Something From Tiffany’s (30 page)

Why was she sounding almost like a co-conspirator in some kind of cover-up? Because there was no cover-up. Ethan was a great guy but he was attached, as was she. The simple fact was that they’d been thrown together by circumstance, and she’d owed him a debt of gratitude for saving Gary’s life in New York.

Last night, they’d had a laugh, exchanged stories and enjoyed one another’s company but that was all there was to it.

End of story.

Chapter 26

Terri felt like a cat on a hot tin roof. She couldn’t believe that this morning, far from crying into her coffee about Gary’s deceit, Rachel had actually had a great night with Ethan Greene.

She had to smile at the irony and while, of course, she hated the idea of her friend being embarrassed or humiliated, she took some pleasure in the fact that after a nice evening with Ethan, Rachel had found her errant fiancé passed out the next morning, drunk and drooling all over the place.

After Gary’s revelation last night, there was no question that Rachel was being deceived, but even Terri couldn’t have conceived that the guy might well get his comeuppance in a very different and unexpected manner. She thought again about what Gary had told her, how he had knowingly proposed to Rachel with a ring meant for someone else. Terri thought about the amount of money Ethan must have spent on that ring, which raised another set of issues.

What was Ethan playing at? He obviously hadn’t told Rachel about the mix-up last night, because she was still wearing the ring this morning and had no idea about anything untoward.

Terri wondered what he was waiting for; after all he must have realised the mistake fairly soon after it occurred. She thought again about the frantic phone calls he’d been making and then his sudden appearance at the bistro yesterday.

Clearly he was here to get the ring back, so why hadn’t he said anything? Especially when the mistake had cost him a lot in more ways than one. According to Rachel, he was thinking about proposing to his girlfriend, but that plan would have gone awry once he discovered he’d ended up with the charm bracelet. Talk about bad luck! To think that the poor guy had gone out of his way to help the likes of Gary Knowles and then got shafted in such a horrible way.

She still couldn’t believe that Gary hadn’t copped the true cause of the mistake and had instead been going around thinking it was through some stroke of random luck that he’d ended up with a diamond that cost a small fortune. So much so that he’d even gone along with an engagement he had no notion of beforehand.

But again, why hadn’t Ethan confessed all to Rachel? Terri could only imagine how anxious he must be to get the ring back, so why the delay?

She thought about the quietly contented expression on Rachel’s face this morning. Could it be possible that the two of them had clicked last night at dinner, and as a result Ethan was afraid to hurt Rachel?

Granted, it was a long shot, but anyone who spent enough time in Rachel’s company would realise that she was a romantic soul who didn’t deserve to be crushed in any way.

That had to be it. Ethan obviously couldn’t bring himself to tell her the truth and, Terri had to admit, she knew how that felt. With her new-found knowledge she too was reluctant to broach the subject, especially when it was all Gary’s stupid fault and he should never have allowed the situation to get this far in the first place.

She wondered if she should try to contact Ethan somehow, tip him off that she knew about what had happened, and say she would help him get to the bottom of it.

That was tricky territory, though, especially when she barely knew the guy, and had no idea about his reasoning for not saying anything.

Terri went on with her morning routine, but her mind was elsewhere. It was as if overnight she had turned into Cupid, desperately trying to orchestrate a very odd and intricate love triangle . . . or maybe it should be a love square, she thought, recalling that Ethan’s girlfriend was stuck somewhere in there too.

Well, whatever it was, it involved one very big, very expensive diamond worthy of Ms Audrey Hepburn herself.

‘Have you heard from Dad today? What time is he coming home?’ Daisy asked.

Vanessa’s eyebrows automatically shot together, but then she quickly smoothed her expression. After yesterday’s discussion, she didn’t want to come across as impatient towards Daisy, but she had to admit that she was actually way past impatient and now full-on agitated.

It was almost midday and Ethan hadn’t called since the day before.

