Because of the Ring Page 9

  “I suppose we have, Claudia. Good night.”

  “Good night,” she replied, then forced herself to leave the room before she could change her mind and run straight into his arms.

  “Lottie, I know what the hell I’m doing! Tell Vince to go out to rig 45 and make sure the generators are all set up. The water line should already be down and pumping. Yes, they’re buying water off a landowner’s pond for right now. We’ve already set the pump. Lottie, if the pond goes dry it’ll be the drilling company’s problem, not mine. No, I won’t be back by this evening. Tomorrow, probably. You have my pager number and my cell number if you need me. In the meantime, don’t worry. No, damn it, I’m not running off to get married! How could you think such a thing after Saundra? Well, then you know something I don’t!”

  Hayden put down the phone before his secretary could say any more, then turned to refill his coffee cup. It was then he noticed Claudia standing just inside the kitchen. She was wearing a white dress printed with red tropical flowers. The top fit snugly around her breasts and waist while the skirt fluttered around her tanned calves. A tentative smile tilted her lips and as she walked toward him, something jolted in the region of his heart.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  “Good morning,” she returned his greeting. “Sounds like this trip is already causing you trouble.”

  She didn’t need to know just how much, Hayden thought. If she did, she might get to thinking she was getting special attention from him. And that wasn’t the case. He wasn’t going to give any woman special attention. Even one as beautiful and intriguing as Claudia.

  “I was just juggling a few things with my secretary,” he explained. “Would you like to eat before we leave or stop and have breakfast on the way?”

  “Breakfast on the way sounds nice,” she told him. “Just let me get my bags and I’ll be ready.”

  It wasn’t until they were in Hayden’s posh Lincoln, heading down Highway 181 that he noticed Claudia was wearing the opal. The sight of it on her hand took him by complete surprise. Especially after she’d vehemently threatened to throw it away on several occasions.

  “You’re wearing the ring,” he said. “I thought you didn’t ever want to put it on again.”

  Shrugging, she said, “I didn’t. But I thought about your suggestion and decided you were right. Another vision might help. Now that I’ve seen a photo of your grandfather, I might be able to distinguish the differences between the two of you. Not that there was any contrast that I could see.”

  “William was fifty-three in that photo. I’m only thirty-one. That’s a big difference.”

  She turned her head to study his rugged profile and tried not to look at him as a woman but as a detective on a search for clues. “That part of it doesn’t matter. The man I see is young. Even younger than you are now, I think.”

  Each time Hayden had convinced himself this woman had to be lying or even innocently confused about the visions, she said something to put a chink in his doubts.

  “Then you believe that you’re seeing either him or me in the past?”

  Her forehead wrinkled as she considered his question. “I hadn’t really thought about it before, but yes. That must be what I’m doing.”

  “Then I’ll give you a hint. I wore my hair much longer than this when I was in my twenties and my front tooth is slightly lapped over the other one. See?”

  He spread his top lip upward in a way to expose more of his teeth. Claudia leaned forward for a closer inspection then laughed at the absurdity of their behavior.

  “I don’t know whether to feel like a dentist or an idiot,” she said, then her laughter sobered. “But if your hints are correct, then I have to conclude that your grandfather is the man I’ve been seeing all this time.”

  Once again Hayden felt as if she’d let the air out of him. Which was ridiculous. This wasn’t some sort of romantic fantasy thing with her. And even if it was, he didn’t need to be a part of it.

  “That’s odd, Claudia. Really odd.”

  Turning her head, she stared out the window at the passing landscape. They were traveling through an area where there was nothing but mesquite, prickly pear, grass and cattle. It was lonely, yet she couldn’t deny the wild beauty of the land any more than she could deny her growing feelings for the man beside her. More than anything she wanted Hayden to believe in her. But he was a man who wanted concrete proof. His heart would never be capable of simply trusting her and her word.

  “I don’t understand it any more than you do, Hayden.”

  “But my grandfather,” he protested. “Even if I did believe the ring had some sort of power, why would it be connected to him?”

  “You tell me,” Claudia said glumly. “If we had that answer we could probably solve this whole riddle.”

  Chapter Seven

  At Floresville they stopped for a leisurely breakfast. Claudia ate rancho huevos and downed the heat of the peppers with several cups of coffee. The food helped her recover some of the energy she’d lost from lack of sleep and by the time they rolled into the tiny gulf town of Port O’Connor, excitement began to envelop her once again.

  After a five-minute stop at a convenience store for rest room facilities and to fill an ice chest with drinks and food for lunch, Hayden drove to the harbor where the Stardust was docked. Along the way, they passed through a residential area full of beach houses, some huge and elaborate, others small and cozy. Mexican fan trees and Sago palms dotted the lawns and bordered the quiet streets, while bougainvillea, hibiscus and oleander flowered in abundance.

  With each block they passed Claudia’s excitement grew. The white house she’d envisioned had to be close. She could feel it.

  “Are you sure there isn’t a big white house in this town?” she asked as Hayden braked to a halt behind a stop sign.

  “I’m sure there are big white houses in this town, but I don’t recall seeing any like you described. We’ll tour the place after you look at the boat, okay?”

