“Nice to meet you both,” she said, shaking Daisy’s hand too. “I’m Kim, and Mr. Knowles is one of my patients. Must say, it’s good to see that kind of spirit alive and well, on Christmas Eve too.” She laughed. “You know, his girlfriend will be here soon. She’ll want to thank you in person, I’m sure. So if you want to hang out a little longer…”
A girlfriend? This was something he hadn’t anticipated. So chances wereshewas the one in possession of the man’s packages.
He wasn’t sure if this was a good or a bad thing. On the one hand, it could be good, because he wouldn’t have to wait around for Knowles to wake up, but on the other, what if the girlfriend didn’t believe his sorry story?
But surely if he explained everything as it had happened, she would understand. It was a desperate situation, that was for sure, but Ethan was very rapidly becoming a desperate man.
Still, now that he knew the bags were no longer being kept at the hospital, he figured there was little point in sweet-talking the nurses. Instead, he needed to see this girlfriend.
“She’s coming here…today?”
“Of course. She was here earlier but just popped out. I’m sure she’ll be back soon.”
“I see.” Ethan thought quickly. “Well, why don’t we grab a quick coffee ourselves while we wait,” he said to Daisy, who nodded easily. She was clearly becoming quite distraught about her part in all this—another good reason, Ethan realized, for getting it sorted out as soon as possible.
Feeling like a heel for lying to her yet again, he called Vanessa to tell her that they were stuck in downtown traffic and might be a little later getting back to the hotel. But time was of the essence, and this needed to be resolved.
In the hospital café, seated over two bowls of chicken noodle soup, Daisy was quiet and Ethan was restless.
“Do you really think we’re going to get it back, Dad?”
“Of course,” he replied. “Now that we’ve finally found our man. And when his girlfriend gets here and we explain everything, I’m sure there won’t be a problem.”
The only snag was, he no longer had Knowles’s purchase, as he couldn’t very well take the bracelet back from Vanessa to make an exchange, could he?
Still, he could also explain this to the other woman and let her know that he’d arrange a replacement. Which meant of course that he’d have to shell out yet more money at Tiffany’s, but if it ensured he got his ring back, by then, Ethan didn’t care.
He realized Daisy was idly picking up noodles and plopping them back in the bowl. “Not hungry?”
“Not really.”
“Why? You didn’t eat much at breakfast either. Is everything okay?”
She hesitated for a minute, as if about to say something, but then shook her head. “I’m just worried about the ring, that’s all.”
“Try not to be,” he said, feeling doubly guilty for giving her an excuse to fret. “And remember, it wasn’t your fault,” he assured her again. “Just a mix-up, that’s all. We’ll get it back. Let’s finish up here and see if we can get to the bottom of it once and for all, okay?”
“Okay, Dad,” she said, but he could tell this was really troubling her.
They returned to the nurses’ station to find the two they’d spoken to earlier sitting behind the desk.
“Is Mr. Knowles’s girlfriend here?” Ethan asked the older one, Kim.
“I’m sorry, no, she hasn’t arrived yet, and he’s still sleeping.”
His face fell. “That’s a shame. We really were hoping to speak to her today. We’re heading home to London soon.”
“I wish I could help you,” Kim said, looking at the chart she held in her hand. “Like I said, she should be back by now—”
“Probably out shopping for wedding dresses already.” Molly giggled conspiratorially.
Ethan felt like he had just been sucker punched. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
His mind raced. No, this couldn’t be happening. The girlfriend…she couldn’t possibly have found…
No, but of course not, he reasoned, mentally kicking himself for letting his imagination run wild. This couple were probably already engaged. The guy was unconscious, so how on earth could he have proposed? Especially when he didn’t even know he had a ring…
Still, as he tried to figure out the various permutations, Ethan’s brain was moving faster than he could keep up.