She’d expected him to phone, if not late last night, then at least first thing this morning, to update her on how his ‘research’ was going. But he never did.

She had tried calling him herself but it had gone straight to voicemail. She knew his phone was working fine in Ireland, so why wasn’t he answering or returning her calls?

‘I’m not sure, darling. He hasn’t phoned yet.’

Daisy smiled weakly, and Vanessa knew she was still feeling upset that she had let the cat out of the bag. She’d been quiet for most of the day afterwards and had confined herself to her bedroom, barely speaking to Vanessa, other than briefly over dinner and at breakfast this morning.

‘Are you going to tell him I told you about the surprise?’

‘Of course not, darling,’ Vanessa was quick to reassure her. ‘After all, you didn’t actually tell me anything, did you?’

That was the most frustrating part really. When Daisy had inadvertently revealed something about a ring, Vanessa had been so curious she’d wanted to shake the information out of her!

Her imagination had been running away with her, and she sorely wished she knew what Ethan was up to. Based on what little Daisy had said, though, Vanessa was almost certain his so-called research was merely a cover story for something else: namely some kind of intricate plan to propose. If there was a ring involved, she thought excitedly, that had to be it, didn’t it?

She wasn’t quite sure where this Rachel person came into it, if at all (perhaps she was some kind of wedding planner?), but knowing Ethan as she did, chances were he’d gone to Dublin to visit her parents and officially ask them for her hand.

He was such a traditionalist that was
exactly
the kind of thing he’d do, and it had taken every ounce of restraint in her not to phone her mother in the meantime and find out if he’d been in touch. But she really couldn’t risk Ethan knowing that she was onto him, or indeed risk falling flat on her face if her suspicions weren’t correct.

But then, on the phone yesterday, when Ethan started talking about visiting Irish country estates, she was pretty sure he was researching wedding venues, although she really would have preferred him to include her in that.

Still, if all the subterfuge meant that a proposal was imminent then Vanessa could certainly forgo that much. She wanted to marry Ethan. She’d known from the start that he was perfect marriage material: mature, well respected and talented. And possibly best of all, with Daisy they would be a ready-made family.

Then, as if on cue, the phone rang and she jumped.

‘There, that must be him now,’ she said to Daisy. With any luck she would find out all she needed to know very soon.

Vanessa flipped open her mobile phone and held it to her ear. ‘Hi, darling. How are you?’

‘Hey,’ Ethan said into the phone and was it her imagination or he did he sound a little . . . distant?

‘Are you having a nice time? And how’s everything going with the research?’

‘Yes, well . . . I’m doing as much as I can in such a short space of time.’

‘I can imagine. I really can’t wait to hear all about it. It sounds like such an interesting project.’

‘Well, of course, everything is still in the very early stages,’ he replied.

Vanessa stayed silent, feeling somewhat disappointed. Damn, what did
that
mean? She didn’t think she could wait much longer; the suspense was killing her.

‘Actually,’ Ethan continued, ‘it now looks like I may have to rethink the idea behind it altogether.’

‘Why would you need to do that?’ she asked. ‘Especially after going to so much trouble . . . you know, going all the way to Dublin.’

‘Let’s just say the first idea I had didn’t go quite according to plan, so now I think I may need to look at a different one.’

The first idea? If he hadn’t arranged the visit to her parents in advance, and then had maybe missed them at the house when he called . . .

‘Really? Why didn’t your first idea work?’ she enquired.

‘Well, I’m a bit worried that some people might be upset about the outcome.’

She frowned. What the hell did that mean? ‘What outcome?’

‘Of the story, of course. I suppose I don’t want to upset the reader.’

Vanessa shook her head. This conversation was truly bizarre. ‘You don’t want to upset the
reader
?’

‘Yes.’

If by some chance her father had said or done something stupid, she would
murder
him!

‘Well, there will always be critics, Ethan. You can’t please everyone.’

