Undertaking Love Page 0,11
eyes and squinted towards the funeral parlour. Going by the amount of banging she could hear, there was still someone at work over there. Maybe she could try to speak with Gabe one to one, plead Marla’s case whilst she was safely away at that tricky meeting with the local bakery. They had a Star Trek wedding in a few weeks time and the bride had her heart set on a four-foot-wide Starship Enterprise cake.
The front door of the funeral parlour was locked, so Emily made her way around the back and clicked open the gate. She stopped short at the sight of a huge black hearse with its bonnet popped and a pair of navy overall clad legs poking out from beneath it.
‘Hello...’ she called out hesitantly, bending down a little to make sure Gabe heard her.
‘Just a sec, darlin’,’ a deep voice rumbled up, and a moment or two later the owner rolled smoothly out from beneath the jacked-up chassis. Emily looked away quickly. His overalls were un-popped right down the front, affording her a prime time view of his conker brown chest and a six-pack that would make Jonny whimper.
It wasn’t Gabe. This guy had none of Gabe’s brooding Heathcliff qualities, but he had his own charms. He made Emily think of sunshine and freedom and surfers with lips that tasted of sea salt. He jumped up when he saw her and wiped his oily hands on the front of his overalls.
‘I was looking for Gabe?’
He shook his head and shrugged his arms out of the sleeves of his overalls, turning slightly to reach for a T-shirt that hung on the car aerial. Emily swallowed as she glimpsed hard muscles and a large tattoo inked across the smooth skin of his back before the peach-soft pale blue cotton slipped over his head. It clung to him like a second skin.
He shoved the overalls off, and Emily thanked her lucky stars that he did at least have jeans on, although she couldn’t help but notice how the faded, frayed material did precious little to disguise his attributes. He balled up his work gear and chucked it aside, then stuck out his hand with a wide grin.
‘Nah, sorry, sweetheart. The main man isn’t around. I’m Dan. Will I do?’
She took his big brown hand and shook it.
‘I’m Emily, from the chapel.’
‘Well hello, Emily from the chapel.’
Dan’s blue eyes danced when he smiled again.
He leaned inside the kitchen and hooked a couple of bottles out of the fridge.
‘Fancy a beer?’
If it had been a different day, and if Dan had been slightly less gorgeous and accommodating, Emily definitely would have said no.
But it wasn’t a different day. It was the day after Tom had failed to turn up for their doctor’s appointment. The day after they’d had the mother of all rows. The day after Tom had spent the night on the sofa, and she’d barely slept at all.
As it was, she didn’t argue when Dan knocked the bottle tops off with a brick and handed her one, and she found herself sitting down alongside him on the back step to bask in the optimistic warmth of the spring afternoon sunshine.
‘So, Emily from the chapel. What do you want with our Gabriel?’
She took a good slug of beer for Dutch courage. ‘To appeal to his better nature, I guess?’
Dan laughed. ‘He’ll be sorry he missed that. Want to try to appeal to mine instead?’
Emily eyed him. The beer made her bold. ‘Depends. Have you got any sway around here? You look like the lackey to me.’
‘Ouch.’ He clutched at his heart. ‘I’ll have you know that I’m Gabe’s wing man.’
He took a long drink, and Emily noticed a bead of sweat running down his neck as he swallowed.
‘Goose to his Maverick.’ Dan paused. ‘Actually, no. He’s Goose. I’m way cooler.’
‘Okay then, Top Gun. Seeing as you two are so close, can you persuade him to take his dead bodies some place else, please?’
‘Aaah.’ Dan shook his head regretfully. ‘No can do, pretty lady. See, he’s dead set on this place.’
He laughed at his own wit.
‘Dead set … Get it?’
‘It’s not funny.’ Emily reproached him with a frown. ‘I love my job at the chapel.’
Dan hitched himself up on the doorframe and grabbed a couple more beers, then dropped back down and stretched his long legs out in front of him again.
‘So, Emily from the chapel … I’m guessing from that flashy sparkler on your finger that you’re married.’
He nodded towards