Broken Vows (Domestic Discipline Romance) (30 page)

* * *

"Please, do not desert me with the wives," Jenny said as they rang the doorbell.

Josh grimaced. "I might have to, tonight is our last chance to make any changes before the big presentation tomorrow."

"If you haven't worked out every single detail by now, it is too late," Jenny scolded.

"No promises. We are the guests."

Several hours later as the four wives sat together, they laughed.

"This is so typical," Melanie Gabriel complained. "They do every time. They wander off to talk business and strand us with the kids."

"You don't have a kid, yet," Paula Haroldson said, looking at her friend's large stomach. "It won't be long, though."

"It's already overcooked," Melanie exclaimed. "I thought first babies were early. What happened to that rule?"

"There are no rules when it comes to babies," Jenny said. "My first was late, my second was early. They come when they feel like it."

"Mine were planned," Diane Johnson chimed in, "C-sections." She stood. "I'm going to drag them back here."

"Oh, let me do it," Melanie laughed, "Watch."

As Diane returned to the sofa, Melanie leaned back in her chair and very quietly squeaked, "Bill," as she made a high-pitched whimper.

Two seconds later, Bill Gabriel dashed through the door. "Mel, are you okay?"

"Of course. I'm so glad you decided to join us."

"I thought I heard you moan," Bill exclaimed inspecting her with frantic eyes.

"Did you?" Melanie said sweetly. "I'm fine, honey. If I were in labor, I wouldn't moan, I would scream." She patted the sofa beside her. "Come, sit."

Bill sat down beside his very pregnant wife still watching her stomach as if it would explode at any moment. Meanwhile, the other three men joined them in the living room for conversation.

* * *

Josh handed Jenny a credit card. "Do not go crazy."

"We are shopping at baby boutiques for gifts for Melanie," Jenny countered. "We don't need anything for Adam, although I might be tempted to buy something for Little Kevin. We don't know Melanie too well. Our gift should not be extravagant. Besides, we will have all the kids with us so it will be a quick excursion before we head to Melanie's place. Call me as soon as your presentation is over."

"It may be hours. These things tend to run long, but as soon as I can, I will call," Josh pulled at his tie, and Jenny reached over to straighten it,
again
.

"If you give it your best, you will get the contract," Jenny said firmly.

"Right," Josh said, loosening his tie and taking a deep breath. "Okay, let's get the kids in the car so you can drop me off."

* * *

Josh, Brice, Bill, and Matt assembled in the conference room of their brand new offices. They had set up their computers and tested the new Apple TV 3 System repeatedly. They had decided to ditch a projector altogether and opted instead for an HDTV coupled with an Apple TV 3. With this setup, they were able to present wirelessly to an 110" wall-mounted flat screen. Anyone could walk in and mirror their devices, including audio, directly to the TV screen from anywhere in the room. Neat sets of printed presentation materials waited at the center of the conference table. The four men were sure of their designs and their specialties, but they were nervous.

Bill Whiting, Joe Turner, and three additional men arrived ten minutes early. The recently hired part-time Office Manager, Karen Moore, escorted the visitors into the conference room where the men introduced themselves and shortly dispensed with small talk. It was show time. Josh took the lead. It was his design and, although Brice knew them well, this was Josh's coup.

"Gentlemen…."

* * *

Mila bundled Little Kevin into his car-seat carrier, covered him with a blanket, and brought him to the main house where she went directly to the library. Although she was busy taking care of the baby much of the time, there were still too many empty hours to fill. She was used to working long, hard days. She read, she organized her housing area, and even went online to check out employment possibilities, although she was months away from making any decisions about what she would do with the rest of her life. She was bored.

When Jenny and the kids were around, she had more to occupy her time. She wished she were creative so she could lose herself in a project, but she was not. She did not paint, do crafty things, sew, bake, or any of a gazillion other things. She had tried, but she simply was not so inclined. Her work had always kept her busy before. She was thinking about taking classes at the local college the next semester.

She put Little Kevin down, made sure he was warm and went to work organizing the library. This she could do. She was a born detail person, which is why engineering suited her.

When she repacked and taped all the boxes on the first level, she considered the second tier. It was almost time for Little Kevin's mid-morning nursing, so she checked on him first, but he was sleeping quietly. Sleeping was all he did except for short moments when he stayed awake long enough for her to coax him to coo at her. He was a perfect baby.

She gathered several empty boxes and began climbing the spiral steps. She would come down the moment Little Kevin made a peep. She was on the third tread from the top when suddenly the metal stairway broke away from the wall with an earsplitting screech. Mila screamed as she dropped several steps. She grabbed for a railing, anything solid, as the metal staircase shrieked again and swayed away from the second-story walkway.

She froze in place as the empty boxes slid past her to the floor, followed by a piece of the railing from above. When the spiral staircase stopped moving, Mila was dangling by her hands with the lower half of her body unsupported by anything. She gripped the railing tighter as the staircase swayed slightly, again. She was ten or twelve feet from the floor. Ordinarily, she would have taken the chance of letting go and dropping to the floor. Unfortunately, she was hanging directly over a table where Jenny had collected vases, metal urns, and wrought-iron fireplace tools she thought they could reuse. The piece of railing had somehow missed the table when it fell, but the arrangement presented a dangerous field of spears below her.

Little Kevin began mewing.

Mila tightened her grip with one hand to hold her entire weight while slowly moving her other hand to her shirt pocket for her phone. Every shift of weight caused the stairway to sway. She flipped open her phone, pressed two buttons, and waited for an answer.

"Yeah," Kevin's voice was snappish and annoyed.

"I need you," Mila breathed as Little Kevin gave a loud cry and she felt her milk release in response.

"Mila?"

