The Bitter Price Of Love

‘Mum, if you could get up and walk, you would. We all know that,’ Maggie said as she wiped her eyes.

‘And I am going to get on with my life,’ Reba added quickly. ‘That’s my other piece of news. I’m going to get married.’ There, it was out, and she hadn’t made a mess of it—yet.

Harriet Wyeth’s surprise quickly changed to delight. ‘Married? Why, Reba, that’s wonderful news. Who is it? Do I know him?’

‘His name is Eliot, Mother. Eliot Thorson the Third, to be exact. You don’t know him, but I’m hoping you’ll meet him soon.’

Her mother’s eyes widened. ‘Good heavens, with a name like that, he sounds well off.’

Reba laughed, even as she felt heat invade her cheeks. ‘Actually, his family does happen to own one of the largest hotel chains in the States,’ she enlightened them calmly, hoping they would mistake guilt for self-consciousness.

‘Do you love him very much, Reba?’ Harriet asked softly.

Love him? In an instant Reba’s mind threw up the picture of a pair of intense blue eyes, before the need for self-preservation made her blank it out. They weren’t for her, and right now she couldn’t allow herself to remember that pain.

‘Yes, I love him. Eliot’s a wonderful man.’ The lie tripped easily off her tongue. She was getting good at it. ‘You’ll like him.’

Harriet smiled. ‘Of course I will. I’ll like any man who loves you and can make you happy, Reba. It’s been my dearest wish that you should fall in love one day,’ she added gently, unwittingly opening a wound that could never heal.

Pain caught Reba unprepared, and she was glad her watery eyes and smile were misinterpreted. ‘Everything is turning out right after all, isn’t it?’ she said gruffly. ‘We’re fighters and survivors, and we’ve won through.’

Harriet Wyeth laughed through her own tears. ‘Yes, darling, we have. And now you’re going to do something for yourself and be happy, Reba.’

Reba uttered a choked laugh. ‘I will be. Marrying Eliot will make me happy. Very, very happy,’ she insisted firmly.

‘So when is the wedding to be, and can I be bridesmaid?’ Maggie asked, grinning all over her face because her world had been miraculously brightened.

Reba pulled a wry face. ‘We haven’t decided. Actually, Eliot doesn’t even know I’ve accepted.’ Seeing their two startled expressions, she eased in yet another lie. ‘You see, he asked me before this assignment, and although I would have said yes, Eliot insisted I take this time to make sure. I had to see you first—that’s why I’ve told you. I’m going to fly back to New York and tell him myself, now that I know you’re OK.’ This was make or break. If her mother should smell a rat…

But she didn’t; she merely shook her head and laughed.

‘You young people do things in the most crazy way! Now, take a deep breath and tell me all about him.’

With her boats well and truly burned, Reba could do nothing else but accept the invitation with all the enthusiasm she could muster. Perhaps if she told herself she would be happy often enough, one day it might even come true.

CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_6497dbe2-a32e-5438-aedd-44da82ef6a2e)

REBA flew back to New York in the middle of the following week. Those few days with her family had been a strain, but somehow she had managed to get through them without breaking down. That first evening at home she had cried long into the night, her tears muffled by her pillow, but it had been the last time. Afterwards she told herself firmly that there was nothing to gain from thinking it could have been different, that Eliot was the wrong man. What was done was over, and now Eliot was the only man.

Which was why she didn’t waste time unpacking when she returned to her apartment. Instead she took a quick shower and changed into a fashionable suit with a short black skirt and buttercup-yellow jacket. Once again she made up well, needing to mask her vulnerable emotions and give them some necessary protection. A dash of perfume, and she was ready to go and search out Eliot, knowing that the sooner this was over the better. She had to be honest with him about her mother, for which she had permission now that they were to be family.

As expected, he was in his office at the family’s flagship hotel. He wasn’t expecting her, but the pleasure on his face when he saw her walk in warmed her aching spirit.

‘Hello, Eliot. I hope I’m not disturbing you,’ she apologised, closing the door behind her and advancing into the wood-panelled office.

He met her halfway. ‘You have my permission to disturb me any time you like, sweetheart. I’m always happy to see you, you know that. God, you look so beautiful, I’m just going to have to kiss you!’ he declared, and proceeded to do just that. Reba returned the kiss more warmly than she ever had, making a statement he wasn’t sure he understood, from the way he frowned down at her when he raised his head again. ‘Reba?’

She laughed, but it was off-key. ‘Yes, Eliot. I came home early to give you my answer, and the answer is yes, I will marry you.’

Uncertainty turned to joy, and he swept her back into his arms, hugging her almost breathless. ‘You’ll never regret it, sweetheart, never. I know you don’t love me, but you will. I’m going to love you so much that you won’t be able to help yourself!’

Reba’s hands clutched at the fine material of his jacket, laughing a little desperately as her eyes misted. ‘Oh yes, Eliot, do that! And I promise I’ll make you a good wife. We’ll be happy, won’t we?’ It was a cry from the depths of her despairing heart.

‘Ecstatically happy,’ he agreed as he released her and, with the eagerness of a small boy, crossed to his desk and buzzed his secretary. ‘Hilary, get them to send up a bottle of the finest champagne and two glasses, will you? And while you’re about it, ring my jeweller and have them bring round a selection of engagement-rings. Reba has just agreed to marry me.’

Reba didn’t hear what Hilary said, but it obviously pleased Eliot, for he laughed and rubbed his hands. Shaking his head and grinning, he stood and stared at her as if unable to believe his luck.

‘You realise she’ll spread it all around the building?’ she said wryly. It was done now, a fact, and soon everyone would know. There was no turning back.

‘Who cares? I’m the happiest man alive right now, and I want everyone to know it!’ he declared, then sobered a little. ‘Come to think of it, I’d better tell my family soon. There will be hell to pay if they hear it through the jungle-drums first. What about your family? You can ring them from here if you like.’

This was the awkward moment Reba had been anticipating, and she licked her lips, rubbing her hands along her skirt nervously. ‘They already know. I had to go home to England first, because my mother was taken ill.’

Eliot was by her side in a second, urging her towards a leather couch and sitting down beside her. ‘Nothing serious, I hope?’