Maybe I shouldn’t have offered to design the ring.  Tobias didn’t seem suspicious about her familiarity with William. It might have been different had she used his given name.  As Bess sold her designs to the jewelry store, of course she would converse with its owner.  Some of her designs were commissions for pieces of jewelry the customers had ordered with specific instructions as to how they should look.  She had never told Tobias about those.  Designs were designs, commissioned or otherwise.

Bess was pleased that he didn’t refuse her offer, but disappointed that he had not immediately accepted it.  She understood that he would wish to discuss it with Sally first.  She shrugged when Tobias asked her if she sold a lot of her designs.  “Only a few a month.  I usually present Mr. St. Clair with lots of drawings, but he doesn’t like them all.  I’ll never make enough money from sketching jewelry to quit my teaching job.”

She smiled at her younger brother.  “I never told anybody this, but when I was a child, I used to dream about becoming a famous artist.  I know now that I’m not good enough for that, but at least my modest skills allow me to earn a bit of extra money now and then.”

Bess’ eyes traveled over the familiar landscape.  “If you and Sally accept my offer, she can help me design it so that it will be uniquely hers.”