

  She hesitated a moment before replying, “No. I’d just like for you to see that Rafe Wagner receives the psychological help he needs.”

  Brant’s sides hurt from Rafe’s solid punches and his shoulder ached. Her reaction surprised him, leading him to ask, “Lindsay, are you sure you don’t want to press charges?”

  “I’m sure.”

  “He tried to kill you! Don’t you want to see him punished?”

  “Rafe suffered enough through the years to pay for the mistakes he made the night Connie died. What I want is for him to receive treatment so he’ll gain the courage to become a caring, responsible person someday.”

  “From the first moment I met Rafe, I sensed that he was a schemer. I wish you’d listened when I tried to warn you about him earlier.”

  “I wish I’d listened, too.”

  The police took Rafe with them after informing her that they’d send someone by later for his car. After they left, she drove Brant to the nearest medical center, one that remained open twenty-four hours a day. As they waited a few minutes while the doctor finished examining another patient, Lindsay stood behind where Brant sat and placed her fingers in the hollow between his collar-bone, then pressed against the upper surface of his first rib.

  “You have an angel’s touch,” he murmured.

  “I’m sorry you were injured because of me.”

  “When I think of what could have happened if I hadn’t arrived in time, the thought makes me tremble.” His blue gaze looked directly into her face. “I came close to losing you too many times, sweetheart, and I--”

  He didn’t have a chance to say anything more because a nurse dressed in a crisp white uniform appeared and motioned for him to follow her. “The doctor will see you now.”

  While Lindsay sat alone in the waiting room, she sorted through a stack of magazines laying on a table and chose a publication for women. Flipping through the pages of ads, then pausing when she came to the first article, she hoped that it wouldn’t come to symbolize the end of her relationship with Brant. It concerned a woman who gave up a promising career to stay home and raise a family. Her children were grown now and had interests of their own as did her husband. The author seemed to feel that she was deprived of this satisfaction. Lindsay was aware that she could never be content without a stimulating career. On the other hand, Brant deserved the same consideration from her. There was bound to be resentment from the one that elected to give up their present job, and she wasn’t sure they had the right to ask that of each other.

  Brant appeared suddenly with a white bandage peeking through a hole in his stained yellow shirt. “I’m as good as new now.”

  “Ready to go?” She was glad that the pain she saw on his face earlier was gone.

  “How about if we stop somewhere to eat?”

  “Sure.”

  “If you don’t mind, let’s go to a drive-thru restaurant so we can eat in the car. I don’t want to go into the dining room while I’m wearing this blood-stained shirt.”

  She forgot her plans for their moonlight picnic as she drove to the nearest hamburger joint. Slowly she ate her French fries and remembered what Rafe told her about how he took Connie out for hamburgers following the party. Staring moodily at the red and white sign that flashed the name of the restaurant, she grew quiet thinking about Rafe.

  Brant must have detected her line of thought. “Want to tell me why Rafe came to your house and the events leading up to him losing control?”

  Twirling the straw in her vanilla milkshake, she provided him with all the details which spilled out of Rafe’s mouth before Brant arrived. “Think I should tell my parents how Connie died?”

  “That needs to be your decision, Lindsay, and yours alone.”

  “I fear the truth could hurt them and stir up more painful memories. Dad has high blood pressure, so I won’t mention anything I learned tonight to them.”

  “Why haven’t I heard you on WBKB during the last several nights? It was my understanding that Desi offered you your old job back when he heard that I’ll go to WQXL.”

  I should’ve known he’d notice I haven’t been on the air lately, she thought. It’s time to tell him about the job in New York.

  Meeting his gaze, she informed him, “Desi offered me my job back, and I was prepared to stay at WBKB. Then I received an offer to work at WCIT.”

  “WCIT? That station’s in New York.”

  “Right.”

  He paused a moment as if he dreaded her answer to his next question. “What will you do?”

  “Accept their offer and move near WCIT. Desi already knows. That’s why you won’t hear me on WBKB anymore.”

  Brant felt as if she just pushed him off a bridge and he felt himself gasping for air before his head sank below the murky water. “You didn’t think our relationship was important enough to discuss something like this with me?”

  “I didn’t believe it was necessary to tell you everything about my professional life, especially when we haven’t been close lately.”

  “Touché. But don’t you see? If you move away, you won’t give our love a chance.”

  “If we have a strong love, it will survive.”

  “Love can’t develop naturally or grow when two people are miles apart. If we’re away from each other for a long period, this beautiful feeling that’s between us will eventually fade into only a pleasant memory.”

  “All I know is that I’m willing to try a long-distance relationship until we can reach a compromise.”

  “Let’s leave. There are too many people around here,” he said suddenly, realizing that the car window was open and anyone passing by could probably hear their conversation.

