Terri put a comforting hand on her arm. “Ah, no, I’m sure he wouldn’t do that.”
“What about insurance?” Justin suggested.
“No good. I didn’t have a chance to get it insured,” Rachel replied mournfully.
“Well, what about Gary’s credit card insurance? I know my Visa has some kind of purchase protection included. Maybe his does too?”
“Yes, that’s a possibility,” Terri murmured quietly.
“It is,” Rachel said, heartened. “How would I find out about that, Justin?”
“You’ll need to get your hands on Gary’s statement,” he told her. “There’s a monthly fee, so if that’s listed on the statement and he bought the ring with the same card, there’s a good chance it’s covered.” He draped an arm around her shoulder. “So maybe you’re worrying for nothing, sweetheart.”
Rachel wanted to hug him. Justin was right; if the ring was automatically covered by credit card insurance, then chances were Gary couldn’t be too upset, since it could be replaced.
“Yes, I’m sure you’re worrying for nothing,” Terri soothed.
“Course, now you’ll have to find some way of getting the statement without alerting Gary,” Justin pointed out. “And I don’t know about you, but I know for sure that Bernard would leave me if he knew how much I rack up every month.” He grinned. “Or maybe he’d be proud. Who knows?”
“Well, we’ll need to share stuff like that soon enough,” Rachel replied, wondering how she might go about purloining a statement without alerting Gary as to what she was up to.
And notwithstanding the insurance, there was a second advantage too. On the off chance that she’d been mistaken about the ring in question today at the store, she could check the Tiffany’s transaction to ascertain for certain if her future husband had indeed spent the best part of a year’s salary on it.
Yes, a quick peek at Gary’s credit card bill should draw a line under all this one way or another.
Chapter 47
Vanessa was walking on air. There was so much to do, so much to plan, and she was itching to get started.
Not to mention so much to celebrate, which she, Ethan, and Daisy would be doing in spades. Her mum and dad were over the moon about the engagement, and she was really looking forward to going home and showing off her magnificent Tiffany diamond.
She glanced down at her newly resized ring, still finding it hard to believe that he had actually proposed. She was delighted she’d gotten to the bottom of his and Daisy’s little secret and that there was a reasonable explanation as to why he’d been acting so strangely in New York.
After that trip, she’d felt that something wasn’t right, that perhaps Ethan had gone off into one of his dreary funks about Jane. In truth and despite her best attempts to hide it, Vanessa couldn’t help but always feel threatened by Jane’s memory, and for this reason, she was never entirely sure of Ethan’s feelings for her or if there was a serious future for them.
She knew that she’d never replace the love of his life, but now that she was certain he was committed, she would try her utmost to be a good stepmother to Daisy and a good wife to him.
At least it didn’t include the prospect of other children, and Vanessa was relieved that this had been headed off at the pass from the outset, as the truth was she had no real desire to procreate and no interest in all the hassles and inconveniences that went hand in hand with kids.
A ready-made family would do just fine. Yes, he was absolutely the right man for her, the perfect person with whom to share the rest of her life, and she was pleased he’d finally come to realize that too.
And to think that he’d gone to such great lengths, first in New York and then to Dublin, just for this specific ring!
But Ethan was like that, very exacting and, despite his mild temperament, hugely determined when he set his mind to something.
There was also another reason Vanessa was looking forward to their visit to Dublin. If she was getting married at home, she was going to do it in style. Especially since all her publishing friends and colleagues would be attending, and maybe even some from New York too.
Now that Ethan had popped the question, she was determined to get the wedding plans afoot. There was little point in waiting around.
She was already thinking August—it was traditionally a quieter time in publishing, and of course he’d be on summer break from the university and Daisy from school.
The forthcoming visit to her folks would be the perfect opportunity to scout out locations and florists, caterers, and all that. But nothing wrong with getting started in the meantime.
Picking up the telephone, Vanessa smoothed out a piece of paper she’d brought to the office and dialed the number.
A friendly male voice replied. “Gillini Bistro. Justin speaking. How can I help you?”
“Oh, hello. I understand you have a catering service?”
