Maybe Gary wasn’t just some thoughtless buffoon who’d been deliberately underhand; maybe he was genuinely afraid of losing her?
In all honesty, Terri was afraid of losing Rachel too. They had been through so much together and were such an integral part of each other’s lives, yet now, because of Terri’s actions, their friendship (as well as their business) was seriously under threat.
She just wished Rachel would talk to her.
‘Has Gary spoken to her, I wonder?’ Justin asked.
‘I don’t know. I never thought I’d say this, but I actually felt sorry for him on Saturday. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man look so crushed.’
‘He truly thought that coming clean about it meant he would lose her?’ Justin shook his head.
Terri nodded. ‘I can’t understand why he couldn’t have been straight with me about it from the start, instead of trying to keep up this hard-man image. I don’t know – bloody Irishmen.’
‘Hey, don’t tar us all with the same brush, sweetheart. You know I’m totally in touch with my feminine side,’ he said, winking, and Terri raised a smile.
‘I don’t know, Justin. It’s all such a mess.’
And because Terri didn’t know what else to do, she went to the cupboard and took out some flour, intent on finding comfort the way she always did in times of trouble – by baking bread.
Later that evening Terri knocked on Rachel’s door, praying her friend would answer. She held her breath, listening for approaching footsteps, but heard nothing.
She knocked again, this time more forcefully. Eventually, she heard light footsteps coming closer to the other side of the door.
‘Who is it?’ Rachel called out.
‘It’s me. Please let me talk to you.’
There was silence and Terri was sure her heart was going to pound out of her chest. Please open the door, she willed.
‘Leave me alone. I don’t want to talk.’
‘OK, fine. But maybe you’d like to eat?’ She tried to keep her voice light but inside her nerves were in tatters. If Rachel didn’t respond to this – their mutual in-joke – then their friendship was well and truly over. ‘I’ve brought some of my famous irresistible sourdough.’
It seemed as if several minutes had passed when the door finally opened just a fraction. From what little Terri could see of her, Rachel’s face looked drawn and she had her hair pulled back.
‘Well, I am hungry . . .’ she said, and Terri saw some of the old Rachel sparkle behind the miserable facade.
‘I thought you might be.’ Terri handed her the loaf and immediately began fidgeting with her newly empty hands. She looked at her friend. ‘I really need to talk to you. Please?’
‘Then talk,’ Rachel replied, stonily.
‘Can’t I come in?’
‘Nope.’
Terri took a deep breath and stared into her eyes. Although she’d always known that this whole thing was going to end badly, she hadn’t anticipated how guilty she’d feel, and how much Rachel would suffer. But from Rachel’s point of view the people she loved, and who were supposed to love her back, had betrayed her.
And Terri realised it was all because of Ethan Greene, a man who was practically a stranger. Justin was right, and she wondered what had come over her that she’d put her friendship and her business at risk by sticking her oar in.
She couldn’t believe how everything had gone so terribly wrong so quickly.
‘Rachel, I’m sorry. I know I should have told you the truth about that ring as soon as I found out about it. I know that. But the truth was that I didn’t know what to do. You were so happy about the engagement—’
‘Exactly. I was so happy. And you knew it was all a lie. Why didn’t you tell me? Why let me go on thinking that I was in some kind of fairy tale and Gary was my Prince Charming? To think that he was basically railroaded into a proposal . . .’ Her hurt and embarrassment were plain to see. ‘Everyone knew the truth, except me. Imagine how I feel. Manipulated. Lied to. Now I see what all of this was, I realise I wasn’t allowed to make up my own mind. Everything was manufactured by you, Gary – even by Ethan, pretending at that dinner that he was interested in my hopes and dreams. None of it was real.’
Terri hung her head. ‘I know. You’re right and I’m sorry. Even now I’m not sure why I didn’t tell you, but please believe me when I say that the last thing any of us wanted was to hurt you.’
‘But why treat me like a child, Terri? I really hate the way everyone does that all that time. I’m thirty-two years old, not some toddler who needs protecting.’
