Legend has it that a local man, Richard Joyce, was captured by pirates and sold into slavery, the property of a rich Turkish goldsmith. In time Joyce became a master craftsman himself and, on earning his freedom, returned to Galway and created the legendary Claddagh Ring.
The rings were kept as family heirlooms which were passed lovingly down from mother to daughter on her wedding day.
The design has now become very popular internationally. The simplicity of the ring and the symbolism it conveys, makes it the perfect gift for a friend or loved one.
The ring, depicting two hands clutching a heart, complete with a crown, epitomises the expression of lasting love and eternal friendship. The heart symbolises love, the hands friendship and the crown loyalty and fidelity.
Wear this ring on your right hand with the heart facing outwards and the world will know your heart has not yet been won.
Wear it on the right hand with the heart facing inwards and it shows you have friendship and love under consideration.
But worn on your left hand with the heart turned inwards it means two loves have joined forever.
**********
"Mr. Chasez, does this sit-in push back the ground breaking of this project?"
"Have you and Mr. Timberlake met with the court appointed consultant yet?"
"We are still running on the same time table and no, I won't meet the consultant until eleven. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." Josh turned away from the reporters and walked into the on-site office trailer where his partner, Justin, was already camped out with a set of blue prints and a cup of coffee.
"Remind me again why we took this contract? You'd think with the amount of skiers that come up to this mountain, the people of the town would be happy to have another hotel to house them."
"Stop stressing about the few tree huggers who've popped up out of no where insisting that the integrity of some fluffy creature's mating habitat will be moved a few feet and thus compromised."
"Did you eat a dictionary for breakfast or something? Those are some pretty big words." They were busy checking over the blue prints when the trailer door slammed open.
"I've never been so insulted in my life!" Justin and Josh looked up curiously at the woman who'd just barged into the room.
"Who are you and why are you here?"
"I'm Keegan O' Riley, the environmental geologist the court said you're supposed to consult with before ruining the land."
"The judge told me to expect a man," Josh said, one dark eyebrow arched.
"Don't tell me. You're one of those bloody chauvanists who thinks I'm just a little girl trying to do a man's job, right? Cause believe me, I'm normally the first one to get down in the dirt when I'm working out in the field. Now, where are your blue prints? I need to figure out if the septic system and well you're installing is going to be a problem for the people who live around here. Can't have you contaminating the groundwater now, can we?" Justin could barely stop the laugh that threatened to escape when Josh merely pointed at them, too stunned to speak.
"So what insulted you, Ms. O' Riley," Justin asked since Josh was still mute.
"Call me Keegan. One of the protesters out there grabbed a certain part of my anatomy and made some very lewd gestures with his tongue and mouth." She took a couple rolls of paper from the bag she brought with her, spread them out on the table and began comparing her notes to the prints. After about twenty minutes, she began packing her stuff up to leave.
"Okay, the plans look good with the survey that we did of the area last year and I don't think much has changed. I'll be back out in a month to check on your progress and do another survey just to make sure."
"We'll look forward to seeing you again, Keegan," Justin said with a smirk.
"She's cute as shit, J. Too bad you barely said three words to her. Could you have stared anymore?"
"Besides being a co-worker now, she's already spoken for, Justin."
"Dude...how can you tell? It wasn't like she was wearing a sign that said off limits."
"Actually, yes she was. The ring on her right hand gives her away. It means she's given her heart to someone. We better get back to work, man." Even though he knew nothing would come of it, Josh let his thoughts drift back to the little Irish spitfire who'd captured his interest. Keegan was thinking of him as well and sighed exasperatedly.
"This is insanity, Keegan. You're in a serious relationship with Lance, remember? Yeah...you love him even if he did sleep with his secretary. That doesn't give me the right to be interested in Josh though."
"Keegan! I'm home, babydoll. Let's have a quick dinner, I need to get back to the office by seven for a conference call to the West Coast." She absolutely hated it when he called her that.
"Actually, Lance, you'll have to get dinner on your own. I have plans with Laruen and Rob. I'll see you later tonight."
"Look, Keegan, I'm sorry if you feel neglected lately, but I have to work and land this account if you want to keep living in this house." Keegan was half way out the door when that comment reached her.
"How dare you! I pay half the bills around here! I'm not the one who goes out with the guys every weekend. I rarely get to see Lauren. I sit at home most evenings budgeting every cent I make. And you want to hear something that will really blow your mind?? I make ten thousand more a year than you. So shove your attitude up your ass! Oh wait...you can't because Tiffany is so far up there that I don't know where she stops and you start! Have a nice evening." Keegan drove around aimlessly, having lied about her plans for the evening and wound up at a quaint bar in the middle of the town.
"Keegan, sweetheart, so nice to see you. Your usual, love?"
"Of course, Manny, thank you." She hopped onto the barstool and threw her keys down on the bar.
