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A sinking feeling settled in the pit of Candy’s stomach. She’d forgotten all about the diamond ring. The one Carl had literally tossed her on his way out the door.
“You’ll note it’s on my right hand.” This was said with authority as though it made a real difference.
“Your right hand,” Carl repeated.
“You did give it to me,” she added defensively.
“Yes,” he mumbled, “but I thought you’d take it back to the jeweler’s. I assumed you had.”
“No.” She dipped the fork into the salad with unnecessary force. “It’s a lovely diamond.” The minute she tasted the first bite, Candy realized she wasn’t going to be able to continue this charade. It had seemed like a simple matter at first, to join Carl for dinner. They were both civilized people, but this had proved to be so much more difficult than she would have thought.
“Why the right hand?” he quizzed.
She didn’t answer him until she had a chance to build up her bravado. She knew the defensiveness was back in her voice, but it was necessary. “I couldn’t very well put it on my left hand, could I?”
A muscle tightened in his jaw. “No. But why wear it at all?”
“If you want it back, fine.” She started to slip it off her finger, but he stopped her.
“I said the ring was yours to do with as you like. I’m just surprised that you chose to wear it.”
She reached for her fork once more, determined to eat every last shred of lettuce on her plate even if she had to choke it down. “As I said earlier, it’s a beautiful ring.” Which was a gross understatement. The solitaire diamond was the most beautiful piece of jewelry she owned, but that wasn’t the reason she put it on her finger. He could have mounted a piece of rock salt and she would have worn it with pride had he truly loved her.
Carl seemed intent on downing his salad, as well.
“I…I…” She started and stopped, then purposely looked past him. Her voice was small when she was able to continue. “I know you proposed because I was pregnant, not because of any feelings for me. When you insisted I keep it, I tried putting it away, but I found myself slipping it on and off my finger and pretending we were engaged. One day I decided just to keep it on because I felt closer to you while wearing the ring.”
Carl leaned forward, his elbows braced against the table. “Say that first part again. You’re confusing me.
“What part?”
“The point about me proposing because you were pregnant.”
“Yes?” She didn’t understand what he questioned.
His patience seemed to be wearing thin. “Answer me this. Do you or do you not love me?” He was beginning to sound short tempered.
Candy didn’t so much as blink. “Only an idiot would think I didn’t love you, Carl Saks.”
Her response appeared to fuel his displeasure with her. “Then might I ask why you rejected my proposal?”
“Because you don’t love me.”
“Like hell I don’t.” He slammed his fist against the tabletop, causing what remained of their salad to leap halfway off the plate. Water sloshed onto the white linen tablecloth. The entire restaurant stopped talking and stared at them before resuming conversation.
She glared at him, leaned even farther toward him and whispered between clenched teeth, “Then why did you, with your own words, tell me that the only reason you were proposing was because I was pregnant?”
“Because you were—you are!”
“Did it ever occur to you that a woman needs to be wanted and loved for herself? I certainly don’t want to be accused of trapping you into marriage. If you’d asked me to be your wife and once, just once, so much as mentioned the wordlove,I would have leapt into your arms and wept for joy.”
He stared at her as if she were speaking a foreign language. The waitress hurried to their table, removed the salad plates and delivered their entrees.
Candy dug into her turkey and dressing as though she didn’t plan on eating for the next month. She damn near choked on every bite, but she’d do that rather than let Carl know how badly he’d hurt her.
Her mouth was full of mashed potatoes and giblet gravy when Carl carefully set his napkin on top of the table. He stood, walked around to her side and got down on one knee.
Candy was so shocked, she couldn’t swallow.
