Eventually he pocketed the ring and returned to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. He put the ring on the table in front of him as he sipped the rank brew that had been left since morning.
What the devil was he supposed to do now? He could mail it to her at White Pines. Unfortunately, the arrival of her wedding ring in the mail might stir up a hornet’s nest, if anyone in the family happened to notice. Heaven knew what interpretation they might place on her leaving it behind. He hadn’t even figured out his own interpretation of its significance.
If an outsider saw him, he’d think Luke had lost his mind, Luke acknowledged dryly. He was studying that tiny ring as if it were a poisonous snake, coiled to strike. The truth was, though, that the ring’s presence in his bedroom was every bit as dangerous as any rattler he’d ever encountered.
“Seems to me like there are two choices here,” he finally muttered, his gaze fixed on the gold band. “Send it off and quit worrying about it or call her up and ask what the devil she had in mind. Sitting here trying to make sense of it isn’t accomplishing a blessed thing.”
It was also leading him to talk to himself, he noted ruefully.
He carried the coffee and the ring into his office, where he’d left the cellular phone. He sat behind his desk for several minutes, trying to figure out what he could say that wouldn’t make him look like an idiot. Finally he just dialed the damn number, taking a chance that Jessie would be in her old suite and that it would still have the private line Erik had had installed. She answered on the first ring.
“Jessie?”
There was the faintest hesitation before she asked, “Lucas? Is that you?”
Something inside him suddenly felt whole again at the sound of her voice. It was a sensation that probably should have worried him more than it did. “Yeah, it’s me,” he confirmed. “How was your flight? Any problems?”
“No, everything went smoothly. Angela never even woke up.”
“That’s good. I imagine everyone there made quite a fuss when they saw her.”
“That’s an understatement,” she said. “According to Cody, your father will probably want to plan out her entire life, up to and including her choice of a husband.”
Luke found himself laughing at the accuracy of his youngest brother’s assessment. “Listen to him. He has the old man pegged.”
That said, he suddenly fell silent.
“Luke?”
“Yes.”
“Was that all you wanted, to see if we’d arrived okay?”
He sighed. “No.” Without quite realizing that he’d reached a decision on his approach, he blurted out, “Actually, I wanted to let you know that you’d forgotten your wedding ring. You must have taken it off when you were cleaning or something.”
“I didn’t forget it,” she said, a note of determination in her voice.
Her response left him stymied. “Oh,” he said and then fell silent again, struggling with the possibilities, fighting a flare of hope he had no business at all feeling. Finally he asked, “Why, Jessie?”
“Think about it, Lucas,” she said softly and he could almost see her smiling. “You’re a bright man. You’ll figure it out.”
“Jessie...”
“Goodbye, Luke. Merry Christmas.”
She hung up before he could get in another word. He sat staring stupidly at the phone in his hand. He closed his eyes and wished with all his heart that he’d gone to the Caribbean for the holidays. Or maybe taken a trip to Australia. Or even the South Pole.
Then he remembered that Jessie would have found the house empty when she’d gone into labor on the highway. Who knew what might have happened then. He couldn’t regret having been here for her. No matter how much pain his feelings for her caused him in the future, he couldn’t regret these few days they’d had.
He just had to figure out how to make them last a lifetime.
Jessie gently placed the telephone receiver back in its cradle and turned to the wide-awake baby on the bed beside her.
“That was your uncle Luke,” she whispered, unable to keep a grin from spreading across her face. Just hearing his voice made her pulse do unexpected somersaults.
Angela understood. Jessie was absolutely certain of it. She waved her little fist in the air approvingly.
“How long do you figure it’s going to take him to show up here?” Jessie wondered aloud.
She was far more confident now that he would turn up than she had been when she’d ridden away from his ranch with Doc Winchell. Leaving her own car there had been her ace in the hole. If Luke didn’t make the trip to White Pines, after all, she knew she could always go back to get her car and have one last chance at making him see what they could have together.
She rolled onto her back, only to have her wedding picture catch her eye. It was still sitting on the dresser, just as it had while she and Erik had lived in this suite.
“You understand, don’t you?” she whispered with certainty. “You’ve forgiven Luke and me for falling in love and that’s all that really matters.”
A soft tap on her door quieted her. “Jessie?” Mary called softly. “We’ll be serving dinner in half an hour.”
“I’ll be right down,” she promised.
“Bring the baby. I’ve found a carrier for her. I’ll leave it outside the door.”
“Thanks, Mary.”
Jessie listened as her mother-in-law’s footsteps faded, then she glanced down at her daughter. “Showtime, angel. It’s time to go and dazzle your family.”
The baby waved her arms energetically, an indication that she was more than ready for anything the Adams clan had in mind for her—now or in the future. Jessie wished she could say the same.
She had no sooner
