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Daphne’s eyes went wide. “Oh my. You were going to propose to her, weren’t you?”
“I’d hoped to. It was false hope. I knew she wasn’t here. Even if the dream had turned out to be true, it wasn’t a good dream, Daphne. She was hurt. Or dead. Or something.” I rubbed my forehead. “It’s so hard to even say the words. I suppose I hope she is in Africa. At least then she’s all right.” I fingered the platinum band and the large orange stone surrounded by clear diamonds. “This belonged to my great-grandmother from Australia. It’s a fire diamond, and it’s worth…well… a lot.”
“I wish I could have seen it on Patty’s finger,” Daphne said. “It would have gone so perfectly with her hair.”
“I know.” A smile edged onto my lips. “I hated the thing when Mum gave it to me. Thought it was an awful color. Until I met Patty. I fell hard for her, and I knew then why Mum had given me the ring. It was for Patty.”
“Maybe someday…” Daphne said wistfully.
But I shook my head adamantly. “No. I’m letting her go, Daph, which means I can’t hold on to this.”
“Sure you can. You’ll meet someone else.”
“I don’t want to meet anyone else. How do you get over the love of your life?”
“I don’t… I don’t know.”
“Tell me this. If something happened to Brad, would you get over him?”
She closed her eyes. “I can’t let my mind go there.”
“And that’s what I mean.” I grabbed her hand and shoved the ring into it. “It’s for you, Daph. Keep it. Give it to one of your children. Maybe you’ll have a girl next. Or wear it. Just keep it. I know you’re going to have a huge family.”
“Ennis, I can’t. You don’t know. You may want it back.”
“All right. You keep it for me, then. I’ve got all the papers with me. I’ll give them to you. Put it in a safe, and if I ever ask for it back, you’ll have it.”
She smiled then. “All right, Ennis. If that’s what you want.”
“It is.”
But I knew I’d never ask for it back.
BRIANNA
“Such a sad story,” Callie says. “You never wanted it back?”
“I never did. Then, when Daphne died—or so we thought—shortly after Marjorie was born, I never thought about the ring again.”
“Turns out it was stolen from our mother,” Donny says. “It was left for me in a safe-deposit box by a woman named Brittany Sheraton. We found out she and her father had been paid off in jewels for helping to run a human trafficking ring on some property of ours in Wyoming.” He shakes his head. “It’s a long story. A big mess. Anyway, one of their payments included the ring. We didn’t know who it belonged to when I found it, but I always thought it would be perfect for Callie.”
“Then Callie should have it,” Ennis says.
“I couldn’t,” Callie says, gazing at her own engagement ring, the replica. “This one is beautiful, and I really think the ring should be with you, Ennis.”
Ennis shakes his head. “What would I do with it? I never married. I have no offspring to leave it to. Please. It should be yours.”
“Are you sure?” Donny asked.
Ennis smiles. “I can’t believe how good I actually feel after finally telling that story after so many decades. I feel ten years younger. Truly. But still, I won’t be on this earth a whole lot longer. I always thought the ring was meant for Patty, and if she’d lived, I know she’d still be wearing it and we’d have grandchildren to leave it to.” He sighs. “But she didn’t live. And I know now that she didn’t leave me of her own accord. So the ring isn’t hers. It never was. It was waiting to find its true owner.” He takes Callie’s hand, kisses the back of it. “And it has, my dear. Be a good wife to Donny, and Donny, you be a good husband to her. And I’ll always know that Mum’s ring is in good hands.”
Chapter Thirteen
Jesse
My visit with Dragon at the hospital was short. He wasn’t up for much more than a quick conversation. He was still exhausted and clearly somewhat embarrassed and ashamed by his circumstances.
Leaving him was not easy, but I had no choice.
