Which indeed it did.
“Of course you can.” Ethan was beaming as he put the receipt and accompanying documentation into his jacket pocket.
He couldn’t have hoped for a better reaction, and he felt more certain than ever that he, Vanessa, and Daisy being together in New York was the first step in the wonderful journey they all had ahead of them.
Chapter 3
“Hey, gorgeous, what’s up?” Gary Knowles said, answering his phone from inside the changing room at Bergdorf Goodman.
He placed the device between his cheek and shoulder so he could have both hands free.
Turning sideways, he threw back his shoulders to size himself up in the dressing room mirror and smiled, catching sight of himself in the Ralph Lauren shirt he was trying on.
“Yep, glad you’re enjoying it,” he continued absently, turning his head to get a better look at the way the tapering shirt fit his torso and back from behind. “Hmm? Yeah, just finishing up now.”
Nodding approvingly, Gary brushed aside some strands of sandy blond hair (tinged with just enough peroxide to give him a certain edge) and figured that this shirt was another definite.
“Shouldn’t be too much longer. Why don’t you go ahead and get yourself ready?” he said. “I’ll meet you back at the hotel later. Can’t say for sure…around seven, maybe? I still have a couple of things to do here.” He raised an eyebrow. “What, you’ve got all yours done already? Not bad, and for a girl too.” Laughing at his joke, he slipped out of the shirt and now studied his bare chest. His six-pack looked especially impressive in this light. Shame nobody else could see it. “Grand. I’ll see you back there, then? Yup, me too.”
With that, Gary ended the call and put the phone back in his pocket. Then he slipped his own clothes back on, grabbed the pile of bags at his feet, and headed in the direction of the checkout counter.
He was soaking up every minute in the Big Apple. It was a trip he had wanted to take for years but for some reason had never gotten around to it. And since business was so slack these days, he couldn’t really justify laying out the cash for such a jaunt.
Back in the glory days of the Irish house-building boom, Gary’s one-man construction company was charging telephone-number prices for sticking up telephonebox–size extensions, but unfortunately those days were long gone.
He had a few quid tucked away, of course, and wasn’t destitute quite yet, but trips to New York were a good bit down the pecking order when you had four rental property regrets (two of which were currently without tenants) and an expensive motorbike hobby to maintain.
Luckily for him, along came Rachel who, nine months into their relationship, gifted him the trip for his thirty-fifth birthday. His girlfriend had been to New York a few times before and assured him that Christmas in the city was really something special and definitely the best time to go.
His head held high, Gary navigated his way through the crowds of other shoppers toward the nearest checkout queue. However, a display of Tag Heuer watches nearby caught his eye, and before he knew it, the small “Christmas Eve Price Reduction” sign forced him into a bit of a dilemma. Eventually deciding he had enough watches, he made his way along the jewelry case to see what other bargains he might encounter.
Now they weren’t on sale, but the Paul Smith cuff links certainly would look good—especially for meeting the bank manager. Stuff like that was always worthwhile, he told himself. In his line of business and especially in these tough times, a fella had to look the part. The cuff links were a bit pricey, but wouldn’t they be an investment in his future?
At his request, the assistant took the box out of the display case so he could take a better look. “And perhaps something for the lady in your life?” the man suggested, and Gary’s heart nearly stopped.
Rachel…
He had checked out some nice underwear for her earlier, but it had just dawned on him that he hadn’t actuallyboughthis girlfriend anything yet.
“Uh, no…no. Just the cuff links, thanks,” he muttered, his mind racing.
He couldn’t get her perfume or the like again—he’d bought that for her birthday—but what other options were there at this hour on Christmas Eve?
It was almost six thirty, and he’d told Rachel to be ready around seven. They both knew he was always late, so in reality that actually gave him an hour or so of leeway, but he was getting hungry, and the shops would be closing soon.
Paying for his shirt and cuff links, he decided to head back out onto Fifth Avenue and try the next place that caught his eye. After all, she was having a great time and clearly happy just to be here in New York with him. Any gift at all as a token of their trip would do, wouldn’t it?
When just ahead he spied Tiffany & Co., Gary breathed a sigh of relief.
Some famous jewelry shop or something, wasn’t it? Perfect. Somebody somewhere was obviously looking out for him, and this might be less hassle than he’d thought.
He pushed open yet another of those blasted twirly doors that seemed to be everywhere in Manhattan but that made Gary dizzy.
Going inside, a glass display counter on his right immediately caught his eye, not so much for what was inside but rather what was behind it. The beautiful buxom blond smiled in his direction and automatically drew him in.
“Happy holidays,” she greeted as he approached.
“Hello. Same to you.” Gary ran a quick gaze over the display of swanky-looking necklaces and promptly broke out in a cold sweat.Christ alive, look at those prices!
