A Father for Her Triplets: Her Pregnancy Surprise (15 page)
Read A Father for Her Triplets: Her Pregnancy Surprise Online
Authors: Susan Meier
Wyatt sat on the bench across from hers and casually said, “We’ll buy some.”
That was good enough for the triplets. With a whoop of delight from Owen and a “Yay!” from Claire and Lainie, the three danced over to the sandbox.
“Why are you here?” There was no point delaying the inevitable. “Did you forget something?”
He laughed. “Yes. I forgot you guys.”
“Right.” She glared at him across the table. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I don’t want to go back without you.”
Her heart tripped. She caught herself. She hadn’t precisely misinterpreted everything he’d said and done to this point, but she had done a lot of wishful thinking. She liked him. But they were at two different places in their lives. And even if they weren’t, they lived in two different parts of the country.
“I shouldn’t have gone.”
She sniffed a laugh. “You seemed pretty certain about it last night.”
“Last night I was an idiot. This morning I left without talking to you because I didn’t want to hurt you. Turns out I hurt myself the most by leaving.”
She shook her head. “So this is all about you?”
“This is all about us. About how we fit. About how we would be a family.”
For the first time since he’d walked over from her driveway, hope built in her heart. But hope wasn’t safe. She’d spent her childhood hoping her dad would change. Her marriage hoping her husband would stay with her. Every time she hoped, someone hurt her or left her.
“Hey.” His soft voice drifted over to her as his strong hand reached across the table and caught hers. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone. I didn’t even want to leave. But something inside me kept saying I couldn’t do this. That I’d hurt you and hurt the kids.”
She didn’t look at him. She couldn’t. If she glanced over and saw those big brown eyes sad, she’d melt. And she didn’t want to melt. She needed to be strong to resist whatever nonsense he was about to say.
“Then I saw this guy and his family at a rest stop on I-95. His first wife had dumped him for his business partner and he married this really hot chick who had to be at least thirty years younger than he was.”
Missy couldn’t help it. She looked over at him with a laugh. “Are you kidding me?”
“No. Listen.” He rose from his side of the picnic table and walked over to hers. Sitting almost on top of her, he forced her to scoot over to accommodate him. “He had six kids in a van that sort of looked like yours.”
“Six kids?”
“Half of them were his with his new wife.”
“Half?”
“The other half were grandkids.”
That made her laugh out loud. “Grandkids?”
“Grandkids and kids all mingled together, and they were having a blast.”
She suddenly realized they were talking like normal people again. Just two old friends, sitting on her picnic table, talking about the daily nonsense that happens sometimes.
It hurt her heart because this was what she wanted out of life. A companion. A lover, sure. But more than that, every woman wanted a guy who talked, shared his day, shared his hopes, his dreams. And the easy, casual way Wyatt sat with her, talked with her, got her hopes up more than any apology.
If she didn’t leave now, she’d let those hopes take flight and she’d end up even more hurt than she already was.
She rose. “Well, that’s great.”
He grabbed her hand and tugged her back down again. “You’re not listening to what I’m telling you.”
Annoyed, she turned on him. “So what are you telling me?”
“Well, I was going to say I love you, but you seem a little too grouchy to hear it.”
She huffed a laugh. “You don’t love me. You said so last night. You said you
cared
about me but didn’t love me.”
“Geez, did you memorize everything I said verbatim?”
“A woman doesn’t forget the words that hurt her.”
He caught her chin and made her look at him. “I do love you. I love you more than anybody or anything I’ve ever thought I loved. I got confused because I thought I wasn’t ready or supposed to love. That guy in the van, the guy with all the kids and enough family to be an organizational chart for a Fortune 500 company? He showed me that you don’t have to be ready. Sometimes you can’t be ready. When life and love find you, you have to grab them. Inconvenience, messiness, problems and all.”
The hope in her heart swelled so much it nearly exploded. “Are you saying we’re inconvenient?”
“Good God, woman, you have triplets. Of course this is inconvenient. You’re starting a business here, which means you can’t leave. My business is a thousand miles away. You haven’t met my parents. Not that they won’t love you, but it’s going to be a surprise to suddenly bring three kids into their world. Especially since if we’re going to make this work, I’m going to be spending a big chunk of my time up here.” He shook his head. “They moved to Florida to be with me and now I’m going to be living at least half the year up here.”
