“I just wasn’t sure. I thought at the time he might have suffered a concussion, but maybe I was mistaken,” he replied, thinking fast.
Christ, was this for real? Was the guy that much of a crook that he would seriously try to pass off that ring as his own?
It was certainly obvious that despite what Rachel thought, Knowles had no such proposal in mind before the accident, seeing as his Tiffany’s purchase was a mere charm bracelet.
Big proposal my ass.
Ethan’s heart hammered. But what on earth should he do now? Or more pertinently, what should he say?
Then a flash of anger flared up. Damn it, the time for talking was well and truly over. Enough tiptoeing around. He would go straight to Dublin and pay Gary Knowles a visit—sort out this entire situation face-to-face, man-to-man.
But to think that anyone would be so bald-faced… Ethan couldn’t believe the nerve of the guy.
Furthermore, how could he himself now burst the poor girl’s bubble by saying anything? Rachel seemed way too nice to be marrying someone so immoral and devious.
No, Ethan decided determinedly, this was definitely something that needed to be tackled in person with the man responsible.
Realizing that the line had gone quiet, he snapped back to reality. “Well, it seems congratulations are in order.” Given what she had just told him, it was the obvious response, although his mouth tasted like bile as he forced himself to say it.
“Thank you. Everything’s happening just so fast, and of course, there’s so much to do and plan and… Oh, listen to me. I’m a bridezilla already! You don’t want to hear about all this.”
You can say that again, Ethan thought wryly.
“Actually, now that I have you,” she continued cheerfully, “can you let me know your address so I can send your lovely daughter those cookies I promised her? I would have sorted it before now, but as I said, things have been so crazy since Christmas. I’ll bake a fresh batch and pop them over by courier.”
At this, Ethan had a sudden flash of inspiration. “No, it’s fine. I’ll come and collect them actually.”
“Collect them?”
“Yes, you’re in Dublin, aren’t you? Well, as it happens, I actually have some business there next weekend. So if you let me know where your café’s based, I could call in and pick them up. Perhaps catch up with your…fiancé while I’m there.”
He knew it was a weak story, but in all honesty, he didn’t care. What business would he—an English language lecturer—have in Dublin? He held his breath, almost waiting for Rachel to call his bluff or at least question his motives. However, if anything seemed amiss, she didn’t seem to notice.
“Oh. Well, it’s a bistro, not a café. We’re just on the quays, not far from the Ha’penny Bridge, do you know it? It’s called Gillini. The building is painted deep purple, and our sign is bright orange, so you really shouldn’t have any trouble finding us. We’re hard to miss.” She laughed. “But yes, it would be lovely to see you, and I’ll let Gary know you’ll be in town.”
“Actually, probably best not to arrange anything too concrete for the moment—just in case I’m caught for time.” Ethan didn’t want to give Knowles too much of a heads-up about his arrival, just in case he decided to do a runner. With a rogue like that, who knew? “If I do have some free time, I’ll pop in for lunch or something. Would that be all right?” He just hoped he could get a last-minute weekend reservation at a centrally located hotel.
“Yes, absolutely. But are you sure you don’t just want me to send over those cookies just in case? I really wanted to do something, however small, to thank you and Daisy. And it goes without saying that if you do have the time to call while you’re in Dublin, then lunch is on us!”
“Really, no thanks necessary. Perhaps I’ll see you on the weekend.”
“Looking forward to it. Oh, and tell Daisy I said hi, won’t you?”
“I certainly will. Goodbye, Rachel.”
His brain still hammering wildly in his head, Ethan hung up the phone and exhaled.
Daisy was looking up at him, frowning. “Why didn’t you tell her about the mix-up with the bags, Dad?” she asked.
He felt his mouth go dry. Yes, why the hell didn’t he? After all, he didn’t know this woman, and it wasn’t up to him to protect her feelings, so really he should have just said something there and then. He looked at his daughter. “Her boyfriend seems to have used our ring to propose,” he told her, and her eyes widened.
“What? Oh no!”
“So I thought it might be better to say nothing just then so as not to hurt Rachel’s feelings.”
“That is really kind of you, Dad,” his daughter said, patting his hand. “So that’s why you’re going to Dublin?” she asked. “To sort everything out with that man?”
Ethan nodded tiredly. “Yes.”
