“Do you even hear yourself when you speak?” asked Gabe, incredulous at her reasoning. She was absolutely out of line. “We’re at a funeral for my cousin!”
“Another good point in favor for marriage,” stated Britney firmly, daring him to contradict her. “Life is fleeting. I’m sure you’d like progeny, as every male with a large inheritance usually does want to pass on his legacy to his kids. Medically, I’m in excellent health and should be able to easily supply you with children.”
“I don’t believe you,” Gabe bit out the words. He moved past her to get a program from the attendant.
“I had my fertility checked,” she followed, getting her own program. “I assure you, I’m fully capable of conceiving children.”
“I meant I can’t believe you’re saying this, especially today of all days,” he hissed at her. “We are not getting married.”
Britney blinked. “Are you certain you’ve fully thought this through? I have weighed the pros and cons. The positive list far outweighs the negatives.”
“Not for me,” growled Gabe. He abruptly turned on his heel, ignoring if it might seem rude to leave her standing there alone. Gabe wasn’t sure he cared. Britney was disconcerting. He simply wished to get away from her.
He found himself in the meeting room for the pallbearers. Gabe drew in a deep breath as he saw Michael, Jake, Everett, and Ben.
Michael, Jake, and Gabe were all the oldest of each family of brothers. Everett and Nate had been best friends growing up. Ben and Henry were Nate’s brothers. Gabe wondered if Henry had made it back in time from Hong Kong where he managed the Asian network of Ramesly Hotels.
Nate Ramesly had died of a massive heart attack while training for a marathon. Running was something he did all the time. It was the biggest thing in common Everett and Nate had. They had been in all sorts of marathons together, until Everett had gone to Europe to try to expand Ramesly Insurance Corporation into the markets overseas. Nate had been young and fit.
Now he was gone, leaving behind a wife and two children.
It was a hard thing to think about, Gabe reflected.
However, it wasn’t something that would get him thinking about getting hitched. Especially to Britney Crawford. What worm had crawled into her brain to make her think it was even a remote possibility? She was crazy.
Gabe pushed the thought of matrimony out of his head. It had no place with what was happening here today.
“Are you okay?” Ben quirked an eyebrow as he came to stand beside Gabe. “You have a kind of funny look on your face.”
“Sometime we will have a drink and I’ll explain it all. You’ll probably get a kick out of it,” muttered Gabe. Everyone except Gabe was usually amused by Britney’s antics. He eyed Ben who looked like he might have put on a little more weight. Either that or the suit was a little tight and if such was the case, he needed a new tailor. Gabe resolutely put Britney’s comparison of his possible future physique to Ben’s out of his mind. “How are you holding up?”
Ben shrugged as he looked away. “The kids are asking when Nate’s coming back. Cora is a mess. Henry’s flight is delayed. If he’s not here in the next ten minutes, we will have to get Noah to take his spot.”
Gabe digested his cousin’s words before asking gently, “What about you?”
Ben drew in a steadying breath. “I always thought out of all of us, Nate would be the one to live to a hundred. He was always so healthy...”
Gabe put a hand on Ben’s shoulder in sympathy. At thirty-three, Ben was the youngest of his cousins. Second youngest, Gabe silently amended to himself. Now they knew about Uncle David’s extra-marital activities, they had more cousins in the Colborne brothers.
“Addison is sitting out with Cora and the kids,” Ben informed him.
“That’s good,” murmured Gabe. Addison was the only woman in the slew of male cousins which made up the Ramesly family.
“Henry,” Ben moved forward to greet his brother as a tired Henry set down his carry-on bag. The two embraced and the rest of the room greeted Henry by turns as they waited for the last of the mourners to be seated before the funeral.
∞∞∞
What had she been thinking?Britney wanted to put her head in her hands and just hide in the washroom. Instead she gathered up what was left of her dignity and left the stall to wash her hands.
It was always like this. Somehow her brain shut off and her mouth started running whenever Gabe was around. It was like he brought out the very worst in her even while she was trying to impress him. Talking about fertility and her overall health as though the logic of it would convince him to like her. Britney cringed as she eyed herself in the mirror. For the first time ever, she was a liar.
Just two days ago she had gotten the worst news of her life. Her health wasn’t perfect. Britney had known something was wrong which was why she had gone for tests. She had pain and unusual bleeding for the past few months. The doctor had informed her she had stage one endometrial cancer. He had said she was lucky to have noticed the symptoms and gotten checked out so quickly. Britney didn’t feel lucky when he recommended her uterus be removed. The risk was low the cancer would spread quickly, but surgery was considered the optimal solution. Followed by rounds of drugs to be certain the cancer was eradicated and scheduled screenings to see if it came back.
If she had the surgery she would never be a mom. Oh, she might adopt, but to never be pregnant, to never know what it was like to feel a baby kick, to have a life grow inside her, it was something precious to her and millions of other women.
Britney had always thought she would have kids. It had never been a question in her mind she would get married. However, she had never wanted to marry anyone other than Gabe. No matter who she dated, they just never measured up, never made her heart beat even the tiniest bit faster. By the look of horror on his face when she had made the ill-timed suggestion, Britney was the last person Gabe would ever want to marry.
She didn’t know why she had let her mother guilt her into coming. It was something about how the Crawford and Ramesly families needed to support each other since Daddy and David Ramesly had done business together.You know why you came,a little voice inside her head prompted. Youwanted to see Gabe again.
