Something From Tiffany’s (10 page)

Daisy nodded, and soon afterwards Ethan was led by a male aide to the room of what he hoped was their guy.

Poking his head around the door, he was instantly relieved to see that the patient in the bed was indeed the man he had helped in the street two days before. Ethan released a breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding.

Finally!

‘Can I speak to him?’ he asked the aide.

‘Afraid not. He’s been in and out of consciousness since he came in. It’s mostly the meds, but he’s pretty banged up too.’

Damn. Ethan hadn’t anticipated that. Still, at least it was the right guy – which meant that his own Tiffany’s bag must still be among his packages, and given that the guy had been so out of it, chances were he still didn’t have the foggiest idea about the mix-up.

So, really, all Ethan could do now was wait for him to wake up (which he seriously hoped he would do soon). They would talk, sort it all out and, quick as you like, Ethan and the girls would be on their way back to London. But first he’d ensure they’d once again gather around the Christmas tree in their hotel room, and Ethan would drop to one knee and propose to Vanessa just as he’d originally intended. It would be wonderful.

Then, over one last dinner in New York, the three of them would laugh about the last few days’ turn of events, and chat about the new life they would build back home together. Ethan had it all worked out in his head and almost had to restrain himself from nudging the injured man awake.

But ten minutes later he still wasn’t conscious and Vanessa was calling Ethan’s mobile. She was finished with her shopping and wondering where he and Daisy were.

Waiting in the hallway outside the man’s room – he’d since learned he was called Gary Knowles – Ethan had seen her number come up but had let it go to voicemail while he tried to concoct a reasonable story. ‘Hi, darling,’ he said, trying to sound offhand.

‘Hi, where are you two?’

‘Oh, down by Battery Park,’ he lied. ‘I took Daisy on the Staten Island ferry for a waterside look at the skyline.’ He winced, disgusted with himself for blatantly deceiving her. But did he have a choice? ‘But we’re almost finished now and should be back in an hour or so depending on traffic.’

‘OK, great. See you back at the hotel then?’ She sounded tense and he couldn’t blame her. He’d been so distracted and secretive over the last day or so that it would have been impossible for her not to pick up on it. He supposed he’d better head back to the hotel soon. If Knowles remained unconscious there was little point in hanging around here much longer and Daisy would be growing restless.

He decided to push his luck a little further and enquire at the desk for some more details about the mysterious Mr Knowles. He headed back towards the nurses’ station, and immediately saw Daisy jump up to greet him. ‘Is it him, Daddy?’ she asked eagerly.

‘Yes, it is him,’ he grinned.

‘Yay! Does he have the—’ Seeing Ethan’s sharp look, she caught herself just in time. ‘Does he have our shopping bag?’

Ethan glanced towards the young nurse, Molly, who was watching the scene with renewed interest. He took a deep, frustrated breath. ‘I’m sure he does, but unfortunately I can’t ask because he’s unconscious.’

‘Oh no.’ Daisy’s face fell.

‘Excuse me?’ Molly, who (as Ethan had intended) had heard the exchange, piped up. ‘Did you say something about a shopping bag?’

‘Yes, why?’

‘Well –’ she looked around edgily as if terrified her overbearing supervisor would hear ‘– it’s just that I was here when he was brought in, and he did have a lot of shopping bags with him. Some really nice stuff too,’ she added.

‘Yes, Daisy here looked after them while we waited for the paramedics. You know how people can be,’ he continued, pressing home the point that they’d been looking out for Knowles’s best interests at all times. ‘I wonder . . . it’s just that the bag we lost was very important and—’

‘So,
you’re
the guy who helped the schmuck in room 303?’ Ethan looked around to see yet another nurse approach from behind.

Damn. Ethan cursed the interruption, sure he was on the verge of getting Molly to let him know where Knowles’s stuff was currently being stored. ‘That’s right,’ he said, forcing a smile.

‘Very kind thing you did, helping out some guy in the middle of the street like that,’ she continued.

‘I suppose.’ Ethan was getting tired of everyone telling him how wonderful he was; yet he still didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. ‘But I’m sure anyone else would have done the same.’

