He couldn’t for the life of him understand why she didn’t approve of him going after the cab company, calling it ‘bad karma’ and all that crap. Wasn’t it bad karma that he’d been hit in the first place?
‘Just a bit of an update on the cab thing,’ Frank replied and Gary straightened up in anticipation.
‘Oh?’
‘Well, there’s good news and bad news. From our point of view, the CCTV footage looks good.’ Gary recalled that his solicitor had asked the relevant New York authorities to send the CCTV tapes of the area along Fifth Avenue, hoping these would show the incident in its entirety. ‘Looks straightforward enough and it’s easy to make you out on the side of the road trying to hail a cab. Then, out of nowhere – bang, you’re on the ground.’
Yep, that was exactly the way it had happened. From what little recollection Gary had of it, anyway.
‘So what’s the bad news?’ he asked.
‘Well, seems the taxi company have a witness to the accident. A passenger in the cab. Seems this guy reckons that
you
were at fault.’
‘What the hell?’ Gary fumed. ‘How could I have been at fault? I was only walking down the street, minding my own bloody business!’
‘Their witness is saying you were distracted when you stepped out into the road. The way he saw it, the driver couldn’t have avoided you.’
Gary remembered how that day he had been distracted, as well as a little flustered by that call that had come through on his mobile. ‘Frank, it all happened so fast it’s hard to remember exactly how things went,’ he told his solicitor quickly.
‘Of course. Especially with the concussion and everything. That’s what I told the New York suits. Sure, how are you supposed to know what happened? All you remember is waking up in hospital.’
‘Exactly.’ Gary was pleased Frank seemed to understand.
‘All right. I’ve requested a copy of the so-called witness report and when I get that, pop into the office here and we can have a chat. Then we can take it from there.’
‘Sounds good. Cheers, Frank.’
‘And even if it does look like you were caught unawares, we should be able to nail the guy for speeding, or reckless driving, or something like that.’
‘Perfect.’ Witness or not, Gary was confident that Frank would interpret the situation in some way that would turn this to his advantage. Although if the issue of fault wasn’t as clear-cut as he’d thought then maybe the payout wouldn’t be as lucrative.
Well, whatever it was, it would be better than a kick in the arse, and he was sure he’d get the price of a new bike out of it at least.
Gary grinned. The one good thing about Rachel being so against all this was that she wouldn’t be looking to get her hands on the money to spend on this wedding. Already he had it up to his neck in quotes for hotels and flowers, and soon she’d be shopping for dresses that would no doubt cost half the national debt of a small country.
That was the problem with bloody expensive engagement rings, Gary thought, getting back to work; they set the bar sky high for the rest of the circus.
Chapter 33
Sitting in the bridal studio and watching the delight on Rachel’s face as she tried on wedding dresses, Terri sorely wished she’d minded her own business.
This was supposed to be one of the happiest times in her best friend’s life, and if she thought about it properly Terri knew she’d been just as deceitful as Gary in hiding the truth from Rachel.
The poor thing had been distraught at the bistro on Monday morning, when she’d confessed to Terri and Justin that her beloved ring had gone astray.
‘I can’t remember if I took it off here or at home. You know the way it’s always getting in the way while I’m baking . . . ?’
Terri still felt sick to her stomach when she thought of how she’d lied barefaced to her best friend as she’d said: ‘Can’t remember the last time I saw it on you. Are you sure you didn’t leave it at home?’
Rachel had shaken her head, and with obvious distress had confessed she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had it on. ‘Gary will kill me,’ she gasped. ‘How am I supposed to tell him I can’t find it?’
‘I’m sure he’ll understand,’ Terri soothed, privately hoping that when Gary realised Rachel’s anguish about losing the ring he would finally come clean. He would surely confess everything once he knew how distraught she was, wouldn’t he?
But it had been almost a week now and still nothing had changed.
As it was Terri hated having to go along with this whole wedding charade, not least because of her own deceit. How could she realistically tell her friend that her dream engagement was all a lie? And that the wedding she was so excited about was a complete sham? So much for being a loyal bridesmaid . . .
Her friend was currently standing in a slinky mermaid-style gown that looked like it was literally made for her curves. She was holding her hair up and examining herself in the mirror. ‘What do you think of this one?’ she asked.
While under normal circumstances Terri would have suggested that Rachel bought it straight away, instead she grimaced and shook her head. ‘I’m not sure. Do you think it might be hard to walk around in all day?’
Rachel walked a couple of steps and then turned around. ‘No, it’s fine actually.’
Terri wrinkled her nose. ‘I dunno. I’m still not sure if it’s really you.’
‘You’ve said that about every single one I’ve tried today!’ her friend said testily and again Terri felt like a heel. ‘Maybe, but you know I won’t let you settle for second best,’ she said, even though Rachel would have no clue that there was a deeper meaning to those words. But the comment also seemed to annoy the sales assistant and the atmosphere in the bridal studio grew tense.
Rachel turned around to let the woman unzip her, and she and Terri waited in silence as she put the dress back on its hanger, and got out the next one.
It was a strapless, princess gown made of ivory silk. It had very little detail, just yards and yards of the luscious material. Rachel stepped into the dress and the bridal assistant pulled it up and over her breasts. Once it was all zipped up, she stood on a small riser to examine herself in a three-way mirror.
‘Oh my goodness, this one is beautiful!’ she gasped, staring at her reflection.
Terri’s mouth dropped open. She had to admit that it was. There was no way anyone could find fault with that dress.
‘Ah, I almost forgot the finishing touch.’ The saleswoman rushed forward with a simple ivory veil, which had the smallest amount of lace running around the edges. The result was spectacular.
‘This is the one . . . I know it,’ Rachel whispered.