‘I know.’

‘So perhaps you should worry less about readers liking the outcome, and concentrate on making sure that you and I are happy with the outcome?’

‘As I said, it’s early days and I’m not sure I’m ready for you to read it.’

Damn. Now Vanessa’s thoughts were all over the place. What the hell was he trying to say here?

‘I see, so where does that leave us in the meantime?’ she asked, momentarily forgetting that they were supposed to be speaking in code. Although Ethan couldn’t know that, of course.

‘What do you mean?’ he asked, and she could hear panic seeping into his voice.

She deliberately lightened her tone. ‘Well, I should hope you’re going to let me read it sometime.’

‘Of course I will. It’s still just a bit messy at the moment, that’s all.’

‘I see.’ Vanessa’s heart sank. It seemed there might be nothing forthcoming in the near future when it came to a ring or a marriage proposal or whatever the hell this was supposed to be. Could Daisy have misread the situation? Or had she completely misread it herself?

She turned to look at Ethan’s daughter, who was sitting quietly at the breakfast bar.

‘Well, we’re looking forward to seeing you soon. When are you due back?’

‘My flight’s booked for this evening at seven. Are you and Daisy having a nice time?’

‘We’re having a lovely time,’ she said, catching the little girl’s eye and giving her a knowing wink. ‘Do you want to talk to her?’ Vanessa was rather hoping Ethan might confess to Daisy what was going on over there, and then she in turn might be able to enlighten her.

‘Yes, if she’s there.’

‘Hold on.’ She held out the receiver to Daisy, who clutched it eagerly.

‘Hi, Dad. Yes, we’re having a great time. No . . . not really.’ At this, Vanessa could see the guilty shadow that crossed her face, and she realised that Ethan must be asking something about the secret they were keeping. She clenched her hands into fists. What was going on? And how could she get it out of Daisy? ‘Yeah I miss you too. See you soon, Dad.’

With that, she handed the phone back to Vanessa.

‘When exactly is your flight due in, Ethan? We can come to Heathrow and collect you, if you’d like.’

‘No, it’s fine. No need to go to any trouble. I can get a cab.’

‘Well, as long as you’re sure.’

‘I am. Listen, I’d better go. I have quite a lot to get through today. Some more options to explore, as I’m sure you can imagine.’

But she couldn’t, Vanessa thought with frustration; that was partly the problem.

‘Of course. Well, enjoy the rest of the trip and if there’s anything I can help you with – any research I can do from this side or anything – let me know.’

‘Ah, thank you, but after today I should have it all under control,’ he said, sounding highly uncomfortable.

‘That’s good to know. See you soon, darling.’

But as Vanessa disconnected the call, she wondered how much longer she would be able to stand the suspense.

Chapter 27

Ethan knew that he should have bitten the bullet and got the ring back from Rachel last night, but he couldn’t do it.

He was just too soft – or too bloody stupid, more like. By rights, he should be on a plane back to London now; instead he was heading back to Stromboli in one last-ditch attempt at getting the job done. But if it meant he could go home with Vanessa’s ring in hand, it would be worth it.

‘Ethan, hello again!’ Before he could ponder his predicament any further, he was greeted with Rachel’s beaming smile. She couldn’t have got to bed until after two last night, and yet she looked beautiful. All thoughts of getting the ring back suddenly left his mind as he stood there stupidly staring at her. He felt a spasm of something go through his stomach; he couldn’t put his finger on what it was exactly, but knew it was no longer just about the ring.

The truth was that he was still hugely bothered by last night’s recollection of Jane’s words and their significance in what was happening now. Jane would have laughed if she’d known what was going through his mind. She was the one who’d always believed in fate and the alignment of the universe and all that mumbo-jumbo. But wasn’t it odd that fate had indeed led him here to this strange woman’s door? A woman who had inadvertently ended up with an engagement ring that belonged to him and who also happened to be a baker by trade.