  She nodded. “Yes. I want to see the boat first. I feel like it’s more important anyway.”

  He turned right and headed down a street that ran parallel to an inner canal where covered boat docks jutted out over the water at regular intervals.

  After parking the car in an out-of-the-way area, he took Claudia by the hand and led her down a grassy slope, then onto a boarded walkway. The air was hot and heavy with the moisture from the salty sea. Overhead, laughing gulls screeched and swooped above the water while the faint scent of fish and shrimp was carried along on the stiff southeasterly breeze.

  The wind whipped at her skirt and tossed it straight up at her face. Laughing, she caught it with her free hand. “You should have warned me to wear shorts like you,” she said.

  “And missed seeing you in that pretty dress? I’m glad I didn’t,” he told her. “But if you’d like to change in the cabin of the boat, you can.”

  Even though his compliment filled her with pleasure, Claudia knew it would be easier to explore the boat without having to worry about the hem of her dress flying over her head. She glanced hesitantly back over her shoulder. “The extra things I brought with me are in my bag in the car. If I change, I’ll have to go back after it.”

  “I will,” he offered quickly. He set the ice chest with their food down on the dock next to her feet. “Wait right here and I won’t be gone but a minute.”

  He returned in a matter of moments with her bag and they continued on down the wooden dock. At the third from the last slip, Hayden stopped and pointed to a boat suspended above the water with ropes and other devices.

  “There she is,” he said. “That’s the Stardust. Look anything like you thought? Or is that a stupid question?”

  Eerily, she stepped forward and peered at the thirty-foot sailboat. “It’s exactly like my vision. I can’t believe it,” she whispered wondrously. “I’m not sure I want to believe it.”

  The awestruck look on her face bothered Hayden. The best actress
in the world couldn’t have conjured such a baffled expression.

  Taking her by the arm, he moved her to the side of the wooden pier. “Stand here and I’ll let the boat down so that we can go aboard. That is what you want, isn’t it?”

  She looked at him and swallowed as a ball of unexplained emotion knotted her throat. “Oh, yes! If it isn’t too much trouble.”

  He smiled wryly. “After a hundred-and-fifty-mile drive I don’t think it would be too much trouble. We might even take her out for a sail.” He glanced up at the sky. “If the weather checks out.”

  Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “I’d like that.”

  “Do you get seasick? Or do you know?”

  “I’ve been on the ocean before. It never bothered me.”

  “Good. I don’t want a sick woman on my hands.”

  From what he’d said last night, he didn’t want any sort of woman on his hands. But Claudia didn’t remind him of that. So far the day had been pleasant and she wanted their time together on the boat to be special.

  In a matter of minutes the craft was bobbing on top of the water and Hayden was helping Claudia onto the shallow deck.

  “Why don’t you go below and change your clothes before I untie the moorings,” he suggested. “It will be rougher once we get out on open water and away from the shelter of the pier.”

  “I’ll be quick,” she promised.

  The back part of the cabin contained a minuscule bathroom, two small bunks, a tiny built-in table and a few shelves for storage. Claudia didn’t attempt to change in the close quarters of the bathroom. Instead, she closed the door that separated the living quarters from the captain’s deck and quickly shed her dress.

  As she dug a white peasant blouse and a pair of jean shorts from her bag, she could hear Hayden tuning in a weather frequency on a broadband radio. Just knowing he was a few steps outside the door made her acutely aware of her nakedness and she wondered what he would think if he saw her like this with only a triangle of lace for a pair of panties and a bra that struggled to cover her nipples. It was not the sort of underwear he would probably associate with a practical science teacher, but then it would take more than sexy underwear to excite a man such as Hayden. He might find her body totally lacking, she thought as she glanced down at herself.

  What was she doing? she silently yelled at herself. She wasn’t on this boat to get naked and seduce Hayden Bedford! What was putting these erotic notions in her head? The ring?

  Maybe, she thought grimly. And just maybe it was the man himself.

  With that unsettling notion in mind, she quickly finished dressing and then fastened her hair into a ponytail with a white silk scarf. When she opened the door, she found him a few steps away at the wheel.

  He grinned as she came to stand beside him. “Well, you look like you’re ready for a bit of wind and sea now,” he said as his eyes traveled down her long, tanned legs. “I wondered what a science teacher’s legs looked like. I’m disappointed.”

  “Really?” she asked stiffly, while thinking he must have been reading her mind while she was dressing.

  “Yeah. I was expecting to see a pair of knobby knees and skinny thighs. Maybe a few spider veins from all those hours spent at the blackboard. Your legs are too pretty to belong to a science teacher. And I don’t think they go barefoot, either. Too sensible for that.”

  Claudia rolled her eyes. “I didn’t know you were a flirt and a liar.”

  He feigned an offended look. “I’m neither.”

  “Then you’re blind. I’m not sure if I can trust you to handle this boat,” she teased.

  “Oh, I think I can see well enough to get us out in the bay.” He turned a key on the instrument panel and somewhere far below the deck a motor rumbled to life. “After that, I’ll let you handle things.”

