by Dana Moss
Alice reappeared. “I’m ready for you now, Macy.”
She stood up to go. “Sorry about the misunderstanding, Taffy.”
Taffy harrumphed and went upstairs to pack.
* * *
After packing, Taffy toted her carry-on downstairs, taking care to avoid tripping on lingerie, bath towels, and items of dirty laundry littering the hallway. Yes, a couple days away were just what she needed.
She’d decided to drive herself to the airport, in part because Cher couldn’t drive, and when she’d once driven with Macy, to go shopping in Brooklyn, she’d feared for her life. On top of that, Maria was too busy, and Ethan hadn’t offered. It was better this way. Better to be independent. She might just have to get used to that again anyway.
As Taffy carried her bag to the front door, Cher emerged from the kitchen.
“I’ve been thinking,” she said. “If I knew something really crazy that might clear Macy but would hurt someone else, what would I do?”
“You can’t make something up, Cher.” Taffy slipped on her coat.
“I know.”
“Do you know something?” She picked up her purse and dug out her car keys.
“Macy isn’t going to inherit anything, is she?”
“Doubtful.”
“And you and Maria are eventually going to prove that it’s Lorne, aren’t you?”
“We’re trying to find the proof. If there’s something else you know about him that you could tell us, that could help.”
Cher shook her head.
Taffy tucked her passport into her purse. “Ellie will be here after work. Please stay out of trouble while I’m gone.”
“Of course,’ Cher said. “Tell your Nana to ‘get well soon’ from us.”
Feeling slightly guilty, Taffy nodded and left.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Nana had been surprised but delighted to hear that Taffy would be coming back for a visit so soon. Taffy told her she had some maid-of-honor errands to run but didn’t want Maria to know, so if she called she told her Nana to cough a little, pretend she was sick. Nana grumbled a bit but complied, though she warned Taffy that white lies could quickly turn black.
Apparently, Macy and Cher hadn’t been able to resist informing Luke that Taffy was coming to New York. He called her mere moments after she’d landed and invited her to lunch. She equivocated, saying, “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Well, let me know if you change your mind. I’d love to see you.”
She politely agreed to get in touch if she changed her mind.
The next call to come in was from Mitch. He called her on the drive from the airport into the city. He broke the news that he hadn’t been able to secure a ticket to the gala.
“They’ve been sold out for months. You’re going to have to crash your way in.”
“Have you ever been to one of these things? There’s no crashing. You have to find me a ticket.”
“I’ve exhausted all my leads.”
Taffy called her Nana, but she said she’d passed on her invitation and didn’t think any of her friends had spares.
“Do any of them need dates?”
“You could try the Bergmans.” So she did, but they were planning to attend that evening, and everyone was paired up. Betty Bergman suggested she call the Khiels.
Taffy thanked her and sat for a few minutes staring at her phone and biting her lip. Then she took a deep breath and dialed.
Luke answered right away.
“Taff? You changed your mind?”
Taffy explained her interest in attending the gala. Luke Khiels’ family was always invited to these high society events. And sure enough, Luke had a ticket with a plus one and readily offered to take Taffy as his date.
“I was just going to bow out and not go,” he said. “But if I get to have you on my arm, I’ll happily climb into my penguin suit. But I really must insist we meet for lunch. Come on. Our old place.”
Taffy didn’t feel like she could say no now.
She dropped her carry-on bag at her Nana’s and explained she couldn’t join the bridge group for lunch because she already had a lunch date with an “old friend.” Nana arched an eyebrow at this but said nothing. Maybe she’d made up her own story about why Taffy had run back to New York so quickly.
* * *
Taffy met Luke at The Boathouse in Central Park.
After initial pleasantries, Taffy thanked him for the invite to the gala.
“Since when are you into opera?”
“Abandon’s limited cultural opportunities seem to have generated strange new cravings. And since I’m here in the city… Well.” She shrugged.
