But that was Rachel, happy to take everything at face value, irrespective of the circumstances. Maybe she was right too; perhaps Terri herself was far too suspicious and skeptical about things for her own good.
But since Justin had suggested on New Year’s Eve that there was something “off” about the engagement—as well as their long-held mutual misgivings about Gary—how could she be blamed?
The two settled back into their work, making idle small talk about this and that, when the door leading from the dining area burst open and in strode the man himself.
Dressed head to toe in his biking gear, Terri wrinkled her nose at the smell of leather and exhaust fumes drifting off Gary. She hoped Rachel would shoo him out, as she didn’t like him stinking up the prep area.
But now, as soon as he walked in, Rachel’s face lit up. “Hey there! What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at work?”
He shrugged laconically. “Nothing much doing, to be honest. Only a few jobs to price and I’ve done that, so I took the rest of the day off.” He stepped back a little as she reached to embrace him. “Babe, watch that flour on my jacket,” he chided.
“Oh, of course,” Rachel said, pulling back. She grabbed a dish towel and began to wipe off the flour spots she’d made on his precious leathers.
Terri sighed inwardly. Yep, the dashing Romeo from New Year’s Eve had now well and truly vanished, only to be replaced by the Gary they all knew and…yeah.
Really, what on earth does Rachel see in him?she wondered, watching Gary just stand there and let her fuss over him. Then suddenly, a thought popped into Terri’s head, and she bit her lip, deciding to see if this particular cat might upset any pigeons.
“So Rachel just got another call from Ethan Greene,” she said casually.
“Who’s Ethan Greene?” His face was blank, and Terri could almost picture the wheels grinding slowly in his mind.
“The nice man who helped you, silly. After the accident?” Rachel reminded him. “He and his daughter made sure you got to the hospital safely.”
A strange look flitted across Gary’s face then, Terri was sure of it, and instinctively, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand to attention.
Somethingwasgoing on there. Hooray for Spidey senses.
“He called here?” Gary asked, his voice catching just a tad on the wordhere.
Terri nodded. “Yup, just a couple of minutes ago.” She kept her eyes glued to his face; he was like an open book. Probably because he wasn’t smart enough to hide anything that might betray him.
“What did he want?” he asked, looking at Rachel.
She shrugged easily. “Just wanted to check up on you, see if you were okay. It was a bit embarrassing actually, love. I thought you would have phoned him by now.”
“Yeah, I was going to but I…I lost the number.”
Yeah and I’m Gordon Ramsay, Terri thought sardonically. There wasdefinitelysomething amiss here. But what?
“I thought it must have been something like that,” Rachel replied, glancing pointedly at Terri. “Anyway, I told him you were fine. He’s so nice, and to be honest, I think he was more worried about you than was strictly necessary.” She laughed. “Then again, I suppose I wasn’t the one who picked you up off the street, was I? But thinking about it again, it really was a wonderful thing he did that day, and you, a complete stranger too. We should both be very grateful to him.”
“Right,” Gary grunted, not having the look of a grateful man.
“Anyway, doesn’t matter that you lost his number,” Terri added, studying him closely. “You might be able to thank the guy in person soon anyway.”
“What?” His head snapped up.
“Oh yes, I almost forgot.” Rachel smiled. “Ethan said he might be in town this weekend and was thinking of popping in for a visit.”
“Here in Dublin?”
Was it Terri’s imagination, or had Gary’s face turned green?
“Yes. Strange how it goes, isn’t it? I’m glad though. It means we might get the chance to repay him a little with lunch, or maybe even dinner depending on how much time he has.”
“You mean he’s coming here—to the bistro?” Gary blustered, his eyes shifting back and forth at a very quick rate.
Now Rachel looked up, finally noticing the edge in his voice. “If he has the time. Why? Don’t you want to thank him in person?”
