Her Nine Month Confession by Kim Lawrence

Author:Kim Lawrence
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-10-09T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

BEN HATED THIS awful white box of a room. He hated hospitals, he hated relying on medical science, he hated feeling helpless, useless... Ben surged to his feet, wincing as his chair scraped noisily on the floor.

In her cot Emmy continued to sleep, although she stirred a little and so did Lily in her chair. Quietly he made his way to the door and, holding his breath, closed it carefully behind him. He turned and found Elizabeth Gray standing there watching him.

Since he had made his bone-marrow donation her attitude had thawed. There was just a thin layer of frost now when she spoke to him.

Ben didn’t blame her.

‘They’re asleep. I was just going to get some fresh air.’

‘Lily said you reminded her of a tiger in a cage.’

‘Did she? I don’t really like hospitals. Can I get you anything? Coffee?’

Ben took her rejection philosophically and was about to move away when her voice made him turn back.

‘Can I ask you something that I’ve always been curious about?’

‘Sure you can ask. I can’t guarantee I’ll answer.’ Having braced himself to defend behaviour that, from any loving parent’s point of view, was indefensible her actual question took him by surprise.

‘Your parents had what most people would call an unhappy marriage.’

‘That’s putting it politely. Others would call it hell.’

‘I always wondered, why did they stay together? They weren’t religious or—?’

Ben gave a dry laugh. It was a question he had asked himself on more than one occasion. ‘Honestly, I don’t have a clue. They both threatened it over the years, but neither carried through... Maybe in some twisted way, for them at least, the marriage worked...’ he speculated with a mystified shake of his head ‘...or it could be that they were just too stubborn to admit they’d made a mistake.’

Elizabeth nodded. ‘Some people should not be together.’

‘Marriage is a leap in the dark,’ he countered cynically.

‘What about your investments? Don’t they involve the same thing?’ she teased gently.

He angled a narrow-eyed look at her face. ‘Are you trying to get in my head, Mrs Gray?’

She smiled. ‘Call me Elizabeth.’

‘Risks are easy when you’re only dealing with money, Elizabeth.’

‘You know, I think I might have that coffee, Ben.’

* * *

He sprinted for the lift, silently cursing the estate agent who’d made him late. He glanced at his watch—had he missed the doctor’s round?

It was all the estate agent’s fault. The guy had been creating problems where there were none, as far as Ben was concerned. He had zero interest in getting the best deal or calling anyone’s bluff. If the vendors wanted more money, they could have it.

In the end, he’d had to spell it out.

‘Give them a blank cheque. I don’t give a damn, so long as I have the keys for tomorrow.’

The guy had looked at him as though he was insane.

‘Blank cheque?’ he’d echoed, sounding scandalised by the suggestion.

Ben had silenced him with a look.

This morning the guy had been sitting with his commission cheque in

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