  “You haven’t finished most of your food. I thought you said earlier that you’re hungry.”

  “Hearing your plans made me lose my appetite.”

  “Brant, please don’t be this way!”

  He leaned against the neckrest and stared into space. “How do you want me to be, Lindsay? Thrilled that the woman I want to marry is about to walk out of my life?”

  “Marry? Brant Diamond, are you finally getting around to proposing to me?” she asked excitedly.

  “Yes. That’s why I brought this with me.” He pulled out a burgundy velvet box from his pocket. As he opened it and held it up to the light that spilled into the car, she saw an exquisite, sparkling pear-shaped diamond ring. “I planned to spend a quiet evening alone with you, counting all the reasons why you should a
gree to marry me soon.”

  “Some quiet evening!” She picked up Rafe’s knife that fell out of Brant’s pocket when he reached for the ring box.

  Still holding the ring, he asked impatiently, “Well, aren’t you going to at least try it on? Don’t you know whether or not you feel like growing old and sitting in our rocking chairs by the fireplace with me?”

  She took the ring, slipped it on her finger, then wrapped her arms around his neck. “It’s a perfect fit. Oh, Brant! I don’t know what to say right now except that I hope we can work everything out between us.”

  “Ooooh! Watch out for the shoulder.”

  “Sorry!” Remembering his wound, she instantly released him. “Does it still hurt?”

  “It would feel better if you’d say you’ll marry me.”

  “All right. I will.”

  The impact of her words prompted him to draw her into his arms so he could kiss her lovingly on the lips. His arms wrapped around her tightly as if she walked through the wilderness, then stumbled into a steel trap that clamped shut on her.

  “Hey! Be careful. Your shoulder,” she warned.

  “Forget the shoulder. Anyway, didn’t I tell you it would stop hurting so much if you’d accept my proposal?”

  Gazing out the window, Lindsay said in a low voice, “The family in the next car is staring at us.”

  “Probably because they never saw a couple so much in love until now…until us.”

  “Be serious, Brant. I think we’d better leave now. It’s not making me happy that we became the center of attention.” She took their cardboard tray with scraps of leftover food and stretched to reach the metal garbage container where she dumped the trash.

  “Since there’s an all-night grocery store located along the way to your house, would you mind stopping there?” Brant asked when she drove again. “I just remembered an errand I need to do.”

  “No trouble.”

  When they arrived at the store, he instructed her, “Park under one of the bright streetlights and lock the car doors. I’ll return shortly.”

  She planned on going inside with him, but when he didn’t ask her to, she remained in the car. While she waited for him to return, she listened to the radio. A commercial came on for a children’s group. Suddenly she looked at her engagement ring and wondered if Brant wanted children like she did? Only now did she realize they never discussed the subject! There was still so much they didn’t know about each other, so much left to be resolved before they’d be ready to take their marriage vows to one another. Running her fingers over the smoothly cut diamond, she examined her reasons for saying “yes” to his proposal without first taking the time to search their souls so they’d know if they were really right for each other. She was certain that she loved him, and vice versa, but would that be enough to hold their marriage together?

  He returned before she noticed him approaching, and when he tapped on the window for her to unlock the door, he startled her. Opening the door for him, she saw that he carried a long white box with a purple bow. He’d chosen a grocery store with a florist shop inside since the regular florists were closed for the evening.

  “These are for my bride to be.” He handed her the box.

  Before she even opened it, she knew by the sweet, floral fragrance that he bought her flowers. Secretly she hoped they wouldn’t be roses for the roses Rafe sent caused her to associate painful memories with that type of flower. Lifting the lid, she saw a dozen pink carnations with white baby’s breath. “They’re lovely, Brant. Thank you.”

  “There’s a card attached. Is it too dark or can you read it?”

  She found the card and held it up to the dim light. LOVE YOU ALWAYS, BRANT, it read.

  Her fingers brushed against the carnations’ silken petals as she dropped the card back into the box. “I love you, too.”

  He picked up the box and set it back on the seat. “I’m thrilled that you’ll be my wife. Since you’ll stay in Columbus now, do you plan to ask Desi if you can return to WBKB? Or are you tired of being a working girl and ready to settle down and focus on us becoming a family?”

  “Wait a minute!” She glanced at him, but forced herself to keep her eyes directed toward the road ahead. “Brant, I never said I’d give up my job at WCIT when I told you I’d marry you.”

  “But I assumed that you would when you accepted my ring.”

  “My acceptance of the ring means I’ll always be faithful to you, and that I gave you my heart, but not the power to control what I want to do with my life.”

  “Isn’t spending your life with me what you want to do?”

  “Yes, but I still want to advance my career goals.”

  “Can’t you do that in Columbus?”

