Because of the Ring

by Stella Bagwell

  There was a short pause, then Lottie said, “Shortly after I went to work for your grandfather he approached me with a task that he called…well, personal. I was to gather information on a woman named Betty Fay Westfield. And down through the years that’s what I did. I have a file on the woman and her family locked in a drawer in my office.”

  After all the astounding things he’d discovered the past two weeks, Lottie’s confession shouldn’t have surprised him. But in truth, he was bowled over. Learning that William had discreetly kept up with Betty Fay’s well-being reinforced the fact that his love for the woman had been true and everlasting. “You mean, you knew who Claudia was that day she came to the office?”

  “Yes. That’s why I almost didn’t give her an appointment. I was afraid she might dredge up things better left in the past. But then I realized that denying her an appointment wouldn’t be enough to stop her from seeing you. And now I’m glad I didn’t. I think all of this has happened because the two of you were meant to be together.”

  For long moments Hayden remained silent as he tried to absorb everything Lottie had just told him, then he groaned. “Not you, too, Lottie.”

  “Mr. Bedford—”

  “Save it, Lottie. Vince is driving up. I’ll talk to you later about that file.”

  Spared from dealing with Lottie any longer, he clicked off the phone, then slapped a hard hat on his head. He’d been wrong a few minutes ago, he thought as he walked over to where Vince had parked. Work was what he needed. And lots of it. Otherwise, he just might see how empty his life was without Claudia.

  Seven hours later Hayden let himself into the house. After a quick shower, he switched on a lamp at the head of the bed, then turned down the covers and sat on the edge of the mattress.

  He was bone-tired, yet his weariness could not be fixed by several hours of deep sleep. Since Claudia had left, he’d been living in mental torment and he was beginning to wonder how much longer he could hold up under the strain.

  Lottie had been right about one thing. He’d been living like a monk, burying himself in his work and trying to forget he was a man alone. Until Claudia had waltzed into his office, he thought grimly. For some reason he couldn’t understand, her soft gentle looks and prim attitude had woken him from his half-dead existence. Now he couldn’t get her out of his mind. Or his heart.

  Groaning at that last thought, he desperately raked fingers through his damp hair. As he did, his eyes settled on his grandfather’s journal lying on the bedside table. Beside it, the opal winked beneath the artificial glow of the lamp.

  Had Claudia missed the ring? he wondered. Or was she glad to finally be rid of it? Of him?

  Afraid of those questions, he picked up the ring and stared down at the simple stone. It still seemed incredible to him that a little piece of jewelry had caused such a traumatic change to his life. Because of the ring, Claudia had entered his life and for a few short days he’d been tempted to let himself believe again, to hope for love and the family he’d always wanted. Tempted, but not persuaded. So he’d sent her away in hopes of saving her and himself a major heartache.

  What do you think you’re going through now, Hayden? What else do you need to convince you that what you feel for Claudia and what she feels for you is real—the kind of love that will never die? A lightning bolt out of the blue? A vision of your own? Would that be enough to open your eyes and your heart?

  Mentally cursing at the nagging little voice in his ear, he clutched the ring tightly in his fist and stared at the journal. His grandfather had given the opal to the woman he’d first loved, then lost. And from what he’d read in the journal, Betty Fay had given William a wristwatch somewhere around the same time he’d given her the ring. Where was the watch now? Hayden wondered. Somewhere out there causing someone else to be plagued with unexplained visions? Or had it been tossed away, discarded like a broken dream?

  Sighing because no answers came to him, Hayden leaned over to return the ring to the nightstand and switch off the light. But before he could finish either task, an image suddenly came to him from out of nowhere. And the picture was so clear and unexpected that he was momentarily stunned motionless.

  He knew where his grandfather’s watch was hidden. It was in this very house!

