Free A Bramble House Christmas (Carrigans of the Circle C Book 6) by CJ Carmichael Page B

tell you his mother’s name?”
    “I’m afraid not.” She looked back at the jeweler. “Do you know how many of these rings your grandfather made?”
    “He was very secretive about the pieces he made for the Brambles. But my father told me there had been four rings and one necklace. The stones were reputably from a small vein of sapphires the Brambles found on their stake at Copper Mountain. Up until now I never believed the story. But this stone...it does make me wonder.”
    Finn was intrigued. “You mean the Brambles were looking for copper and found sapphires?”
    “They did, in fact, find copper. But it was all mined out in about twenty years. Marietta almost went bust when the copper was gone, but thanks to the ranchers and the founding families who decided to stay put and reinvest their money in local businesses, we managed to survive and eventually to thrive.”
    “What about the sapphires? Did they really find them on Copper Mountain?” Willa wondered.
    “That is an unresolved question, to this day. There are some old-timers who say it was all a rumor.”
    Finn leaned against the counter, fixing in on the older man’s cloudy blue eyes. “But you don’t believe that, do you?”
    “I did. Until today.” The old man’s voice lowered to a whisper. “If the quality of this stone is any indication, the Brambles may have uncovered a real treasure. I don’t know how they managed to keep it such a closely guarded secret.”
    Finn noticed Willa close her hand protectively over the ring. She’d been growing progressively paler as the conversation progressed. It was left to Finn to ask the obvious questions. “If your theory is correct, then where are the other rings and the necklace? Not to mention the rest of the gems the Brambles mined from the mountain?”
    J. P. shrugged. “I have no idea. But before you leave may I see the ring one more time?”
    With some reluctance Willa gave it to him.
    “Interesting.” J.P. peered at the inside of the band for over a minute, then he passed the ring back to Willa. “Tell me. Do you see an inscription on the inside? It’s very faint.”
    Willa put the ring under the bright light and examined it closer. “Why yes. I can hardly see it, but I think it says...May Ball. Here. You look.”
    She passed it to Finn, and sure enough he saw it, too. “I think it says May Bell. Not May Ball.”
    “That name mean anything to you?” J.P. asked.
    Finn shrugged. “Afraid not.”
    Not until they’d left the shop did Willa tell him her theory.

Chapter Seven

    W illa squeezed Finn’s arm once they’d descended the stairs to street level. “May Bell, Finn. It’s an awful lot like Mable.”
    “Hell, yeah, you’re right.” Why hadn’t he picked up on that? Finn blinked in the bright sunlight.
    “It’s starting to seem more and more likely that this ring really did belong to someone in the Bramble family once.”
    “How do you feel about that?”
    “Confused. I just don’t get why my patient would give me a ring that was a family heirloom.”
    “Maybe he didn’t know,” Finn said slowly, realizing that of course, that had to be the case. Grandma Judith couldn’t have told his father the providence of the ring. Perhaps she hadn’t known it herself.
    But how had his father known about the Brambles and Marietta? Why had he wanted to come here? His father’s mother must have said something to him about his father.
    With unspoken accord they headed back to the B&B, Willa’s hands tucked deep into the pockets of her winter-white parka. A gentle breeze played with her hair, occasionally sending strands of it into her eyes. She didn’t seem to notice.
    But Finn did.
    He also noticed the way the sun picked up tints of copper in her hair, and very faint freckles on the bridge of her nose. Again he felt the urge to kiss her. An urge that was becoming harder and harder to resist.
    When they reached the intersection of Main and Court, they turned left, following the curve