Page 19 of Trusting His Heart
“Exactly. I love sharing culture and watching people admire these artefacts, but nothing annoys me more than when people buy them as souvenirs to wear.”
“Wow, I had no idea,” she squeezed Geoffrey’s hand, “I think I need to go back home and check out the Smithsonian again.”
“You should,” Daku agreed, “When I was on exchange in Canada, they sponsored a trip to see the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian Institute. This here,” he waved his hand, “Was inspired by that visit.”
After Daku left them, Bec remained conscious of Geoffrey by her side, his arm gently around her, warding off any other male suitors. She felt protected, special and a little surprised how lost she felt when he left her side briefly to get them drinks.
He caught her eye in apology when his return to her was delayed by acquaintances stopping him for conversation. Bec didn’t know if their relationship had reached the point where she could join him and introduce herself. What if he introduced her as a colleague or friend? Not only would she be embarrassed, but so hurt and feel stupid in having built up the relationship in her mind to something he wasn’t ready for or interested in.
AHHHHHH, she thought, moving towards the bar to get herself the drink he promised her rather than stand alone.
“Bec, my darling, I’m glad you are here!”
“Derek! I didn’t expect to see you.” Bec said as the head of the consulting firm she worked for greeted her warmly.
“I assume you are here on a date – with Geoffrey?” he asked, looking around.
“Derek, I don’t know if you would call it a date …” she started.
“Well, I would,” A wave of jealousy had washed over Geoffrey when he saw Derek approach Bec. They had been friends long enough for Geoffrey to have witnessed Derek’s reputation with women was well founded. He refused to let Derek spend one minute alone with his Bec.
Geoffrey quickly excused himself from his old friends to reclaim his place at Bec’s side.
Unfortunately, Derek wanted to be the life of the party and gathered other friends around.
“Sorry,” Geoffrey whispered to Bec, “I didn’t expect this night to become a group event.”
“No problem, they have an interesting way of letting me get to know you,” Bec giggled as each of his friends shared stories and gently ribbed them about their budding relationship.
“Wait until they start in on you,” Geoffrey warned, at the same time looking forward to getting to know Bec better through her answers to his friends’ questions.
“So, Rebecca,” started one of the wives, “Have you ever been married? Do you have any children?”
Darn, he thought.
“Bec,” he said softly, his arm around her waist, feeling her stiffen and then shrug. He tried to pull her away from the group.
“It’s okay, Geoffrey,” she refused to move, “It was an innocent question,” her beautiful eyes glistened with the threat of tears. Turning, in a controlled voice she said, “I was married. He died eighteen months ago of cancer. We didn’t have the chance to have children.”
The woman who had asked the question looked mortified and for a moment, the group collectively didn’t know where to look or what to say.
Thankfully, Derek, quickly diverted attention to juicy gossip about one of his competitors who recently returned from holidays with a “completely refreshed look.”
“Are you okay?” Geoffrey whispered to Bec as she let him lead her away from the gallery crowd.
“I think so,” she replied, picking up a glass of water from a roaming waiter. “I didn’t expect to meet your friends, nor did I expect to answer questions about my husband.”
“I’m sorry, she had no idea. I do blame Derek for gatecrashing our date,” he tried to coax a smile from her in vain.
“Don’t blame Derek. I shouldn’t be so sensitive, I should be over it by now.”
Geoffrey saw her pain and desperately tried to find the right words. He settled for stroking her arm as she held the empty glass and motioned to a waiter for another one.
“Sweetheart, whatever you are feeling, I assure you that it is natural for you, right now. What can I do?”
“Nothing,” she said too quickly.
The magic of earlier vanished and in an instant Geoffrey felt they returned from almost lovers back to friends. He struggled to find the words to respond.