"How could that be?" Claire burst out laughing, then teased, "Just look at Dane, his face, his body... Of course I'm totally into him for his looks."
Dewitt blinked, then got the joke. Honestly, Dane had the kind of face that made anyone's heart skip a beat. But Claire wasn't exactly lacking, either.
"Maybe he thinks the exact same about you," Dewitt said.
Claire grinned. "Then we'd be a perfect match, wouldn't we?" She didn't sound even a little bit embarrassed.
"You know, you have a point," Dewitt admitted. He couldn't really argue with her logic.
"Dewitt, you really don't have to worry about me," Claire went on. “It's just an engagement the families set up. I'm supposed to decide when I turn twenty. If I've fallen for someone by then, we'll just pretend the whole thing never happened. If not, we'll make it official."
Once she explained, Dewitt felt a lot better. At least she wasn't getting the short end of the stick.
"That's good, then. You're not even in college yet. You never know, you might meet someone even more amazing. Having choices is never a bad thing," Dewitt said. "You're so young. An engagement shouldn't tie you down.”
If by chance they ended up like Melissa, the Churchills would be dealing with a second called-off engagement. That kind of news would make the family look bad.
They didn't linger on the subject, since just then, the hospital came into view.
At the entrance, Claire headed inside with Roth to see his mom. Dewitt hung back, quietly asking around about Hayley's situation.
The news wasn't great-years of overwork had taken their toll on Hayley's body. But as long as she got treatment, she'd have a good chance at recovery. Dewitt didn't hesitate. He paid the hospitabthirty thousand dollars, enough to cover all her medical expenses
He made sure to tell the staff, if there was any money left over, don't send it back- just give it straight to Roth and his mom. It was something he and Claire both understood without talking about it out loud.
Meanwhile, Claire went right to Hayley's room. Roth had no clue someone else had already covered their hospital bill. If he knew, he never would have accepted it.
He slipped quietly into the room, careful not to wake his mom. But instead of sleeping, she was gazing out the window, deep in thought. He couldn't stop himself from softly calling out, "Mom."
Hayley turned, saw her son, and managed a small, tired smile. Even though she was fresh out of surgery and hurting all over, she wouldn't let Roth see any pain.
"Roth, who's this?" she asked, nodding to the girl behind him.
"This is the kind person I told you about," Roth said, waving Claire forward. "If Claire hadn't bought that raugh stone, that other guy would've snatched it up. He wanted to use it to pay his gambling debts, but luckily, I made the sale to Claire just in time."
Hayley's face was pale, but when she turned to Claire, her eyes shone with gratitude. "Thank you, Claire. Without you, I might not be here with Roth right now."
Claire shook her head, brushing it off. "I didn't do anything special. I just liked the stone and bought it. It was a fair deal, that's all."
But Hayley was insistent. "You don't
get it. That stone was left by my father, but most people say it's worthless. There wasn't much chance of it having good jade inside, and odds were it would turn out to be nothing. I kept telling my ex-husband it was valuable so he'd think we still had something to gain and wouldn't give up on Roth. He kept up the charade hoping to get the stone. That way, he wouldn't do something terrible... like selling Roth."
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At those words, Claire's eyes grew cold. Danny tried to sell Roth? The thought alone
made her freeze, anger flaring up inside her.