Because of the Ring

by Stella Bagwell

  Hayden gripped his coffee cup. “You mean, like lovers?”

  Claudia nodded with faint embarrassment. Since she’d never made love to a man, it felt awkward for her to express such things to this man. Yet he didn’t seem to be embarrassed by her suggestion. “Floored” would have been a better description, she thought as she noted the arch of his dark brows.

  “That’s exactly what I mean,” she murmured, then shook her head in dismay. “It doesn’t make sense, Hayden. That’s why the whole thing has been so troubling to me.”

  Disturbed more than he wanted to admit, Hayden said, “Maybe this person only looks like me.”

  “We’ve already gone through this theory. I don’t know anybody else that resembles you. Is there anyone else in your family that looks like you? A brother?” she asked.

  “I don’t have any siblings,” he said with a shake of his head, then all of a sudden his eyes grew wide. “Wait a minute. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before. There is someone.”

  Jumping to his feet, he grabbed her by the hand and quickly led her toward the house.

  “Who is it? Where are we going?” she asked as they entered the kitchen, then hurried through the living room.

  “I have a small office on this end of the house. I want you to look at something there.”

  The two of them passed through a short hallway. At the end, Hayden opened a door to their left and ushered her inside.

  “You didn’t explore this room today?” he asked as Claudia looked curiously around the small space.

  Shelves were built on three walls, most of which were filled with books and souvenirs that appeared to have been collected on vacations and other special occasions. The remainder of the room was taken up by a large oak desk equipped with a computer, telephone and fax machine.

  “No!” she exclaimed. “I haven’t been snooping around your house!”

  He chuckled. “I wouldn’t have cared how much you looked, Claudia. I don’t have anything around here I need to keep hidden.”

  His fingers were still tightly woven through hers and she was stunned at how right it felt to be touching him again, to be connected to him in such a simple but trusting way. He was the man in her visions, not a man she was supposed to allow into her heart.

  “You wanted me to look at something?” she murmured, lifting her eyes up to him.

  His gaze skittered over her face, then lingered briefly on her lips. “Yeah,” he said absently. “It’s right over here.”

  Hayden dropped her hand then, planting his palm against the middle of her back, he guided her to the back wall of the small office. On the middle shelf, he picked up a framed, five-by-seven photo and handed it to her.

  “Does this look familiar?” he asked.

  Claudia sucked in a harsh breath. Her head began to reel. “Who—Hayden! Who is this?”

  “My grandfather. William Hayden Bedford.”

  Claudia’s head swung back and forth in amazement. “But he looks so much like you! He could be your father!”

  Hayden chuckled. “He liked to think he was my father. But Dad had a way of reminding him of the chain of command, so to speak.”

  Gripping the wooden frame, Claudia stared down at the image behind the glass. The man was standing beside a truck with the Bedford Roustabout logo printed on the door. His tall, muscular build was exactly like Hayden’s. His rough features could have been taken from the same mold. Even the wave of his dark hair was an identical match. The resemblance was more than uncanny.

  “Oh, Hayden, I’m so confused. Now that I see this man, I’m wondering if he might be the one in my visions. He looks like him. But then, so do you,” she whispered in confusion.

  His hands closed over her shoulders. “Are you serious?”

  Still clutching the photo, she looked up at him with troubled eyes. “Yes. I’m—Oh, I don’t know. The two of you look too much alike.”

  “But it makes even less sense for you to be having visions of my grandfather. He’s been dead for seven or eight years now.”

  Outside the sky had darkened and thunder was beginning to rumble ominously in the distance, but Claudia told herself there wasn’t any need to be alarmed about the approaching storm. Hayden had already struck her with a lightning bolt.

  “I know, Hayden! It doesn’t make sense. But what if it is your grandfather that I’ve been seeing? What could that possibly mean? Dear God, what sort of link could I have to a dead man?”

  Chapter Six

  Beneath his hands, Hayden could feel Claudia’s body begin to tremble. Fear glazed her brown eyes. Releasing his hold on her shoulders, he lifted up her hands to see that she wasn’t wearing the opal.

