‘Edgy?’
‘Yes… that’s better.’ Tilly was nodding. ‘And I’ll have to find a ring, too. One that’s big enough to be seen so that, even if it’s not classically romantic, it will be obvious what’s happening.’
But Angus wasn’t listening now.
‘A ring…’ he echoed. And then the reason why his attention had latched on to the word hit him. ‘Oh, myGod.’
A new level of tension joined the odd sensation that still hadn’t vanished from his gut. This time it was a band around his chest, making it noticeably more of an effort to suck in a breath.
He got to his feet, swiftly enough to make Tilly’s head jerk up in surprise.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Thering,’ he said.
‘What ring?’
‘The ring I put in my pocket. The one I was going to propose to Moira with. I’d completely forgotten about it.’ Talk about denial. In retrospect it was easy to see that the memory loss had been deliberate. Angus felt slightly ill. ‘I never got round to making sure it was insured. I hope I haven’t lost it.’
‘Why would it be lost? Where did you put it before you came to France?’
‘That’s the thing,’ Angus said. ‘I didn’t take itoutof my pocket. It’s been in the jacket I’ve been wearing ever since I bought it. That blue one. It could have fallen out anywhere.’
He strode into the little stone house. To the chair by the dining table where he’d draped the linen blend jacket over the back. He had his hand in the inside pocket of the jacket as hewalked back out to the terrace where Tilly was staring at him, her eyes wide.
He dropped the jacket as he sat down, having pulled out the slim suede envelope that he’d chosen at the jeweller’s, rather than the traditional velvet box, to disguise the fact that it was in his jacket pocket and allow the proposal to be a wonderful surprise.
Hewas the one being surprised by it now.
How ironic was that?
He opened the soft pouch and shook the ring out onto the palm of his hand. The beautiful oval diamond that instantly flashed in the flicker of candlelight. Even the impossibly small diamonds that made up the band were sparkling.
‘Oh…’ Tilly pressed her fingers against her lips. ‘That isthemost beautiful ring I’ve ever seen in my life.’
‘But what am I going to do with it?’
Angus held his palm out to Tilly, and she picked up the ring, holding it closer to the candle and turning it to catch countless more flickers of light.
‘Should I see if the jeweller will take it back?’ he asked. ‘Or sell it and advertise my failure?’
‘You haven’t failed anything,’ Tilly said. ‘You weren’t in love with Moira, so she was not the right person for you. She’s never even seen this ring. You were the one to choose it, so maybe it representswhatyou wanted in your future, notwho.’
Angus was still absorbing what she’d said about Moira. He hadn’t been in love with her. He hadn’t had anything like this tension that was making him feel as if he was fighting to keep control over his own body and thoughts, let alone anything else in his private life. Everything had been planned. Chosen. Under control, right down to the last curated romantic detail and an appropriately eye-catching piece of jewellery. Lacking inpassion, certainly, but that had been chosen as well. Because it was agoodthing.
Safe.
‘And it really is the most beautiful engagement ring I’ve ever seen,’ Tilly added. ‘I think you should keep it. I think you should give it to the woman youdofall in love with. The woman you want to spend the rest of your life with. The woman who’ll be just as much in love with you…’ Tilly’s voice was fading as she held the ring out to give back to him. She cleared her throat but her words were still soft. ‘She’s out there, Angus, and you’ll find her and… and she’s going to adore this ring.’
He didn’t take it.
‘Do you really think so?’
‘I know so.’
‘Try it on.’ Angus was as surprised as Tilly by the suggestion that had just jumped out of his mouth. ‘I – I’ve never seen it being worn,’ he added, hurriedly. ‘It was just a ring in a glass case the last time I saw it. A thing. A box to be ticked on the list of things to do when you’re planning to propose to someone. It wasn’t reallyreal, if that makes any sense.’
Nothing had been real, had it? Including how he’d felt about Moira.
