Page 43 of Save the Drama for your Mama
“Are you sure you’re okay with me being here?” I asked.
Cooper swiveled toward me. “You’re here, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, but I kind of just invited myself.”
“That was an invitation?” he said, chuckling. “You practically kicked my door down and dragged me here at gunpoint.”
That made me laugh. “Okay—I can be a little overzealous with certain things, as you know. I told you, I love history and mystery.”
“I guess this means you’re writing a historical mystery novel,” he surprisingly said.
I smirked. “Historical romance, actually.”
Cooper mimed having a knife in his hand, then stabbing himself in the heart with it and twisting it at the end.
I shook my head, amused. “Can you be nice for one minute?”
“Start the timer,” he said, opening the safe deposit box and pulling out a bundle of letters tied with twine wrapped around it. “What a surprise, more letters. I’ll look at these later. Let’s see what else there is.” He set them aside, then pulled out a few documents and thumbed through them. “Okay, this is all boring. Nothing special.”
I pointed to the small, red velvet bag. “Let’s see what’s inside the bag.”
Cooper set the documents on top of the letters, his eyes lingering on the bag. He reached for the drawstring and loosened it, letting a ring spill into his open palm. It was a modest golden band with a small princess-cut diamond that couldn’t have been more than a half-carat.
“That’s an engagement ring,” I yelped.
Cooper scrutinized it, turning it over in his fingers. “That’s weird. My mother’s ring was silver.”
I furrowed my brow. “Did she lose hers and replace it with this one at some point?”
“No,” Cooper said. “Her wedding ring is in a jewelry box in the attic. This ring baffles me.” He handed it to me. “Something’s engraved on the inside. Can you read what it says?”
I struggled to make out the tiny lettering inscribed within the band. “It’s too small for me to read. Try zooming in with your phone.”
Cooper pulled out his phone and aimed the camera at the engraving, bringing it into focus. As the words came into view, his brow furrowed.
“Well, what does it say?” I asked, not being able to read it from my angle.
He turned to me, his face blank. “James and Sandra forever.”
“What?!” I shouted.
Why would Cooper’s mom have an engagement ring from a man who wasn’t his father? My mind started racing with possibilities.
“James wasn’t just anybody to your mom,” I said. “Based on those romantic love letters you found, the photo of your mom with him, and now the engraved ring, they were a serious couple before she met your dad.”
Cooper nodded. “It sure seems like—”
I gasped as another thought hit me. “Maybe she was with James first, then left him for your dad because she thought he was a better match? Or maybe she found out James was a foreign spy and cut off their ties out of fear of being deported.”
Cooper just stared at me, looking bewildered. “My mom was a US citizen. To where were they going to deport her?”
“Okay, then . . .” I held up a finger. “Maybe it was a love triangle.”
His bottom lip curled up as amusement broke through his confusion. “You have the imagination of a writer. How far along are you with your manuscript?”
His change of topic almost gave me whiplash.
“I finished the first draft,” I said.
