Finding Perfect (Fool's Gold #3)(53)

They went through the cases. He asked to see a couple of things, then shook his head. “The first one,” he told her. “That’s it.”

“I think so, too. Are you going to faint when I tell you the price?”

“No.”

“It’s a high-quality diamond and a custom setting.”

“That’s okay.”

Fifteen minutes later, he had all three rings in boxes tucked into his jacket pocket. He’d refused the shopping bag, not wanting anyone in town to see him carrying it. He was starting to get a handle on Fool’s Gold. He knew how word would spread.

Now that he had a ring, it was time to go see a man about a house.

PIA STOOD IN FRONT OF her dry-erase and corkboard calendar, checking the events against her master list. Some of the festivals only required minimal prep work, but others took weeks of planning. If decorations were required, they had to be pulled out of storage and installed. The city maintenance workers appreciated plenty of lead time, and she knew better than to annoy the muscle portion of her operation.

With Halloween coming soon she would need to get the decorative flags changed and put out the scarecrows and hay bales, which reminded her that she needed to order fresh hay. The stuff they’d used last year had looked a little ragged.

She crossed to her desk and had started to pick up her phone when her office door burst open and Liz Sutton and Montana surged into the room.

“I can’t believe it!” Montana shrieked. “We sat right here talking about my boring life when you had news like that? How could you keep it to yourself? I may never forgive you.”

Pia might have been worried except she had no idea what her friend was talking about, and the fact that Montana and Liz were both grinning like fools meant that it wasn’t bad news.

Liz reached her first and hugged her. “Congratulations. He seems really sweet. And hunky, which is always a nice plus. I know I get a little shiver every time I see Ethan. Especially when he’s naked.”

Montana winced. “Hello, that’s my brother we’re talking about. Don’t share details.”

“Sorry,” Liz said with a laugh, then turned back to Pia. “Well?”

“Well, what?”

Montana and Liz grabbed each other’s arms and actually jumped up and down. It was a little bit scary, Pia thought, taking a step back.

“You’re marrying Raoul!” they shrieked together.

“I’m going to forgive you for not telling me if you promise to spill all the details,” Montana said. “Start at the beginning and talk slow. You said hi and he said?”

Oh, no. Pia sank into her chair and groaned. This wasn’t good at all. It had been a matter of—she checked her watch—four hours. How could word already be spreading?

The truth was she’d barely accepted that he’d proposed to her, let alone the fact that she’d accepted. The impossible situation had left her too confused to do much more than pretend it hadn’t happened. It had been the only way to get work done.

“Pia?” Liz asked, her smile fading. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Just confused. How did you hear?”

Montana and Liz exchanged glances.

“Raoul went to see Josh,” Liz said. “Ethan was there and heard the whole thing. Raoul said he wanted to buy a bigger house. One with a lot of bedrooms. Josh wanted to know why and Raoul said the two of you were getting married but not to tell anyone. Josh and Ethan swore they wouldn’t, then Ethan called me.”

Pia winced. It wasn’t his fault—he probably thought the information was safe with his close friends. He wasn’t a small-town guy and would have no idea how this sort of news fed on itself. In a matter of hours, it would be everywhere.

“I ran into Montana on my way over here and told her,” Liz continued. “But you don’t look very happy. What’s wrong?”

They each pulled up a chair and sat close, looking concerned. Pia wanted to bolt, but these women were her friends. If she couldn’t explain the situation to them, how could she possibly go through with it? Not that she was having second thoughts—she wasn’t. It was just that everything was complicated.

She drew in a breath. “Crystal left me her embryos,” she began, then explained how she’d made the decision to have the babies.

“At first Raoul offered to be my pregnancy buddy,” she continued. “He said he would help out while I carried the babies.”

“That’s so sweet,” Montana said with a sigh.

But Liz was more like Pia—less of an overt romantic. Her gaze narrowed. “Why?”

“That was my question.” She hesitated. “It turns out he knew Keith. Raoul went over to Iraq with some football guys and Keith was part of their escort team. They became friends. Keith told him about Fool’s Gold and Crystal. Raoul was there when he died.”

“I didn’t know any of this,” Montana said, her eyes wide. “Is that why he came here?”

Pia nodded. “Normally he wouldn’t have paid extra attention to our invitation to the pro-am golf tournament, but he recognized the name of the town and wanted to check it out. He liked what he saw and decided to move here.”

“Did he talk to Crystal?” Liz asked.

“No. He didn’t know what to say. So he didn’t know she was dying or about the embryos until I found out she’d left them to me and had a bit of a breakdown in front of him. Everything sort of spiraled from there.”