‘In this town? I don’t think so, honey. Chances are the injuries from the cab would have been small beans compared to the stampede to grab his loot.’ She smiled at Daisy and winked.

‘Yes, well, I’m certified in CPR and everything so it’s really second nature to respond to things like that. By the way, I’m Ethan Greene and this is my daughter, Daisy.’ He thought he might as well be nice and try to get as many people on side as possible.

‘Nice to meet you both,’ she said, shaking Daisy’s hand too. ‘I’m Kim and Mr Knowles is one of my patients. Must say, it’s good to see that kind of spirit alive and well, especially on Christmas Eve.’ She laughed. ‘You know, Mr Knowles’s girlfriend Rachel will be here soon. She’ll want to thank you in person, I’m sure. So, if you want to hang out a little longer . . .’

A girlfriend? This was something Ethan hadn’t anticipated. So chances were
she
was the one in possession of the man’s packages now. He wasn’t sure if this was a good or a bad thing. On the one hand it could be good, as he wouldn’t have to wait around for Knowles to wake up, but on the other, what if the girlfriend didn’t believe his sorry story?

But, surely, if he explained everything as it happened on Christmas Eve, she would understand? It was a desperate situation, that was for sure, but Ethan was very rapidly becoming a desperate man.

Still, now that he was fairly confident the bags were no longer being kept at the hospital, he figured there was little point in sweet-talking the nurses. Instead he needed to see this girlfriend.

‘She’s coming here? Today?’

‘Of course. She was here earlier but just popped out on an errand. I’m sure she’ll be back soon.’

‘I see.’ Ethan thought quickly. ‘Well, why don’t we grab a quick coffee at the cafeteria ourselves while we wait?’ he said to Daisy, who nodded easily. Poor thing, she was really quite distraught about her part in all of this, which was another good reason, Ethan realised, for getting it sorted out as soon as possible.

On the way, and feeling like a heel for lying to her yet again, he called Vanessa to tell her that they were stuck in downtown traffic and might be a little later getting back to the hotel. But time was limited and this needed to be resolved – soon.

Now, seated over two bowls of chicken noodle soup, Daisy was quiet and Ethan was restless.

‘Do you really think we’re going to get the ring back, Dad?’

‘Of course,’ he replied. ‘Now that we’ve finally found our man. And when his girlfriend gets here and we explain everything, I’m sure there won’t be a problem.’ The only thing was, he no longer had Knowles’s purchase, as he couldn’t very well take the bracelet back from Vanessa, could he? Still, he could explain this to the girlfriend and let her know that he would arrange a replacement as soon as possible. Which meant, of course, that he’d have to shell out yet more money at Tiffany’s, but if it ensured he got his ring back, Ethan didn’t care.

He realised Daisy was idly picking up noodles and plopping them back in the bowl. ‘Not hungry?’

‘Not really.’

‘Why? You didn’t eat much at breakfast either. Is everything OK?’

She hesitated for a minute, as if about to say something, but then shook her head. ‘I’m just worried about the ring, that’s all.’

‘Try not to,’ he said, feeling doubly guilty for involving her in all of this now and giving her a reason to fret. ‘And remember, it wasn’t your fault,’ he assured her again. ‘It was just a mix-up, that’s all. I’m sure we’ll get it back. Let’s finish up here and see if we can get to the bottom of it once and for all, OK?’

‘OK, Dad,’ she said, but he could tell that this was really troubling her.

They returned to the nurses’ station to find the nurses they’d spoken to earlier sitting behind the desk.

‘Is Mr Knowles’s girlfriend here?’ Ethan asked the older one, Kim.

‘I’m sorry, no. She hasn’t arrived yet and he’s still sleeping.’

His face fell. ‘That’s a shame; we really were hoping to speak to her today. As you can imagine we’re heading home to London soon.’

‘I wish I could help you,’ Kim said, looking at the chart she held in her hand. ‘Like I said, she should be back by now.’

‘She’s probably already out shopping for wedding dresses, or something,’ Molly giggled conspiratorially.

