Monet’s painting.
Right away she knew that the replica that she had been given ofSan Giorgio Maggioredidn’t compare to the real thing. And she knew that if the two were held up next to each other it would be a no-brainer as to which was the original.
Real versus fake. Imposter versus ideal.
But then Beth saw something else – something just as arresting as Monet’s painting.
She gasped, her breath catching in her throat as the man who was standing in front of the painting admiring it turned around. Immediately, his eyes locked with Beth’s and the two stood staring at each other, as if the gallery was suddenly empty of everyone except them.
‘Oh my…’ Beth heard Jodi say from beside her.
She’d been right all along.
It was Ryan Buchanan.
Chapter 34
‘Itisyou,’ Beth said simply, feeling at that moment as if she and Ryan were the only two people in the world. Her heart swelled with… something – but she couldn’t quite identify the emotion.
This entire thing, she thought. It wasexactlylike something out of a movie. This was usually the part where the background music rose in a crescendo and happily ever after would be realized. The would-be lovers would know that now that they’d admitted their true feelings for one another, there was nothing else holding them back.
Ryan smiledthatsmile at her – that one that had made her weak in the knees the first time they met, that made her forget everything – but for some reason it wasn’t having quite the same effect just then.
She walked slowly towards him, gradually closing the distance between them.
‘Beth, what are you doing here?’ he said, looking genuinely delighted to see her.
‘Hey…’ she murmured quietly. ‘Itwasyou all along. I thought it might be. Especially after this morning…’
Ryan’s face lit up with adoration. ‘Beth, I think you and I both know we’ve been on the same wavelength right from the beginning,’ he whispered, reaching for her. ‘You’re right. This morning, I knew that we were meant to be together, too; and now seeing you here… Did you end it with Danny then? I must admit I didn’t expect that you’d do it so soon… But I’m delighted you did.’
Dealing with the last question initially, Beth shook her head, but for the first time she didn’t feel guilty – just completely sure of what she had to do. ‘Not yet, but I will now – now that I know it’s really you.’
He chuckled, looking a little uncertain. ‘Of course it’s me. Who else would it be?’
‘You know, you really had me guessing for a while,’ she continued. ‘I felt so confused at times, to be honest. But in the end, I got it right. I put all the pieces together and they led me here. Just like you said this morning, there are no coincidences.’
Ryan reached for her and pulled her into his arms. ‘I think I fell in love with you the moment I met you,’ he said. ‘That day at the store. And I just knew we would end up together. I knew that you would be mine. And I was determined, no matter what, to make that happen.’
Though Beth had imagined many times what it might feel like to have Ryan’s arms around her, now that was happening she felt… strange.
‘Well, I admire your tenacity,’ she said, wanting to keep talking for some reason. ‘You certainly made a hell of an effort putting this whole thing together in such a short space of time.’
A brief look of confusion crossed his features, but then he chuckled. ‘I did, didn’t I?’
Beth looked at his face, unable to believe that this was really the end of the trail, and that she’d been right all along.Yet why did it all feel so…wrong?
‘Especially this morning,’ she babbled on. ‘You have no idea just how confused I felt last night. I was so sure that I had figured it out but yet something wasn’t adding up. And then, of course, when the painting arrived while we had so conveniently gone to brunch, by the same bike messenger who has been popping up through this whole thing – well, I just knew for sure. You were trying to tell me Ihadfigured it out, weren’t you? That I shouldn’t discount the last clue. And of course the painting led me here. You certainly did your homework. How incredible that the Monet was part of this exhibition, and that the boat exhibition was taking place at the weekend. What I don’t get, though, is how you managed to rope in Tiffany’s and the Waldorf…’
Beth’s voice trailed off, immediately sensing that something was wrong. Ryan was silent and certainly wasn’t acting like she’d expected, laughing and confessing everything about the entire set-up. Her gaze met his and just as she was about to ask him what was wrong, he spoke first.
‘What are you talking about, Beth?’ he asked. ‘What painting?’
She furrowed her brow and tilted her head, pointing at the wall where the Monet hung. ‘Well, that one, of course – or really, the copy the artist I met in the park last night had painted. You know, it’s a very good copy, but seeing the real thing now – well, there’s no comparison, is there?’ She smiled. ‘And of course, when it was delivered and I saw what it was, I knew that I was right aboutThe Thomas Crown Affairbeing the movie in the clue.’
Ryan laughed nervously and bit his lip. ‘I’m sorry; I don’t mean to ruin the moment, Beth, but what clue? And what’s all this about Tiffany’s and the Waldorf? I’m sorry but I really have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘Of course you do,’ she argued, laughing, but her voice lacked conviction. ‘Stop playing coy.’