“Why are you here?” Luke seemed genuinely curious, but she couldn’t tell him the truth. “Your friends seem to think—
“My friends don’t think.” She cut him off because she knew where this was headed.
He frowned slightly. “You know, you could give me another chance, Taffy. I’ve changed. I’m a way better boyfriend now.”
“According to whom?”
Now he looked hurt. “I mean I’m a better person. I’ve grown. It seems like you’ve changed a lot, too. I just thought we could try again.”
Taffy sighed. He meant well. “I’m seeing someone, Luke.” Or was she? Hadn’t Ethan just cut her free?
“The Oregon park ranger? Your friends don’t seem to think it’s serious.”
Taffy rolled her eyes. “My friends wouldn’t recognize serious if it shoved hot bikini wax up their butts.”
Luke coughed on his Cosmo, and then he grinned. “You have changed.”
“Look, the truth is, I don’t really know what I want or where I belong.” She gazed out at the brown water beyond the windows, at the couples romantically rowing, at the line of trees at the water’s edge, and the line of buildings towering above.
“On the one hand, New York feels like home, and it always will. But Abandon… Well, I’ve made a home there. I’ve never really made anything of my own before.”
She looked back at Luke. “I don’t expect you to understand. I barely do myself.”
“I could give you what you want,” he said, leaning forward. “I could give you everything you want.”
Taffy sighed again. He didn’t get it. “How could you do that when I don’t even know what it is?”
“Think of the life we could have together, Taff. Saint Barts in the winter. Or the French alps, if you’d rather ski. And all the best culture and luxury New York has to offer. My family still loves you. Your Nana could learn to love me again.” He raised his eyebrows hopefully.
And Taffy tried to picture it. She could imagine herself against all those backdrops, and from the outside looking in she could see herself on Luke’s arm—they’d always made a beautiful couple—but from the inside looking out, it was as if she had birdcage bars over her eyes. She knew she’d feel trapped.
Luke tapped the base of his glass. He looked thoughtful. “Our time apart has given me a lot to think about. Like I said, I’ve changed. I’ve learned a few things about myself.”
Taffy smirked. “Such as you didn’t like Lottie Van Arden as much as you though you did? Or rather, she didn’t fancy you so much?”
“That’s a low blow. You know that didn’t last long and ended long ago.”
“But I haven’t forgotten that it started while were still together.”
He frowned. “I thought you’d forgiven me for that already.”
Taffy sighed. “I have, Luke. I don’t care anymore. But forgiving and forgetting aren’t the same thing.”
“You see,” he said, leaning back with an admiring smile on his perfectly chiseled jaw. “You’re smart. Wise even. Lottie didn’t even know the difference between a mille-feuille and a croissant but you—”
Taffy rolled her eyes.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned her. The point is, I want to settle down with someone like you. And my family would approve. Plus your friends like
me too. So why not consider it?”
“Why don’t we just get through tonight first, okay?”
He seemed mildly appeased by this suggestion, and Taffy didn’t have the energy to bash all of his hopes in one go.
The waiter appeared to ask if they wanted dessert. Taffy preferred to skip it so Luke paid and they left. They wandered through the park for a while in the direction of Fifth Avenue.
“I have to pick up something at Tiffany’s for my sister, a bracelet she decided to have engraved. Why don’t you come with me?”
Taffy checked the time. She had to meet up with Mitch, visit Lorenzo’s, and then get dressed for the gala, but she still had a bit of time to spare.
“Oh well. Why not.” It had been a while since she’d gazed longingly at the myriad treats that could fill those white-ribboned blue boxes.
* * *
They pushed through the revolving glass door and into the busy hush of Tiffany and Company.
“I think I have to pick the bracelet up on the fourth floor. Let me check at the information desk.”
While Luke spoke to the clerk behind the counter, Taffy perused the precious, brilliantly lit displays. She ran her finger along the glass tops, appreciating the fine necklaces encased inside.
