Priceless (11 page)

Out of the mouths of babes.

The surprise pregnancy turned out to have been the best thing for them, though.  I’d never seen Ethan so grounded as he’d become since finding Brynne and discovering they were going to have a child.  Brynne had utterly transformed him.  Despite their troubles, and there had been some nasty ones, they were making a go of things together, and I had no doubts they’d do splendidly.  After all, when you love a person, and they love you back, just about any storm can be weathered.

But they have to love you back
or it doesn’t work…

“Prince Harry is
far too old for you, young lady.”  I stuck my spoon into Zara’s bowl and stole a bit of her ice cream while making a show of it with some sneaky sound effects.

She
giggled at me again and held her bowl up closer so I could have some more if I liked, the generous offer to share with me so sweetly and freely given.  Children had this quality when they were young, but it went away as the years passed, and the learning of the harsh lessons of life.  It happened to all of us, and it would happen to Zara someday.  We learned to protect our hearts a little more with each time something came along to hurt it.

Sad
, but true.    

Growing up an only child
, I’d depended on my Blackstone cousins a great deal more than they did me, because they’d had each other after our mothers died together in the same car crash.

They
’d also had a father that paid attention to them.

Hannah, being older
, had pretty much slipped into the big-sister role with me along with Ethan.  I loved her for it, and there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her, or her family.  Her husband Fred, or Dr. Greymont as he was known amongst the locals, was a country doctor along with helping her to run Hallborough House as an upscale bed and breakfast hotel.  I admired them so much.  Their family, the life they had created, the people they were.  They had everything I didn’t have, and yet they loved me in spite of my sordid cock-up of an existence.  There was never any judgment or censure with Hannah and Freddy.  I was in tight with them.  Damn, if that didn’t feel fucking wonderful I couldn’t say what did. 

Ethan
and Brynne were going to have what Hannah and Freddy had together.

The purpose for my vis
it here was to get my cousin ball-n-chained, after all.  The rehearsal was tomorrow and the wedding the following day, so this weekend was all about my family and supporting something good and blessed for once.

B
eing asked by Ethan to stand up for him as his best man was an honour and a privilege for me.  It created feelings I rarely felt, and had trouble processing whenever I did.  I’d have to give it my best shot, of course.  This was the universal understanding amongst Hannah, Ethan, and me that went back as far as we did together.  If any of us ever needed the other, or help of any kind, we would be there.  No questions asked and no problem. 

The sound of
a car horn blasted obnoxiously from out the front, interrupting my thoughts, and announcing the beginnings of an invasion that would only grow to epic proportions in the next days as the hoards made their way to the celebrity wedding of the summer. 

“
Now that sounds to me as if the bride and groom have finally arrived,” Fred announced his prediction.

T
he three kids jumped up from the table eager and bouncing to get outside to greet Ethan and Brynne.

“Yep, I’d say that was the starting buzzer
, all right.  Game on now,” I told them, “the die is cast, my dears, and you don’t have a choice about hosting this do anymore.”

Hannah laug
hed at my comment and snuck her arm around my waist as we followed the kids outside.

It was really happening.

Ethan Blackstone was gettin’ shackled.

EVENT planners deserved the Nobel Prize.
  My cousin surely did, anyway.

Good, fucking lord I don’t know how Hannah managed to pull this
shit together and not saw anyone’s head off.  The furor going on around me made me consider just getting the hell out of the way.  Would anyone notice if I snuck off in Nelly and flew her back to Donadea?

Come tomorrow afternoon
somebody might notice.  I’d better just suck it up and try to make myself useful.

Ethan and Brynne we
re busy with settling in her mum and step-dad, Hannah was directing at least three different crews working on separate things: organizing the new house for the wedding night, the erection of a tent city in the garden, and other crap that overwhelmed me.  Fred had been called to the hospital, and I’d kept the kids busy all morning with target practice.  Uncle Jonathan had taken them to the cinema about an hour ago, and I was now with nothing to do but arse about.

I texted Hannah.
 
Put me to work, lady.

She hit me right back
.
  God I luv u.  I need u to p/u Brynne’s people @ Taunton Sta. and bring here.  Take my car.  Keys on pantry hook.  3 guests - Ben, Gaby & Mum.  Ben will stand in 4 her dad and Gaby is MoH.  Thank u!!!

No
w this was a job I could manage without a cock-up.  Collect wedding party guests from the train station and bring them here.
 
