Rumor Has It

by Jill Mansell

  'What's Plan C?' gulped Tilly as he pried her fingers off the tree trunk and clasped her left hand firmly in his right one. Expecting him to lead her into the house, she was taken by surprise when he headed out through the front gates instead. With the Jag still rakishly parked in the way, it was a tight squeeze getting past it. Jack pointed his keys at the car and zapped the locks shut. As he hauled her after him down the street, Tilly said breathlessly, 'Where are we going?'

  'Wait and see.' Jack waved at the middle-aged man pruning his roses in the garden next door. 'Morning, Ted, this is the girl I've just asked to marry me.'

  What?

  Ted looked equally astounded. 'Really? Well, um, excellent. Well done, lad.'

  'Oh my God, oh my God,' squeaked Tilly as they made their way down the street.

  'Morning, Mrs Ellis, how are you?' Cheerily greeting an elderly lady walking her Pekingese, Jack said, 'This is Tilly, my future wife, touch wood!'

  'Jack!' Mrs Ellis stopped dead in her tracks, almost garroting her dog. 'Good heavens, how marvelous. I had no idea!'

  'Is this Plan C?' Tilly demanded as they approached the High Street.

  'Not yet.' Leading her across the road, Jack called out to a couple of teenage boys on bikes, 'Hey, guess what? I've just asked this girl to marry me!'

  The teenagers turned and gave them a big-deal look. The taller of the two sneered and said, 'Loser.'

  Tilly shook her head. 'OK, you have to stop this. You're going to end up getting arrested.'

  'There's Declan! Hey, Declan!' Bellowing across the road, Jack yelled, 'Meet my future wife!'

  Declan did a double-take, then waggled an imaginary glass at Tilly, cringing behind Jack. 'How many's he had, love?'

  'No, I haven't been drinking. I've just come to my senses. Come on,' Jack squeezed Tilly's hand and dragged her on, 'keep up.'

  Erin's shop next. He barged in, startling Erin and a curvaceous bru nette who was in the process of trying on a strapless cerise ball gown.

  'Jack! Long time no see,' cried the brunette, clearly thrilled to see him. 'How've you been?'

  'Never better. Just asked Tilly to marry me.'

  'Sorry?' Erin's mouth dropped open in disbelief.

  The brunette's gasp was audible. She stared at him as if he'd sprouted an extra head. 'You're getting married?'

  'Well, she hasn't said yes yet.' Jack flashed a grin. 'Wish me luck. Nice dress,' he added over his shoulder as he whisked Tilly out of the shop. 'Right, on with Plan C.'

  'I'm meant to be working.' God, where was he taking her now? Her mind in a whirl, Tilly said breathlessly, 'I'm going to be in so much trouble with Max.'

  'Leave Max to me.' Jack stopped as they reached Montgomery's the jewelers, and rang the bell to be let in.

  The fact that you had to ring a bell in order to be let in was the reason Tilly had never been inside Roxborough's smartest jewelry shop. As the possibility of why they were here began to sink in, she hung back. 'Jack, stop it, this is mad.'

  The buzzer went, the door opened, and Jack said, 'It's Plan C. I want you and everyone else to know I'm serious. And I'm warning you…'

  'What?'

  'There is no Plan D.'

  Inside the shop, expertly angled pools of light illuminated the polished cabinets of both antique and modern fine jewelry. The topaz carpets were plush and velvety, the walls were oak-paneled, and if Tilly and Jack's combined eye-watering breath was a hideous intrusion upon this rarefied atmosphere, Martin Montgomery was far too much of a gentleman to show it.

  Twenty minutes later, by a process of elimination and without once even letting her glimpse how much any of them cost, Martin Montgomery had succeeded in narrowing the choice of rings to two. Colored stones had been discarded. Multiple stones had been discarded. Yellow gold had been cast aside in favor of platinum. The two remaining solitaire diamonds, both stunning and shooting out glittery rainbow sparks of light, were so beautiful Tilly could barely breathe. One was square and princess cut, the other oval and cushion cut. The square one was her favorite—the shape of the ring and the setting made it more unusual—but the diamond was bigger. Which meant she had to choose the smaller one because just the thought of how many thousands of pounds each of these rings must cost was enough to bring on a panic attack.

  No wonder there were elegant gold chairs beside the counters— so that customers catching sight of the price tags had something to crash down on when they came over all faint.

