Undertaking Love Page 0,72
the empty lane. ‘Where’s your bike?’
‘Not here. I hitched a lift with Dan.’
Marla tried not to visualise Dan and Gabe cruising down her lane in the hearse. She nodded for him to follow her through to the kitchen, where she reached for the coffee beans and swung open the fridge to grab the milk. Her eyes landed longingly on the open bottle of champagne lurking next to the milk carton. Her fingers lingered on the neck of the bottle. Offering Gabe anything more serious than coffee was a risk, and drinking anything other than coffee around him was riskier still. ‘Unless you’d rather have champagne?’ Jesus. The treacherous words actually came out aloud.
‘It would be rude to refuse you on your birthday.’ He grinned.
Marla reached down an extra champagne flute and grabbed the bottle. ‘Come on, let’s go outside.’
Gabe glanced back towards the front door. ‘You go on out. I’ll just grab your present.’
Marla dragged a second sun lounger from the shed and set it up a safe distance from her own, then pushed the table between the two chairs for extra protection. She heard Gabe close the front door as she poured the champagne, and a second or two later he appeared in the garden carrying a wicker basket tied with ivory ribbons.
‘Oh God! It’s not alive, is it?’ It reminded her of puppy baskets from schmaltzy American movies.
‘Relax.’ He laughed easily. ‘It’s not alive.’ He set it down on the grass and accepted the glass she held out. ‘To you. Happy birthday.’ He clinked the rim of his glass against hers and watched her over the top.
She smiled. What else could she do in the circumstances? He’d rumbled her cover story right away, so she could hardly knock the champagne back and run out the door. Besides, where would she go? She was slightly squiffy with wild hair and a crumpled sundress. The pub garden would be her only viable option, and there was something unbearably grim about drinking in the pub alone on your birthday. In your own garden, fine, but in public? No.
Besides, she wanted to stay in.
It had been her fabulous plan. She’d loved that plan.
But right now, curiosity was getting the better of her. She wanted to know what was in that basket. Gabe nudged it towards her as they perched on their respective loungers.
‘Open it, then.’ His dark eyes flashed as he took a long swig of his champagne.
Marla wrinkled her nose and placed her glass down carefully on the table. Sparkles of undeniable excitement bubbled in her belly. Her life hadn’t been big on presents up to now. As a child her parents had always encouraged her to pick out her own birthday gifts, more for their own convenience than her pleasure, she now realised. Hell, she’d even chosen her own card most years.
The ivory ribbons fell away with the gentlest of tugs, and she wound them around her fingers and placed them on the table beside her drink.
Gabe sipped his champagne. ‘You’re one of those annoying people that opens their presents ridiculously slowly and folds the paper up, aren’t you?’
She shook her head. ‘I’ve no idea. I don’t usually get presents.’
His brow furrowed, and she scolded herself. She didn’t like the idea that she’d let her guard down. Bloody champagne.
She unbuckled the leather straps on the basket and lifted the lid.
Inside lay a folded up blanket, its pattern so distinctive that a wide grin of appreciation spread instantly across her face. The stars and stripes.
‘Wow! Thank you!’ She hopped to her feet and spread it out over the short, dry grass to admire it properly.
Large and soft enough to snuggle under on a wintry evening, it moved her that he would put such thought into his gift. But then she already knew he was a thoughtful when it came to presents, didn’t she?
‘I love it.’ She beamed at him as she dropped down in the middle of the blanket. He topped up her glass and handed it to her.
‘Hungry?’
He nodded towards the basket again, and she realised that the blanket had hidden further gifts from view.
She crawled towards the basket and stared at the contents in surprise.
Food. Lots of it. See-through containers with little American flags attached to them announcing their contents.
Chicken salad with ranch dressing. Florida coleslaw. BBQ ribs. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Pumpkin pie. S’mores. Frosted cookies. The list went on and on, all American favourites right down to the bottles of Budweiser to wash it all down.
Marla’s