Beatrice placed one hand over Annabelle’s. “Yes, yes, many years ago. I want you to know I don’t suspect your grandfather of having anything to do with its disappearance. We long suspected that it was a maid who took it. She disappeared at the same time as the jewelry and we never were able to find her or the pieces.”
“I really wish you’d let me give the piece back to you.”
Beatrice wrinkled her nose. “Absolutely not. I want you to have it, dear. It’s yours now, has been for years. It is a beautiful piece, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is. I’ve always loved it. But, Beatrice, I’m a firm believer in reuniting families with their treasures. The pin is yours.”
With a quick look to see that Jared still danced with his mother, Annabelle opened the small velvet satchel tied to her wrist, another of Kate’s creations, and drew out the pin.
“I just don’t feel right keeping it.”
Beatrice dropped her gaze to the pin, the smile on her face spreading. She reached for the pin and Annabelle thought she was going to take it. But Beatrice closed Annabelle’s fingers over it. “The pin’s in the right hands. It was originally part of a set of seven that had been in my family for years until a few were sold off in the Great Depression. My grandfather managed to keep the pin and a blue sapphire ring in the family. The set was given to my parents on their wedding, and I inherited the pin on my eighteenth birthday, when I met Jared’s grandfather.” Beatrice sighed. “When my mother passed, I inherited the ring as well. Both were stolen before I could pass them to Jared’s father.”
Beatrice looked out over the dance floor, and Annabelle followed her gaze. Glen and Helena danced together now. She didn’t see Jared.
Her stomach dipped as she looked for him.
There he was, dancing with another woman. A slim, gorgeous creature with jet-black hair and a bearing only acquired through years of functions like this. Someone Jared seemed to know very well.
The woman’s hand caressed his shoulder as they danced so closely she couldn’t see a centimeter of space between them. They moved together as if they’d been doing it for years.
Her stomach rolled at the look on Jared’s face—calm, in control, flirtatious. It was that last one that made her stomach tighten.
She’d known all along that he was a flirt, a playboy.
And hadn’t she been the one who’d insisted on keeping their relationship strictly about business and sex? Isn’t that what she’d told him last weekend?
Maybe he’d been seeing that woman this week while he’d been in Philadelphia.
Damn it, what was wrong with her? Why did she feel…What? Possessive? Jealous?
After the whole debacle with Gary, she’d sworn off men.
Then what does she go and do? She falls for the first millionaire playboy she meets.
She wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it, but she was afraid Beatrice would think she was crazy.
Slipping one hand to her temple, she rubbed at the expanding ache there and dragged her gaze away from Jared and the other woman.
Maybe she’d send Tyler back to the bar for a bottle of vodka to add to her orange juice.
Beatrice patted her on the hand, drawing her attention back to the older woman, smiling at her in a way that made Annabelle’s brows lift.
“Annabelle, my dear, I would like to employ your services.”
Jared’s head ached.
It had started with a dull throb at the base of his neck and spread throughout his skull to compress his sinuses into oblivion.
And Katherine Sinclair’s incessant sexual innuendo wasn’t helping.
He’d known he wouldn’t be able to ignore everyone all night. He’d known eventually he’d have to make the rounds. There were too many people he knew here. He couldn’t just sit by Annabelle’s side. He shot a quick glance her way and breathed a little easier when he saw her engaged in conversation with his grandmother. Nana would take care of her until he could return to the table.
“So, Jared.” Katherine ran one slim finger around the collar of his shirt, failing to raise more than his ire. “David’s out of town until the end of the month and—”
Jared cut her off before she could finish the thought. “I’m afraid I’m leaving tonight.”
Katherine smiled, and Jared had learned that when a woman smiled like that, fur was about to fly. “She’s pretty, but not your usual type. I don’t recognize her.”
He stifled a sigh. “You wouldn’t. So I understand your mother’s surgery went well.”
Katherine flashed him a look that spoke volumes. She knew what he was up to. “Mom’s fine, the knee replacement went well and, of course, Daddy promised her a shopping trip to Paris as soon as she’s up and about again. Why don’t you give me a call next week? I’ll plan a day at the spa at Haven and then we could get some dinner?”
With his headache starting to take on gargantuan proportions, Jared fended off Katherine for the rest of the song. But as the band swung into the next number, Darcy Adams took Katherine’s place.
Why hadn’t he remembered that these events were basically meat markets?
He turned down another proposal. Discreetly, of course. None of them interested him.
He only wanted to return to his table where a certain green-eyed woman waited for him. He looked that way to see what Belle was up to and discovered her gone.
His gut tightened with some emotion he couldn’t place. Without trying to be obvious, he swung a quick glance around the dance floor and sighed with relief when he found her dancing with Tyler. Her smile brightened his night from halfway across the room. And, by God, his brother had a smile on his face, too.
Amazing.
Well, maybe not so amazing. Belle was starting to give him ideas he’d never thought possible.
Somehow he got through the rest of the dance without stepping on Darcy’s feet or making a complete idiot out of himself. The game of seduction he typically thrived on held no thrill tonight.
Maybe he wasn’t as much like his father as he’d thought.
He missed a step and apologized to Darcy.
That topic was obviously not a good one to think about now. He’d only been out of the loop for a few weeks and already he thought himself above it all. That might’ve been the most dangerous thought he’d had all night.
Hell, look at his parents. His father claimed to love his mother, but he’d still cheated on her.
He vividly remembered his father trying to explain his adultery to a sixteen-year-old. How the relationship he had with his wife forced him to seek “comfort” outside the home. That Helena’s condition made it difficult for them to have a true relationship.
It was the first time either of his parents had ever touched on the subject that there was something wrong with Helena.
Shit, that really wasn’t what he wanted to be thinking about now.
Thankfully, the song ended, and he untangled himself from his dance partner. It took longer than it should have. The woman had wanted to continue their discussion but he managed to get away without drawing attention to himself. Goldens never made a scene.
Finally, he made his last regret and, on his way to reclaim Annabelle from his brother, he passed close enough to his parents that Helena stopped him.
He leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. “Great shindig, as always, Mom. Guess we know where I got it from, hmm?”
“Thank you for coming, sweetheart. The recognition was such a surprise and to have you all here was a real treat. I just wanted you to know I’m glad you came.”