“Well, I suppose that would be okay. That way, you can have some time to yourself, darling,” he said, turning again to Vanessa.
“What? But I’ve had lots of time to myself. In any case, Ethan, do you really want to bring your child to a business meeting?” she questioned dubiously.
“Ah, no, it’ll only be an informal chat. Anyway, I mentioned in my submission how much of an inspiration Daisy is, so I’m sure she’d love to meet her too,” he insisted, but it sounded incredibly feeble, and he knew it.
“Really?” Vanessa looked from him to Daisy, and something changed in her expression, as if she’d figured out that this so-called meeting was some kind of cover story, but for what, she couldn’t tell. “Well, all right then. I suppose I could find something to pass the time, perhaps visit the Guggenheim again, and meet you two later.”
“Great idea,” Ethan enthused, trying to get through the awkwardness of the situation by focusing solely on the reward at the end of it all.
It was because of his grand plans for their future that he was being forced into this situation at all, so surely the little white lie couldn’t really hurt?
Yes, by this time tomorrow, all would be fine. Ethan was sure of it.
Chapter 12
Reaching the hospital the following day, Ethan realized he had no idea what this Rachel looked like, but he supposed he could ask the nurses when he got there.
Assuming they would tell him, of course. As he’d already discovered, the Swiss Guard had nothing on the medical staff.
Going up in the elevator, Daisy held his hand tightly. He looked down at her and smiled. “Come on then, poppet. Let’s go get our ring back once and for all.”
Arriving at the nurses’ station just a little before eleven, he immediately spied a curvy, well-dressed woman with long, dark hair standing in front of it. This couldn’t be her surely; he hadn’t expected someone so poised and…elegant to be with a guy like Knowles.
While of course he’d been happy to help anyone in trouble, Ethan’s overall impression of the man, judging by the yelling and cursing at the traffic they’d heard beforehand, was that he was rather obnoxious.
He walked up alongside the woman, suddenly hesitant now, and when she turned to look at him, his breath caught a little. She was stunning.
“Hello,” she ventured with an uncertain smile. “Are you Ethan?”
He nodded. “Rachel?”
“Yes. I figured it had to be you,” she continued, smiling at them both. “The nurses mentioned you had a cute little lady with you. Hello there, honey.”
“That’s right,” he said, swallowing hard while surreptitiously checking her left hand, but nope, no ring. “Thanks so much for taking the time to meet with us. This is Daisy.”
“Very nice to meet you,” Rachel said, shaking hands and then bending down to greet Daisy, who smiled shyly, on her level. “Thanks for coming in, but I should warn you, I really can’t talk long. The doctor will be coming around to check on Gary soon, and I need to be there.”
“Of course, we won’t keep you.”Damn, Ethan thought. This wasn’t exactly the kind of thing that could be rushed. “But you have time for a quick coffee, I hope?”
“Well…” She seemed torn. “I suppose that would be okay.”
They walked to the hospital cafeteria, Rachel having asked the nurse on duty to call her when the doctor was on the ward.
Taking the seat across from her, Ethan distributed a plate of cookies and fresh coffee he’d bought at the counter, his palms sweaty at the thought of having to explain it all.
“So listen, I can’t thank you enough for helping Gary that night. Both of you,” Rachel began, turning to Daisy, who looked bashful. “I hear you were quite the little heroine too. Gary’s never been to New York before, you see, and I can’t imagine why he thought he could just barge his way through the rush-hour traffic.” She smiled indulgently. “I’m assuming that’s what he was trying to do?”
“Well, we didn’t see it happen, but I understand he was trying to hail a cab.”
She nodded as if this explained everything. “It was really good of you to intervene. Thank you. He can be such a handful at times.” She shook her head indulgently.
“No problem.” Ethan was eager to move the conversation along. “But actually—”
“How did you find him?” Rachel continued. “Here at Mount Sinai, I mean?”
“Ah, just a few phone calls. It didn’t take too much,” he said quickly.
“Well, regardless, I am eternally grateful. We’re just here for a few days over Christmas. We’re not locals as you can probably guess.” She laughed lightly. “And while the trip didn’t turn out quite as I planned, it seems there’s a silver lining to everything,” she said with the hint of a smile on her face.