‘I suppose . . . I suppose I’ve always thought that you’re too quick to see the best in people, whereas I’m—’
‘A complete cynic who’s suspicious of everyone’s motives?’
Terri looked down at her shoes, ashamed. ‘Again, you’re right. Maybe I am too quick to think the worst. I’m sorry.’
‘How’s everything at work?’ Rachel asked, her neutral tone still not giving much away.
‘Fine. Justin is holding the fort at the moment.’ Terri paused, realising they were treading on dangerous ground here. What if Rachel had decided she wanted out of Stromboli, that because of Terri’s deception she was prepared to give up the business they’d so carefully built up? Or, even worse, that she wanted Terri out? ‘We’re looking forward to having you back, though,’ she added delicately. ‘The place isn’t the same without you.’
‘Hmm, just as long as our customers aren’t choking on foreign objects in their food,’ she replied archly, and Terri breathed an inward sigh of relief at the brief glimmer of humour in her tone. Everything was going to be OK.
‘So are you going to share this with me, or what?’ Rachel said, moving aside at the doorway, indicating that Terri should come in.
‘I’d love to.’ Terri stepped past her and the two proceeded into Rachel’s tiny living room. She turned to face her friend. ‘Look, again, I’m sorry. Taking the ring the way I did was especially stupid of me. But Gary was adamant he wasn’t going to own up, and I felt so bad for Ethan.’
‘Yes, it was kind of strange of you to go to such lengths for some guy you barely knew,’ Rachel said, raising an eyebrow. ‘Is there something you want to tell me?’
Terri reddened. ‘What? No. Of course not. Actually, to be honest, Ethan was so concerned about not upsetting you that I wondered if you two might have had some kind of connection from that night you went out for dinner.’
‘As if.’ Rachel snorted. ‘He’s not my type, Terri. Way too straight for my liking. I prefer them complicated.’
‘Yes, I suppose you do have a particular type, all right,’ Terri said lightly.
Rachel gave a wan smile. ‘I’m Sicilian, don’t forget. We’re genetically programmed to be attracted to challenging men.’
‘So has Gary been in touch?’
‘He’s been trying morning, noon and night, but I don’t want to hear it.’
Her friend’s tone was hard but Terri could hear sadness behind it. Whatever flaws he might have, Rachel truly, genuinely, loved this guy.
‘I just don’t understand what he was playing at, Rachel. Surely he must have known it would all come out in the wash at some point.’
‘He can be funny like that, and despite what you think,’ she added meaningfully, ‘he’s always been massively insecure at the back of it all.’
‘I kind of gathered that. Who would have thought it?’
‘Well, it was always obvious to me. Where do you think all the bluster comes from? He carries on like some big-time property tycoon, but we both know he’s just a man with a van,’ she added, and Terri giggled, realising that perhaps Rachel wasn’t quite as gullible as they’d thought. ‘I don’t know, I suppose I’ve always found it quite endearing in a way. And thinking about it, I’m not surprised he didn’t own up. He must have thought all his Christmases had come at once when I opened up that ring box. There aren’t many men who have something like that landing in their lap, are there?’
‘Are you going to forgive him?’ she asked Rachel.
‘I don’t know. It’s not something I can decide right away. I do love him, but I’m not sure I can put this down to simply macho bluster. It was very hurtful, finding out that he’d never intended to propose at all.’
‘Well, for what it’s worth, I do think that he genuinely didn’t know where it had come from at the start and was worried that Ethan was chasing you.’
‘No, Ethan was chasing his twenty-thousand-euro investment.’ Rachel gave a sad smile. ‘I feel sorry for little Daisy, though; she seemed to think that the whole thing was fated somehow. Sweet.’
Terri agreed. ‘Yes.’
‘I remember Ethan saying something about her mother being a bit airy-fairy. And then when things went awry, poor old Daisy must have taken what she’d said about Tiffany’s to heart. But the ironic thing is that the ring didn’t fit me either,’ Rachel admitted and Terri looked at her in surprise. ‘It was too big. I figured Gary hadn’t thought about that side of things, and I had it resized before we left New York.’