Terri swallowed hard. ‘It is pretty,’ she said evasively. Rachel continued to stare at her reflection. ‘I know it’s cheesy, but this is the type of dress I’ve always pictured myself in. It’s not too fussy or fashionable – more sort of . . . timeless, isn’t it? The kind of dress that could be passed down through generations.’
Bloody hell. Terri knew how much this sentimental stuff mattered to Rachel and she also knew that if she was looking for tradition, Gary Knowles was the last person she should be marrying. The guy’s notion of tradition was drinking the same pint in the same pub every Saturday night. She pursed her lips together, not sure how to respond.
Looking radiant, Rachel turned around and smiled. ‘Isn’t it wonderful?’ she urged. ‘Do you think Gary will like it?’
Terri waited for a moment and then decided to ask the question. ‘Rachel, are you absolutely sure about this?’ She looked meaningfully at the sales assistant, who caught the look and reacted appropriately.
‘I’ll give you both a minute,’ she said and moved away.
Rachel stared at her. ‘Sure about what?’
‘About marrying Gary.’
Her friend coloured. ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’
‘Well, it just all seems to have happened very quickly, doesn’t it? I mean, you two haven’t been seeing one another all that long, and then in New York he just proposed out of the blue?’
Rachel paused ever so slightly and there was a strange look on her face that Terri couldn’t identify. Was it hurt, or could it be doubt? Rachel turned back to the mirror and squared her shoulders. ‘Look, I know you don’t particularly like Gary; you’ve made that perfectly clear. And that’s fine, you don’t have to, but the truth is that I’m committed to the idea.’
Terri sat up straight. ‘Committed to the idea? What the hell does that mean?’
‘It means . . . it means that yes, of course I love him. OK, so he might seem a little . . . brash at times, but at the back of it all I know he’s a good man. And I know that he loves me. He wouldn’t have asked me to marry him or bought me that amazing ring if he didn’t want me to be his wife.’
Terri took a deep breath, desperate to blurt out the whole sorry truth so that her friend would finally be able to see the light. But, looking at Rachel’s face, again she knew she couldn’t do it.
‘Rachel, I’m sorry. Maybe you should take that dress,’ she said finally.
‘Do you really think so?’
‘Yes, it’s lovely; it was made for you. Wait there and I’ll go and get the sales assistant.’
When Terri found the woman, she offered an apology. ‘Sorry about that,’ she said, smiling. ‘My friend and I just needed a minute to chat about it, but I think we’re ready now.’
‘Marvellous.’ The saleswoman started to walk back to the fitting room to take Rachel’s measurements. ‘Has your friend decided what she wants?’
Terri’s mouth tightened. ‘Well, she seems to think so and I suppose that’s all that matters.’
Chapter 34
Rachel was truly going out of her mind. It was almost two weeks since she’d lost her engagement ring and she’d long since run out of places to search.
When she’d first noticed it missing, she’d turned every room in the house upside down, checked the pockets in all of her clothes, and gone over every nook and cranny in the restaurant. The only explanations she could realistically come up with at this point was that it had fallen down the plughole when she was washing her hands, or been swept into the bin at work with a pile of rubbish. At this stage, though, what had happened to it didn’t seem to matter nearly as much as what she was going to do about it.
Gary didn’t appear to have noticed anything amiss just yet, although he had commented on its absence on her finger during a recent visit to the bistro. She’d quickly reminded him that she didn’t wear the ring at work in case she damaged it, which was the truth, of sorts.
But seeing as it had been missing for some time now, and she was running out of places to search, Rachel knew she’d have to broach the subject soon.
‘I just don’t know how I’m going to tell him,’ she confessed to Terri now. They were in the kitchen getting ready for Stromboli’s lunchtime trade.
Her friend shrugged. ‘It’s not as though you lost it on purpose. These things happen. I’m sure Gary will understand.’
Rachel looked at her. While Terri had been sympathetic initially, Rachel got the feeling she wasn’t taking the ring’s disappearance seriously enough. Didn’t she know how much it meant to her, or, more importantly, how much Gary had spent on it?
‘I really don’t think he will understand,’ she replied, somewhat more testily than she’d intended. ‘When I think of how much he must have paid for it, it makes me sick to my stomach.’
‘Well, I’m not being smart, but maybe it didn’t cost as much as you think?’ Terri ventured. ‘Anyway the ring, or indeed the price, isn’t the important thing; it’s the sentiment behind it, isn’t it? I’m sure Gary understands that.’
But the comment got Rachel thinking. Maybe Terri was right and she could be worrying for nothing. It was an expensive-looking ring and a big diamond, certainly, but maybe not so expensive that she couldn’t replace it herself without Gary realising?
That’s what she’d do, Rachel decided. Instead of confessing to Gary that she’d lost the ring, she’d first see if she could try to replace it. That way he’d be none the wiser. OK, so it would be an unexpected expense on top of all the others they were facing this year, but wasn’t it her own fault for not taking good enough care of it?
There was a small Tiffany & Co. store in Brown Thomas, and she could pop down there during her break after the lunchtime rush and see if she could find a replacement or at least some kind of alternative. And not that it mattered, but she was also slightly curious as to exactly how much Gary
had
spent on the ring.
No doubt that would correlate exactly with how bad Rachel would feel about having lost it.
‘Can I help you with anything?’ the smiling assistant asked as Rachel perused the display at Tiffany’s later that afternoon. Her eyes eagerly took in the display case and the stunning jewellery laid out there. Rings, bracelets and earrings that coloured the dreams of women around the world, jewels so beautiful that they were really only a fantasy to most, unlikely to ever be a reality. So how lucky was she to have been given one and how idiotic was she to have lost it?
Her heart sank afresh.
‘I’m looking for an engagement ring,’ she told the assistant. ‘It’s a style from your Fifth Avenue store but I don’t think I see it here.’