He kept hold of Charlotte’s hand and gave it a squeeze. She dragged her gaze up from the ring and met his eyes and he tried very hard to give her a silent message.
Trust me. We can get through this without hurting anybody.
And then he turned and pasted a smile onto his face.
‘Jendi…What wonderful timing. We wanted you to be the first to know.’
‘I KNEW ALREADY.’ Lady Geraldine was coming towards them with surprising sprightliness given her age and state of health. ‘Nobody can hide the glow of true love…’ Tears were running down her wrinkled cheeks as she got close enough to embrace Charlotte. ‘Oh, my dear…I’m so happy for you.’
She must feel like she was hugging a tree, Charlotte realised, but she couldn’t make her body soften. Or even raise the arms now hanging by her sides like dead branches. One of them was even weighed down with an enormous rock. No…She had to be dreaming. He couldn’t really have shoved that ring on her finger, could he?
Still dazed, Charlotte lifted her left arm. It looked like she was returning her grandmother’s effusive hug but, in reality, she was getting her hand to a position where she could see it.
Yep. There it was. On her third finger. A quite respectably sized solitaire diamond in an antique gold setting. Definitely an engagement ring. What on earth did Nico Moretti think he was playing at, walking around with an engagement ring in his pocket?
Words floated into through the sludge in her head. His grandmother’s ring. A long story.
No story could be long enough to rescue her from this escalating nightmare. What was that saying Gran used to deliver with a wagging finger? Something about the complicated web you weave when first you practise to deceive. Charlotte shook her head to clear the mist. This had to end. Now.
‘This isn’t what is seems, Gran. I’m not engaged. This is…ridiculous.’
‘Oh, I know, darling.’ The grip Lady Geraldine still had on her increased a notch. ‘You weren’t expecting this, were you?’
‘Of course I wasn’t.’ A snort of something like laughter escaped her throat. ‘Nico and I have only just met. We’re not even…’ Charlotte raised her gaze as she searched for the right word to explain the total lack of a genuine relationship between them. It brought her line of vision directly over her grandmother’s shoulder. And it locked with Nico’s gaze.
He had one eyebrow raised and a curiously disappointed stillness to the rest of his face. What dismissive word was she going to come up with here?
That they weren’t even friends?
That they weren’t connected in any way, shape or form?
Except they were, weren’t they?
They’d become connected totally by chance when they’d formed a united medical team to help the man who’d had the cardiac arrest and fallen from the scaffolding. Having him present when she had been floundering in front of so many distinguished symposium attendees this morning had been what had given her the strength to give any kind of presentation at all. The thought that he might have been impressed had made her feel like she hadn’t failed.
Having him right there when she had been already starting to grieve for Gran had been what had given her the strength to try and make whatever time her beloved grandmother had left as happy as possible.
And the way she’d felt when he’d looked at her like that at the table. As if he was in love with her. As if he’d wanted to kiss her.
Oh, yes…she couldn’t deny a physical and emotional connection to him even if she didn’t want it to be there. Somehow Nico had broken through her safety barriers. Despite the short time they had known each other—less than a day, for heaven’s sake—he was already enmeshed in her personal life in a way that no man had ever been.
‘I know, darling.’ Lady Geraldine’s soothing words took her back. Way back to when it had seemed that nobody could ever understand. Or put things right. And yet the words had always been sincere. And Gran had always put things right, no matter how long it had taken. ‘People will think it’s too soon. You think it’s too soon.’
‘Of course I do. It’s…it’s…’ Ridiculous. But Charlotte’s gaze was still holding Nico’s as she tried to read the silent message he was sending. It was a reassuring message, whatever it was. How was she supposed to interpret that? Or believe that this was somehow okay.
‘It’s love at first sight, that’s what it is,’ Lady Geraldine said happily. ‘The best sort. Wearing Nico’s ring doesn’t mean you have to get married next week, darling. It’s just a promise of commitment. You can take all the time you need to make sure that it’s perfect.’
All the time they needed to keep Gran happy for as long as she lived?
Time.
That’s what Charlotte needed.
‘It will take time.’ Nico’s voice was strong. Amazingly calm, considering. ‘And you’re right, Jendi. I have…what’s that expression? Jumped the gun.’
Something about the way he recited the phrase made Charlotte think his choice of words was deliberate. He was reminding her of the euphemism she’d used about kicking the bucket. Reminding her of what was important here. And maybe it was a warning, too.
If she destroyed this illusion she would be ruining not one but two of the items on Gran’s bucket list. There was no way the train trip could provide the slightest pleasure if the number-one item on the list was revealed as a deception.
Geraldine let Charlotte go with a final pat. She turned and looked up at Nico, who smiled at her.
‘We will have to be apart a lot in the coming weeks,’ he said sadly. ‘I have commitments in the United States and Europe. In Australia, even. But I had to do something to make my intentions as clear as possible. To achieve what I know will make us both happy.’ Make us all happy, his glance reminded Charlotte.
‘Of course you did.’ Lady Geraldine beamed.
Charlotte’s mind was clearing rapidly. Nico was presenting an easy way out here. He could be her fiancé but he would be absent. She could keep her grandmother happily believing that a wedding was on the cards without any further awkwardness of them having to keep up the pretence for real. Or, if she couldn’t bear to be less than honest, she could say that things had fizzled out in a few weeks and use the excuse that it would never have worked. They would never have enough time together to keep the relationship alive.
‘Mmm.’ The sound came out in a strangled fashion. ‘I’m still not sure—’
‘Of course you’re not.’ Lady Geraldine slipped her arm through Charlotte’s and began to lead her back to the restaurant. ‘You like to be in control, child, and you’ve been swept off your feet.’ She slipped her other arm through Nico’s. ‘Come on. We’ll all go and have another glass of that lovely champagne and give Charlotte time to get used to this delightfully unexpected state of being an engaged woman.’
Dio mio…
What, exactly, had happened there?
It wasn’t the unexpected twist of events that had led to Charlotte now wearing his grandmother’s ring that was disturbing Nico most as he followed the women back to the restaurant.
No. It went far deeper than a pretence