She laughed a bit. That was sort of ironic.
His serious brown eyes met her gaze. “But I love you. I want what you bring to my world.”
“Messiness, inconvenience and problems?”
“Happiness, joy and a sense of belonging.”
With every word he said his face got closer. Until when he said, “Belonging,” their lips met.
This time there was no hesitation. There was no sense that as soon as he got the chance he would pull away. This time there was only real love. The love she’d been searching for her whole life was finally here.
Finally hers.
EPILOGUE
T
WO
YEARS
LATER
they got married on a private island about an hour down the coast from Tampa. The triplets, now six, were more than happy to be the wedding party. Owen looked regal in his little black tux that matched Wyatt’s, and the girls really were the princesses they wanted to be, dressed in pale pink gowns with tulle skirts.
Nancy, their longtime babysitter, now a college sophomore, had been invited to the wedding as a guest, but ended up herding the triplets into submission as they stood at the end of the long white runner that would take Missy to the gazebo on the beach, where she would marry the love of her life.
She and Wyatt had decided to date for a year, then had been engaged for a year. Not just to give her a chance to get her company running smoothly, with a baking supervisor and actual delivery staff, but also to give the two of them time to enjoy being in love. Though Wyatt spent most of his time in her house when he visited, he’d kept his gram’s house. He was very sentimental when it came to Missy, to their past, and especially to the picnic tables where he’d taught her how to solve equations.
“Okay, Owen, you’re first.”
Nancy gave him a small push to start him on his journey down the white runner to the gazebo, where Wyatt and the minister waited. Owen hesitated at first, but when he saw all the people urging him on, especially Wyatt’s parents, his first grandparents, it was as if someone had flashed a light indicating it was showtime. He grinned and waved, taking his time as he went from the back of the beach to the gazebo.
Wyatt caught him by the shoulders and got him to stand still, but he couldn’t stop Owen’s grin. This was the day they officially became a family. A mom and dad, three kids and actual grandparents more than happy to spoil them rotten. Yeah. Owen was psyched for this.
Then the girls ambled up the aisle, more serious than their brother. They had rose petals to drop. Nancy had skirted the rows of folding chairs to get to the end of the runner and help the girls up the two steps into the gazebo.
Owen gave the thumbs-up signal. The crowd laughed.
Missy smiled. Then she pressed her hand to her tummy as she circled behind the last row of chairs to the runner. When she stood at the threshold of her journey up the aisle, she saw Wyatt, and all her fears, all her doubts disappeared.
His black tux accented his dark good looks, but with Owen standing just a bit above knee height beside him, and the girls a few feet away, waiting for their mom, he also looked like the wonderful father that he was.
She watched his eyes travel from her shoulders to the bodice of her strapless gown and down the tangle of tulle and chiffon that created the short skirt. His gaze paused at her knees, where the dress stopped, and he smiled before he raised his eyes and their gazes locked.
She walked down the aisle alone, because that’s what she was without Wyatt. Then she carefully navigated the two steps to the gazebo and handed the two bouquets she carried to the girls.
Wyatt took her hands.
They said their vows and exchanged rings with the sound of the surf behind them. Then they posed for pictures in the gazebo, on the shore, with the kids, without the kids, with his parents and even with Nancy.
In the country club ballroom, they greeted a long line of guests, mostly Wyatt’s friends and employees, as well as a swell of friends she’d made once she felt comfortable in Tampa.
As they walked to the main table for dinner, she guided Wyatt along a path that took them past their cake.
“Banana walnut?” he whispered hopefully.
“With a layer of chocolate fudge, a layer of almond, a layer of spice and an extra banana walnut layer at the top for us to take home for our first anniversary.” She paused, her critical gaze passing over every flower of the five-layer cake.
He nudged her to get moving. “Everybody knows what you’re doing.”
She stopped, faced him with a smile. “Really?”
“You’re judging that cake! Elaine was paralyzed with fear that she’d somehow ruin it.”
“That’s not what I’m doing.”
He frowned, then his eyes narrowed. “So what are you doing?”
“I’m deciding if she’s good enough to take responsibility for the wedding-cake division.”
He gaped at her. “You’d give that up?”
“Not give up per se. I’d like to go back to baking. Let her supervise.”
“Wow.”
“It means I’d be home all winter.”
His stupefied expression became a grin. “Here? In Florida?”
