Chapter 45
Ben had driven about eight hours today. He was tired and needed to sleep, but he knew he couldn't do that yet. He had to find Jaz's Championship Ring before he did anything else.
When he pulled through the gates of Wilgul and drove up to the house, he saw that all the lights were off. Perfect, he thought. Kelly and Jaz were asleep. He could get the metal detector going and find the ring before she woke up. He would tell her about it later, but as long as the ring was safe, he would be happy.
He had already put the metal detector together while he was in Spencer waiting for the engagement ring to be finished. He put the engagement ring box in his front pocket and got out of the ute. He pulled the metal detector from the tray of the ute and walked to the back yard. It was very dark, so Ben grabbed a headlamp from the barn and started searching for the ring. The detector made a constant beeping sound and the sound changed when metal was detected. Ben grabbed his ear buds and plugged them into the metal detector. He put a small trowel in his back pocket.
Ben was working for only about five minutes before he heard the beeping change.
Yes! That was quick, he thought happily.
Ben bent down and started digging. He found a bolt. Not the ring. He picked up the metal detector again and kept going.
"Ben? What are you doing?" Jaz was holding Kelly in her arms, and standing in the back garden looking baffled.
"Jaz? I thought you were asleep," he responded surprised to see his girlfriend and daughter standing there. "I didn't hear you because of the ear buds." He said as he pulled one out to hear her better.
"No. Claire and Stevie stayed for dinner, and then we played cards. I gave them a ride home and I just got back and saw you back here as I pulled in. Is that a metal detector? Why are you using a metal detector in the back garden at 11pm? What were the girls looking for this afternoon? You're obviously not looking for a contact lens with a metal detector. What's going on Ben?" Jaz sounded concerned.
"Jaz, I'm sorry. I've stuffed it. I've lost it. I'm so sorry. I'll find it. I promise. I won't stop looking until I've found it." Ben's voice wavered.
"Ben, what are you talking about? What did you lose?" questioned Jaz.
"Your ring. I'm sorry. I've lost it. The girls searched for hours. You deserve so much better than this." Ben was starting to tear up as he realized he would have to tell her what happened to her ring.
"Ben. What ring are you talking about? Come inside." Jaz ordered.
Kelly started crying from being overtired.
"I have to find it. It's your ring. I'm so sorry. Your National Championship ring. It's gone, but I won't stop looking until I have it back for you. I'm so sorry." Ben felt so ashamed and upset to have lost something so important to Jaz.
"My National Championship ring? Isn't it in the bedroom, in its box, where it usually is? Ben, stop. Look at me. Talk to me. Tell me what's going on. You're acting very weird. Come inside please. Kelly needs to go to bed. Please come in and talk to me," Jaz pleaded.
Ben was still trying to use the metal detector. Jaz wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly, trying to calm him down.
"Jaz, I'm sorry. We borrowed your ring and it fell somewhere out here. Stevie spent all afternoon looking, but she didn't find it. I bought the metal detector so I could find it," explained Ben.
"Ben. Put the metal detector down. Come inside and we can talk about this. Now," ordered Jaz.
Jaz led Kelly into the house. Ben put the metal detector down and followed her. He was so upset he was shaking.
Jaz took Kelly straight to her room and put her down. It took a few minutes, but she settled in and fell asleep. She went back downstairs and found Ben sitting at the kitchen table. He had tears coming from his eyes and he was fidgeting.
I've never seen him cry before. What's going on with him? wondered Jaz.
"Okay. Can you just please tell me the whole story. Why did you borrow my ring and why was Stevie crawling around our garden with Claire and Jodi all afternoon? Tell me everything, because you are freaking me out right now," asserted Jaz.
"Okay. I asked Stevie to borrow one of your rings. She swung by today hoping to catch you when you weren't here, but you were here, so she lied about my wallet. She waited for you to leave and then had to break into the house through the bedroom window because you locked all the doors. She climbed a ladder and got into the bedroom, but she couldn't find any rings except the National Championship ring. She was still in the house when Hannah came home with Kelly. She panicked and she was afraid of getting caught, so she put the ring on her finger, climbed back out the bedroom window, and down the ladder. She dragged the ladder back to the barn and looked at her hand and the ring was gone. It had fallen off her finger. She called Jodi, Claire, and Tess for help because I couldn't come to help her look. Tess went to town so you wouldn't miss the deadline on your building permit request. I bought the metal detector in Spencer so I could find the ring when I got home, which is what I was trying to do now. Jaz, I'm so, so sorry," confessed Ben
"Why did you ask Stevie to borrow a ring of mine?" ased Jaz "And why were you in Spencer?"
"I needed to know the size. I don't know your ring size," said Ben.
"Why did you need to know my ring size?" asked Jaz, as she took a deep breath hoping for one specific reason.
"Because I want to marry you, Jaz. I've almost proposed like twenty-five thousand times spontaneously, but you deserve a real, proper proposal with a proper ring. I know you don't believe in marriage, but I do. And I'm just so in love with you and we already have our little family started. I was going to ask you one more time and, if you said no, I would be okay with it, because any piece of you I can get is worth it. But I stuffed all of it up. I lost your prized possession and I don't even know if the engagement ring I bought will fit you. I made a complete mess of everything. You deserve the most perfect, romantic proposal, not an idiot crying with a metal detector," explained Ben.
"Ben. Yes! I want to marry you, too. I have regretted saying that I didn't believe in marriage since the moment it came out of my mouth. I don't care about that championship ring. I can get another made or whatever. It means nothing compared to you," replied Jaz.
"But I haven't asked you yet." Ben pulled the ring box from his pocket and got down on one knee, He opened the box and said "Jasmine McLeod. You are the most impressive woman I have ever met. You are generous and driven and warm hearted. You are a wonderful mother to Kelly and you have made me a much better man. You're so accomplished, but you remain so humble. I am in awe of you on a daily basis. The way you transformed Wilgul has been nothing short of spectacular and I'm grateful just to be a part of your universe. I have loved you since the first time I kissed you and I want nothing more than to spend every day of my life with you. You are the most beautiful woman in the world. Jaz, will you marry me?" asked Ben.
"Yes, Ben. I will marry you! I love every part of you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you too."
Ben took the sapphire ring out of the box and put it on Jaz's left ring finger. It fit perfectly. He wiped the tears away from her eyes and she wiped the tears from his cheeks. Then he kissed her.