“No idea. All I know is that he’s drop-dead gorgeous, and she’s cute as a button.”
“And he left his number? Why? I’m sure you told him Gary was going to be fine.”
“Of course I did, but apparently he lost something at the time and wanted to see if you knew anything about it. As well as checking on Gary, of course. Honestly, you should call him.”
Rachel was confused. “Okay, I suppose I’d better thank him in any case. But if there’s something he’s lost, I don’t see howIcan help him find it.”
“Oh well,” Kim said with a shrug. “Only in New York, I guess.”
Chapter 11
Later that evening Ethan, Vanessa, and Daisy were taking in the sights around Times Square when the call came. Taking his vibrating phone out of his pocket, Ethan didn’t recognize the number on-screen and figured it had to be the girlfriend.
Thank goodness.
He stepped outside the M&M’s store, relieved to escape the place and leave the girls to the frantic, multicolored world of grinning candy.
“Hello,” he answered, trying not to sound too urgent, but his hands were shaking.
“Hi there. Is this Ethan Greene?” asked a feminine voice in an Irish accent similar to Knowles’s, and he exhaled with some relief. “I’m Rachel. The nurses at Mount Sinai gave me your number.”
“Hello. Yes, thank you so much for calling,” he replied. He looked up to see Vanessa watching him through the window and waved nervously as she and Daisy waited in line to pay for something. Soon they’d join him outside, and he deduced he had about thirty seconds of privacy before then. “Yes, I wanted to inquire after your…erm…Mr. Knowles, but—”
“Gary’s fine. Thank you so much for helping him,” she continued warmly.
“Oh, that’s good to know. Has he regained consciousness?”
“Not yet I’m afraid. But since you were there, it would be great to find out more about what actually happened. As you can imagine, it was all a bit of a shock for me, since I wasn’t with him at the time.”
Ethan exhaled in relief, pleased that she had given him an opening.
“Of course, I’d be more than happy to. Are you free to meet for coffee—tomorrow, perhaps? I’d also hoped to speak to you about something else, as it happens.”
“Well, yes, the nurse did mention something.”
“It seems there was a mix-up at the scene and… Well, it’s a long story and is rather delicate, actually.” Ethan tried to choose his words carefully as Vanessa and Daisy rounded the corner and came up alongside him. “But I’ve got some free time tomorrow morning, and it would be nice to speak to you in person in any case. Would that suit?” He smiled at his girlfriend, who was watching him closely.
Rachel seemed hesitant. “Okay, but I’m at the hospital mostly.”
“Why don’t I meet you there? Say eleven?” he said, hoping he wouldn’t scare her off by sounding too pushy, yet at the same time, he had little choice but to press the issue. And if he could get this done and dusted without having to change their flight home, even better.
“Yes, I suppose that would be okay.”
“Fantastic. See you then.”
“What was all that about?” Vanessa asked when he hung up the phone. “You’re meeting someone in the morning?” She looked puzzled. “But tomorrow’s our last day.”
Fortunately for him, Ethan had a cover story already worked out in his head. “Believe it or not, that was an agent I submitted my proposal to a while back,” he said with forced enthusiasm. “I emailed her before Christmas to let her know I’d be here in New York around now and, lo and behold, she wants to meet with me!”
He knew Vanessa would only be too happy to go along with this; after all, she was the one always encouraging him to dedicate more time and energy to his writing.
He smiled as if unable to believe his luck. “I can’t really pass up the opportunity, can I?”
“That’s amazing news!” she gushed, obviously not pausing to dwell on the likelihood of such a thing happening. Clearly she thought his ideas were considerably better than he did. “Of course you must go. What agency is she from? Perhaps I know her?” Before Ethan had a chance to reply, she smiled at Daisy. “Wow, looks like we’ve got a girls-only day ahead of us tomorrow!”
“But I want to come with you, Dad,” his daughter protested, looking hurt. “Please?”
Ethan ran a hand through his hair, not at all sure how to handle this. While he could understand Daisy’s concerns about wanting to be there when he got the ring back, surely she understood that he needed to be careful about it all in front of Vanessa? But of course, subtlety wasn’t exactly a strong point among eight-year-olds.