Her hands traveled up his lapels and to his neck. “It is our home.”
“Our home. I like the sound of that.”
“I want cake!”
Missy didn’t even have to glance down to know the triplets had gathered at their knees.
She ruffled Owen’s hair. “You always want cake. Just like your dad.”
Wyatt smiled. “I like the sound of that.”
“What? That you have a son?”
“Nope. I like that he already takes after me.”
He stooped to Owen’s height. “Don’t worry. I’m guessing the guests won’t eat even half that thing. You and I will be eating cake for a week.”
Owen high-fived him. “All right.”
They walked to the main table, raised enough for all the guests to see them. They settled Lainie and Claire in chairs to the right of Missy, and Owen between Wyatt and his parents.
When Owen grinned, Missy knew, of all the people at the wedding, herself and Wyatt included, her son was the happiest. He hadn’t just gotten a dad and a grandpa; finally he wasn’t the only man in the family.
* * * * *
Her Pregnancy Surprise
CHAPTER ONE
“Y
OU
AREN
’
T
PLANNING
on driving back to Pittsburgh tonight, are you?”
Danny Carson walked into the third floor office of his Virginia Beach beach house talking to Grace McCartney, his newest employee, who stood behind his desk, hunched over her laptop. A tall brunette with bright violet eyes and a smile that lit the room, Grace was smart, but more than that she was likable and she genuinely liked people. Both of those qualities had helped enormously with the work they’d had to do that weekend.
Grace looked up. “Would you like me to stay?”
“Call it a debriefing.”
She tilted her head to one side, considering the suggestion, then smiled. “Okay.”
This was her real charm. She’d been working every waking minute for three days, forced to spend her entire weekend assisting Danny as he persuaded Orlando Riggs—a poor kid who parlayed a basketball scholarship into a thirty-million-dollar NBA deal—to use Carson Services as his financial management firm. Not only was she away from her home in Pittsburgh and her friends, but she hadn’t gotten to relax on her days off. She could be annoyed that he’d asked her to stay another night. Instead she smiled. Nothing ruffled her feathers.
“Why don’t you go to your room to freshen up? I’ll tell Mrs. Higgins we’ll have dinner in about an hour.”
“Sounds great.”
After Grace left the office, Danny called his housekeeper on the intercom. He checked his email, checked on dinner, walked on the beach and ended up on the deck with a glass of Scotch. Grace took so long that by the time Danny heard the sound of the sliding glass door opening behind him, Mrs. Higgins had already left their salads on the umbrella table and their entrées on the serving cart, and gone for the day. Exhausted from the long weekend of work, and belatedly realizing Grace probably was, too, Danny nearly suggested they forget about dinner and talk in the morning, until he turned and saw Grace.
Wearing a pretty pink sundress that showed off the tan she’d acquired walking on the beach with Orlando, she looked young, fresh-faced and wholesome. He’d already noticed she was pretty, of course. A man would have to be blind not to notice how attractive she was. But this evening, with the rays of the setting sun glistening on her shoulder-length sable-colored hair and the breeze off the ocean lightly ruffling her full skirt, she looked amazing.
Unable to stop himself he said, “Wow.”
She smiled sheepishly. “Thanks. I felt a little like celebrating Orlando signing with Carson Services, and though this isn’t exactly Prada, it’s the best of what I brought.”
Danny walked to her place at the table and pulled out her chair. “It’s perfect.” He thought about his khaki trousers, simple short-sleeved shirt and windblown black hair as he seated her, then wondered why he had. This wasn’t a date. She was an employee. He’d asked her to stay so he could give her a bonus for the good job she’d done that week, and to talk to her long enough to ascertain the position into which he should promote her—also to thank her for doing a good job. What he wore should be of no consequence. The fact that it even entered his head nearly made him laugh.
He seated himself. “Mrs. Higgins has already served dinner.”
“I see.” She frowned, looking at the silver covers on the plates on the serving cart beside the table, then the salads that sat in front of them. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I had stayed in the tub so long.” She smiled sheepishly again. “I was a little more tired than I thought.”
“Then I’m glad you took the extra time.” Even as the words tumbled out of his mouth, Danny couldn’t believe he was saying them. Yes, he was grateful to her for being so generous and kind with Orlando, making the athlete feel comfortable, but the way Danny had excused her lateness sounded personal, when he hardly knew this woman.
