“Bread?” She looked suitably underwhelmed.
“Yes. It smelled so delicious, I couldn’t resist.” He shrugged, realizing that making up excuses and sounding like an idiot seemed par for the course these days.
“Lovely. Well, I suppose it’ll do nicely with supper then. Shall we eat?”
Ethan nodded and followed her into the kitchen. He tried to avoid Daisy’s still-probing gaze, too weary to try and get the message across that his visit to Dublin had been a complete and utter waste of time.
Vanessa had laid on a very nice spread of olives, cheese, and Parma ham, and he set to it with gusto, pleading hunger as a good excuse not to talk about his trip.
Making up more tall tales was the last thing he wanted to do, given that the entire thing had been such a disaster.
Taking the bread out of its Gillini paper packaging, Vanessa sniffed it approvingly. “You’re right. This does smell delicious.” She tore a large piece from one side. “Daisy, would you like some?”
“No thanks.” She seemed put out that her father was keeping her in the dark, but Ethan didn’t have the energy for explanations just then. He didn’t have the energy for anything at all. In truth, what he needed now was a good night’s sleep and a recharge of his batteries for—
“Ow!” Vanessa cried out, and he saw her put a hand to her mouth. “What the hell? I almost broke a tooth.”
Ethan watched wordlessly as she extracted something solid from her mouth.
“Goodness, I could have choked on something this size,” she said disapprovingly.
“What is it?” Daisy asked, and upon closer inspection, they saw that Vanessa was holding up something small wrapped in greaseproof paper.
Something that looked an awful lot like…
“Oh my God.”
Ethan’s heart skipped a beat as, having unwrapped the paper, Vanessa’s eyes widened, and she held up a diamond ring—thediamond ring.
His jaw dropped, and he suddenly remembered Terri’s earlier insistence that he take the bread and her cryptic assertion that everything would turn out okay.
“How did you… Is this what…?” Vanessa’s eyes bugged out, and she was grinning from ear to ear as Daisy looked on in amazement. “I can’t believe this!”
Although he too was knocked for a loop, he automatically felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders.
Terri… How had she done it? She must have somehow purloined the ring from Rachel, possibly because she knew he was getting nowhere with Gary.
And she needed a way for the truth to come out to do right by her friend.
Thank heavens.
Vanessa was still staring at the ring, a look of complete and utter delight on her face.
“Ethan, is this what I think it is?” she said, beaming at him. “Forgive me, but it’s not a…joke or anything, is it?”
He forced himself out of his reverie. “No, darling. It’s exactly what you think it is,” he reassured her, wondering why his tone sounded so leaden when this was what he’d wanted all along.
It was just all so unexpected.
“Oh my. I don’t know what to say. What a perfectly amazing surprise.”
He could see Daisy watching him carefully, as if she sensed that he was just as surprised as Vanessa.
The whole scenario felt almost like a replay of that Christmas morning in New York.
“So,” he said, turning to her and clearing his throat. “I suppose I haven’t actually asked the all-important question yet. Vanessa, will you marry me?”
She stared at the ring, and her eyes glistened with tears. “Of course I will!” she cried, jumping up to embrace him. “Oh, Ethan, this is just the most wonderful surprise!”
