A familiar face leaned into the aisle as Sinead handed out multimedia headsets to the passengers. Ryan. Her airline-sanctioned smile slipped for a moment. What was Gabriel’s best friend doing on her flight?
Ryan stretched out his long legs in the first-class seat, seeming to occupy more space than his lanky frame required. He had a large presence, from his bright white teeth to his dark flashing eyes. Those eyes were trained on her, full of laughter under his shock of jet-black hair. He was an attractive man, but she had no interest in Ryan. Only one man would do in her present lovesick and depressed state.
Sadly, she wouldn’t be seeing Gabriel anytime soon. Let alone jumping his bones like she wanted to. She hadn’t heard a word from him since she’d fled Melbourne two weeks ago. She’d waited for him to show up at her hotel before she flew out, left him messages, but he hadn’t returned her calls. After two days, she’d had to admit he wasn’t changing his mind, and went home to London. Ever since, she’d eaten an extraordinary amount of chocolate, flown all her usual routes and done the best she could to summon a smile. An achy sigh rose up from somewhere near her heart.
Ryan raised a dark eyebrow. “My dear Sinead. Why the glum face?”
She crossed her arms and looked down her nose. “I’m sorry sir, do I know you?”
Her haughty question raised a laugh from Ryan, which hadn’t been her intention. She’d hoped to head off the looming conversation with him while she was working.
“If you like, you can pretend you don’t know me until we get to Paris. Then I was thinking we should have lunch together.”
She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Is lunch really necessary? Wait, did Gabriel put you up to this?”
“Yes, it is necessary. I feel the need to share a lunch date in Paris with a beautiful flight attendant. And no, Gabriel doesn’t even know I’m talking to you. At least, not exactly.”
Gabriel must have known Ryan was going to see her though, which warmed something insider her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Ryan scratched his jaw. “A few weeks ago, Gabe asked me to keep an eye on you. I feel I’ve been a bit behind the eight-ball with his request, so I want to make up for it. Have lunch with me. I have something to discuss with you.”
Her interest was piqued, no denying it. What could Ryan have to say to make him grin like the Cheshire cat? She wouldn’t rest until she found out what he was up to. She hoped it was some good news to do with Gabriel. Even if she knew she shouldn’t get her hopes up.
She pursed her lips, then nodded. “Okay, I’ll meet you for lunch. Send me a text when we get off the flight. Now leave me alone and let me do my job.”
Ryan saluted her. “Yes, Ma’am.”
She tottered back to the galley with her head held high, arm full of headsets entirely forgotten. She dumped them on a nearby trolley. Yuki was waiting there, bouncing up and down with excitement.
Yuki tugged Sinead’s sleeve. “Who is that gorgeous man and where do you keep finding them? Is he your new boyfriend?” Her words ran together as they tumbled out of her mouth in an excited whisper.
Frowning, Sinead smoothed down her shirt. “No, of course he’s not my boyfriend. My heart belongs to Gabriel. It’s Ryan, Gabriel’s best friend and business partner. He says he has something to discuss with me.”
“Ooohh, it could be good news. Gabriel might surprise you in Paris.”
Sinead’s heart fluttered out of sync at the idea, but it was unlikely. The way they’d left things, Gabriel wouldn’t be planning any grand romantic gestures. He was probably more down in the dumps than she was, with everything he had on his mind.
“I don’t think so, but Ryan seemed pleased with himself. I need to find out what’s on his mind.”
Three hours later, Sinead arrived at the bistro Chez André near the end of the famous boulevard Champs Elysées. The place was a pleasant surprise, warm and welcoming, but not too horribly touristy. The dark wood tables and chairs paired with white linen table cloths dressed the place in elegance. The professional wait-staff, dressed in old-fashioned black and white uniforms, added to the authentic French atmosphere.
Ryan leaned back against a leather-bound booth style seat, smiling from ear to ear when he spotted her. “Welcome, Sinead. Sit down, relax. Would you like a café au lait or some champagne? Gabriel told me about your penchant for foods starting with the letter ‘c’.”
Sinead stared at Ryan as she sat opposite him, trying to catch up with his scattergun approach to conversation. “The coffee sounds good. Tell me what this is about, Ryan.”
Ryan caught the eye of a passing waiter and gestured to his own coffee, ordering another.
He hit Sinead with a thousand-watt smile. “Gabriel is unhappy. Depressed, even. He won’t do anything except work, sleep and visit his mum. He won’t talk to me, except to tell me to bugger off and leave him alone. His PA, Martha, keeps calling me to complain about his never-seen-before level of grumpiness. I find all this fascinating.” Ryan said this without a hint of concern. In fact, he was almost grinning.
Sinead was truly baffled, and her heart hurt for Gabriel. She bit her lip, biting back a few choice words too. “So he’s depressed. It shouldn’t make you happy, Ryan.”
