And despite not knowing Ethan’s soon-to-be fiancée, she couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her. It must be difficult having to live in the shadow of a past love, particularly one who obviously still weighed heavily on his mind.
She shook her head. There she was, worrying about complete strangers and trying to imagine what they were or weren’t feeling. How stupid was she? Especially when it was highly unlikely she’d ever come across Ethan Greene—never mind his girlfriend—ever again.
***
“It was you, wasn’t it?” The voice on the other end of the line said without preamble.
“Ethan, hi.”
“Why? I’m massively grateful of course, but why did you help me?”
Terri sighed. Already she was having second thoughts about intervening, especially now that Rachel had realized the ring was missing and was frantic about it.
But she couldn’t just stand by and watch her friend be made a fool of. And since Ethan was too bloody nice to spill the beans, something had to be done.
So on Sunday afternoon, when Rachel’s ring had almost slipped off and she’d subsequently removed it and placed it on the windowsill, Terri had seized the opportunity. When her friend had gone out front to replace some stock, Terri had slipped it in the dough she was making and then later passed the loaf on to Ethan.
But she realized now, she wasn’t really thinking at all. If she had, she should have considered Rachel’s feelings and how upset she’d be once she realized the ring was gone.
“Because you might never have gotten it back from Gary,” Terri told Ethan now. “And you certainly wouldn’t have taken it back from Rachel.”
“Still, it was exceptionally decent of you, especially when you don’t even know me.”
She knew enough to know he was a good person though. His reluctance to hurt Rachel demonstrated that.
When Terri told him as much, he gave a soft laugh. “Too much of a wimpy old sod, you mean.”
“Doesn’t matter. Your intentions were good, and once I got the truth out of Gary, I knew I couldn’t let him get away with it.”
“But what will happen now? I take it Gary’s confessed everything?”
“As far as I know, he doesn’t know it’s missing yet.” He would soon though, she realized, biting her lip.
“Poor Rachel. She’ll be so upset, I’m sure.”
“I know.” But it was for the best. Terri was sure of it. “At least it’s not something you need to worry about anymore.”
“Thank you again, truly, although I must admit, I do wish you’d told me you’d put it in the bread,” he said, a slight twinge in his voice that Terri thought sounded like regret.
She frowned. “Well, I couldn’t say it out straight, but I thought I did, in so many words. Remember I told you to eat it on your flight back?” She chuckled. “I just hope you didn’t break a tooth or anything.”
“Actually…” Ethan went on to tell her about how Vanessa had been the one to find it. “It rather caught us both by surprise.”
“Wow, that ring really does seem to have a mind of its own. So I guess congratulations are in order. And all’s well that ends well.”
Chapter 43
For Ethan, the following week went by in a daze. He still couldn’t believe that after all the worry, all the hassle of going to Dublin and trying to get the ring back, he’d had it returned to him just like that.
And although he was hugely grateful to Terri for intervening, in truth he’d rather she’d told him up front what she was doing. That way, he could have fished it out himself and decided what to do with it after that.
But what was there to decide? The ring was meant for Vanessa after all.
Still, what must poor Rachel be thinking? She must be going out of her mind, wondering where it was and how she could have lost it. Especially when she already had such an attachment to it.
While Ethan knew that what Rachel was and wasn’t feeling was none of his business, still, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat invested, never mind responsible.
He thought again about Vanessa’s delighted reaction to his “surprise proposal.”