Terri shook her head. ‘No wonder it didn’t fit Vanessa, then. Poor Daisy. All this had nothing whatsoever to do with Tiffany’s magic.’
‘I know. That poor fiancée really got a bum deal, didn’t she?’ Rachel gave a sardonic chuckle. ‘And there’s me, not only ending up with her engagement ring, but getting it resized so that her future stepdaughter thinks I’m some kind of Cinderella and she’s the ugly sister.’
‘I’m not sure Vanessa’s completely blameless in the entire scenario,’ Terri said, explaining what she’d overheard at the restaurant.
‘Poor Ethan,’ Rachel said. ‘Maybe I was a bit hard on him the other day. He’s come out on the wrong end of this too, hasn’t he?’
Terri nodded sadly. ‘Well, if nothing else, at least he still has his glass slipper.’
Chapter 47
Daisy lay on the floor of the living room, drawing a picture. It was a nice lazy Saturday afternoon. Her dad was in the shower after being out for a run, and she was enjoying the peace and quiet.
She had to admit, though, that things had been a bit weird lately. Her dad had tried acting like everything was back to normal, and had gone about his days as if that whole thing with the ring had never happened.
He and Daisy had continued doing activities together at the weekends, like a normal father and daughter. They hadn’t spoken again about Rachel or Vanessa but, while Daisy tried to do as her dad said and forget about what had happened in Dublin, she was still convinced that he had made the wrong decision by not trying to make things up with Rachel, when it was obvious (to Daisy anyway) that they were supposed to be together.
She caught him sometimes, sitting in his room looking at the ring, and knew that he was sad, but she didn’t know if he was thinking about Vanessa or Rachel, or maybe even both.
She didn’t understand some of what had gone on and wished that her mum were still here to explain it to her. Then again, if Mum were here, none of this would ever have happened, would it? Daisy sighed. People were always telling her she was a clever little girl, but sometimes she thought that adults made their lives way too complicated, her dad especially.
At that moment, the phone rang, and Daisy got up to check the caller ID. She didn’t recognise the number so she let the answering machine pick up, like her dad always told her to if he wasn’t available to answer it. Still, she hovered nearby to listen to the message. It was a woman’s voice and she sounded rushed.
‘Hi, Ethan. It’s Rachel,’ the voice said and Daisy’s ears pricked up. ‘Are you there?’ The voice paused for a moment, waiting. ‘OK, you must be out,’ Rachel continued. ‘I just wanted to say that I’m so sorry about what happened.’ There was a nervous laugh. ‘As I’m sure you can imagine, it was all incredibly embarrassing for me, especially finding out like that. But I feel bad for taking it out on you, particularly when you were so lovely about trying to protect my feelings and . . . Anyway, I hope you’re OK, and Daisy too. Terri told me about Vanessa and . . . Well, look, I just wanted to apologise.’
The sound of Rachel’s voice had made Daisy feel all warm inside. She was definitely the right person for her father; she knew it! Without thinking, she picked up the handset and spoke into it. ‘Rachel, hi.’
‘Daisy? Hello, sweetheart! How are you?’
‘Fine, thanks.’
‘Is your dad there? I wasn’t sure if . . .’
‘He’s in the shower,’ Daisy told her. ‘I’m glad you phoned. I know he’ll be really happy to hear from you.’
‘Oh. Well, that’s nice. I think I might have been a bit rude to him that last time you guys were in Dublin.’
‘I know. You were upset about the ring. I get upset about things too sometimes. Like the other day when my scary piano teacher gave me a really hard piece to play and I couldn’t do it.’
Rachel laughed. ‘I see. Well, it was lovely to talk to you, Daisy, and do tell your dad I was asking for him, and that I’m sorry. I’m really glad he got the ring back. Oh and –’ Rachel paused, and Daisy wondered what she was going to say ‘– remember that thing you said about your dad’s ring finding its way to the right person?’
‘Yes?’ Daisy grinned, realising that everything was going to be OK. Rachel understood what it all meant and she was really calling so that she and her dad could get together.
‘Well, I wanted to tell you that I wasn’t the right person, Daisy. The ring didn’t fit me either. I had to get it resized.’