Because Of The Ring. Stella Bagwell

      Chapter Three

      Once they were out of the hotel room, Claudia began to breathe normally and by the time they were seated at a small, sidewalk café overlooking the river walk, she’d almost convinced herself that she hadn’t just taken a leap off the high dive.

      “Have you visited San Antonio before?” he asked as the waitress served them their drinks.

      Tourists and locals were everywhere in the boutiques and restaurants lining the river. Since it was the height of the dinner hour, Claudia was surprised they’d managed to find a vacant table fairly close to the hotel. It was positioned on a small terrace made of wooden planks. A nearby sago palm dappled the late-evening sun with cooling shadows and secluded them from the main group of diners. Any other time, she would have appreciated the extra privacy, but with Hayden as her dinner partner she would have welcomed the diversion of a noisy family sitting next to them.

      “Yes. But it’s been a while.” She stirred sugar into her iced tea. “Do you live here in the city?”

      “A few miles west and south, in the hill country.”

      “So you commute here to the city to your offices.”

      He nodded. “Bedford Roustabout has always been headquartered here in the same old building. My grandfather developed the business in the late nineteen forties. When he died my father took over the reins. After I graduated college at Texas University in Austin, I joined him.”

      “Is your father still helping to run the company?”

      He reached for his glass. “No. Unfortunately he died about five years ago.”

      Claudia had always been close to her parents. They’d provided her with a solid foundation through her childhood and because they’d always been there for her, the idea of losing either one of them had seemed impossible. Until her grandmother Betty Fay had passed away. Her death had jolted Claudia and reminded her that her family was mortal and not something to take for granted.

      “That must have been devastating,” she murmured.

      “It was. He was only in his fifties. He was driving home one night when a drunk ignored a yield sign and smashed into the driver’s side of Dad’s truck. To make matters worse, I’d lost my mother only a year before that happened.”

      “In another accident?” she asked, stunned that any one person could be handed such a double dose of grief.

      “No. She had a blood disease that had weakened her immune system. She contracted pneumonia and wasn’t able to recover.” He looked at her over the rim of his tea glass. “What about you? Do you have parents?”

      “Yes. In Fort Worth. Not far from where I live.”

      He smiled as though her answer was what he’d expected. “So you’re still close to the nest.”

      Claudia put down her spoon and leaned back in the wooden chair. He made it sound as though she was still wet behind the ears and needed protecting. “I don’t see that you’ve exactly strayed far from the home range yourself.”

      He studied her with something like appreciation. “I guess I asked for that, didn’t I?”

      She shrugged as her expression turned rueful. “Actually, I shouldn’t have said that to you. It wasn’t exactly nice. Not with your parents being gone.”

      He chuckled lowly and she was reminded of a few minutes ago in the hotel room. He’d been so close she’d been able to see the green flecks in his blue eyes and the faint shadow of beard threatening to break through his skin. His male scent had enveloped her like a forbidden aphrodisiac and the urge to kiss him a second time had nearly overwhelmed her.

      “I don’t expect niceness out of people, Claudia. Just honesty. Besides, you didn’t say anything to me that I didn’t say to you.”

      Because he was too potent a man to look at for more than a few moments at a time, she turned her gaze to the narrow river. A few feet from their table, a small boat was passing by. A young couple were aboard, hugged close together on the simple seat near the bow. Their foreheads nearly touched as they exchanged words meant only for each other. Clearly, the outside world had been forgotten by the lovers and the sight of them filled Claudia with a strange sort of melancholy.

      Most people considered her a cool person, a woman more interested in science and learning than femininity or romance. But at one time she’d believed in love and all the ecstasy that went with it. She’d hoped and believed that somewhere in the world there was a man that was meant to find her and sweep her away, a man who would give her children and love her for the rest of their lives. It was something she longed for and she’d thought, with the help of Betty Fay’s ring, she would find him. But Tony had shattered that idea and now it looked as though she was allowing the ring to drag her into another hopeless situation.

      “I guess it’s a little late to wonder if you’re married.”

      She said the words more to herself than to him, but he answered her just the same.

      “If you’re feeling guilty about that little kiss we shared, Claudia, then don’t. I was divorced three years ago.”

      Surprised, Claudia looked at him. “You were married?”

      “For a couple of years.” The corners of his lips turned down with bitter humor. “I guess I was difficult to live with. At least,