“Please tell me you brought something to carry this in. I don’t even know what to do with it,” Jacqui said, holding the diamond like it might break.
Khizar tapped it, carefully, but still to prove a point.
“There’s not much you can do to damage this gem, love. And I’ve got a case in the car designed to protect it.”
“What should we do with it?”
Part of Jacqui wanted to keep it, because it was connected to her great-uncle, but this diamond was not something meant to be set on a bookshelf as a keepsake.
“It’s yours, so the decision is up to you.”
Jacqui looked up at him with wide eyes. She turned it over in her hands and then answered her own question.
“You’re a jeweler; you should have it. I wouldn’t know what to do with it. I think it would be more trouble than it’s worth just to have lying around.”
“If that’s what you want, my company will buy it from you. However, I think we should sell it to someone else,” Khizar said.
“Really?” Jacqui wasn’t sure what to make of this change.
Khizar placed his hands on her arms, holding her the same way she was holding the diamond, like something precious.
“I don’t need the diamond. My company doesn’t need the diamond. For me, your love is the greatest treasure I could find, and I hope you know that you will never want for anything again. You can sell it and keep the money, but I intend to make sure your business is secure and you have everything else you could possibly want in life. If we sell the diamond, we can donate the proceeds to charity, and Bill’s diamond will continue to do good in this world.”
Jacqui couldn’t help but smile.
“I’d like that. I hope Uncle Bill would, too.”
Khizar thought about that.
“I think he would. I think he left this to you so that you would have the freedom to do what you wanted.”
“He was a good man, wasn’t he?”
Khizar smiled, and Jacqui could see for the first time just how much he truly admired Bill Bauer.
“He truly was.”
Holding the diamond between them, Jacqui stretched up to kiss the man she loved, who had given her an adventure she didn’t know she wanted and a family she didn’t know she had.
“Then let’s sell the diamond, and start our own family tradition.”
Khizar carried the gem to the car and packed it in the case he’d brought for that purpose. Jacqui followed a few minutes after, closing up the safe and hanging the painting back on the wall. She took a few minutes to look around again.
“Thanks, Uncle Bill,” she said out loud as she walked down the stairs. “It means a lot to me that you wanted me to have something you cherished. I hope you know that what the diamond brought me was more than riches. You brought someone very special into my life, and that’s worth more than any diamond.”
Jacqui stepped off the stairs and made her way back out through the kitchen. She stopped one more time before she left out the back door.
“I’ll come back, I promise. And I’ll bring our kids here, too. You’re still part of our family, Uncle Bill, and always will be. We won’t forget you.”
Jacqui quietly closed the door behind her and laid one palm against the wood.
“Bye for now, Uncle Bill.”
She walked to the car where Khizar was waiting for her. He gathered her in his arms and held her close.
Jacqui heard him whisper softly, “Thanks, Bill.”
It didn’t take them long to get back to the plane, though it was a quiet drive with each of them lost in their own thoughts. But when Khizar held her hand, she knew she wasn’t alone.
They boarded the plane and Khizar suggested they fly to New York City first.
“We have an office there, and I can start the process to sell the diamond. Plus, we have excellent security, so I know the diamond will be safe there.”
That sounded reasonable to Jacqui.
“I’m good with a quick trip to New York, if you promise to take me to Times Square.”
Khizar grinned at her. “I’ll take you wherever you want to go, my love.”
He gave the case with the diamond to Jacqui. She carried it back through the cabin while Khizar discussed their flight plan with the crew. When he followed her into the bedroom a few minutes later, Jacqui had opened the case and was looking at the diamond again.