  Tilly looked at Martin Montgomery. 'If he changes his mind next week and brings the ring back, will you give him a full refund?'

  Startled, Martin Montgomery said, 'Er…'

  'I'm not going to change my mind.' Jack held up the two rings. 'Come on, which one do you prefer?'

  The big square one, obviously. The shape of the setting suited her hand. It was the most beautiful ring she'd ever seen in her life. 'I like the oval one best.'

  Jack raised an eyebrow. 'Are you sure?'

  'Absolutely.' Oh God, disappointment welled up. Which was completely ridiculous, because the oval one was the second most beautiful ring she'd ever seen in her life.

  'Not just saying that because you think it's cheaper?'

  Tilly shook her head. 'No.'

  'Because it isn't, you know.'

  It wasn't? Adrenaline shot through her entire body. She turned to Martin Montgomery. 'Is that true?'

  The jeweler smiled slightly and nodded. 'You see, when the clarity and the color are taken into account, this ring is actually of higher—'

  'OK!' Cutting him off before he could start burbling on all over again about color, cut, and clarity, Tilly grabbed the square-cut diamond and said joyfully, 'I'll have this one then!'

  'Not just saying that because it's cheaper?' Jack's mouth was twitching at the corners.

  'No! I love it!'

  'Good. Me too. That's it then, Martin. This is the one we'll have.'

  As Jack took the ring from her and slid it slowly and deliberately on to the third finger of her left hand, Tilly felt her eyes fill with tears. Because she now knew he was serious. He really, really meant it.

  Martin Montgomery diplomatically busied himself putting the oval diamond back in the window. Jack drew Tilly to him and kissed her on the mouth. God, he was good at that.

  In her ear, he murmured, 'So has Plan C done the trick?'

  'You know what?' Tilly shook her head, hardly able to believe it herself. 'It really has.'

  He broke into a wicked smile. 'I'm going to take you home now.'

  Tilly quivered in anticipation. 'You haven't paid for the ring yet.'

  She waited a discreet distance away while Jack took a card from his wallet and the transaction was completed. Then she jumped out of her skin as her mobile began to trill.

  'Oops. It's Max.' Even holding the phone was an excuse to admire the ring miraculously glittering away on her hand.

  'Here, let me.' Jack took control, said, 'Hi Max' and pressed speaker-phone.

  'What's going on?' Max's voice registered suspicion. 'Why are you answering Tilly's phone?'

  'She's here with me now. I've just asked her to marry me.' Jack's amused gaze went to the ring on Tilly's hand. 'And she's more or less said yes.'

  Silence. Tilly's mouth was bone dry. She waited for Max to roar with laughter and come out with some mucky retort.

  Instead, having digested this information, he said, 'Is she the one?'

  Jack gave Tilly's hand a reassuring squeeze. 'Yes, she is.'

  'Thought so,' said Max. 'Put her on.'

  Still trembling, Tilly took the phone. 'Hi, Max.'

  'Is this a wind-up?'

  'No. It's been a bit of a weird morning.'

  'You're telling me. So it's serious between you and Jack?'

  She saw Jack nodding. 'Yes.'

  'Christ, I can't keep up with this. The whole world's gone mad. Are you still working for me?'

  'Yes!' Though obviously not at this minute.

  'Where are you?' deman
ded Max.

  'Um, in Montgomery's the jewelers.'

  'So you haven't been in touch with the electricians?'

  Tilly winced. Oops. 'Sorry, Max.'

  'Max?' Jack stepped in. 'I love Tilly. I'm hoping she loves me, although she hasn't actually said as much yet. This is a pretty special day for us. So basically, bugger the electricians.'

  'OK, tell Tilly I'll deal with them myself.' After a pause, Max said, 'So it's finally happened, then?'

  Jack squeezed Tilly's hand and gave her a look that melted her insides. He nodded and smiled. 'It's finally happened.'

  'Well, it's about time too. And trust me, it really must be love if you've just asked her to marry you.' Max sounded both impressed and amused. 'Because that girl absolutely reeks of garlic.'

  About the Author

  JILL MANSELL LIVES WITH her partner and children in Bristol and writes full time. Actually, that's not true; she watches TV, eats gum drops, admires the rugby players training in the sports field behind her house, and spends hours on the Internet marveling at how many other writers have blogs. Only when she's completely run out of ways to procrastinate does she write.

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  About the Author