She laughed lightly. “I really liked Orlando. I think he’s a wonderful person. But we were still here to do a job. Both of us had to be on our toes 24/7.”
When she smiled and Danny’s nerve endings crackled to life, he realized he was behaving out of character for a boss because he was attracted to her. He almost shook his head. He was so slow on the uptake that he’d needed an entire weekend to recognize that.
But he didn’t shake his head. He didn’t react at all. He was her boss and he’d already slipped twice. His “wow” when he’d seen her in the dress was inappropriate. His comment about the extra time that she’d taken had been too personal. He excused himself for those because he was tired. But now that he saw what was happening, he could stop it. He didn’t date employees, but also this particular employee had proven herself too valuable to risk losing.
Grace picked up her salad fork. “I’m starved and this looks great.”
“Mrs. Higgins is a gem. I’m lucky to have her.”
“She told me that she enjoys working for you because you’re not here every day. She likes working part-time, even if it is usually weekends.”
“That’s my good fortune,” Danny agreed, then the conversation died as they ate their salads. Oddly something inside of Danny missed the more personal chitchat. It was unusual for him to want to get friendly with an employee, but more than that, this dinner had to stay professional because he had things to discuss with her. Yet he couldn’t stop the surge of disappointment, as if he were missing an unexpected opportunity.
When they finished their salads, he rose to serve the main course. “I hope you like fettuccini alfredo.”
“I love it.”
“Great.” He removed the silver covers. Pushing past the exhaustion that had caused him to wish he could give in and speak openly with her, he served their dinners and immediately got down to business. “Grace, you did an exceptional job this weekend.”
“Thanks. I appreciate the compliment.”
“I intend to do more than compliment you. Your work secured an enormous account for Carson Services. Not only are you getting a bonus, but I would like to promote you.”
She gaped at him. “Are you kidding?”
Pleased with her happy surprise, Danny laughed. “No. Right now you and I need to talk a bit about what you can do and where in the organization you would like to serve. Once we’re clear, I’ll write up the necessary paperwork.”
She continued to stare at him slightly openmouthed, then she said, “You’re going to promote me anywhere I want to go?”
“There is a condition. If a situation like Orlando’s ever comes up again, where we have to do more than our general push to get a client to sign, I want you in on the persuading.”
She frowned. “I’m happy to spend time helping a reluctant investor see the benefits of using your firm, but you don’t need to promote me for that.”
“The promotion is part of my thank-you for your assistance with Orlando.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want it.”
Positive he’d heard wrong, Danny chuckled. “What?”
“I’ve been with your company two weeks. Yet I was the one chosen for a weekend at your beach house with Orlando Riggs—a superstar client most of the men and half of the women on staff were dying to meet. You’ve already given me a perk beyond what employees who have been with you for years have gotten. If there’s an empty position somewhere in the firm, promote Bobby Zapf. He has a wife and three kids and they’re saving for a house. He could use the money, and the boost in confidence from you.”
Danny studied her for a second, then he laughed. “I get it. You’re joking.”
“I’m serious.” She took a deep breath. “Look, everybody understood that you chose me to come with you this weekend because I’m new. I hadn’t worked with you long enough to adopt your opinions, so Orlando knew that when I agreed with just about everything you said I wasn’t spouting the company party line. I hadn’t yet heard the party line. So I was a good choice for this. But I don’t want to be promoted over everybody’s head.”
“You’re worried about jealousy?”
She shook her head. “No! I don’t want to take a job that should go to someone else. Someone who’s worked for you for years.”
“Like Bobby Zapf.”
“In the two weeks I spent at the office, I watched Bobby work harder than anybody else you employ. If you want to promote somebody he’s the one.”
Danny leaned back in his chair. “Okay. Bobby it is.” He paused, toyed with his silverware, then glanced up at her, holding back a smile. He’d never had an employee turn down a promotion—especially not to make sure another person got it. Grace was certainly unique.
“Can I at least give you a bonus?”
She laughed. “Yes! I worked hard for an entire weekend. A bonus is absolutely in order.”
Continuing to hold back a chuckle, Danny cleared his throat. “Okay. Bonus, but no promotion.”
“You could promise to watch my performance over the next year and then promote me because I’d had enough time to prove myself.”