  Bolting off the bed, Hayden hurried down the hallway to the small room he used as an office. On a shelf with his grandfather’s picture and several other souvenirs was the model of a sailboat he’d put together as a small boy. Even though it didn’t exactly resemble the Stardust, Hayden had painted the name in tiny letters on the side of the boat and presented it to his grandfather as a birthday gift. Years later, after Hayden had grown up, William had given the boat back to him and told him to always keep it, even after he was dead and gone.

  At the time Hayden had considered William’s bequest rather overly sentimental. After all, it was just a toy. But it did signify the love of sailing they shared together, so Hayden had hung on to the miniature Stardust. Now he thought he understood why William had been so nostalgic about the boat.

  Picking up a penknife from his desk, Hayden carefully eased the hull away from the deck until the wooden model was separated into two pieces.

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” he murmured.

  Nestled in the hollow section of the boat’s hull, the watch was carefully wrapped in layers of cotton. Hayden’s hands were actually shaking by the time he’d folded it all back and exposed the silver-plated timepiece.

  On the back of the face, the simple words were inscribed. To my darling, Bill. Eternally, Betty Fay 1943.

  Feeling as if someone had whacked him in the knees, Hayden sank into the leather desk chair and stared up at his grandfather’s photograph.

  “You wanted me to find this, didn’t you?” he whispered with sudden understanding. “You’re trying to tell me that Claudia is my one true love. Just like Betty Fay was yours.”

  The photograph didn’t answer. But then it didn’t have to. For the first time in years, Hayden was listening with his heart.

  Chapter Eleven

  Claudia placed a pair of jean shorts into the leather duffel bag with the clothes she’d already packed, then glanced at the telephone. One call to the airport and she’d be on her way back to San Antonio. Back to Hayden.

  Since her talk with Liz last night, she’d been telling herself that her friend was right. Even though her relationship with Hayden was definitely one-sided, she had to convince him the world wouldn’t fall apart if he gave the two of them a chance to be together. But telling herself and actually taking a step to do such a thing were two entirely different things.

  Each time she’d tried to pick up the telephone and call the airport, she got the feeling it was a coiled snake ready to bite.

  The telephone can’t bite, but Hayden can and will.

  Groaning at the heckling voice inside her head, she sank onto the edge of the bed and dropped her head into her hands.

  What did she think she was doing? she asked herself. Just because she was miserable being apart from Hayden didn’t mean his heart was in the same sorry state of affairs. Now that he had her out of his hair and the mystery of the ring solved, he’d probably had a wonderful week. More than likely he’d been whistling a happy tune every morning at the breakfast table.

  Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried not to picture the two of them eating at the little table together while outside the windows the mourning doves cooed and flirted with their mates. She tried to push the sight of Hayden’s tanned face and hard body lying against the Matagorda sand and to forget the urgent, needy kisses he’d pressed on her lips and face. But everything about him was branded into her mind and heart, making it impossible to forget.

  She had no choice, she thought. Hayden meant too much to her to simply give up and let his jaded attitude ruin their chance at a happy life together. Somehow she had to convince him that the ring had brought them together for a reason, and that was to spend the rest of their lives together.


  Quickly, before her burst of courage could wane, Claudia jumped to her feet and snatched up the phone. The airport number was scribbled on a notepad resting on the edge of the desk. Breathing deeply, she began to rapidly punch the digits.

  She was about to push the last button when the doorbell shrilled loudly. The unexpected sound caused her to jump and drop the receiver. By the time she’d picked it up and planted it back to her ear, a recorded voice was telling her the call could not be connected.

  “Damn it,” she muttered to herself. “Someone has rotten timing.”

  Just as she hurried out of the bedroom, the doorbell rang again, this time with impatient persistence.

  “I’m coming. Just a minute,” she called as she entered the tiny foyer that separated the entrance of her apartment from the living room.

  Even though it was broad daylight, she cautiously glanced through the peephole. Since the caller was not standing within her view, she called, “Who is it?”

  She heard a shuffle of feet, then a familiar male voice. “It’s Hayden, Claudia.”