  “Where’s the ring?” he asked.

  “In my bedroom. I don’t want to wear it.”

  “Maybe you should wear it,” he said, shocking himself as much as her. “Another vision might give you a few more clues.”

  Her face was growing pale. Almost as pale as yesterday, when she’d first walked into his office. He led her over to a desk chair and forced her into it.

  “Are you worried there might be a tornado coming? I can turn on the weather radio,” he said in an effort to comfort her.

  Shaking her head, she said, “I’m not worried about the weather! I feel like I’ve already been hit by a tornado, then fried with lightning.” She pushed loose strands of glossy brown hair back from her face, then fixed her gaze on his. “You weren’t serious about me wearing the ring, were you? You don’t even believe I’m having visions! Much less that they’re caused by the ring!”

  Hayden rubbed a hand across his forehead. “No, I don’t. I don’t know what made me say that about the ring. The only thing evident to me is that something strange is going on here.”

  Just hearing that much of an admission from him brought a sigh of relief rushing past Claudia’s lips.

  “Hayden, yesterday when I walked into your office, I thought I had this all figured out. I thought you were the man I was searching for! Why didn’t you tell me there was someone else in your family that looked like you?”

  He shrugged both shoulders. “That thought never entered my mind. Besides,” he added, his expression turning sheepish, “I believed you’d traveled down here to south Texas to con me. My grandfather didn’t factor into it.”

  Groaning with disappointment, she closed her eyes and pressed her fingers against the aching lids. “Okay, so it’s a possibility I’ve made a mistake about the man in my vision. If that’s true, then we’ll have to start over.” She opened her eyes to look at him with fresh hope. “Is there any connection that you know of between William Bedford and the house? Or the boat?”

  Hayden sat on the edge of the desk so that he was facing her. “I don’t know about the house,” he said, “but the boat belonged to my grandfather. He purchased it way back in the nineteen forties from someone down on the gulf and renamed it the Stardust. After the old song, I think.”

  Claudia felt a stirring of excitement. “Then maybe it is him I’m seeing,” she murmured. “But why?”

  “I couldn’t say. I only know that he loved to be out on the water. So do I.” He picked up a pen and absently rolled it between his palms. “That’s why he left the boat to me. Dad never did have any interest in sailing or fishing.”

  A thoughtful frown settled over her face, then she said abruptly, “I have to go down there, Hayden. I have to see the boat. I think that’s the connection I need to put this all together.”

  For long moments he was quiet, as though he was struggling to absorb her words, then he tossed the pen back onto the desk and quickly rose to his feet. “Claudia, that’s crazy. A sailboat can’t talk!”

  “Don’t tell me it’s crazy, Hayden,” she said tightly. “I’ve heard that term too much lately.”

  “All right,” he relented gruffly, “then I’ll say a trip down to the coast would be pointless.” Walking over to the window, he pulled back the curtain and peered out. Tree limbs were bow
ing beneath the force of the wind. Rain was beginning to spatter the glass panes. The dogs were going to be whining at the back porch, he realized.

  “Pointless? Sitting here—”

  Angry at himself for letting her be such a distraction, he interrupted. “I’ve got to go see about the dogs.”

  Claudia watched him hurry out of the office. Then casting one last glance at the photo of William Bedford, she rose to her feet and went in search of Hayden.

  She found him on the back porch urging the dogs to lie down on a dry rug. The animals did as they were told and curled up together, both of them shivering from fear and the sharp drop in temperature.

  “Are the dogs okay?” she asked.

  Hayden looked up to see her standing a few feet away. A look of concern was on her face and the idea that she actually cared about the dogs touched him. Saundra had hated pets of any kind, saying they were all nasty nuisances. Accepting the black-mouthed curs was one of the first things he’d done after their divorce.

  “They’ll be fine now. The lightning frightens them.”

  Claudia went over and kneeled down next to the dogs. As she stroked their damp fur, she murmured comforting words to them. Hayden watched, quietly amazed to see their shivering stop and their eyelids droop. Obviously she had a calming effect on his dogs. But he couldn’t say the same for himself. Everything about the woman excited and provoked him.