A moment later, Luke joined her and said, “Let’s take the elevators at the back.” They walked by rows of glass display counters toward the warm, dark wood panels and green marble columns that lined the back wall of the main floor. In the elevator, Taffy leaned on the brass arm rail. Luke fluffed his hair in the reflective glass and then stood rather close to Taffy.
“Haven’t you always loved this place?”
Her last gift from Tiffany’s had been a pendant from her Nana, in honor of her college graduation. And her mother hand given her a charm bracelet at the age of five, and a charm every year after that, until she’d died when Taffy was twelve. Those seven charms were precious to her. Tiffany’s had marked various occasions for herself and her friends, and they’d all imagined wearing engagement rings from this store, but those dreams seemed far away right now.
On the fourth floor, Luke picked up his sister’s bracelet. Carrying a tiny blue bag back toward where she stood examining the various gifts embossed with store’s name, he asked, “See anything you like?”
She was thinking that none of these accessories fit her new life in Abandon. She sighed and shook her head.
“Let’s take the stairs down and see what’s on offer on the way.” He led the way down the marble stairs.
On the second floor, he pointed to something in one of the glass cases and padded over the beige carpet to look more closely at it. Taffy was preoccupied with thinking that it was time to hail a cab so as not to miss her meeting with Mitch, but Luke waved her over. She walked toward him, slightly distracted by a sparkle here and a glimmer there.
“Look at this beautiful engagement set. Do you like it? It reminds me of my mother’s, but a little more modern, yet still classic in style, don’t you think?”
Taffy nodded absently. Staring at the rings made her wonder what had happened to the engagement ring Blake had planned to give to Macy. Lorne had said he had seen it, but Maria confirmed it hadn’t been in the inventory taken from the Moonbeam. Even this far away she was still thinking about the case.
“I really can’t linger much longer, Luke. Lunch was lovely, but I’ve got to get ready for tonight. Luckily my stylist was able to squeeze me in for a hair appointment this afternoon. Can we go? You got what you needed, right?”
“Sure.” He smiled, but it wasn’t as full as usual. He glanced at the engagement set one more time, but Taffy’s mind was on what lay ahead of her this evening.
They made their way down to the first floor, which was much more crowded with customers and tourists who’d stepped in from Fifth Avenue to take a peek at the iconic store. Luke was in the midst of asking her what she was planning on wearing that evening and whether or not he should coordinate his tie and handkerchief.
“It’s not a wedding, Luke. Wear what you want.” Besides, she hadn’t decided between classic black and a garnet-colored shift silk dress. As they approached the revolving door and waited their turn to twirl through, an entering turn admitted the last person Taffy had ever expected to see in New York, let alone at Tiffany’s.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“Ethan?” she sputtered. “What are you doing here?”
He seemed just as surprised to see her.
Luke leaned in. “This is Ethan?” He quickly changed his slight smirk to an easy charming smile. He had his hand on Taffy elbow, ostensibly to help guide her through the door, and Ethan’s eyes flicked to the close contact. His jaw steeled.
“I thought you were…”
She thought he was about to say working, which was true, but not in this moment. Or only peripherally, since she was getting her gala ticket from Luke, but she couldn’t say that here.
She fumbled. “We just had lunch, and then we—”
Luke stuck his hand out. “I’m Luke Khiels. We haven’t yet had the pleasure.” His other hand still touched Taffy’s elbow.
Ethan hesitated only a second before extending his hand. “Luke. Of course…” He glanced coolly at Taffy. “I’ve heard of you.”
“Only envious things I hope?” Luke tried to win him over with charm, but his tone had the barest bit of an edge.
People were flowing around Ethan on their way in and around Luke and Taffy on their way out. Taffy wanted to step out the stream of people, draw Ethan aside, and ask him what in heck he was doing here. Had Mitch told him where she was? But how did he even know? And if Mitch knew Ethan was in town, why hadn’t he texted her? She felt horribly confused.
They were clogging up the flow of in and out pedestrian traffic. A security guard near the door said, “Keep moving please.”
