“What?” Justin asked, shrewd as always. “I think I know that look.”
Terri shook her head. “Nothing.”
But for some reason, her Spidey sense was tingling. What kind of “mix-up” could have happened in New York? Something to do with the accident maybe? Why else would some English guy be phoning here frantically looking for Rachel?
She bit her lip. Darn it. Maybe Justin was right; maybe therewassomething wrong with this picture.
What else had Gary been up to in New York?
Chapter 23
“Dad, you should phone the restaurant again,” Daisy urged Ethan, sounding much older than her eight years. Despite his previous attempts to get in touch with Rachel Conti over the holiday period via her personal and business details, the Irishwoman hadn’t returned his calls.
He was loath to be too much of a pest, especially when she’d been so nice before, but nice or not, he needed to get his ring back. At this point, he was starting to feel like a chump.
“I know, I know.” He picked up the phone. “So you really are okay with Vanessa moving in?”
She sighed heavily. “Dad, why do you keep asking that? If you’d asked her to marry you, she would have moved in eventually, wouldn’t she? So since I was okay with that…”
“All right, all right.” It wasn’t exactly what he wanted to hear, but she was correct—there was little point in persisting with unnecessary questions. “Okay. Let’s get this sorted out once and for all.”
This time, there would be no pussyfooting around. The other woman’s discomfort aside, he would explain the situation to Rachel and outline in full what had happened. Though chances were she and Knowles would have worked it all out by now and he wouldn’t have to explain anything.
Then why haven’t they been in touch?his subconscious mind asked, but Ethan chose to ignore it.
Dialing Rachel’s number, he waited as the line connected in Ireland. He really hoped she would answer the call this time rather than have to explain himself again to a staff member who obviously hadn’t bothered to pass on his last message. Finally, on the fourth ring, the line was picked up.
“Gillini bistro, how can I help?”
“Hi, Rachel? This is Ethan,” he greeted smoothly, but when there was no immediate reply, he added, “We met in New York recently?”
“Ethan, of course!” she exclaimed. “Goodness, I’m so sorry. Don’t mind me. My mind is just all over the place these days. Yes, I got your message from before and passed your number on to Gary. He hasn’t called you back yet?”
“Ah, no, he hasn’t.”
There was a brief silence. “Really? I was sure he would’ve by now, so let me apologize on his behalf. I know he’s been up to his eyes since we got back, and with so much going on too… But I also know he really wants to talk to you and to thank you of course for that wonderful thing you did for him.”
“Actually, about that…”
“And we’ve just gotten engaged, which is possibly the reason he simply hasn’t had time to contact you yet,” she went on blithely, and Ethan went white. “We’ve been so busy since we came back. So much to plan, and we’ve just had a big engagement party and…”
Ethan’s brain thudded with anxiety. He wasn’t sure what to think. There wasn’t a chance that… No, surely not?
Gary Knowles wouldn’t have been stupid enough to swipe the ring—hisring—and use it to propose, would he? What right-minded person would do such a thing?
Then a thought struck him. What if Knowleswasn’tactually in his right mind? Perhaps his brain had been injured in the accident, and he had a touch of amnesia or some such, which meant that he didn’t know anything about a mistake and may even believe the ring was his! Trying to work it out, Ethan’s mind raced, and he saw Daisy look at him curiously.
“You two got engaged?” he mumbled. “When?”
Rachel laughed. “Gary proposed right after he got out of the hospital. I couldn’t believe it to be honest. Apparently he had it all planned for Christmas Eve, even just bought the ring at Tiffany’s and everything, but of course the accident put the kibosh on that.”
Ethan’s insides dropped, and his fists automatically clenched. What the hell? “And how is he? After the accident, I mean?” he asked through gritted teeth. “Did he suffer any lasting injuries?”
“Nothing major, thank goodness. Just some bruising to his ribs,” she sang. “Really, you’re so good to be concerned, thank you, but luckily all worked out okay.”
“No head damage?” Ethan persisted. “Memory problems? Anything like that?”
“No, nothing at all like that.” Now she sounded a little taken aback. “I mean, according to the doctors, he’s fine. Why do you ask?”
