The truth was that he didn’t know the best way to approach this kind of long-term neurosis, but how could he not do his best to set his daughter’s mind at ease?
Nevertheless it was a relief to be able to discuss and make decisions about Daisy’s emotional well-being with someone else. As she grew older things would undoubtedly get trickier, and it could only be good for his daughter to have a strong female influence in her life. And Vanessa was certainly that. With her determined no-nonsense approach, and especially given her sharp rise in London publishing, she was a force to be reckoned with, and he’d seen glimpses of that same single-mindedness at various times in their relationship too.
‘I know, but I don’t like to have her worrying.’
‘No need to be concerned. She really was fine. This afternoon we had a good girly time watching movies and eating rubbish.’
Ethan had to smile. Daisy – eating rubbish? ‘That’s great, Vanessa. Thanks again for staying with her. I really appreciate that.’
‘Don’t be silly; it’s a pleasure. You know I see her as practically my own daughter. She’s the closest thing I’ll get to it anyway!’ she joked, in a thinly veiled reference to her inability to have any children of her own. Once again Ethan had to admire the way she’d come to terms with this fact, when he knew it was such a difficult thing for many others to bear. Apparently it was down to some gynaecological problem she’d had in her teens, and it was strange, but this knowledge made him even more eager for her to be part of their family. Silly too, especially when Vanessa was so easy-going about it, but it felt to Ethan almost as if they could somehow complete each other’s missing parts.
‘Well, I’m glad you both had a nice day.’
‘So, speaking of the book,’ Vanessa said, returning to the subject, much to his discomfort. ‘Have you heard anything else from Rachel?’
Ethan’s heart hammered. ‘Rachel . . . ?’
‘Yes, the agent you met with in New York. I figured she might have been the one who suggested the Irish angle? For the
manuscript
, I mean.’ While her tone sounded completely casual, Ethan could practically hear the italics. Were they actually still talking about a manuscript? Or was there some double meaning, a meaning of which they were both fully aware but neither could confess?
Ethan bit his lip, not sure what to think now. Something had happened since they last talked, he was sure of it. Could Daisy have spilled the beans?
No, he thought, shaking his head. She would never have revealed to Vanessa what was going on, not in a million years. Unless she happened to let something slip by accident . . .
It was unlikely and chances were that Vanessa was only asking about the manuscript again because she was in the publishing business, not to mention genuinely supportive of his writing ambitions.
‘Not at all, but as I said I still have quite a bit of work to do to convince her. That’s what this weekend is all about really,’ he continued.
‘Great. Well, good luck with it all. I can’t wait to hear how it goes,’ Vanessa said breezily. ‘What are you up to tonight, then?’
‘Nothing much. Just planning a little more location-scouting. There are some beautiful country estates in the vicinity and I thought I might hire a car and check those out.’
This notion had come straight from a tourist brochure that was sitting in front of Ethan in the hotel room, but he thought he should try to at least make his research sound authentic.
There was a tiny pause. ‘That sounds like a lovely idea. I went to one a couple of years back for a wedding, although this was more of a castle than a country estate. Perfect for weddings really, those places.’
Now she sounded so much more like herself that Ethan felt stupid for thinking she’d suspected something before. Clearly she was all for this research idea.
‘Yes, I’m sure they are.’
‘So you’re thinking an old country estate might be a good setting for the story? I think you’re right; it would be absolutely stunning.’
‘Well, I have a few things in mind, but it’s certainly worth checking out in any case,’ Ethan said, not wanting to commit himself too much to this idea. Otherwise he really would have to visit some random Irish country estate, and bring back brochures and whatnot so as to prove to Vanessa that he really was doing research.
He sighed heavily, realising that all this subterfuge was becoming too much for him. He couldn’t wait to get the plane back to London with the ring in his pocket. The ordeal had gone on long enough.
‘You sound tired, darling. Don’t do too much all at once, OK? As it is you really shouldn’t have taken all of this on yourself. You know I’d love to help, if you’d let me. That kind of thing would be right up my street.’
