Chapter Ten
February 13th. 2009© 2005 Kimberly J. Fish
This is a work of fiction
An Emerald Marks the Spot
Chapter Ten
Kali Cavanaugh had never been more furious in her life. If Brad Williams thought she’d hide two hundred thousand dollars of emeralds in her bra then he wasn’t the man she’d once loved.
Olivia intruded on the hallway détente with heavy footsteps and a cloud of cloying perfume. “So, who’s hungry? I stuck two TV dinners in the microwave. Sorry, Kali, but I didn’t think you’d eat something that wasn’t gourmet.” Olivia slid her arm through Brad’s. “But I knew this strapping man would need lots of carbohydrates.”
Brad’s eyes narrowed on Kali’s. “I’ve lost my appetite.”
Kali clinched her hands together. “Now, Brad, you’ve been starving all afternoon and a leisurely dinner with Olivia would be just the thing to snap you back into reality.”
“Anymore misplaced reality and I’ll be in the poorhouse.”
Propping her hands on her hips, Kali lowered her voice. “Maybe this whole escapade is just one big lie so you can propose to some unsuspecting debutante who needs a grand gesture?”
“Been there, done that. Burned the t-shirt.”
Kali groaned. “You have no right to act offended. You walked out on me.”
Olivia whistled a time out. “Okay, I don’t know what’s going on here, but somebody’s eating dinner with me and I chose him.”
Kali watched Brad’s martyred exit without sympathy. Let Olivia serve him for dessert. She marched toward the front room with a stiff back. As she reached toward the sofa for her purse, her gaze swept over the crowded bookshelf filled with Aunt Annalise’s fiction collection. Sometimes the books were on their backs and a travel trinket crowned the stack. As Kali thought about calling Lacy to pick her up, her eyes settled on a small fruitwood box lingering between old editions of Victoria Holt. Reaching out to lift the familiar keepsake box, she nearly jumped when a heavy voice boomed near her ear.
“Let that go,” Olivia demanded. “The box is not yours.”
“Oh, I think it is,” Kali said turning the small carving toward the lamplight.
Brad moved over to see the treasure in Kali’s hand. His sigh echoed her relief. “It was here all along?”
Olivia grabbed it from Kali’s hand. “I’m telling you the box is not yours. I bought this on my honeymoon.”
Kali reached into her pocket, retrieving the tiny key. “Then you won’t mind my testing this in the keyhole. Because if it is yours then my key won’t work, will it?”
Olivia’s face blotched with vibrant color.
Brad looked between Kali’s resolve and Olivia’s nervousness. “Really, O, what do you have to lose?”
Olivia thrust the keepsake box into Kali’s chest. “Just take the thing. I never liked it anyway.”
“You mean because you couldn’t open it and see what’s inside?” Kali cradled the box in her hands.
Olivia turned on her heel. “The kitchen’s closed. I want both of you out of my house. Now!”
Brad grabbed Kali’s elbow, ushering her toward the front door. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”
Kali jostled between Brad’s enthusiastic grip and his fickle trust. “Now I’m persona grata?”
“Just hurry to the truck while I try to think of a hundred different ways I can show you how sorry I feel.” He closed the front door behind them and didn’t let go of Kali’s arm till she was in the passenger seat of his truck. “Don’t open the box yet. I want to be far away from Olivia’s before we start flashing jewels. She might have a long-range shotgun.”
Kali couldn’t answer. She was mesmerized by the wooden chest of memories. Under the engagement ring should be a grainy photo of her mother, a decaying butterfly or two and half a dozen charms Kali had saved for the illusive bracelet she could never afford. As Brad drove the truck toward the traffic on the other side of the lane, Kali folded all tender thoughts into a lace handkerchief and stuffed them under her logic. This manic adventure wasn’t about her sad dreams.
She fitted the key into the lock and turned.
Brad gripped the steering wheel. “Kali, I’m so sorry for doubting you. You’ve never lied to me. I can’t believe I fell into thinking you’d morphed into some money grubbing desperado. I don’t know what came over me, but I hope you’ll forgive me. I don’t deserve it, I know. I’ve already sunk so low in asking a woman to return an engagement ring, but to accuse the same sweet lady of stealing is to sink to place I didn’t think existed.”
Kali opened the lid and with the streetlamps illuminating her lap, she removed a small velvet bag. Brad rambled on about Kali’s fine character and long-standing generosity while she slipped the heavy ring onto the third finger of her left hand. Warmth flooded her battered soul.
Brad slammed his foot against the brakes, steering the truck into a gas station. Before the gears fully parked, he’d reached across the bench seat and wrapped his palms around Kali’s left hand. “God knows that ring never looked better than when it was on your hand.”
Tears threatened. Kali swallowed hoping to avoid torrential evidence of her wobbling logic. She pulled the ring off her finger, replacing it in the velvet pouch. Holding it in her grip for an all too-brief farewell, she handed the expensive package to Brad. “Give this to your mother.”
Brad stared at the blue velvet. After a long moment, he spoke with a garbled voice. “I don’t think I can do that anymore. This ring was a gift to you.”
”You came with me on this crazy treasure hunt to find the ring. Now you have the emeralds. They’re your family heirloom, not mine.”
“But,”
Kali leaned across the seat. Placing a tender finger over his lips she quieted him. “No more talk. Just take me home.”
To be continued. . . .