Something cold and heavy slipped onto my finger. When I looked down to see what it was, the most gorgeous ring was perched on the fourth finger of my left hand. Antique, ornate, and huge a hexagonal deep-purple amethyst, set in platinum with diamonds, glittered up at me. I held it in the glow of the garden light so I could really get a good look. It was magnificent, beautiful and far too extravagant for me, but I loved it mostly because Ethan had chosen it. My hand shook and the tears started. I couldn't have stopped them for anything. It was a good thing he'd just said he didn't mind my tears because they would be dripping all over him in another moment. These were definitely of the joyful variety, though.."I-I want to m-marry you. I d-do. I love you so much, Ethan." My words came out on a sob. I just was so overcome by him I could hardly absorb everything. and I'm sure my state of hyper-hormonal didn't help either.Ethan picked up my hand and kissed it, the familiar brush of his go
The shopping expedition proved my theory that this would be an exercise in lunacy."What do you mean you're not wearing these shoes?" Benny held up what had to be at least a six-inch Louboutin stiletto encrusted with crystals. "They're hot. You can pull it off, luv. Will make your legs miles long." I rolled my eyes at him. "And the point of that is?""To look sexy?"I shook my head at Ben. "No, darling. The point of the day is to get married, not to look like I work for an escort service." I pointed to my belly. "Pregnant, remember?" "Yeah." Gaby said sarcastically at my left. "I still can't believe you kept it a secret from me for nearly two weeks!""Sorry, it wasn't intentional, and have I mentioned that it was a total shock to my system? In more ways than one." I returned the sarcasm right back with good measure. "I'm barely starting to feel human." I frowned. "Emphasis on the Gaby shook her head. "I bet," she said, looking over a rack of dresses in hopes of finding something that
"We're going to sit down for a nice lunch and get fortified first, then it's back to work finding the perfect dress for your posh country celebrity wedding. Which is happening in seven short weeks." Ben looked upward and crossed himself. "We can do this." I couldn't resist texting Ethan over lunch. He seemed to enjoy our banter and usually replied if he wasn't in a meeting, and sometimes even when he was.Naughty texts too. I grinned as I typed: I might hay to go naked 2 marry u. No dress luck yet. Havin lunch now? I didn't have long to wait before my phone vibrated. No baby. U have it wrong. OK 2 B Naked for honeymoon ONLY! Dress essential 4 wedding. xx I laughed out loud and gained the unwanted attention of my friends. I tried to cover my mistake by delving into my salad. Didn't have a chance of working, though."Sexting again?" Ben asked with a smirk. "Sorry. It happens spontaneously." I tilted my head and shrugged. "Blame the hormones?" It was worth a shot to use the hormones at
I sat up and looked over at Brynne. She slept. In a comfortable guest bed, in her father's modern house, in a very nice suburb of San Francisco, my girl slept. She was crushed inside her heart, but for now she rested. She was unburdened from the grief for the moment.I couldn't let her out of my sight for more than a few hours, so leaving Lon- don and going to the States for her father's funeral without me was out of the question. What if they tried to take her on American soil? No, I couldn't risk the possibility. This was a day-by-day, hour-by-hour operation. Keeping Brynne safe was my greatest priority now, Olympics be damned. Neil was back in London stepping in for me, and between him and Frances, they'd keep the business ma- chine running. I wasn't troubled at all about my job. No, my worries were much, much bigger and vastly more terrifying.I hoped to shed some light on what had happened to Tom on this trip but didn't hold out much hope. Either way, I wasn't going down without
I think the Afghans experimented on me to see what all the fuss was about with waterboarding. It wasn't their preferred method, that's for sure. Winching me up by the arms and shredding my back was their favorite. That and depriv- ing me of sleep for what seemed like weeks at a time. The mind does crazy shit when there is no rest for the cogs. I looked up at the stars and thought of her. My mum. She was an angel up there somewhere. I knew this. Spirituality is deeply personal and I needed no other confirmation of what I believed other than what I knew to be real inside my heart. She was up there watching over me somehow and was with me when they were going to cut off myNope. Not going to that fucked-up horror right now. Later....I got up quickly and stubbed out my second ciggie. I tucked the butts back in the pack and went inside my father-in-law's nice American modern house. I'd never speak to him again, but ironically, one of the most important conver sations I'd ever had, when we
BRINLEY'S POV I was relieved when Ethan returned to me from wherever he'd been. I needed him, and everything seemed easier to bear when he was near. It made me very weak, which I despised in myself, but I couldn't help it, and was too exhausted to care. He was the only lifeline I had here. I wanted to go back home. Lon- don-home.He had two plates of food with him when he walked up."I brought you a little bit of everything." he said."Oh, thanks... but I'm not hungry at all. I can't eat that." I looked at the fruit and the croissant sandwich.He frowned and set his jaw. I knew I was in for an argument. "You have to eat something. What've you had today besides a little tea?" Ile whispered. "Think of the baby...""You can't force someone to eat. Trust me, I know from experience."My mother's disdainful voice broke into our exchange. No sentiment of"Ethan's right. Brynne, you need to eat because your baby needs food even if you don't feel hungry." No "You're eating for two now, dear"
Lance had been away at college, and I had been young and stupid. A long life- time ago. Another world ago. Did Karl know he was the reason Lance became angry enough to drug me, and then film his buddies using me on a pool table? If I'd never gone out with Karl, maybe Lance and his friends wouldn't have made the video of me at the party that night. The scenarios were endless. Woul- da, coulda, shoulda... Yeah, did me absolutely no good to go there."I heard about it from Jess, of course," he said, reaching an arm around her shoulders in a familiar affectionate gesture, "and I wanted to pay my respects in person." Jessica looked up at him with stars in her eyes. It didn't take a genius to see that my old friend had fallen hard for Karl Westman. He seemed very into her as well. I sincerely hoped it worked out for the two of them. They made a great couple.I forced a smile and did the best acting performance of my life. "I'm so happy to see you both. It's been far too long." Ethan drew me
"And I will be right with you every step of the way." I brought her hand up to my lips. "Promise.""How do you know about green-olive?" She actually smiled a little."I put Bump dot com in my favorites and check it religiously, just like you suggested. We have a green-olive this week, and next week we get a prune." I winked."I love you," she whispered very softly, and ran her hand through her hair."I love you too, my beauty. So very, very much."The attendant arrived with the hot towels and drink service. I got the wine, and Brynne got cranberry juice on ice. I waited until she took a sip. I didn't want to have to force-feed her, but would resort to persuasion tactics if I had to.To my surprise and relief she seemned to enjoy the cranberry juice."This tastes really, really nice." Another sip. "I'm picking up your words.""I can assure you that you still sound like my American girl, baby." "I know that, I mean I'm picking up the words you say, like saying 'thistastes nice' instead