“You don’t understand. You’ve gotten right under his skin. You’re the only woman who’s managed it. The only one he’s ever given a chance. Since he sent you away he’s been a shadow of his usual self. And guess what else Martha told me?”
She sighed, unfolding her fan-shaped napkin. “Please don’t make me guess. Tell me already.”
“All right. Have you spoken to your sister Bridie lately?”
The turns in the conversation were making her woozy, almost travel-sick. What did Bridie have to do with Gabriel’s moodiness? “I haven’t spoken to Bridie for a few days. What of it?”
“Did you know she’s planning on applying for a work visa to Australia? Martha’s been helping Gabe organise it. Apparently, he has a friend called Jay who runs an advertising agency in Melbourne. He’s looking for trainees in graphic design. Loves travellers, young people with international experience.”
This wasn’t making any sense. “Bridie’s applying for a trainee graphic design job? In Melbourne? But she isn’t a qualified designer, and she didn’t tell me anything about it.”
Ryan grinned, tapping his fingers on the table. “Didn’t Bridie study design at college before she dropped out? Doesn’t she need a job and some help getting back on her feet? Martha says it’s happening as we speak. Gabriel’s arranging all of this to help Bridie. Now why do you think he would do such a selfless thing?”
Sinead sat back in her seat and gaped at Ryan. Her mouth was hanging open but she couldn’t seem to control it. Gabriel knew how she worried about Bridie. He might have decided to help simply because he’s a kind man, or he could be trying to make Sinead happy. The possibility took hold in her mind. Maybe he wanted to show Sinead he loved her.
She didn’t know what to say. Her heart was palpitating too hard.
Ryan’s eyes twinkled and softened. “He loves you, Sinead. I’d bet my life on it. He might not know how to tell you, but he’s had no experience to draw on. His Mum’s illness and the business have been his world for so long, he’s had no time for anyone else. When he told me he took you to meet her, well, it blew me away. He’s never mentioned his Mum’s illness to a woman before, as far as I can tell. He hardly talks to me about it and we’ve been friends for nearly fifteen years.”
A tiny, flickering candle of hope lit up inside her. Gabriel might still care. Maybe things weren’t really over between them. She allowed the pleasure to play across her face, allowed the light to shine and the flames to lick and heat every part of her.
“Thanks Ryan. I appreciate you telling me all this. More than you could know.” She patted the napkin down in her lap, not meeting Ryan’s gaze.
“Gabe’s a good man. Most people have no idea, but I do. He helped me through the hardest time in my life …” Ryan took a deep breath, raw pain twisting his expression. Sinead tipped her chin up to watch him. He continued, as if nothing had happened. “I know you see it too, who he really is. He deserves to be happy and I think you might be the one for him.”
She blinked, hoping her verge-of-teariness wouldn’t tip over into ugly snot crying. “Stop it now, before you make me cry. I love him, so much it scares the bejeezus out of me. I told him I’d wait for him.” Sinead picked up a menu to hide her watery eyes and scanned the house specialties. “I’ll have the Chateaubriand, frites and sauce béarnaise. Sounds fabulous.”
Ryan grinned. “You’re my kind of woman, Sinead. Steak and chips, no messing around. If Gabriel stuffs up I’ll take you out in a heartbeat.”
“You’re all charm, Ryan. But despite yourself, you’re a good friend.” She tipped her head to one side and asked the other question that intrigued her. “What’s happening between you and Charlotte, if you don’t mind my asking?”
Ryan’s face seemed to go blank, then he huffed out a breath. “A fat lot of nothing, but it’s all my own fault. She wanted us to go together to the company cocktail party. As a couple.”
“And …” Sinead prompted him to keep going. It was like pulling teeth, trying to get men to talk about relationships.
“And I kissed her. Really kissed her. In the office. It was completely inappropriate considering she works for me. So then I turned her down.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “I stuffed things up. Now she doesn’t even want to talk to me.”
No wonder Charlotte had seemed upset the night of the cocktail party. Sinead hadn’t had a chance to find out if Charlotte was okay, after all that happened with Padraig.
Ryan was watching her. She met his eyes, which sparkled, but were more serious than usual. “But you like her?”
“Of course I do. She’s amazing. Beautiful and brilliant.”
“So, what are you doing sitting here with me? Go back to London and make it right.”
Ryan nodded, suddenly thoughtful. “Do you think Charlotte could really be interested in a bloke like me?
She smiled. “A big, strapping, handsome bloke like you who cares about his friends and wants to see them happy? Yes, I think Charlotte could be persuaded.”
Ryan grinned and finished his coffee. “Sorry about lunch, but I have to go.” He rose from his seat and extended his hand. “Good luck, Sinead.”
She shook his hand. “Good luck to you too.”
Sinead relaxed into her seat, feeling infinitely better about lunch, men, Bridie, love, basically the whole world. All because of Gabriel.