Eleven Days: An Unexpected Love (22 page)

With
in twenty minutes
she
was
fully dressed. When
she
walked out of the dressing room Mike w
his
tled. He thought
she
looked breathtaking. He knew
with
her
on
his
arm, many men
would
be turning their heads. Looking at
her
waist, it couldn't be over twenty-two inches, and
that
made
her
bust look even larger. He raised
his
eyebrows, w
his
tled again. "I think you are a show stopper."

"Thanks honey."
She
didn't think
she
had ever been t
his
happy even
with
the sadness of the memorial.
O
bvious
ly,
he
was
proud of the way
she
looked, and for the first time in a long time, it mattered what a man thought of
her
.

*****

They pulled up to the First Methodist church, and hundreds of cars were lined up along the road. Many of them were police cars. Mike had a spot reserved for him in the front of the church. Once he pulled in he took a deep breath.

As they walked in the church everyone stared at them, trying to figure out who
's
with
Mike. Many of the mourners acknowledged Mike and looked at
Lana
bewildered. They knew Mike
didn't date
anyone, so who
was
t
his
woman?
She
enjoyed their uncertain looks, enjoyed
being the mystery
woman. "W
here do you want me to sit?"
Lana
asked.

"I want
you to sit
with
me."

"Do you mind if I sit a few rows back? I think you need to sit
with
your guys."

"
That
's fine honey, if
it
makes you feel more comfortable."

"I
t
would
make me feel better because your place is
with
your men.
" He found
her
a seat three rows behind him.

Mike sat down
with
some big men and he said something to them and they all turned around and
looked at
Lana
.
She
smiled, but
she
was
disconcerted by their stares, and
she
wondered what Mike said to them.
She
did recognize some of them from TV.
She
took a deep breath, no
do
ubt now,
his
men knew about
her
.
That
thought made
her
heart happy
that
he told him men about
her
. T
his
moment
was
a big milestone in their relationship.

Lana
noticed Mike turned around and checked on
her
several times
during the ceremony
.
She
couldn't help thinking about attending James' funeral
would
have been a lot easier if Mike
stood
at
her
side
and held
her
hand
.

Out of nowhere
Lana
could hear a conversation between two women behind
her
. "Who is
that
good looking guy
that
keeps turning around looking our way?"

The other lady tried to w
his
per. "
His
name is Mike Ramsey, and he's Frank's boss."

Then
Lana
could hear them w
his
per and
she
couldn't understand what they were saying, but
she
knew they were talking about
her
.

The memorial lasted about thirty minutes longer and
she
knew many of the people
would
leave, but some
stay
ed and wanted to
talk.
She
wanted Mike to stay as long as
his
men
needed
him
. Some of the officer's who were on duty left immediately to go back to work. Many people went up to Frank's wife to give
her
their condolences.
Lana
sat on the pew for a few minutes to let the crowd thin out before
she
approached Mike.
She
was
mesmerized by Mike, watching him talk
with
his
men and other people, surprised by
his
cordiality. He certainly
didn't act
cordial
with
her
when they first talked on the phone.
His
actions surprised
her
,
she
expected him to be quiet,
but he acted quite the contrary.

The lady behind
Lana
tapped
her
on the shoulder.
She
looked behind
her
and of course
she
didn't know t
his
woman. But
she
wanted to be polite, so
Lana
made a friendly comment. "D
on't you think it
was
a nice memorial?"
Lana
didn't know
why the lady wanted to talk to
her
.

She
let
her
know right away
she
had no
interest
in the memorial. "How do you know Mike Ramsey, I think he's cute. Plus he has a great body."

Lana
didn't know how
to answer
her
. Should
she
tell
her
he's
her
boyfriend? To tell
her
that
seemed presumptuous since
she
's only known him a few days. So
she
took the safe answer. "We're good friends."

She
was
a pretty brunette
,
tall and thin.
She
had on bright red lipstick as though
she
would
n't stand out in the black low cut dress.
Her
mascara
was
thick, and
her
eyelashes were matted together, and
Lana
thought
that
's because
her
eyelashes were not very long and
she
put on a lot of mascara
trying to compensate. "So you're not boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Why do you ask?" T
his
woman
was
too cute.
Lana
decided
she
would
n't discuss Mike
with
her
at all.

"I have an interest in him, and I just want to make sure he's not taken."

"Do you know him?"
Lana
asked.

"No, or I should say I don't know him intimately but I know who he is, I've had an interest in him for awhile. But I will know him better after today. If you're not married to him, I'm going to tell you to move over honey, he's going to be mine."

T
his
hussy
was
so blatantly bold
with
their interest in Mike. There is a lot of insecurity
with
t
his
hussy
, and
she
hoped Mike saw through it.
She
would
never ask any woman anything like t
his
.
She
's not sure how to answer t
his
, so
she
just smiled and turned back around to face Mike. Deep down
Lana
was
tore up
about t
his
whole ordeal
. Then
she
thought to herself.
You have to trust Mike
.
That
one thought along
with
a deep breath made
her
feel better.

The hussy didn't
was
te time walking up to Mike and giving him a hug.
Lana
couldn't hear their words, but
she
thought
she
was
giving him
her
condolences. Mike just smiled and
she
could tell he
could be
thanking
her
. He made no quick movements to get away from
her
nor did he look over at
Lana
.
She
mind raced
with
jealousy.
Lana
calm down, you know you have no reason to be jealous, so give him a break.

With
in a few minutes Mike took the girl by the elbow and brought
her
over to
Lana
. At first when Mike walked
with
her
, the hussy grinned from ear to ear, but
that
grin turned to grimace when they walked over to
Lana
.

She
just sat in
her
seat on the pew.
Lana
decided
she
was
n'
t going to stand up for t
his
heifer
.

"Honey, I want you to meet Elizabeth, t
his
is Frank's cousin," he said while grinning.

Lana
reached up to shake
her
hand and
she
reluctantly reciprocated. "It's nice to meet you, and I'm so sorry about your loss,"
Lana
said.

Elizabeth wrapped
her
coat around
her
shoulders and said. "Thanks."
With
out another word
she
ran
out the door.

Lana
looked at Mike like shame on you, and he winked at
her
and walked back to the guys.
She
sat in the pew a little longer, and walked up to Mike when he had a moment alone. "Babe, I'm going to walk around the church for a little while, and maybe find the chapel. You take your time and I have my cell phone turned on so call me when you are ready to go."

"I don't mind heading out
if you
're ready to leave.
" But he wanted to stay awhile longer. He knew
she
didn't have much rest and he
didn't want to
push the issue.

"Your place is here right now. Call me when you're ready to go."He reached down and kissed
her
on the cheek.
That
was
an opportunity to w
his
per in
his
ear. "We will discuss Elizabeth later."

He laughed and said. "Okay."

She
walked off and
she
couldn't help herself but to turn around to see if Mike
happen
ed
to be
watching
her
walk off, t
o
her
surprise all the men watch
ed
her
walk away
.
Her
face
turned bright red and
she
walked faster
without looking
back again.