“I’m fine, thank you for asking,” Christine lied. She wondered what she looked like. Were the tears shimmering in her eyes? Was her face blotchy as she tried to keep her emotions in check? Right now she felt as though the light inside her had been snuffed out without warning.
“Is that man from Vegas keeping you up all night?” Faye asked. She looked past Christine and waved at Travis, who stood in the doorway of her office.
Bonnie’s face turned bright red. “Mom!”
“I remember what it was like with my sweet Stanley,” Faye said with a wistful smile. “Sometimes he bought me jewelry after an especially wild night.”
Bonnie groaned with embarrassment and clapped her hand over her eyes. “Mom, I don’t think Christine wants the details. I certainly don’t.”
“I don’t think I’ve heard these stories,” Christine teased, although she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know about them. Right now hearing stories about another person’s love life was like pouring salt on an open wound. “What did he give you? Have you shown me those pieces of jewelry?”
“Maybe I should show them to your man,” Faye said with a wink. “Give him a few ideas.”
“Okay, Mom.” Bonnie decided to intervene. She placed her hand on her mother’s back and directed her to the door. “You got the brooch you wanted. We need to leave now if we want to make it to your dentist’s appointment. Sorry, Christine.”
“No need to apologize. Her stories are the highlight of my day,” Christine said. She smiled and felt her bottom lip tremble. Travis wasn’t her man. He wouldn’t commemorate their wild night with a memento because it didn’t mean anything to him.
Christine watched the women leave. She was reluctant to return to her office. To Travis. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
Faye shuffled to a stop and raised her hand. “Bonnie. Where is my bracelet?”
“On your wrist, Mom.”
“No, see.” She waved her hand and the stack of bracelets jingled. “Where is the gold chain one?”
“It’s right...” Bonnie’s voice faded. She stopped and looked at the floor. “Where did it go?”
Faye turned around. The worry lined her forehead as her eyes clouded with confusion. “I was just wearing it a moment ago.”
Bonnie held out her hands as she scanned the floor. “Nobody move.”
Christine saw Harold walk over to them but Travis was already at her side. “Is there a problem?” he asked Bonnie.
“My mother’s gold bracelet is missing.”
Christine sensed the tension in Travis’s body. She didn’t need to look at him to feel his gaze on her. “Really?” he said in a strange tone.
“Travis, this is not your concern,” she said as she started to retrace the path Faye and Bonnie took. “I know you have to leave.”
“Change of plans, Christine,” he said as he walked alongside her. “I think I’m needed here.”
13
“I’LL GO CHECK OUTSIDE, Mrs. Lamb,” one of the tellers offered as she hurried through the glass doors. “Maybe it fell off on your way here.”
“I’ll go check around the safe-deposit box,” Bonnie said.
Travis watched the women spread out in different directions, but he stayed with Christine. It couldn’t be coincidence that an emerald and a piece of jewelry were missing when she was around. Travis glanced at Christine as she looked around the marble floor. She seemed genuinely concerned.
And when he had mentioned the emerald to Christine, there had been no sign of guilt or discomfort. She wasn’t trying to hide anything. Instead she had rolled her eyes at his explanation. Either she was a very good actress or she had no knowledge of the emerald whatsoever.
He’d stopped believing she had stolen the emerald and he would have defended her honor to Aaron. But he couldn’t ignore that Faye Lamb’s bracelet was missing. Did Christine have something to do with the stolen item?
Travis walked over to the older woman. She was pacing while wringing her hands. “When was the last time you saw the bracelet, Mrs. Lamb?”
“Call me Faye,” the older woman said with a flirtatious smile. She patted her graying hair and gave him a thorough look.
“I’m Travis,” he introduced himself and gently took her offered hand. The woman liked her jewelry. She wore several rings on each hand. There was a diamond-encrusted watch on her left wrist and a stack of bracelets on her right. She wore a gray pearl necklace that he hadn’t noticed at first because it was almost hidden by her high-neck black dress. Matching pearl earrings peeked out from under her hair.