CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
HE DIDN’T HAVE a clue what he was doing.
Dexter had left Knight House, grabbed a shower at his parents’ place, and headed toward the jewelry shop—waited on the sidewalk outside until they opened—with not much of a plan.
The feeling was foreign and unsettling in the lifestyle he’d created for himself. Usually he was the leader. The pillar people depended on. The person they went to for advice…a solid plan…a sounding board. Results.
Not the guy chasing ghosts. Watching the walls he’d stacked around himself for good measure crumble. What lay beyond didn’t make sense.
He shouldn’t have left Charleen. Instead of making sure her breaths were still even and steady and brushing the hair from her face—making his brother promise to keep an eye on her—Dexter should’ve found a way to wake her. To explain actions he didn’t yet understand himself.
Not written a hasty note requesting she call him.
She wouldn’t. He’d known that while scribbling the words. Had hoped maybe she’d prove him wrong.
Just this once.
Because if he’d waited around, his mom would’ve questioned the actions. Was probably already doing that anyway. Pairing him with Charleen instead of Daisy for dinner. Inviting them both in the hopes that he’d find another reason to stay in Charlotte. His dad would’ve had time to corner him and pile a bigger heap of guilt on top of what Finn and his mother had started.
Do you want to live like this?
Charleen’s words from last night struck a chord he hadn’t known was there.
And, yeah, the phone worked both ways. He could call her. He could start the conversation. But this needed to be her choice. Not something she’d been forced into by Major Fritz.
Much like being inside the jewelry shop was his choice. Something he had to do, no planning involved.
Why had Dr. Hicks had the card on him? Why had Hugh found the wallet?
“It’s part of an interlocking set.” The suited man behind the jewelry counter gazed through a microscope at the band Charleen had given Dexter last night. The Forever Yours jewelry shop manager used a tool to test the integrity of each diamond in its setting. His graying hair and physique was familiar, but Dexter couldn’t place him.
“It’s a newer line. Reviving Love.” He set the band on a felt plate, his brown eyes scanning Dexter. “The other half slides around it and the two lock into place. Each set is unique and only that piece will fit properly.”
Where was the other half? “Symbolic.”
“Indeed.” He slid the plate toward Dexter. “It’s not the kind of ring you resize or change once it’s set. At least not this one. Too many diamonds to reconfigure.”
“One would want to know the exact size of the wearer then.”
“That would be advised. This is a custom size measuring at three and three quarters. Most jewelers measure in quarter or half sizes. We measure to the eighth.” He straightened. “We have sets that aren’t as intricate, but just as meaningful and beautiful. Does it belong to your wife?”
Dexter picked up the ring. The store’s lighting bounced over each diamond.
You can’t spend that kind of money on a ring, Dexter.
The voice came to him crystal clear. Her voice. It was familiar and comforting to him. They were walking. It was chilly. She wore a brown leather jacket that zipped stylishly at an angle. One he’d gotten her for her birthday, because he’d known she’d never buy it for herself. Never spend fifty dollars on one—let alone a few hundred—regardless of if she could afford it or not. Both hands were tucked inside the pockets, her eyes focused on the people moseying on the sidewalk around them.
She was always doing that. Always focused on their surroundings. Serious. But there was a smile. A little hint that let him know her words had nothing to do with the significance of the piece of jewelry.
They’d been moving in this direction since day one.
It was everything else. He was convinced God hadn’t put either of them on this earth to worry about things they couldn’t change or predict.
He only had to convince her.
Dexter cleared his throat, the memory sticking with him. Was it a memory or something else? “When did you first put this line out?”
“A little over four years ago.” The other man adjusted his pristine tie. “Which is exactly what I told the other gentleman that came in here inquiring. He had all the same questions as you.”
Everything inside him went on alert. “Can you describe him?”
“About your age. A little shorter. Dark hair slicked back.”
Something heavy settled in his gut. That fit a vague description of Jo.
It’s a very vulnerable state…
Finn had promised not to leave her, but what was he supposed to do in the face of someone like Jo? Nothing. Dexter wasn’t even sure what Charleen could do to protect herself against the man.
“Then another gentleman inquired.” The jeweler nodded toward the ring as he dug something from beneath the counter. “Described that setting to the letter.” He placed a wallet on the counter—the brown leather identical to the one Dexter had seen last night.
Beth appeared next to him as if she’d walked in the shop conventionally, her gaze centered on the wallet. “What do we have here?”
The jeweler opened it, the contents much the same. The receipt, the bills. The picture of a man and woman—Dr. Hicks and Simone as clear as if it had been taken yesterday. Except last night this picture had been strange to him—the people in it no more recognizable than any other. “He left this behind. Instructed me to give it to you if you showed up with that ring.”