There was another screech of metal, she screamed and grabbed for the railing with both hands. Her phone hit the floor and shattered. The spiral stairwell finally stopped swaying and settled again. Barely breathing, Mila saw the leaning stairway had caught on the metal post above her where the section of railing had fallen. Somehow, in her last leap for the railing, her foot had gained purchase and she had a tentative hold.

She barely dared breathe. If the stairway did not move again, she could hold on, but for how long? Kevin was in full crying mode, her milk was gushing, and she could not move.

* * *

Kevin was supervising the last of the kitchen project for his arrogant pain-in-the-ass client. It was only ten in the morning and Kevin already wanted to put his fist through a wall. He had finally thrown the client out of the room when the man began shouting at Kevin's deaf cousins. Kevin had told him his cousins were deaf from the beginning, he had to speak only with Kevin. This time Kevin informed his client Wayne and Lee were deaf, not stupid, and shouting at them was rude and unnecessary. He warned the egotistical asshole to get out and stay out, or they were walking off the job
after
they ripped out every piece of work they had installed in his kitchen.

"You can't speak to me this way, I'll sue!"

"Try it, asshole," Kevin growled. "I'll sue
you
for violating the ADA. For your information, it is the Americans with Disabilities Act, which protects people with disabilities from assholes like you. Go ahead and tangle with me. I will make sure no one within a hundred-mile radius finishes your house. Hell, extend it to two-hundred miles. Now, take your know-it-all attitude and stay out of our way if you want this kitchen finished. Otherwise, we walk!"

The man stormed off with his wife screaming at him to let the crew finish their work.

"Let's do this, so we can get out of here," Kevin said speaking and signing simultaneously, his normal way of communicating with his men. Another hour or so and they would be done. He glanced angrily toward the doorway where his client had disappeared. He bet dollars to donuts the asshole planned to delay the last payment on the job or take Kevin to court.

His phone rang. He barely heard Mila's faint voice over the whine of a saw, but he heard her scream.

"Joe! Call the police and everybody else. Get them up to the Grayson place! Now!" He ran to his truck, gunned the engine, and had the truck moving before the door swung closed. As he spun out of the ritzy housing development, he tried Mila's cell, but there was no answer.

Response to his cousin's request for support was fast, but Kevin still passed the Deputy's car and nearly caught the fire truck before it turned off onto the long lane. He was on their tail, as they all careened to a stop in front of the house. There was no sign of smoke. Kevin leaped onto the deck, unlocking Mila's door and shouting, but there was no an answer. He ran to unlock the door at the main house.

"Mila!" he shouted. He heard the cry of the baby and ran to the library followed by four firefighters and a deputy.

"Mila!"

"Don't touch the stairs," Mila warned a firefighter who came close. "Any change in weight and it may come down completely. Get my baby out of here, please."

"Extension ladders are propped against the back of the house. We'll need at least two. Through the kitchen to the left," Kevin ordered. Two of the firefighters ran to obey.

"It's okay, Mila. We'll get you down. Are you hurt?"

Mila exhaled noisily, it was clear she was trying not to sob. "No, get Little Kevin, please."

Kevin motioned to the two other firefighters. "Move that stuff from under her, but be careful and don't bump into the stairway! Kevin walked over to lift the baby out of his carrier seat and hand him to a surprised young Deputy Dolan. "Walk and jiggle him over there out of the way."

Kevin scrutinized the precariously leaning staircase before turning to the firefighters. "We need rope. We have to stabilize the stairwell before we can move her. Otherwise, it might come crashing down on everyone." He pointed to various sections of the room. "We have to tie it off from here to here, and from there to there."

The two firefighters returned with the extension ladders, and Mila watched from her dangling perch as Kevin directed them. They carefully tied and lashed ropes to the leaning structure until it was steady enough for one of the firefighters to climb a ladder and pry Mila's stiff fingers from the railings. He balanced her carefully and lowered her to another firefighter. They all stopped moving and held their breath when the stairway gave a sudden lurch straining against the ropes, but it held in place. The second firefighter lowered Mila to Kevin's outstretched arms.

He held her close for a few seconds as she buried her face in his chest. Then she straightened and her head whipped around frantically. "My baby, where is my baby?"

"In the other room," Kevin said, gently leading her into the family room where the young deputy handed over the crying infant.

Kevin looked around realizing there was no furniture in the room. "Come on, we have to go over to your place." He handed the baby back to the Deputy, and scooping Mila into his arms, carried her to her place where he sat her down in a chair. He took the baby from Deputy Dolan and put him to her breast, but her fingers were too stiff to unbutton her blouse. With barely a glance at the young deputy, Kevin grabbed a sofa throw, tossed it over Mila, unbuttoned her shirt, and removed the front of her nursing bra.

"There you go, guppy, lunch is served."

Mila closed her eyes as Little Kevin suckled her breast. She felt immediate relief, not only from the release of milk but because he was close and safe.

"Sit tight," said Kevin softly touching a bruise on her breast and then one on her face. He backed out of the room motioning for the deputy to come with him.

"I have to get a report from her," Deputy Dolan objected.

"Give her a minute or so to pull herself together," Kevin said, intercepting two paramedics from the rescue squad who were now parked in front and unloading gear. He told them the same thing.

Meanwhile, he went back inside the main house to climb one of the ladders and inspect the top of the railings where they had come loose.

"Deputy Dolan, I need you to call Sheriff Leonard immediately," he shouted down to the young man. "I want someone to take fingerprints from every single surface in here. I inspected this stairwell for structural integrity only last week. The bolt heads needed a little tightening but were intact. Now, they are cut through. The Sheriff did not take fingerprints before when we called him about a burglary. He will take fingerprints this time. If he has a problem with it, I will call the state police. Am I clear?"