  “You know as well as I do that the job in Columbus can’t compare with the offer in New York.”

  “How are we supposed to be a couple if you’re in New York and I’m in Ohio? It won’t work, Lindsay. I want more than a weekend marriage.”

  “Couldn’t you look for a job in New York?”

  “I’m satisfied with my current job. My position at WQXL means the world to me. There was a lot I had to go through to earn this job. I’m almost settled in with it, and now you ask me to leave it?”

  She licked her lips that turned dry. “Only as a last effort to share a future with you.”

  Brant stared dejectedly out the window and didn’t comment. Bright lights from other cars, neon signs and streetlights shone all around him. It seemed to take forever to arrive at her house since there was an unusual amount of traffic on the highway tonight. He was tired of sitting in the cramped quarters of her car. What he really needed now was a long walk in the fresh night air to clear his mind and to be alone with his thoughts.

  Do I really want to be alone, he asked himself, then determined, no. Where I want to be is with Lindsay.

  “I was all set to celebrate when we reached your place,” he told her. “Now I feel like I’ve been fighting a losing battle. I’d be miserable living without you now that I’ve known the joy of being with you. Honey, we’ve got to find a solution to our problem.”

  “Oh, no!” she mumbled.

  “You disagree?”

  “That’s not what I meant. I just discovered why traffic is crawling along instead of flowing at a normal pace. There’s an accident at the next intersection. I hope no one is seriously hurt.”

  “Here comes the crew of people to sweep the glass away and clean off the road. Maybe you should turn off the motor. It looks like we won’t move for awhile.”

  “It’s taking a long time to get home tonight.”

  “And it took the weekend team a long time to realize we should become a husband and wife team, so I hope you’ll change your mind about wanting to leave Columbus.” His voice contained a hint of desperation.

  “I doubt if we’ll accomplish anything by discussing our situation any more tonight. Let’s not talk about it until tomorrow. Maybe then one or both of us will see the problem differently after we sleep on it awhile.”

  “You sound like Scarlett O’Hara in the last scene of Gone With The Wind as she decides to leave her chances for a future with Rhett up to fate.”

  “Sometimes that’s the only answer.”

  “And what should I think about in the meantime?”

  “Us, of course. Only we won’t worry until tomorrow who’ll give up their job or which of us will make the biggest sacrifice. For now, since we’re stuck here until the traffic can move again, let’s play a game.”

  “The core of my existence is being threatened, I’ve been stabbed, along with asked to give up my job, now I’m stranded in a traffic jam, and you expect me to feel in the mood to play a game?”

  “Sure. A question and answer game of ‘let’s pretend.’ It’ll give us a chance to see exactly how many goals we have in common and paint a clear picture of what we each expect out of life.”

  “Okay. Shoot with the first question.”

  “Do you envision u
s having any children after we marry?”

  “Yes.”

  “How many?” she probed.

  “Two. Maybe three.”

  “That’s what I want, too.”

  “We’re doing great with the questions so far,” he remarked. “What’s the next one?”

  “Where would we go on our honeymoon?”

  “Anyplace but New York.”

  “Brant, be serious. You’re supposed to forget our dilemma until tomorrow.”

  “That’s easier said than done.”

  “Then answer this—what trait do you admire most about me?”

  “If you change your mind and decide to remain in Columbus, it would be your flexibility.”

  “You’re impossible!”

  He leaned toward her and kissed her warm cheek. “So I’ve been told before.”

  “Hey! The traffic is finally moving,” she noticed, turning the key in the ignition.

  “At last. Now we can go to your house and celebrate our engagement, even though we still don’t know if we’ll be able to get married.”

  “You amaze me,” Brant told Lindsay after they arrived at her house and sat outside in the dark on the patio. “I expected you to feel hatred toward Rafe for causing your sister’s death.”

  A cool breeze lifted the ends of her long hair away from her face. “I don’t like to feel hatred toward anyone, no matter what bad deeds they did. Hate poisons the soul. It’s a powerful, deadly emotion that usually ends up ruling, then eventually destroying, a person’s peace of mind and often their life.”

  “But you’re not a computer without emotions. If you don’t hate Rafe, surely you must feel something like resentment or a thirst for revenge toward him, don’t you?”

  “I pity him.”

  “But why? He’s the one who caused his own problem.”

  “Only because he’s lost like a wild animal without a home. Yet once a living creature becomes tamed by being the recipient of trust and kindness, it learns how to love and be a friend, not just to others, but to itself as well.”

  “You offered Rafe friendship and affection. That wasn’t enough to melt away all the frustration he stored inside him.”

  “Picture Rafe as only half-living now. He’s probably wandering through life like he’s in a fog. He must have dwelled on past unhappy incidents because he’s unable to face and conquer his fears.”