  Hayden! What was he doing in Fort Worth? Stunned, her hands shaking, she quickly unlatched the door and swung it open. The sight of him standing on the other side of the threshold caused her to take a quick, deep breath.

  “Hello, Claudia.”

  She swallowed and touched a hand to her mussed hair and bare face. He was wearing a crisp blue-and-white pin-striped shirt, dark blue jeans and black Western boots made of expensive ostrich skin. Yet even if he’d been wearing oily coveralls, he would have looked like heaven to her. “Hayden, what are you doing here?”

  Inclining his head toward the small space behind her, he said, “If you don’t mind me coming in I’d rather explain inside.”

  Too flustered for words, she motioned for him to enter and as he stepped past her, her knees grew frighteningly weak. Just following him into the living room without collapsing was a major feat.

  “I was—”

  “I know—”

  Their tangled voices caused their gazes to meet. Claudia’s already-pounding heart began to beat even harder and she placed a hand on the back of an armchair to brace her wobbly knees.

  “I realize I should have called and warned you that I was coming. But I didn’t want to give you the opportunity to get prepared,” he said.

  Bewildered, she stared at him. “I don’t understand, Hayden. Prepared for what?”

  His expression sheepish, he shrugged. “To throw me out.”

  It was all she could do to keep her mouth from dropping open. “Why would I want to do something like that?”

  Her innocent question caused his lips to twist with self-mockery. He should have realized Claudia couldn’t be grudgeful. Nor was there a guileful bone in her body. But then he should have realized a lot of things before he’d let her walk away from him back in San Antonio.

  Stepping toward her, he said in a low, shameful voice, “Because I hurt you.”

  Her brown eyes continued to desperately search his face for explanations. “Yes, you did. But I don’t think you really wanted to hurt me. Besides, the whole thing that happened between us was…well, it was mostly my fault.” She stopped long enough to moisten her lips with the tip of her tongue. “It was foolish of me to expect you to want the same things I did. Especially since we’ve only known each other a very short time.”

  His expression grave, he closed the last step between them and placed his hands on her shoulders. “What things are you talking about, Claudia? Tell me,” he softly invited.

  Doubts and fears swirled inside her. Just because he’d shown up here at her apartment didn’t mean he’d changed his mind about the two of them being together, she told herself. Still, the way he was looking at her made every particle of her being want to fall into his arms and never let go.

  Lifting her chin, she said, “I think you know how I feel about you, Hayden. If you came all the way up here to Fort Worth to hear me say that’s changed, then you’re going to be disappointed. I love you whether you like it or not.”

  The relief he felt was so great, he actually groaned out loud. Then before she could guess his intentions, he pulled her into his arms and cradled her head against his shoulder. “Oh, Claudia! All during my drive up here I was so afraid. I’d behaved like such a jackass I wasn’t sure you’d be willing to see me again, much less still care about me.”

  Totally bewildered now, she eased her head back far enough from his shoulder to enable her to view the profile of his face. “Hayden, I still don’t understand why you’re here. What—”

  “I’m here for three reasons,” he quickly interrupted.

  Cradling her face in his palms, he looked into her eyes. “First of all, I want to apologize.”

  Just being this near him, having him touch her was enough to send her head spinning. “Apologize for what? Not loving me?”

  His head swung back and forth with regret. “No. For not being brave enough to admit it while you were still in San Antonio with me.”

  She couldn’t believe what she was hearing and the shock must have shown on her face because he smiled ruefully and said, “I know you’re probably going to tell me that my declaration of love is a little late in coming. But I guess I was just too damned afraid, Claudia. Everything about the ring and the visions seemed so farfetched and then when we discovered the letters and the journal I didn’t know what to think. About our grandparents. About you and me. And most of all about the things in life that we can’t necessarily see.”

  “Like love,” she said softly.

