Free Undertaking Love by Kat French Page A

a mental shake and pushed the door open, to find herself pleasantly surprised by the tasteful, welcoming decor. Not that she was sure what she’d been expecting. Cobwebs? A rattling skeleton in the corner, maybe? The reception desk looked empty apart from a bright jug of tulips, but then a slender, dark-haired girl straightened up from behind it and smiled.
    ‘Hi there, come on in.’
    Marla smiled back. Her fight wasn’t with Gabe’s pretty young receptionist.
    ‘Hi. Is Gabriel around, please?’
    The girl’s smile dimmed from mega watt to energy saver at Marla’s use of Gabe’s first name. She glanced quickly over her shoulder. ‘I can certainly check if he’s free. Who should I say is here?’
    Her eyes flicked up and down Marla’s red spotted tea-dress and high heels.
    ‘Marla Jacobs. From the chapel.’ Marla noticed the flash of recognition in the receptionist’s eyes and the energy saver smile disappeared altogether.
    ‘Ah. I see.’ She shook her head. ‘Well, I’m sorry. No. I’m afraid Gabe isn’t here right now.’
    The obvious way she shortened his name to stamp her position of authority infuriated Marla. ‘But you just said you’d check if he was free.’
    The girl shrugged. ‘I can tell him you called by, if you like?’
    That smile was back, this time simpering with saccharin instead of sugar.
    They stared at each other for a few long seconds. Short of yelling for him, there was nothing Marla could do.
    ‘Make sure you do that.’ Marla shot back through gritted teeth and turned on her heel.
    Gabe stuck his head through into reception. ‘Did I hear the door?’
    He looked up just in time to recognize Marla’s familiar red hair through the window as she stomped away.
    ‘That woman from the chapel, yeah.’ Melanie rolled incredulous eyes. ‘Some nerve, coming over here to cause trouble on our first day, eh?’
    ‘What did you say to her?’
    ‘Just that you were busy.’
    Gabe shook his head and tried not to sound as irritated as he was. ‘Ask me. Always ask me, okay?’ He opened the door and broke into a jog to catch up with Marla before she disappeared into the chapel.
    She stopped and slowly turned when he called her name.
    ‘Well, well, well. Did your receptionist give you permission to talk to me after all?’
    ‘Sorry, crossed wires. Did you, err … did you need something?’
    He glanced down at the diary clutched against her chest, and noticed the pale gold freckles on her throat as his eyes made their way back up to her face.
    She nodded. ‘We need to talk.’
    Gabe’s heart tripped a beat.
You’re telling me lady, you’re telling me.
‘I’m a bit tied up over there right now.’ He jerked his head back towards the funeral parlour, where he’d been in the middle of a practice session with his new pallbearers. ‘How about tonight?’
    Marla shook her head so hard that the pencil fell out of her hair and rolled along the pavement towards Gabe. ‘Tonight? God, no. I can’t. I’m, erm, I’m busy.’
    Gabe retrieved the pencil and handed it back to her, thinking how gorgeous she looked with her red waves released around her face. Why, Ms Jacobs, you’re beautiful! He thought it, but somehow managed to keep the cheesy line inside his head.
    ‘Tomorrow maybe?’
    ‘No, I’m busy tomorrow night too. In fact, I’m busy every night.
With my boyfriend
.’
    Boyfriend
. The word made Marla’s tongue feel too big in her mouth.
    ‘Your boyfriend?’
    ‘Yes, Gabriel, my boyfriend. You know – a man I actually enjoy spending time with, as opposed to one who is trying to ruin me?’
    Okay. So perhaps that came out a little more caustic than was strictly necessary, but Jesus, Gabe riled her something rotten. Why had he instructed his jumped up secretary to lie to her? And God knows he had no business looking so effortlessly cool in a suit, with his barely tamed curls kissing his collar like a flirty Sunday morning lover.
    ‘I meant tomorrow afternoon, Marla. Your