  “You’re probably getting cold,” he said after a bit. “We should go in.”

  Claudia rose to a standing position and looked out at the waning storm. “I’m fine. I’m just wondering why you’re angry with me.”

  Hayden closed the few steps between them. “I’m not angry, Claudia.”

  She turned her head to look up at him. “You sounded that way. Back in the office.”

  There was something so vulnerable, so desperate, in her brown eyes that he wanted to enfold her in his arms and promise her a rainbow. He wanted to keep her safe from everything and everyone. Including himself.

  “I was irritated,” he admitted. “I want you to look at things sensibly. Not go running off on a wild-goose chase.”

  “What does it matter to you?”

  Good question, Hayden thought. None of it should matter to him. If she wanted to go look at a hundred sailboats, that was her business. He had a company to run. Three new rigs had just gone up in Guadalupe county last week and they all needed services from Bedford Roustabout. His crews were already stretched thin and it looked as if he was going to have to spend extra time for interviews to hire more hands. He couldn’t take care of his job and worry himself with Claudia Westfield’s whims at the same time, he told himself.

  “Well, it doesn’t, I suppose.”

  She grimaced. “You act like it bothers you that I’ve shifted my attention to your grandfather rather than you.”

  His mouth fell open. “That’s ridiculous!”

  “Is it?” She turned slightly so that her gaze was squarely on his and for a split second as she looked into his blue eyes Claudia felt that she hadn’t just met this man yesterday. That she’d known him, loved him, a time long ago. The uncanny sensation sent prickles of awareness dancing down her spine. “I don’t believe you’re being honest with me.”

  Irritated by the notion that she could perceive his feelings so clearly, Hayden glanced away from her. “Claudia, you’ve been swearing all this time that I was the man in your visions. It doesn’t feel too flattering to be replaced by a ghost.”

  Shaking her head, Claudia rested her palms against his chest. Her voice softened as she tried to explain. “I’m not seeing a ghost, Hayden. The man I see is flesh and blood, like you. I’m just not completely sure it’s your face.”

  He ought to feel relieved, but he wasn’t. He was jealous, damn it! Of a vision! If that wasn’t enough to scare him, then the desire that was quickly heating his body should be ringing alarm bells.

  “I don’t want you to go to Port O’Connor,” he said firmly.

  His abrupt statement jolted her. “Why? I’m only going to look at the boat. I won’t disturb anything,” she promised.

  “I’m not worried about the boat, Claudia.”

  The warmth of his body beckoned to her and before she realized what she was doing, her hands had slid up to his shoulders and her breasts were pressed against his chest.

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  The huskily murmured question was as much of a provocation as the feel of her soft curves melting into him. Hayden didn’t let himself think beyond the moment, he brought his hands up to her waist and pulled her even closer.

  “I’m worried about you,” he said lowly. “About this whole thing. I think you should forget it. We should forget it.”

  The urge to raise up on tiptoes and touch her mouth to his was throbbing inside her like an insistent drumbeat. She tried to push the craving to one side of her mind as she whispered thickly, “Why? Because you’re afraid you’ll find out that I’ve been telling the truth?”

  His hands slid slowly upward, along her rib cage. Another inch and the weight of her breasts would be riding his thumbs. “No. Because it’s folly. It’s unwise. It’s making the two of us act strange.”

  “Strange?” She sounded breathless and totally unlike herself.

  “Yeah,” he said regretfully as his eyes devoured the soft features tilted up at him. “Like this. I’ve already had one woman in my life, Claudia, and that was enough. I don’t want to get tangled up again. I don’t need that kind of pain.”

  Anger pushed away the hazy veil of desire from her mind. “And you think I do? For the past two years I’ve been afraid to look at a man. Much less touch one! Do you honestly think I came here just to seduce you?”

  Even if she hadn’t, she was doing a dandy job of it, anyway, Hayden thought ruefully.