Ethan felt like he had just been hit by a sucker punch. ‘I’m sorry? What did you say?’

‘Don’t mind her,’ Kim said, glaring at Molly.

Ethan’s mind raced. No, this couldn’t be happening. The girlfriend . . . she couldn’t possibly have found the . . .

No, but of course not, he reasoned, mentally kicking himself for letting his imagination run wild. The couple were probably engaged long before now. In any case, the guy was unconscious so how on earth could he have proposed? Especially when he didn’t even know he had a ring.

As he tried to figure out the various possibilities, Ethan’s brain was moving too fast for him to keep up, and he tried to reassure himself that, really, everything would be OK.

‘Mr Greene? Are you all right?’ Kim asked then. The look on his face must have given his concern away.

‘Daddy, maybe we should tell them,’ Daisy said, tugging at his sleeve, and the nurses exchanged a glance.

‘Tell us what?’

‘It’s nothing,’ Ethan said quickly. The last thing he needed was these two busybodies involved. Yet they seemed to know quite a bit about Knowles’s personal life.

‘Wedding dresses . . . Well, isn’t that nice?’ he said, trying to gather his wits about him. He looked at Daisy, then turned again to the nurses, at a loss as to what to do next. Vanessa was waiting for them so he couldn’t very well hang around here all day. ‘Tell you what, when Mr Knowles’s girlfriend gets here, can you please give her my number and ask her to call me? I’d really like to speak with her. And, of course, I’ll want to follow up with Mr Knowles, see how his recovery goes.’

‘No problem.’

Ethan duly wrote his name and number on the piece of paper Kim handed to him. ‘Well, thanks again for your help – both of you,’ he continued awkwardly.

‘Pleasure,’ Kim replied and Molly grinned. ‘I’ll be sure to pass on the message to Rachel, and it was nice to meet you. You too, Daisy.’

‘Yeah, thanks for helping us,’ his daughter replied with a smile.

With that, they went off to catch a cab back to the Plaza.

On the journey back, Ethan continued to mull over the situation.

He hoped this Rachel woman would phone him soon and give him answers, namely as to whether he had anything to worry about with the ring. All this talk of the other couple’s engagement worried him. There was no way his ring could have had any hand or part in that, was there? Not when the guy hadn’t been able to open his eyes, let alone muster up the strength for a proposal. And the girlfriend couldn’t possibly have known what was in his shopping, unless they’d planned to get engaged on Christmas Eve. In which case his ring really couldn’t be involved in any of it, Ethan reassured himself.

‘Daddy, are you OK?’ Daisy asked him and he made a conscious effort to try to forget about the ring, so as not to worry her further. Still, given the importance and expense of it all, that was downright impossible!

‘I’m fine, buttercup, just thinking about our flight home. I wonder if we should maybe stay on a little longer, just in case this takes more time than we thought to sort out.’

Her expression brightened. ‘We could do that?’

‘Sure.’ He couldn’t realistically leave the city without resolving this, and while an extended stay would cost a few quid extra, it would hardly be the end of the world, everything considered. ‘Would that be OK with you? A day or two more wouldn’t kill us, and as long as we’re back in time for New Year . . .’

‘Yay! Can we go Toys R Us on Times Square again? We didn’t really get to see much of it last time.’

‘Of course, darling, we can do whatever you like,’ Ethan replied absently.

He wondered what Vanessa would think about staying on, though, or how he would explain this sudden decision to take more time in the Big Apple. He’d have to think of something, perhaps last-minute availability for a popular Broadway show he’d always wanted to see? ‘I’ll see what I can do. For the moment let’s just go back to the hotel and have a nice afternoon with Vanessa. I’ll wait for this Rachel’s phone call; but when she does call I might have to come up with some other . . . erm, reason to slip away again. Do you follow me?’

Daisy nodded. ‘Of course. We still can’t let Vanessa know anything’s going on, or tell her what happened with the ring.’

‘Good girl,’ he said, putting up his hand for a high-five, while at the same time feeling desperately guilty for having his eight-year-old daughter collude in such trickery. She raised her hand and smacked his palm.