“No problemo. What’s up?”
Her voice was soft. “There’s no easy way to say this.” She shook her head and tears filled her eyes.
Gary’s heart dropped into his stomach. Shit—was she breaking up with him, calling off the wedding, maybe? “No easy way to say…what?” he repeated, stammering a little.
She looked down at her left hand, and with a start, he realized she wasn’t wearing her engagement ring.Shite.
“I lost it.”
“Rachel, I can explain—” Gary began, but the two of them spoke at exactly the same time, and he honestly thought he’d misheard. “What?”
She looked up at him through lowered eyelashes. “I’ve mislaid it somehow. I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to tell you it was missing until I was sure, but I’ve searched high and low for the last couple of weeks and—”
“Hold on,” Gary interjected, flabbergasted but also slightly relieved that it wasshewho was apologizing. Still, alarm bells were going off in his head. “It’s been missing for a couple of weeks?”
Around the same time as Greene’s appearance.
Rachel nodded. “I’m so sorry. I know I should have said something, but I honestly thought it would turn up, that maybe I’d taken it off and left it somewhere at the bistro, but there’s been no sign. Believe me, I’ve left no stone unturned. All I can say is that it just seems to have vanished into thin air.”
“Vanished.” Gary’s mind was racing so fast, he couldn’t do anything other than repeat random words.
She reached for him, misinterpreting his reaction for annoyance or anger. And the truth was hewasannoyed, but not for the reason she suspected.
No, he was downright fit to be tied because he was certain that there was something else at play here.
And absolutely positive that Greene was at the center of it. No wonder he hadn’t heard anything since.
Rachel was crying openly now. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been going out of my mind. I haven’t been able to sleep or eat thinking about it and how much it cost.”
Gary could only imagine how bad she felt and mentally urged himself to try and make her feel better. But this posed a bit of a dilemma. He couldn’t very well throw his arms around her and tell her it was okay, not if he was supposed to have spent a couple of grand on a diamond, could he?
Yet at the same time, he didn’t have the heart to pretend to be angry. Instead, he continued to stare at the floor in the manner of someone who was trying to get a handle on such news. “I have to say this was the last thing I expected,” he said truthfully, and she nodded.
“I know, and I hate myself for not taking better care of it. I should have guarded it with my life, especially knowing how much you paid for it and how hard you must have worked to afford it.”
Christ, now he felt like a right heel.
“Look, don’t worry about that. It’s only money.”
“Only money?” She laughed through her tears. “Oh, you really are the most wonderful man. Thank you for trying to make me feel better when we both know that ring cost enough to bankrupt most.”
“Erm…yeah.”
She bit her lip. “I know this might be a long shot, but was it insured by any chance? Justin thought that maybe your credit card insurance might cover it, but I wasn’t sure.”
“Hold on, Justin knows about this?” Which meant Terri did too of course.
“I had to check if they’d come across it at work. I would have told you first, only I couldn’t bring myself to admit that I’d gone and done something so stupid.” She burst into tears then, and Gary wasn’t sure what to do.
“Ah, look, it’s okay. I’m sure it’ll turn up,” he said, encircling her in his arms and patting her gently on the back.
“Little chance of that at this stage,” she sniffed. “I know I should have been more careful. Really, I shouldn’t have been wearing it to work at all.” She sniffed.
“It does sound like you lost it at work,” he agreed as things began to click into place. This was way too coincidental for his liking.
“I don’t know… I just can’t say for sure. Hey, I promise I’ll make it up to you, honestly. I went about getting a replacement but…” Her face fell. “I just couldn’t afford it.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he replied, feeling like a right fraud. He wished she wouldn’t keep going on and on about how much the bloody thing had cost. “I know it wasn’t your fault.”
