Love Me by Cheryl Holt Read Free Book Online Page B

ceremony?  Why must you make the preparations even more difficult?”
    “I thought we could plan the wedding together—like a mother and daughter should—but it’s impossible.  I’ll handle it on my own.  You need to return to Santa Fe.”
    “I most certainly will not,” her mother huffed.  “I have appointments scheduled all day.”
    “Cancel them.”
    “No.  We have to pick the florist.”
    As if Brittney hadn’t spoken, her mother went back to reading her papers and jotting down notes. 
    Brittney studied her, and suddenly, she was consumed by the most powerful wave of animosity.  She had never understood her mother and really didn’t like her very much.  But she hadn’t realized that she harbored such potent hostility.
    That old and shameful memory swamped her again, of being five years old and waiting so pathetically to be noticed.  She kept banging her head on the Merriweather wall, wanting to feel that someone—anyone!—was glad to be related to her. 
    She was so alone and always had been.  As a girl, she’d moved around like a military brat, sent to a different school every semester, so she’d developed no long-term friendships.  College had been no better.  She’d been wary of other students and suspicious of unexpected overtures. 
    Whenever her wealth and status became known, people glommed onto her for all the wrong reasons.  She was the worst judge of character, unable to decide whose interest was sincere and whose was fueled by what that person could gain from an acquaintance.
    She’d mentioned to Matt Monroe that inappropriate men, with bad motives, occasionally threw themselves into her path, and she hadn’t been lying.  After she’d first started living on her own as a young adult, her father had paid off two unsavory boyfriends to make them go away.
    Yet here she was, desperate to be liked and accepted, bending over backward to please her mother, pretending Jacquelyn could behave normally.  But Jacquelyn’s antipathy was too ingrained.
    Brittney’s fury waned, and it was replaced by an overwhelming sadness. 
    Why am I getting married?
    The question rang through her mind again.
    Why proceed with a wedding where she wasn’t allowed to arrange the type of event she desired?  Why proceed when her brothers would never attend?  
    Jacquelyn had been adamant that she wouldn’t socialize with Dustin’s and Lucas’s wives.  If Brittney insisted on inviting her brothers, they would insist on bringing Amy and Faith, and Jacquelyn would have a fit.
    Brittney didn’t want her life to be like this.
    She wanted to know her brothers.  She wanted to meet their new families and be part of what they were building with those they loved.  What she didn’t want was to be trapped in this room with her caustic, insensitive mother who seemed to loathe Brittney.
    “You can hire a thousand florists,” Brittney quietly said, “but I won’t use any of them.”
    Brittney had finally managed to ignite Jacquelyn’s notorious temper.  Her mother whipped around.  “Honestly, Brittney, you’re acting like a baby, and I’ve had enough of your antics.”
    “I’m going to New York.  Andrew and I will figure something out.  Maybe we’ll elope.  I’m thinking that would be easier.”
    “Elope!”  Jacquelyn gasped.  “Like a…common person?  Don’t be stupid.”
    Footsteps sounded, and Brittney glanced over as Matt Monroe entered.  After the way he’d enraged her the previous afternoon, she’d thought she never wanted to see him again.  But just then, with her being crushed under the weight of all that was wrong in her world, she felt as if her hero had arrived.
    He must have heard the awful exchange with her mother, and she blushed.  She was embarrassed that he’d been privy to another private quarrel.
    “Excuse me,” he said to Jacquelyn, “but I have to speak with Ms. Merriweather.”
    “What is it?” Brittney inquired.
    “I’d like to ask you a