‘I’m sure. Well, anyway, I just wanted to call and see how you and Daisy were getting on. I’m heading out again soon but it might be a bit late when I get back so—’
‘No problem. I’m sure you have lots to do and plan. Ethan, I must admit I just can’t wait to read this book,’ she said happily. ‘I realise a lot of planning has to go into it beforehand but, believe me, when everything is done, I know you and I are going to have such a wonderful time . . . reading it together.’
Ethan wrinkled his brow. This conversation was definitely borderline odd.
‘Well, it’s all a long way off yet, of course, and I don’t want to take anything for granted,’ he said, chuckling nervously. ‘This weekend is just to hammer out the idea, get the ball rolling and so on – you know how it is.’
‘Of course. But just keep in mind that I’ll be very happy with whatever ideas you come up with. Anyway, I’d better dash. It’ll be Daisy’s bedtime soon. Have a lovely time and see you tomorrow night.’
‘Give her a kiss goodnight from me, won’t you?’
‘Of course.’
They said their goodbyes and Ethan hung up, thoroughly confused about the conversation they’d just had. Well, if nothing else, at least it had succeeded in putting tonight’s confrontation with Gary Knowles out of his head, albeit briefly.
In truth, he was absolutely dreading going out to dinner with him and Rachel tonight. He despised conflict and there was no doubt that this conversation was going to be messy. He just hoped that the guy would be man enough to confess to the mix-up and reassure his fiancée that their engagement wasn’t just a spur of the moment affair. It certainly sounded like that to Ethan and, from what little he knew of Rachel, she didn’t deserve that. Hell, what woman did?
Taking a shirt and a pair of chinos out of his bag and laying them on the bed, Ethan turned on the shower and commenced preparations for tonight’s battle.
Chapter 22
‘Gary, no . . . I can’t believe you would do this to me.’
Rachel wanted to scream. Having finally got Gary on his mobile (the reception could be dodgy in the Dublin mountains) to tell him about the dinner with Ethan, she’d discovered that he and Sean had spent much of the afternoon knocking back pints with some ‘old mate’ they’d met in the pub!
‘Sorry, babe, but there’s nothing I can do,’ he said contritely. ‘There’s no way I can take the bike back to Dublin tonight with more than one in me. It wouldn’t be responsible.’ Although she was annoyed, she had to admit he had a point. ‘So you mean to tell me that you and Sean are going to stay the night with this . . . mate of yours?’
‘Yeah. Liam says we can leave the bikes overnight in the car park here and get a cab back to his place later. Then he or the missus will drop us back to collect them in the morning.’
‘And where does this Liam live?’
‘Not far. It’s only a few miles from here, so it makes sense.’
It all sounded so rational and sensible that Rachel really couldn’t argue.
Granted, he couldn’t have known that she’d arranged to meet with Ethan Greene, but he could have at least called and told her he was planning on pulling an all-nighter. But that was Gary, wasn’t it? Impulsive to the last. Then she figured she should remember that his unpredictability was one of the things that had made her fall in love with him in the first place; actually, it was probably this very character trait that had led to their now being engaged.
‘Please don’t be mad at me, babe. It wasn’t as if I planned this, and it’s been years since we’ve seen Liam. Me and Sean were just having a bite to eat for lunch and couldn’t believe it when he walked into the pub. Then, one pint led to another, and you know yourself . . .’
‘I can imagine.’ Rachel knew exactly how it went. The more pints that went down, the more reminiscing there would be, and the craic would be mighty too, no doubt. It always was where Gary and his boys were concerned.
Still, she supposed she couldn’t be too annoyed; what with the accident and the injuries, he’d had a tough time of it recently, so a Saturday night out with the boys was probably exactly what he needed. She just wished it didn’t leave her in such a pickle.
‘Anyway, we didn’t have anything on for tonight, did we?’ he asked, and Rachel figured that it mightn’t be the best idea to confess that she’d actually planned something without consulting him. It would make her look just as thoughtless as him, if not worse.
