Love Me Or Leave Me by Claudia Carroll Read Free Book Online

tears, would you say?’ Kirk had whispered softly, shooting her Mum a look of concern.
    No, her mother’s tears definitely weren’t happy ones. But it had still been a beautiful commitment service in spite of everything, Dawn forced herself to think, smiling bravely. If you could momentarily just leave aside the tsunami of negativity she and Kirk practically had to wade through, just so they could stand in front of each other that day. All the endless, countless objections from her family, because they were both so ridiculously young.
    Not that age even mattered, Dawn had spent at least six months before the wedding trying to convince just about everyone she knew. Like Kirk said, your age was just your number! Besides, when you knew, you just knew. And this was for life. She knew. Just knew.
    ‘It’s all just too much, too soon!’ her Mum had wailed, when Dawn broke the news that she was committed. (Kirk didn’t believe in the word ‘engaged’; too many negative connotations.)
    ‘And what in God’s name, I’d like to know, are the pair of you going to live off?’ she’d added crisply. ‘His earnings as a yoga instructor? The land? Good luck with that, my girl!’
    Implication heard and understood loud and clear. You’re only twenty-two years of age, missy, and you haven’t the first clue about either life or love. Wait and see, you’ll come running back quick enough just as soon as you start missing all the cushiness of home and having an M&S within a two-mile radius of the house. And when you realize that modern conveniences like electricity, heating and Sky Atlantic can’t be paid for by offering to send free Reiki and homemade yeast-free cookies into the ESB head office.
    A far greater disappointment though, had been Eva, who hadn’t exactly been leading conga lines around tables either, when she was first told the Big News.
    ‘Oh honey,’ she’d said worriedly, ‘I know you’ve always bought into that whole mind, body, spirit thing, but …’
    Dawn braced herself, instinctively sensing what was coming next.
    ‘But the thing is, I really have to speak my mind here or forever hold my peace. And the truth is that you’re rushing headlong into this. For God’s sake, you and Kirk only met a few months ago, this is complete insanity! So there now, I said it. It’s out there.’
    ‘Totally untrue, not to mention unfair!’ Dawn retorted defensively. ‘Besides, Kirk always says no one can measure the depths of love just in units of time …’
    ‘Yeah, right,’ Eva had muttered under her breath, as she sipped at her Pinot Grigio and angrily nibbled the bar nuts in front of her, tight-lipped. ‘I’ll bet he does.’
    Instinctively, Dawn had gone to diffuse the tension by hopping down off the stool she was perched on and giving Eva a spontaneous, tight bear hug.
    ‘Ah here,’ said Eva, impatiently shoving her away, ‘what’s with you suddenly hugging people for absolutely no reason? You nearly made me spill red wine all over my good suit!’
    ‘Just dispelling the negative energy between us,’ Dawn smiled, ‘that’s all.’
    ‘You never used to be like this,’ Eva said tersely, with her chin jutted out like she was gumming for a good, air-clearing row.
    ‘Like what?’
    ‘Like … well, you know.’
    ‘No,’ said Dawn, genuinely puzzled. ‘No, I don’t know.’
    ‘Alright then, you never used to behave like the way you’re carrying on these days. Like such a bloody flake-head.’
    ‘What did you just say?’
    ‘Come on, Dawn, surely you must see that guy has totally changed you! You used to be … normal. You know, fun to hang around with. But now all you want to do is sit around talking about what a fabulous soul Kirk is, or else telling me that my chakras are all out of alignment. And now you want to throw your whole life away before it’s barely even started, with someone you barely even know? For God’s sake, it’s almost a bit like Kirk and that shower of nutters he’s