I can do that. xo

I was guessing that MoH meant maid
-of-honour.  So this would be my partner I was meeting.  And I remembered E telling me about Brynne’s photographer friend she’d asked to give her away at the ceremony.  Sweet girl had recently lost her father in an accident Ethan wasn’t convinced had been an accident.  Heinously tragic situation with no good outcome.

Yeah, t
he world was full of crazy fucks for sure.  I certainly had no trouble attracting them either.

BEN
read the message from Ethan’s sister to us out loud from his phone, “My cousin is on his way to you now and will bring you up to Hallborough.  Look for the tall deadly handsome one.  You can’t miss him.  LOL. See you soon.  Hannah.”

One look at his
wide, suggestive eyes paired with the leering grin and I knew exactly what Benny was thinking.

I shook my head at him and rolled my eyes
right back.  “Filan, your son thinks his mission in life is to find me a man.  Can you make him stop?”  I pleaded to Ben’s mom.

“Oh, my darling, Gabriellen, I think not
.  You are too beautiful to be without a man holding you happy in his arms at night.”

I threw up my hands in frustration and raised my eyes heavenward.  “I see where he gets it now.”

Filan Clarkson loved her son so very much, but she also loved to mother his friends. She always called me Gabriellen no matter how many times I told her there was no “n” on the end of my name.  I’d given up correcting her a long time ago, and I didn’t really even care at this point.  She was a stunning woman, a former fashion model who’d made a life for herself in London after fleeing her native Somalia.  It was easy to see where Ben got his drive to succeed, as well as his looks.  She loved to cook big Sunday meals and invite everyone over to eat.  And having someone mother you when your own was gone wasn’t a terribly bad thing after all.  I turned away and left them there snickering behind my back while I went to find the loo.

I checked myself in the
station bathroom and saw how pale I looked.  The strep throat had definitely taken a toll on my body.  I’d lost weight and didn’t at all look my best, but there was nothing I could do about it. I pinched my cheeks and shook a hand through my hair to fluff it out before I stopped myself and asked why in the hell it even mattered.  I wasn’t the bride.  Nobody would be looking at me.

It was time for me to take a pill
anyway.  My antibiotics still had two days to go before I finished.  The doctor had been strict about taking the pills on time, and until the last one was gone, or I could have a reoccurrence.  Nope.  Not happening.  One bout of strep was more than enough and I never wanted to experience that kind of pain or sickness again.

I headed to the concession area inside the station and bought a bottle of Vitamin Water Orange-Orange.  My favorite.  I swallowed my horse pill and went back outside to where I’d left Ben and Filan.

I could see that our “ride” had found them while I was off.  I guessed he must be the cousin, because he shook Ben’s hand before politely greeting Filan.  He was tall like Hannah had mentioned, but I couldn’t tell about the “deadly handsome” part because his back was facing me as I walked toward them.  His ass looked good in the jeans he was wearing.  Um, yeah.

Ben saw me coming and held out his hand
, urging me over.  “Gaby, this is Ivan, Ethan’s cousin and best man for the wedding.”

I put a smile on my face
in preparation of meeting my partner for the weekend.  No need to be unfriendly.  Hopefully he was as nice as he looked…

He started to turn toward me.

“Ivan, meet Gaby.  Brynne’s maid-of-honour to your best man.”

I noticed the hair first.  He had the kind of hair you remembered.

Then the shape of his chiseled jaw as he turned his head.

Finally, it was the eyes
that verified things for me.  Those arresting green eyes of his latched onto mine for the third time in my life.

No, it cannot be him.  Ivan.  Ivanhoe.

This just couldn’t be right.

But it was him.  And Ivan
was
his name.  A wave of desperation hit me as I remembered him telling me his full name.  He’d introduced himself properly when we’d both made a second attempt at introductions before everything blew up.  He’d turned to me in the front seat of his car and said, “Gabrielle Hargreave, it’s a pleasure to meet you.  Ivan Everley, inheritor of all this…and of course, shuttle driver for lost American art students.”

Every
thing clicked into place in those long seconds as I froze in step on the train station platform.  It all made sense now.  Who he was.  Why he’d attended the Mallerton Gala that night.  How he had connections to Paul Langley and the university.

Brynne had wanted me to meet him.  She
’d tried to introduce us before her life was turned upside down with a surprise pregnancy and then the death of her father.

Why didn’t I figure this out before?

Ivan Everley was Ethan’s cousin who owned the houseful of paintings…

And
I was so dreadfully screwed right now.

I lifted my chin and stood there, waiting to be called out by him, my proverbial neck stretched out on the chopping block ready for his axe.

But it didn’t happen like that.