"It's a nice tradition," someone to her right said.
"A pint of Guiness and a soft pretzel with mustard is?"
"Actually, I was talking about your ring," Josh said turning to look at Keegan.
"Thank you, Josh. Not many people over here know about it actually. They just think it's an interesting looking ring."
"Why is a beautiful lady such as yourself in this bar at...six-thirty on a Friday?"
"Do I tell him the truth or not? Might as well be honest since I work with him now," she thought.
"Because my lover is back at the office for a supposed conference call when he is most likely banging his eighteen-year-old secretary on the big ole oak desk that I bought him. I'm sorry, you didn't really need to hear that."
"If he's a player, why are you still with him?"
"Because for some strange reason, I still love him," she said as Manny set the Guiness and pretzel in front of her.
"I was in a situation like that once. Then I found out that I didn't still love her. I was just in love with the idea of being in love."
"Are you sure you're really a guy? You're almost too good at figuring out your emotions." They shared easy laughter and conversation for the rest of the evening.
"Thanks for the home brew, Manny. I really needed it tonight."
"I'll walk you to your car," Josh said resting his hand on the small of Keegan's back.
"I realize this is highly inappropriate to ask of you since we work together, but would you like to have dinner at my place tomorrow night? Lance will be gone all weekend and it would be nice to have a friend around to keep me company." He smiled as he noticed the shy blush creep up into her cheeks.
"Give me your address and I'll bring the wine."
Keegan spent the next afternoon cleaning and packing once Lance left for the airport. When she was satisfied that the place was spotless, she started dinner and then set it in the oven to keep warm while she showered and dressed in a a pair of comfy worn-in jeans and a 3/4 length sleeve black shirt. She was sitting on the floor of the living room at the coffee table when she heard the knock on her door.
"Josh, welcome. Make yourself comfortable by the fire here while I clear my stuff off the table and get dinner." She couldn't help but let out a low whistle as she watched him walk further into the living room and sit down.
"Is chicken alfredo okay with you? I thought Italian would be safe. Well without tomatoes at least since I'm allergic."
"Keegan, you're rambling. It's fine, really." They sat down at the coffee table and Josh asked about the boxes he'd noticed littering the room.
"You're leaving him?"
"As much as I love this house, there's not point in staying. And asking him to leave would just earn me a smack upside the head...literally. So I'm packing my stuff into storage and getting a room at Aspen Lodge until I can find a better place."
"He hits you?"
"Oh God no. He only did it once, but I knocked him right back. We were both extremely angry and the shouting match just got out of hand. It was right after I found out he was sleeping with Tiffany."
"Jackie was sleeping with my old college buddy. I found them in my bed."
"Ouch...I know how that feels." Keegan set her glass of wine down and went to the fireplace to push the logs farther back into the hearth. One of the bigger ones fell and sent a shower of sparks cascading in her direction. Josh pulled her back by the belt loops and they fell onto the carpet in a laughing heap of limbs.
"Woman, you're hot enough to begin with."
"That...was the worst line. I'm sure you can lay down better game than that."
"I most definitely can, but you're still with him and not free yet."
"It's been over for a while now," Keegan said turning serious.
"We haven't said "I love you", in months. I just thought that if we stayed together, things would change. Turns out we changed without realizing it and there's no way to go back and fix it."
"You may not be able to go back and fix things with him, but you can fix things inside yourself and take care of you. You already took that first step by packing."
"You know, you've helped me more than I've helped your building project."
"Friends do that, especially when they are as attracted to each other as I am to you." Keegan was shocked. He kissed her...slow, sweet, lingering.
"Josh, I think you should go. You're right, I'm not free yet and that isn't fair to you." He nodded as they both stood and she walked him to the door.
"I'll see you in a month, Keegan." He kissed her cheek before leaving.
**********
That month was difficult for Keegan. Lance was furious that she was leaving and had called her a laundry list of horrible names as she carried her last bag out to the Wrangler. She told Tiffany that she was welcome in the house now that it was only Lance there. She was able to find a small but functional apartment to lease and enjoyed her new found freedom to do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. She was extremely nervous to see Josh again. They hadn't spoken since having dinner that night at the house and she didn't have a clue how to tell him she was now back in the dating game.
She arrived early in the morning with her crew to set up the equipment needed for the survey and didn't see Josh until halfway through the first run.
"I brought some coffee out for you guys. I figured if my men could have a break, your men could as well," he said quietly, standing beside her.
"Break guys! Thank you for the coffee," she said reaching for it with her right hand. He noticed her ring once again.
"You turned it back." He took her hand in his and she glanced at the ring then back to his face.
"Yeah, well I figured I should let people who understand its significance know that my heart and my mind are free." His thumb slid back and forth over her knuckles and he smiled.
"That's a good thing to know...before asking that person out to dinner I mean."
Back to Short Story Index
Back to the Den