  “No. I don’t necessarily think you set out to make me want you. But—”

  Claudia twisted out of his arms and turned her back on him. Her breaths were coming and going in rapid succession. Her heart was thudding at a sickening pace. “The only thing I set out to do was unravel the mystery of my visions. As for making you want me…I don’t think you do. I mean, it’s not actually me you’re wanting. I just happen to be close and handy.”

  Suddenly his hands were gripping her shoulders from behind. “That’s a nasty thing to say. My secretary is close and handy, too. But that doesn’t mean I want to kiss her every time I look at her.”

  He wanted to kiss her that much? she wondered wildly. Just the idea thrilled her. But she couldn’t let herself believe such a thing. Trusting Tony, then discovering he was a liar had nearly crushed her. Putting any sort of faith into Hayden’s words would be asking to be hurt all over again.

  “I’m sure she’ll be disappointed to hear that.”

  He gave her a little shake. “I wish to hell Lottie had never allowed you into my office.”

  Pain that she couldn’t understand suddenly filled her heart. “And I wish I’d never stepped inside it, either!”

  As soon as the words were out, she regretted them. Bending her head, she covered her face with both hands. “That isn’t true, Hayden,” she said, her voice strained. “I’m glad I found you. I was supposed to find you.”

  For a moment her declaration stunned him, then slowly he turned her around to face him. “Why? Because of that damned ring?”

  “Something led me this far,” she reasoned. “That’s why I can’t stop now. I’m going to see the boat. Hopefully something about it will settle my troubled mind. And afterward—well…” She focused her eyes on the middle of his chest. “No matter what happens, you’ll probably never have to see me again.”

  He groaned. “And that’s supposed to make me happy?”

  “It should. You just told me you don’t want another woman in your life. I’m trying to assure you that I won’t be hanging around to mess up your plans.”

  She was right. He should be happy. But just the mere idea of never seeing Cla
udia again made his future seem dead and pointless. What was happening to him? Falling in love with a woman took more than forty-eight hours. Besides, he wasn’t falling in love, he mentally argued. He was just infatuated with her and the whole strangeness of the situation.

  “All right,” he said, “if you just have to go see the boat, then I’ll go with you.”

  Shaking her head, Claudia quickly pulled away from his hold. “No. I don’t think that would be a good idea, Hayden. I’ll rent a car and drive myself.”

  “It’s a hundred and forty miles or so to Port O’Connor. I don’t want you driving that far alone.”

  She countered his excuse with a soft laugh. “I’ve driven much farther than that all by myself. I’m a big girl, Hayden. And if I have any breakdowns I have a cell phone.”

  “Damn the cell phone,” he cursed.

  Feeling certain that she was losing ground with him, Claudia edged past him and into the house. Hayden followed quickly on her heels.

  “You’re not my keeper, Hayden Bedford. And anyway,” she said as he continued to dog her heels into the living room, “you have a job you have to take care of.”

  “It won’t fall apart without me for a day or two.”

  Yes, but would she fall apart with him? she wondered. Two days hadn’t yet passed and she was already envisioning making love to the man! He was turning her into an impulsive, reckless wanton! The best thing she could do now would be to get the trip over with as quickly as possible then head home to Fort Worth.

  “Okay,” she said with a sigh of surrender. “I can see there’s not much point in arguing with you about this. When do you want to leave?”

  “Right after breakfast.”

  She nodded. “I’ll be ready,” she said with a nod, then turned and started out of the room.

  “Where are you going now?” he called after her.

  Pausing, she looked over her shoulder at him. “To bed.”

  “At eight-thirty!”

  “I think we’ve had enough of each other’s company for one evening, don’t you?”

  No, Hayden thought. He wanted to lead her back outside into the damp, rain-cooled evening. He wanted to sit beside her on the porch swing, slide his arm around her shoulders and bend his face to the clean flowery scent of her hair. It wouldn’t matter if she said a word. It wouldn’t matter if he said a word. Just as long as she was close to him. But why tempt matters when he knew he was going to have to let her go soon? he asked himself. Why make more memories than his heart could bear to remember?