Better to just say nothing about the dinner with Ethan Greene, and Rachel would call and cancel it, tell him that something had come up. Although by now she was sick to the teeth of making excuses to the poor man.
‘Not exactly, it’s just . . . oh it doesn’t matter. You’re right: I wouldn’t want you to drink and drive. Just take it easy on the beer too, OK? You’re still on painkillers, remember.’
‘Yes, Mammy,’ Gary chuckled and despite herself Rachel felt a slight bubble of irritation. She hated the way he sometimes poked fun at her like that in front of his friends. She knew it was typical Irish male bravado, of course, usually harmless and merely a facet of a personality that was for the most part loving but also sometimes hopelessly immature. ‘Hey, I promise I’ll make it up to you. OK, babe? We’ll do something nice when I get back tomorrow.’ But the comment was almost drowned out by more background laughter, and Rachel figured there wasn’t much point in continuing the conversation.
‘OK then, have a good night and I’ll see you tomorrow. Tell Sean I said hi.’
Hanging up the phone, Rachel returned to the kitchen, where Terri was getting ready for the Saturday-night-dinner rush.
‘What’s up with you?’ her friend asked, obviously noticing her vexed expression.
Rachel harrumphed. ‘Just Gary. Again.’
‘Oh? Sounds ominous.’
‘Ah, it’s nothing really.’ Rachel went on to explain about his afternoon drinking exploits. She shook her head. ‘It’s my own fault for arranging that dinner without asking him. The problem is that I couldn’t get him on the phone before now. You know how bad the reception can be up there in the bog lands.’
Terri looked thoughtful. ‘So it’s just going to be you and Mr Blue Eyes tonight, then.’
‘Hardly. I’m going to phone him now and cancel. There’s little point in him meeting me again when it’s Gary he really wants to see. I’d wager that he’s had enough of talking to me and listening to me apologising on Gary’s behalf.’ She shook her head. ‘God, anyone would think that somebody somewhere is trying to keep those two apart.’
Terri was silent for a moment. ‘He seems like a really nice guy, though, and it sounded to me like he was at a loose end tonight. Maybe you should just go along and meet him for dinner anyway?’
Rachel frowned. ‘Would it not seem a little . . . weird, though? Without Gary, I mean?’
‘Not necessarily. You’re the one he knows, at least you’re the one he’s met and spoken to before. He mentioned that he hadn’t actually spoken to Gary. Not unless he managed to before the accident?’
‘Not as far as I know. Gary was unconscious for a couple of days afterwards and by the time he woke up Ethan had gone back to London.’
‘Well, for what it’s worth, I think you should go,’ Terri insisted. ‘You said yourself you felt grateful to him, so why not? Anyway, it’s not as though he’s hard on the eye either.’
Rachel was shocked. ‘Terri!’
‘What?’
‘Why would you say something like that? I’m an engaged woman now.’
‘Oh stop it; you’re still human, aren’t you? Ethan Greene is a hunk and a half and if I had the opportunity to go out to dinner with a guy like that . . .’
‘Why don’t
you
go, then?’
‘Because none of this has anything to do with me. Plus I kind of get the impression that he’s spoken for.’
‘Really? Why do you say that?’
‘I’m not sure; it’s just a hunch. Anyway, it’s after six now and it would be very last minute to cancel at this stage, not to mention rude – to Ethan and the restaurant you’re going to. Where did you book?’
‘Venu. It’s near his hotel and he said he quite likes seafood, so . . .’
‘Oh just go. It’s Saturday night and, unlike me, you’ve got a free pass from this place for a while. He seems like a nice guy and you’ll have done your duty by bringing him to dinner on Gary’s behalf. What harm can it do?’
Rachel thought about it. Maybe Terri was right. Ethan was a nice guy and she really did feel beholden to him. Yes, what harm could it do?
Ethan took a deep breath as he opened the door to the restaurant. He couldn’t understand why he was so nervous. These people had something that belonged to him, something important and personal, not to mention expensive.