  Laughter rolled past her lips. “Not me, Captain Bedford. I’ve never driven a boat of any kind in my life. You’ll just have to put on a pair of eyeglasses.”

  Grinning now, he motioned toward a cushioned seating area just behind them. “Have a seat and I’ll do my best to keep you safe.”

  She did as he suggested and he began to inch the Stardust slowly out from the dock. Moments later they were in the canal, heading west. To their right, fishing and freight businesses lined the shore. To the left, cattle grazed a small strip of land that separated the canal from the open waters.

  For the next few minutes they chugged their way slowly up the canal past a couple of shrimp boats and several smaller fishing vessels. Then a break in the land appeared and a buoy with a number marked the opening in the canal.

  Hayden turned through it and headed the Stardust south toward gulf waters.

  After a few minutes he looked over his shoulder and smiled at her. “What do you think?” he asked.

  He was a man doing what he loved the most, she thought. Smiling back at him, she said, “I’m enthralled. It’s so beautiful. The water and birds. All the different boats. Is this where you and your grandfather used to sail together?”

  “We’ve been all over this area. That’s what I miss the most now that he’s gone. I have to do this without him.”

  Claudia went to stand beside him. As she watched the wind toss his dark hair across his forehead, she asked, “What about your ex-wife? Didn’t she like to go boating?”

  He shook his head. “Hated it with a passion. As soon as we’d drop anchor she’d start throwing up. She just didn’t have sea legs. Besides, she had other interests. Of which I learned about later on,” he added grimly.

  Compelled to comfort him, Claudia placed a hand on his upper arm. “That wasn’t your fault that she had affairs, Hayden.”

  His mouth twisted. “How do you know? You don’t know what sort of husband I was. I must have been lacking somewhere.”

  The bitter guilt she heard in his voice matched the same dark feeling that sometimes came over her whenever she allowed herself to think of Tony. For a long time after their relationship had ended, she’d wondered what was wrong with her that he should want other women. Maybe she’d been too thin or too fat. If she’d worn her hair or make-up differently that might have made the difference…. Or maybe it had been her personality. She hadn’t smiled or laughed enough, talked enough or about the right things.

  “Believe me, Hayden, after my ordeal with Tony I didn’t think there was anything right with me. I began to doubt my ability to communicate with people. I felt like I should change everything about my looks. I even considered having my breasts augmented because I thought if I wasn’t sexy enough for Tony, then I wouldn’t be for any other man.”

  Shaking his head with dismay, he reached over and brushed his knuckles against her cheek. “He must have done a real job on you, Claudia.”

  His hand was warm against her face and a rush of tender emotions misted her eyes. “It’s not something I’m proud to admit. Like I said before, being deceived by someone you care about is humiliating. That’s why I understand about Saundra.”

  A grimace twisted his lips. “Yeah. I guess you do,” he said quietly. “But you weren’t intimate with this guy of yours. It was my spouse—the woman I slept with…lived with. That cuts deep, Claudia.”

  Yes, the more a person loved, the more they were apt to hurt, she thought sadly. Hayden had said he was glad to be rid of Saundra, but he must have obviously loved her a great deal at one time or their breakup wouldn’t still be affecting him this much. The idea filled her with envy and regret.

  “One of these days you’ll realize that Saundra was the one that was lacking. Something on the inside where it really counts. Not you.”

  He turned his attention back to steering the boat, then after a minute he said, “I’m not so sure you’ve realized this Tony of yours was a bum steer. Otherwise you would have probably already been married.”

  Dropping her hand away from his arm, she stuffed both fists into the pockets of her shorts. “I’ll marry—someday—when I find the right man.”

  His gaz
e remained fixed on the waters beyond the bow of the Stardust. “And in the meantime you’re going to let that ring of your grandmother’s lead you around like a seeing-eye dog.”

  “I’m not blind, Hayden. Nor am I crazy! Somehow I’m going to make you see that!” she promised hotly, then yelped in surprise as his arm suddenly snaked around her waist and jerked her body into his.

  “If that’s your intention, then you can do it right now,” he muttered roughly.

  Baffled by his behavior, she jerked off her sunglasses and studied his face. “What are you talking about?”

  He cut the motor to an idle and they began to drift with the waves. “The ring. Throw it overboard and forget the visions,” he dared. “We’ll start over. Just man to woman. And we’ll see what happens from there.”

  His challenge both thrilled her and frightened her. There was no doubt that she was drawn to him, that she was beginning to feel things for him that she’d never felt for any man before. But was it because of the ring or because she was simply falling in love? she wondered desperately. And if he turned out to be the wrong man, then she’d have nothing to blame but her own faulty judgment.

  The struggle between her head and her heart filled her eyes with agony. “If I throw the opal away now, we might not ever solve its mystery.”

  Disappointment sharpened his features and his voice. “I was right about you all along. You’re using the ring as a shield. You’re afraid to trust me or any man.”

  “Maybe,” she whispered miserably. “But there might be something to the ring. My grandmother could have been right about it having romantic powers.”

  “Hell,” he cursed mockingly. “You go ahead and believe in that romance-and-love-in-the-clouds stuff, but I’ve learned better. The only thing that exists between a man and a woman is this.”