  His blue eyes turned tender as his palm stroked the top of her soft, brown hair. “Yes, like love. Deep down I knew it existed. I’d loved my parents very much. And for what it was worth, I’d loved Saundra. But I’d lost all of them and after that—Well, I guess a part of me died and my faith in human emotions died along with me.”

  Her heart aching with love and hope, she slipped her arms around his waist. “So what made you change your mind?”

  “That’s the second reason I’m here,” he said, dropping his hand from her face long enough to fish the watch out of his jeans’ pocket. “I want to show you something.”

  Intrigued now, Claudia looked at the silver watch in his palm. Her brow wrinkled as a snippet from one of Betty Fay’s letters raced through her mind. “That watch belonged to your grandfather. My grandmother gave it to him! And after all these years you found it!”

  He nodded. “Last night I was holding the ring, thinking about you and how miserable I was without you and then the watch entered my mind. I was hoping if the ring had somehow managed to survive, then maybe the watch was still around somewhere. I was trying to tell myself it had probably been thrown away when all of a sudden something told me exactly where to look for it. Pretty incredible, huh?” He motioned for her to take the watch. “Read the back,” he urged.

  Claudia did as he suggested and by the time she lifted her eyes back up to his, they were filled with tears. “Oh, Hayden. William and Betty Fay loved each other so much, yet they never got the chance to share their lives. We can’t let that happen to us.”

  She handed the watch back to him. He slipped it onto his wrist, then cradled his hand against the side of her face. “I have no intentions of letting that happen, Claudia. That’s the third reason I’m here.”

  Her brows lifted. “The third?”

  His smile tender, he used the pads of his thumbs to wipe away the tears that had fallen onto her cheeks. “Yeah. The third reason I’m here is the most important one of all. And that’s to ask you to marry me.”

  Claudia supposed his proposal should have shocked her, too. But it didn’t. There was too much love in his blue eyes, too much need in the hands touching her, for him to want to settle for anything less than marriage between them.

  “You said after Saundra you never wanted to marry again.”

  Sliding his hands down her back, he gathered her close against him. “What Saundra and I had between us was
never a real marriage. I can see that now. The only thing we really shared was the same bedroom and it takes much more than that for love to endure.”

  Snuggling even closer, Claudia tilted her face up to his. “Yes, our grandparents are a good example of that. I’m certain their love lives on still and I’m even more certain their love brought us together.”

  Bending his head, he pressed his cheek against hers. “A few days ago, I would have called you crazy.”

  His remark put a teasing curve to her lips. “You did, Hayden.”

  He chuckled. “I guess I did, didn’t I?”

  “You’ve been a hard man to convince.”

  Groaning, he shook his head with regret. “I have to confess, Claudia, even after your visions led us to the Stardust and the hidden letters and journal, I still didn’t want to believe what I was seeing. To think that some invisible force was leading us…well, it went against all my common sense. And then when I started falling in love with you I guess I really went into denial about what was happening.”

  Her brown eyes filled with understanding. “Believe me, Hayden, I felt the same way at first. A science teacher deals with proven facts. I didn’t want to think that something so unexplainable could be happening to me. But then I met you and everything inside me began to change. Especially after you kissed me,” she added impishly.

  His forefinger lifted to her soft lips and then his head bent toward hers. “And I think it’s way past time for me to do it again, don’t you?” he murmured.

  As his lips settled over hers, golden rays of happiness glowed in her heart and she kissed him back with unabashed passion and all the love that went with it.

  “Whew! I think we’d better head down to the courthouse and purchase a marriage license today. Texas has a two-day waiting period. Damn it!”

  Her eyes widened and she laughed with wonder. “You mean we’re going to get married that soon?”

  Hayden tightened his hold on her. “That’s why I drove up here instead of taking a flight. So we could load all your things in my truck and take them back to San Antonio with us.” His expression suddenly serious, he traced his fingertips against her cheek. “Claudia, tell me if I’m asking too much of you. I realize how much your teaching career means to you. I know it’s important for you to work with children and you have your job here—”