“I could.” He took a bite of his dinner, more pleased with her than anybody he’d ever met. She was right. In his gratitude for a weekend’s work, he had jumped the gun on the promotion. She reeled him in and reminded him of the person who really deserved it. If he hadn’t already been convinced she was a special person, her actions just now would have shown him.
Grace smiled. “Okay. It’s settled. I get a bonus and you’ll watch how well I work.” Then as quickly as she’d recapped their agreement, she changed the subject. “It’s beautiful here.”
Danny glanced around. Darkness had descended. A million stars twinkled overhead. The moon shone like a silver dollar. Water hit the shore in white-foamed waves.
“I like it. I get a lot of work done here because it’s so quiet. But at the end of the day I can also relax.”
“You don’t relax much, do you?”
Lulled by the sounds of the waves and her calming personality, Danny said, “No. I have the fate of a company that’s been around for decades on my shoulders. If I fail the company fails and the legacy my great-grandfather sweated to create crumbles into nothing. So I’m focused on work. Unless relaxation happens naturally, it doesn’t happen.”
“I don’t relax much, either.” She picked up her fork again. “You already heard me tell Orlando I grew up the same way he did. Dirt poor. And in the same away he used his talent to make a place for himself, I intend to make a place for myself, too.”
“Here’s a tip. Maybe you shouldn’t talk your bosses out of promotions?”
“I can’t take what I don’t deserve.” She wiggled her eyebrows comically. “I’ll just have to make my millions the old-fashioned way. I’ll have to earn them.”
Danny laughed and said, “I hate to tell you this, but people who work for someone else rarely get rich. So if you want to make millions, what are you doing working for me?”
“Learning about investing. When I was young I heard the theory that your money should work as hard for you as you work for it. Growing up, I didn’t get any experience seeing how to make money work, so I figured the best place to get the scoop on investing was at an investment firm.” She smiled, then asked, “What about you?”
“What about me?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Anything. Did you want your family’s business? Were you a happy child? Are you happy now?” She shrugged again. “Anything.”
She asked the questions then took a bite of her dinner, making her inquiry into his life seem casual, offhand. But she’d nonetheless taken the conversation away from herself and to him. Still, she didn’t seem as if she were prying. She seemed genuinely curious, but not like a bloodhound, like someone trying to become a friend.
He licked his suddenly dry lips and his heart rate accelerated as he actually considered answering her. A part of him really wanted to talk. A part of him
needed
to talk. Two years had passed. So much had happened.
He took a breath, amazed that he contemplated confiding in her, yet knowing he wouldn’t. Though he couldn’t ignore her, he wouldn’t confide. He’d never confide. Not to her. Not to anyone.
He had to take the conversation back where it belonged. To business.
“What you see is who I am. Chairman of the Board and CEO of Carson Services. There isn’t anything to talk about.”
She blinked. “Really?”
“From the time I was six or eight I knew I would take over the company my great-grandfather started. I didn’t have to travel or experiment to figure out what I wanted. My life was pretty much mapped out for me and I simply followed the steps. That’s why there’s not a lot to talk about.”
“You started training as a kid?”
“Not really training, more or less being included in on conversations my dad and grandfather thought were relevant.”
“What if you didn’t like investing?”
“But I did.”
“It just sounds weird.” She flushed. “Sorry. Really. It’s none of my business.”
“Don’t be sorry.” Her honesty made him laugh. More comfortable than he could remember being in years, he picked up his fork and said, “I see what you’re saying. I was lucky that I loved investing. I walked into the job as if it were made for me, but when my son—”
He stopped. His chest tightened. His heart rate kicked into overdrive. He couldn’t believe that had slipped out.
“But your son what?”
“But when my son began to show artistic talent,” he said, thinking quickly because once again the conversation had inadvertently turned too personal. And this time it was
his
fault. “I suddenly saw that another person might not want to be CEO of our company, might not have the ability to handle the responsibility, or might have gifts and talents that steer him or her in a different direction. Then the company would have to hire someone, and hiring someone of the caliber we would require would involve paying out a huge salary and profit sharing. The family fortune would ultimately deplete.”
She studied him for a second, her gaze so intense Danny knew the mention of his son had her curious. But he wouldn’t say any more about Cory. That part of his life was so far off-limits that he didn’t even let himself think about it. It would be such a cold, frosty day in hell that he’d discuss Cory with another person that he knew that day would never come.