“But you definitely don’t have this one in stock at the moment?” she ventured.
The assistant looked rueful. “I’m afraid not. We’d be happy to order it for you and can have it in-store and ready for collection by the end of the week if you’d like. Though we do require a deposit for special orders. Two thousand for this one.”
“Two thousand?” Rachel’s heart lifted and her face broke into a huge smile.
It wasn’t as though she had that amount of money lying around in loose change, but really, the ring was nowherenearas expensive as she’d imagined. Yes, replacing it would mean sacrificing the majority of her share of the income from Gillini for the next few months, but it would be worth it. She shook her head, amazed afresh that Gary had managed to choose a ring that looked like it cost an absolute fortune but in reality was actually rather reasonable.
“For the deposit, yes,” the assistant continued, taking out an order book. “I can take it today if you’d like. Or maybe you’d prefer to wait for your fiancé—let him be the one to injure the credit card,” she joked easily.
Now Rachel felt nauseous. “Two thousand…for thedeposit?” she repeated in a whisper, all thoughts of replacing the ring suddenly going right out the window.
“Yes, ten percent of the overall price is standard.”
Her head grew light and she began to see stars in front of her eyes. It didn’t take a genius to work out that if two thousand was ten percent of the overall price, then Gary had spent the sum of…twenty thousand—twenty thousand dollars—on the ring.
And she had lost it.
Oh Christ…oh Christ…oh Christ.Her head spinning, Rachel held on to the edge of the glass display case. She was so dizzy, she was sure her legs would give way beneath her.
“Are you okay?” the woman asked, seemingly unaware that she’d as good as cut the legs from beneath her latest customer.
“I’m fine,” Rachel managed. She tried to compose herself as best she could. “Um…actually, I think you’re right. Probably best to wait for my fiancé to do the honors.”
The woman chuckled. “Wise decision. Pop in anytime you like, both of you. We’d be delighted to look after you, and of course we provide a glass of bubbly to all our happy couples to get the celebrations going. Would be a shame to miss out on that,” she added with a wink.
“Yes…a shame.” Desperate to get out of there before she embarrassed herself by crumpling in a heap on the ground, Rachel bade the Tiffany’s sales assistant a quick goodbye. Then she stumbled her way through the store and back out onto Grafton Street as fast as her woozy legs would carry her.
Twenty thousand…the ring had cost all that money, and she’d gone and lost it. What was she going to do? And why had Gary spent so much? She felt inexplicably angry at him.
As it was, she’d havediedif she’d known she was walking around with something that valuable on her. And to think that she’d been wearing that ring while blithely kneading dough and getting it covered in flour and eggs and all sorts…
It waswaytoo much to spend on her—way too much to spend on anyone or indeed anything that didn’t at the very least have four wheels or a roof on it.
There was nowayshe could tell him she’d lost it now; Rachel knew that for certain. Especially when cognizant too that times were tough in the building trade and for a while suspecting that Gary was just barely keeping the business afloat.
He was way too proud to admit it of course, but Rachel wasn’t stupid, and reading between the lines, she’d figured things were bad when he was so eager to return from New York so quickly in order to get back on the job.
She sighed, everything suddenly becoming a hell of a lot clearer. No wonder he’d been so reluctant to participate in her enthusiasm for the wedding preparations when no doubt all he could think about was how much more they’d need to shell out for the big day.
But what had possessed him to spend so much on the ring? He knew she wasn’t one of those high-maintenance types who expected the best of everything, and really this was worlds apart from the perfume he’d given her for her birthday.
And to think that he’d never said a word, never even let on that he’d flashed so much cash, which was unusual actually. Much as she loved him, Gary did have a tendency to brag.
She looked blankly around at people rushing past on the street, trying to figure out what to do. Maybe she could try and replace the ring with a cheaper substitute so that Gary wouldn’t notice the difference?
But it was Tiffany’s, for crying out loud. Of course he’d notice.
And dishonesty was hardly the best start to a marriage.
Rachel’s head spun, not knowing what she should do now. Was there a chance she’d gotten it wrong back there and picked out a ring she onlythoughtlooked like hers?
Though in all honesty, there was no mistaking it. She knew deep down that the solitaire she’d lost was indeed the one with a twenty-grand price tag. It was just so hard to believe or even imagine Gary spending so much money on a single item.
“I had no idea you could even spend that big on a credit card,” she said afterward to Terri and Justin, who both seemed just as shocked upon hearing how much her engagement ring had cost. At least that was how she presumed Gary had paid for it, since he couldn’t realistically have taken that much in cash with him on their trip.
“Are you…sure?” Terri asked, looking decidedly shell-shocked, and Rachel was somewhat gratified to think that at leastnowshe’d understand why she was so frantic about losing it. “Christ, that’s a hell of a lot to spend on a rock.”
“I know. What should I do? Gary will hit the roof when I tell him I’ve lost it. He might even call off the wedding.” She bit her lip in an effort to quell impending tears.