Luke nudged Taffy forward. “We should get you that cab, don’t you think?”
She tried to hold Ethan’s gaze, but he had started to move away, into the store as they moved out of it.
Taffy was deposited onto the street side by the crowds and Luke.
“I have to go back in!”
Luke opened his mouth to say something, but she was already reentering the fray. By the time the door had twisted her through, she couldn’t see Ethan again. He was taller than most of the people in the store, but as she scanned the first floor, she couldn’t manage to catch sight of him. Where had he gone?
And more importantly, why had he come to New York in the first place? To check up on her? Had he seen her through the glass door and that’s why he’d come in? His presence was so incongruous here. He’d looked as if he’d just gotten off the plane from Oregon. His clothes had had a slightly rumpled look to them, as if he’d been sitting for a long while, and his beard was at least a day past its usual trim length, and he’d been wearing that silly baseball hat that he wore at the park sometimes, or while chopping wood, or when he didn’t feel much like washing his hair. Because of all that she was even more shocked that she couldn’t easily pick him out of this well-heeled crowd. Had he headed toward the back of the shop or out another door? Taffy left the shop again, but she didn’t see him outside either. It was as if he’d vanished. For a second, she wondered if he’d been there at all. But Luke had seen him, too.
Luke had by now successfully hailed a taxi and was just opening the door. “You’re going downtown?”
She nodded. “SoHo.”
“You take this one. I’ll call another.”
“I couldn’t find Ethan…” She hesitated getting in the cab.
“Send him a text,” Luke suggested lightly.
It’s not like Ethan had warned her he was coming. He hadn’t made plans to see her. He was just here. With no explanation. She had to call Mitch.
As she bent to get into the cab, Luke pecked her on the cheek. “See you tonight. Make yourself beautiful.” Taffy thought she heard a quiet “for me” under his breath, but maybe she imagined it.
The car door closed and he tapped the window as goodbye.
As the taxi pulled into traffic, Taffy pulled out her phone. She sent Ethan a brief text. Where did you go?
* * *
When the taxi dropped her off in front of Mitch’s hotel, she stormed up to his room and let loose a short list of expletives and ended with, “Why didn’t you tell me he was coming?!”
“Who? Oh… Ethan. Well, I only found out myself an hour ago. He just showed up. What happened?”
Taffy tossed her coat onto the hotel bed and sat down heavily. “Let’s just say he found me in a compromising position. It’s all a misunderstanding but… Why is he here? It makes no sense.”
Mitch just shrugged.
“He didn’t tell you? Why don’t guys talk about this stuff?”
“I guess he wanted to see you?”
Taffy frowned. “Well that lasted all of five seconds. And how did he even find me in a city of one and half million?” Taffy dropped her head in her hands. “Now he’s got the wrong idea. I just need a chance to explain.”
Mitch fiddled with some paraphernalia on the hotel desk. “I’m sure everything will be fine,” Mitch said breezily. “Are you ready for tonight?”
“I got a ticket, if that’s what you mean.” Taffy sighed. She didn’t mention that she also had a date to go with it.
“And you’re going to wear…?” He scanned her head to toe.
“I’ve got a gown on a hanger at home and a hair appointment in half an hour.”
“Then let’s go over what will happen tonight.”
Taffy put her romantic troubles aside while Mitch proceeded to explain about Veronica.
“I believe she’s going to use this event as a way to meet with certain foreign, mostly Russian, contacts. Information, even money, might change hands. I need you to find out whatever you can by overhearing conversations and taking pictures with this camera.”
“No wire?”
“You may not get close enough. These will work for our purposes.”
He opened a box with a pair of dangling cubic zirconium earrings.
“You couldn’t have splurged for real diamonds?”
“Ha, ha.” He pointed to the shining stones. “These are cameras. You touch the button here, where the pin goes through your ear. The camera is hidden in the lowest stone. You’ll just look like you’re touching your ear or your hair each time you take a picture. Just be careful not to block the view with your hand.”
