Love Me Read Online Free

together with her and her mother, he had more in common with Jacquelyn than Brittney, and Brittney was still figuring out how she felt about that.
    “Andrew?”  She was determined to snag his attention, but he didn’t answer.  “Andrew!” she repeated more irritably.
    “Yes, darling,” he eventually said.  “What is it?”
    She gnashed her teeth.  She hated it when he called her darling.   It sounded so outdated and pretentious. 
    “You’re terribly busy.  I’d better let you go.”
    “No, no, I always have time for you.”  Even though he wasn’t actually interested, he asked, “How are the preparations coming along?”
    She’d attempted to discuss them with him once, but he’d insisted he would be fine with whatever she chose.  She hadn’t raised the topic again.
    “I’m exhausted,” she said.  “It’s difficult for me, being here by myself with my mother.”
    “I know.”
    “I make a decision, but she immediately counters it.  My opinions don’t matter.”
    “Would you like me to speak to her?”
    “No,” she scoffed.  “I can deal with my own mother.  I just need to vent.”
    And for you to listen to me.
    “I’ll try to join you next week,” he said.  “It will be easier for you if I’m there.”
    “Do you think we could—“
    “Hold on,” he interrupted.  There was another exasperating pause, and when he finally returned, he hurriedly explained, “I have to go.  I’ll call you tonight.”
    He hung up before she could say goodbye. 
    She stared at the phone, then hit the off button.
    This would be her life with him.  Conversations cut short.  Broken plans.  Inattention.  Her husband would be focused on the world and money and his lucrative ventures and everything but her.
    She’d allowed herself to be caught up in the idea of marrying, but she was growing terrified that what he would bring to the union was not what she wanted.
    The notion panicked her, and she refused to consider it. 
    It’s bridal jitters , she told herself.  It was the fact that she was feeling overwhelmed and hadn’t had a moment to absorb what she’d set in motion.
    Wedding fever was in the air, with the Merriweather siblings tying the knot left and right.
    Her brother, Lucas, had gotten married at Christmas.  Her brother, Dustin, was marrying in a few days.  Was that why she’d been so eager when Andrew had proposed?
    She’d been given the chance to marry too, and she’d jumped at the opportunity.  She couldn’t change her mind, couldn’t back out.  She had to calm down and behave like the sensible, centered woman she was.
    She took a deep breath, let it out, then proceeded to the front parlor to find her mother.  As she walked down the hall and entered the foyer, her mother was out on the verandah and waving to someone in a van that was pulling out of the driveway.
    “Brittney,” Jacquelyn said as she came inside, “there you are.”
    “Who was that?”
    “The caterer.”
    Jacquelyn went to the stairs as if she’d climb to her room. 
    “Where’s he going?  I thought we were meeting with him at one o’clock.”
    “We rescheduled.” 
    “You talked to him without me?”
    “Yes,” Jacquelyn admitted without an ounce of shame, “and I hired him.  The food will be fantastic.”
    Brittney was roiled by a flood of anger so potent that little red dots of fury darted through her vision.  Her head was pounding so hard that she wondered if she was about to suffer a stroke.
    “Mother!” she snapped like a petulant toddler. 
    Jacquelyn was already on the fourth step.  From her higher vantage point, she glared down at Brittney like an imperious queen.
    “What is it?”
    “Stop this.”
    “Stop what?”
    “Stop planning my wedding for me.  I swear to God, if you don’t knock it off, I’ll send you home to Santa Fe, and I’ll finish up without you.”
    Jacquelyn scoffed.  “As if you could manage an event of this magnitude without my