Tony looked from the picture to Claire and back to the picture. Grinning, he said, “I want her to have your eyes.”
Claire smiled. “I know you are used to getting your way, but sex and eye color are non-negotiable.”
“I don’t know… sex sounds great, and I love your eyes. Would you like to negotiate?”
Claire’s cheeks blushed as she shook her head. “How am I getting… back to California?”
“The same way you’re getting to Chicago—in a private plane. I know you refused it before, but it’s a safer mode of transportation, and there’s no public record of your itinerary.”
She exhaled. “Thank you.”
“Since you don’t have a gate to reach at a designated time, I’d like you to stay here until we can share an early dinner.”
She kissed his cheek. “I think that can be arranged.”
Claire hadn’t been gone from his office for long when Tony knew his work could wait. He wanted to spend as much of the day with her as he could before she left. He’d been contemplating a question he wanted to ask, and after the picture she’d just shown him, Tony knew what he wanted to do.
He made his way to her suite; however, before he knocked, his back straightened as Catherine’s voice came into range. Tony didn’t need Catherine fishing for information. Didn’t she realize that it would fuel Claire’s curiosity more than it would squelch it? As he opened the door, both ladies turned in his direction. “Oh, am I interrupting?” he asked, feigning surprise as a fleeting glare went Catherine’s way.
Claire walked to Tony and took his hand. “No, but since you’re here…?”
He looked at her, questioning. “Yes?”
“I think I’d like to share something with Catherine, but not without you.”
Their news. A soft smile came to his lips. “Catherine, I suggest you sit.”
Although she looked at him suspiciously, Catherine silently made her way to the sofa and sat as Claire handed her the ultrasound picture. It took a moment to register, but finally her gray eyes widened and she proclaimed, “You’re pregnant?”
Claire beamed and nodded.
It was then that Catherine looked toward Tony, who stood with Claire’s hand in his and his chest proudly puffed. Catherine continued with both shock and amazement in her voice, “The two of you?” She sprang from the sofa and embraced Claire. “Oh my, a Rawls-Nichols baby. I can’t believe it.”
Tony glared at Catherine over Claire’s shoulder while simultaneously fighting the red. Not now, he told himself. Not in front of Claire, but when they were alone, he and Catherine would have words. Tony didn’t know how to make it any more clear—this was a Rawlings baby!
Life moves very fast. It rushes from heaven to hell in a matter of seconds.
—Paulo Coelho
While they waited for dinner, Tony and Claire relaxed in the pool. Everything was perfect, from the warm June sunshine to the blue Iowa sky. Tony recalled Claire once calling their pool her slice of heaven, and he hoped she still felt that way as he asked his very important question. The last time he’d asked her to marry him, it was elaborately planned, but this was different. The first time he’d told her that he knew what it was like to have her gone during her accident. Now, he truly knew what it was like to have her gone, and he wanted her beside him, now and forever. It wasn’t about a name or letting the world know she was his. It was about his envelope, about his family, about keeping them safe and making them happy. With all of his heart, Tony believed it was about love. He’d called it that before, but this was different than what they’d shared in the past. Maybe, just maybe, this was what love really was.
Swimming the length of the pool, Tony surfaced at Claire’s feet. Her giggles as he pretended to pull her into the water rang over the grounds, filling him like no business deal ever could. Then, just when she thought she was safe, he scooped her into his arms and into the water. It was after she feigned fighting that she finally submitted to floating within his embrace. Though her eyes were closed, Tony watched her sun-kissed cheeks and nose, and fought the urge to kiss her pink lips. He observed as the water ebbed and flowed over her firm stomach, and her dark hair floated in a halo around her face. How long would it be until it was obvious to the world that she was pregnant? Tony truly knew nothing about the subject and vowed to learn more before they met again in Chicago.
Although their plans were to take place in only five days, it seemed like an eternity. Summoning his courage, as she lifted her head from the water, he said, “I want to show you something.”
“I’m curious,” she asked with a seductive smile, “is it something I’ve seen before?”
He grinned, returning her sparkling gaze. “Yes, but not what you’re thinking.”
Tony led her up the steps, out of the pool, and over to one of the umbrella tables. Sitting knee to knee, he reached into the pocket of his bathing suit and pulled out Claire’s engagement ring. As soon as he opened his palm and the sunlight reflected off the brilliant diamond, she gasped and searched his face. “Tony, how did you…?”
“I bought them back,” he timidly answered, trying to gauge her reaction for the right words.
“I’m sorry. I needed money—”
He interrupted, “If I give them back, will you promise not to sell them?”
“Why would you give them back?”