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She scooped Harley up and brought him into the bedroom with her while she packed a few things just to get her by for the rest of the week. She would ask Shea to help her get the rest of her belongings over the weekend, but for now, it was just too devastating to do more than that.
She stopped for one hard look around before she closed the condo door behind her and left for what was probably one of the last times, unable to hold back the flood of tears streaming down her face.
*
The sidewalks outside the Fifth Avenue location of Tiffany & Co., their flagship store, were crowded with New Yorkers in a rush to get to their morning destinations as Rogan sat in the back of a luxury taxi Mercedes at the curb. He had made some calls and arranged to meet with the store manager prior to the store’s ten o’clock opening time, and even with the earlier meeting time, he was eager and impatient to get what he needed and leave.
He had sent a message to Edith to meet him at the airport by nine a.m. local time, and that if she weren’t there when he arrived, she’d be left to arrange her own flight home. He hadn’t been kidding, either. With everything that had happened the previous night, he had no patience left in him. He just wanted to get the ring he had come for and go.
When he saw the manager stop at the door to unlock it, he got out of the car and followed her inside. He knew exactly what he wanted, something that would fit Farren’s minimalist style and match her timeless, elegant beauty. Twenty minutes and twenty-thousand dollars later, he was back in the car on his way to the airport where his private plane would carry him home.
*
As soon as the plane touched down in Houston, Rogan tried Farren’s phone again. He had tried calling at least a half-dozen times between now and when he’d left Tiffany’s a few hours earlier, but she wasn’t taking his calls. He was growing more frustrated by the second.
When he arrived home, he went straight to the office hoping to find Farren there, but with no luck. His next stop was the condo, and though he wasn’t much of a praying man, he silently hoped he wouldn’t find all of her things gone when he got there.
He’d always thought that the things he treasured most in life were the things he had to work hardest for, and even that the things worth having most were never easy to get. Farren was certainly making him work for it at the moment, that was for sure.
He got inside and found most of her belongings still in place, thank goodness, but still no Farren. He tried calling her again but to no avail.
He left again heading over to the one other place he thought she might be. When he pulled up to her old apartment building where she used to live with her Gramma, he scanned the parking lot for her car.
Nothing.
He raced inside and up the stairwell to her Gramma’s apartment. He knocked, and it was quiet for several moments before he finally heard the sound of deadbolts unlocking. When the door opened, Mrs. Fields stood with a mild look of surprise.
“Well, hello, Rogan. To what do I owe the honor?” she said, moving aside and motioning him in.
“Mrs. Fields, I’m looking for Farren. Is she here?”
He moved inside and she closed the door behind him.
“She’s not here right now. Can I offer you something to drink? Coffee, maybe, or a piece of cake?”
He forced a smile, trying to suppress the impatience that had been building for hours. “No, thank you.”
Mrs. Fields moved to sit in her recliner in the small living room. She directed him to take a seat on the sofa beside her, so he complied.
“I do
n’t know what’s going on between the two of you,” Mrs. Fields began. “I can tell there’s something amiss, and I know my granddaughter. She’s a hard one to crack, but I have a feeling I don’t have to tell you that.”
Rogan sighed. “I can’t let her leave, Mrs. Fields. I need to find her. She thinks something happened last night that couldn’t be further from the truth, but I need her to see that.”
“What does she think happened?”
He had a feeling she would ask that, but he had too much respect for the woman to lie to her. “She thinks something happened between me and another work associate during a business trip we were on yesterday.”
“Did it?” the older woman asked, pointedly.
“Definitely not.”
“Why do you think she would assume so?” she asked, eyeing him with a deliberate stare.
“She asked to go with me, and I wouldn’t let her come along,” he explained.
“Well, that’s hardly enough to make her jump to such a conclusion. Is there anything else you’re not telling me?”
