“Well, I knew you had a great imagination, but even I’m taken aback at this level of elaboration,” she had laughed after the rather awkward moment when the ring didn’t fit. “So this whole going to Dublin for ‘research’ was just a big ruse to throw me off?”
“Sorry, yes,” Ethan agreed, still trying to get over the shock of it all himself.
She laughed lightly. “So what did Mum and Dad say?”
“I’m sorry…what?”
“Mum and Dad. What did they say when you told them what you were planning?” She set down her fork. “That’s the real reason you went, yes? To officially ask Dad for my hand?” When his expression revealed his surprise, she raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I honestly thought… Why did you go then?”
“For the ring of course!” Daisy piped up, and Ethan looked at her aghast. “We tried to get it in New York, but they didn’t have the special one he wanted for you, did they, Dad?”
He nodded wordlessly, at this point resigned to just going with the flow.
“Sothat’swhy you two kept disappearing all the time!” Vanessa seemed even more delighted. “I had no idea you had such specific taste. But you couldn’t get it at Tiffany’s on Old Bond Street?”
“No, not that particular setting… Though I’m sorry, of course I should have asked your parents—”
“Don’t be silly. It’s fine! It was the only reason I could pinpoint for that sudden jaunt to Dublin, and it’s not as though you didn’t put a huge deal of thought into all this in any case.” She indicated the sourdough and then reached across the countertop for the wrapper. “Gillini,” she read out loud from the sticker on the front. “Do they do this kind of thing on request?” she added, picking up the ring again. “Specialized proposals, I mean. How did you hear about them?”
“Just saw something online a while back,” he mumbled, not wanting to get into any specifics.
“It was a brilliant idea, Dad,” Daisy chimed in. She met Ethan’s eye, and a smile of understanding passed between them. “See, I told you he had a great imagination,” she said to Vanessa.
That night, Ethan had slept better than he had in weeks. The ring was back in his possession, he and Vanessa were back on track, and all was once again right with the world.
Until his new fiancée dropped another bombshell.
“Don’t get me wrong. The way the proposal happened was sooo romantic and really original,” Vanessa had said over breakfast the following morning. “But forgive me. I must admit I’m also rather partial to tradition. What about the little blue box? It would be so nice to have it so I can keep it safe when not wearing it, and silly perhaps, but I’d quite like the whole Tiffany’s kit and caboodle.”
“I’m sure it’s in my luggage somewhere…” Ethan had fudged, knocking back his early morning coffee.
Bugger Tiffany’s and their blasted little blue box! Given the circumstances, he was lucky to have gotten anything back at all. But now his stomach lurched as he realized another visit to the store beckoned.
At this stage, it felt like he should be buying shares in the place.
He’d head down to Old Bond Street after his last lecture today and try and pick up something small and inexpensive, something for Daisy even? Then he could give the packaging to Vanessa so she could have her precious paraphernalia.
Sometimes he didn’t understand women at all.
“Don’t worry about it for now. I just thought I’d mention it in case you’d decided to throw it away or something.”
Now he wanted to kick himself, wishing that he’d thought of saying he’d done exactly that.
At this rate, Ethan would be happy if he never saw a little blue box again in his life.
Chapter 44
Gary was in the middle a job when he got a call from his solicitor.
“Frank, what’s up?” he said, positioning the phone under his chin.
He hoped it was information about the lawsuit. Frank Donnelly was a viper by reputation, and Gary suspected he would go all out to ensure he got a big payout.
Well, it was no more than he deserved. He’d missed nearly two weeks’ work because of that accident,andhe’d had to shell out for those extra nights in the New York hotel as well as the flights home.
Okay, so Rachel had actually taken care of that, but since they were engaged, it was practically the same thing. She was the one who’d been talking about opening a joint account to keep track of the wedding expenses, something that put the fear of God into Gary in case she’d figure out how broke he was.
He couldn’t for the life of him understand why she didn’t approve of him going after the cab company, calling it “bad karma” and all that crap. Wasn’t it bad karma that he’d been hit in the first place?