No, instead he flashed me a smile that hit me right in the chest, and extended his hand.

“Gaby.  So nice to finally meet you.  E’s been telling me about you for weeks.”

I stared down at his han
d and then looked up at his face again.

Smooth and calm, h
e kept with the devastating smile, hand still reaching out, waiting for me to take hold.

He’s pretending we’ve never met before
.

My whole body seized into a state of paralysis.

Thank God he’s pretending we’ve never met before.

I just stood there like a mute, relief coursing through me in a torrent.

Ben cleared his throat and asked, “Are you all right, luv?”

Filan laid the back of her hand on m
y forehead to check if I was feverish and inquired, “Gabriellen?”

“You look like you’ve just seen a ghost, Gaby,” Ivan said softly, tilt
ing his head at me in question.  “I hope I haven’t frightened you.”  His deep green eyes sparked in amusement, the color even more stunning in the full light of day.

“
Ivan, h-h-hello,” I breathed, “n-no, you h-haven’t.”  I put my hand into his and felt the heat of his skin as he shook it.  More gibberish came out of my mouth, but I couldn’t say what exactly as I was having trouble controlling my breathing to speak any words at all.

Then he winked at me.  And st
roked his index finger along my palm as he pulled away.

A squeaky moan escaped
my throat.

I could feel
each of their eyes on me, probably wondering what in the hell kind of affliction had suddenly overtaken me.  Ivan looked positively gleeful. 
Ass.

Filan broke the tension. 
“Our Gabriellen has been ill you know, Mr. Everley, and I think the train has exhausted her and she needs to rest in bed before rehearsal tonight.”

He
gave an elegant bow of his head.  “Of course she does, Mrs. Clarkson.”  Then he moved beside me and pressed his hand to my back.  “It sounds to me like you’re being put to bed, whether you need it or not,
Gaby
,” he said teasingly, before steering us toward a silver-blue Range Rover.  He opened the front passenger side door for me and gestured with his other hand.  “In you go.”

“Thanks
,” I managed, unable to do anything other than follow his instructions.

While Ben loaded our luggage, Ivan
settled me in and helped me with my seatbelt, the delicious scent of him invading my senses and bringing back memories I couldn’t afford to have banging around in my head again.

As he pulled back I swear he inhaled a breath
and I felt the tips of his hair brush over the side of my jaw, making a tingle slide down my spine.

No way.

How in the hell would I survive the next three days with him?

I didn’t say anything as Ben and Filan chatted with Ivan on the drive.  I observed and assessed, too shocked to join in.  I needed a bit of time with this whole thing.

Ivan’s hands were beautiful just like the rest of him.  There was an unusual tattoo on his right ring finger that I got quick glimpses of when we’d stop at a light and he’d release the hold on the steering wheel.  From what I could tell, it looked like a heraldic crest.  Then I remembered he was aristocracy.  He’d corrected me when I’d said he was an earl and told me he was only a “lowly baron.”  He didn’t seem to be worried about our meeting in the slightest.  In fact, he looked supremely pleased with himself,
and
very amused by our situation.

The
cocky grin on his face stayed there for the entire drive up to Hallborough.

Mo
therfucker-asshole-shithead-bastard.

“YEAH,
well, Elaina’s friend from France will be maid-of-honour now, and I need to add another groomsman to even out the couples.  I know the wedding’s only six weeks out, but will you do it, mate?”

McManus was a good friend.  I’
d met him through E of course, but we’d logged some serious hours together over the years and I knew he was asking because he counted me as the same.  I was happy for him and Elaina.  Happy for Ethan and Brynne.  Happy for my people who’d managed to find the one they couldn’t dream of living without.

If I was totally honest I could accept that the feeling had never been there for me
.  Not even with…
her.

We all know she certainly didn’t feel it for me—

Neil interrupted my morose thoughts about my ex with something far more intriguing.  “You’ve met Gaby, yeah?  Elaina said she’d pair the two of you up together at ours.  She’s beautiful, intelligent, and a complete darling.  I’m sure the two of you will get on brilliantly.”

My head snapped up to meet his suggestive grin and my brain switched the fuck on.

“Right,” I said smoothly.  “Gaby is lovely, I agree.  I’ve only just met her a while ago when Hannah sent me down to the station to bring them up to the house.”  It appeared that we were both lying about having met before.  I had no problem with pretending if she didn’t.

“So, can I tell Elaina you’ll do it?” Neil asked hopefully.

“How can I say no to you, you romantic sod?  I’d be honoured to stand up for you while you shackle yourself to your beloved.”