Don't Break My Heart (Return to Redemption, Book 6) (13 page)

David laughed. “Yeah, Casey and I
hit it off
a lot while we were there. It was great getting her away
from Jamie for a few nights. We just got married Thanksgiving weekend, when our
daughter was almost three months old, so we only had a two-night honeymoon.”

“Well, Trisha’s pregnant and already wearing maternity
clothes.”

“She’s not claiming the baby’s yours, is she?”

“No.”

“Does it make a difference if she was already pregnant
before the two of you got together?”

“That’s just it. We’re
not
together. It was only while we were at the resort”.

“I’m sensing you wanted more.”

Justin nodded. “I think her pregnancy is why she refused to
see me after we got home. I don’t think the father’s in the picture.”

“Would you have a problem accepting someone else’s baby?”

Good question. “I don’t know. I love Haley as much as if she
was mine, but I’ve known her since—well, before she was born. Her mom and dad
were my best friends.”

“If you really care for Trisha and want to have a
relationship with her, you would end up knowing her baby just as long. The
child is part of her, even if he or she isn’t part of you.”

“Right.” Love her, love her child. “Thanks, Dave.” He shook
the doctor’s hand again. “You’ve given me plenty to think about.”

Sure, Trisha could’ve changed over the years, but the sweet
girl he’d known would never sleep around as she’d suggested she might. He
should’ve realized her snide comments about the Colonial Tavern and having
enough teenagers to deal with on a daily basis were merely defensive bravado.

The only thing stopping him from driving right over to her
house and convincing her to share his life was the crippling fear that her
rejection hadn’t been motivated solely by her pregnancy.

Maybe she simply didn’t want him any more than she did her
baby’s father.

~*~

After school on Friday, Trisha sank onto one of the
students’ chairs in Frankie’s classroom. “I’m really not looking forward to
tonight.”

Frankie leaned her butt against her desk. “Do you honestly
believe he thinks you’re a
cheap slut
as you put it last week?”

“That’s what he insinuated. Haley apparently didn’t tell him
exactly how pregnant I am, and he thought the baby was his.” She patted her
tummy. “Until he saw my pot. He was so mad.”

“No, I guarantee he wasn’t angry when you saw him.”

“Yeah, right. You weren’t there.”

“Trisha, he felt hurt. Don’t your male students express
their pain as anger?”

“True.”

“Well, men don’t change in that regard. If you thought you
were about to become a mother and someone told you it was just a false alarm,
how would you feel?”

“Upset.” Trish cast a sympathetic glance at her friend. “I
guess you have some experience with that.”

“I did.” Frankie grinned. “I took a pregnancy test on
Wednesday.”

“And?” Trisha raised her eyebrows. “Come on, don’t keep me
in suspense.”

“It was positive. The doctor confirmed it last night.”

“Oh, my gosh! That’s wonderful!” She jumped up and threw her
arms around Frankie’s neck. “Aren’t you supposed to see the fertility
specialist on Monday?”

“I’ve already cancelled the appointment. The doctor’s best
guess is I’m nine weeks pregnant.”

“Nine?” Frankie and Andy weren’t together the beginning of
December.

When she frowned, Frankie slapped her arm. “It’s not what
you’re thinking. You should know better than anyone that the number of weeks
are calculated from the date of a woman’s last period.”

“Oh, right.” She released a breath of relief. “That means
you must have gotten pregnant—”

“At the resort. Yeah, we made up for a lot of lost time. I
think maybe it helped that making love became fun again.”

She couldn’t imagine it not being enjoyable with Justin. He
made everything fun. Of course, that was part of the problem in their
relationship. He never became serious enough to really talk about his feelings.
He’d always kept their lovemaking light, as if he already had one foot out of
the bed.

“So what’d you get Haley for her birthday?”

Trisha pulled the small box out of her purse and showed
Frankie the one-inch heart-shaped locket that had a large diamond chip in the
center.”

“It’s beautiful. I love the flowers engraved around the
heart’s edge.”

Trisha popped opened the cover, revealing a tiny picture of
a sixteen-year-old Lindsey.

Frankie’s gaze narrowed as she studied the photo. “Is that
Haley?”

“No, it’s her mom at Haley’s age.”

“Oh, my gosh! She’s a clone of her mother.”

“I know. Being with her makes me miss Lindsey a little
less.”

Frankie turned the locket over and read the engraving on the
back. “
Sisters of the heart
. That’s
sweet.” She squinted and gasped. “This thing says it’s 18K gold!”

“Uh, yeah. Our families both had quite a bit of money.” And
after Trisha’s mother passed away, her dad hadn’t said no to much—except
accepting Justin’s baby as his grandchild. “Lindsey and I bought one for each
other the Christmas we were sixteen and put our pictures in them.”

Frankie hefted the locket and chain in her palm.
“Considering the price of gold today, a piece this large and heavy has to be
worth a small fortune.”

“About three times what I paid for it. I took it to the
jeweler this week for him to check the stone’s setting and polish the locket.
He appraised it at about fifteen hundred dollars.”

“Are you sure you want to give her something so valuable?”

“Very sure. I’d give her back her mother if I could,” she
whispered, too choked up to speak at full volume. “This is the best I can do.”

Frankie hugged her. “Talk to Justin at the party tonight. At
the very least, tell him you used a sperm donor.”

“I don’t want a relationship with someone whose whole heart
isn’t in it, Frankie. I remember how needy I was back in college, bending over
backwards to get Justin to notice me. And when he finally did, I was so afraid
he’d lose interest, I jumped into bed with him before I was ready. We had sex
two and three times a day. I don’t want to be that girl again, begging to be
loved.”

“Is he asking you to be?”

“No. But I love him even more now. How pathetic am I?”

“You’re not. You’re just in love. And how do you know he
doesn’t feel the same way? When you told me what he said at the theater, it
sounded like a man who just isn’t good at expressing his feelings. You’ve taken
all the psych classes, Trisha. Most men have trouble saying I love you. It
doesn’t mean they don’t feel it.”

“So you’re saying I’m expecting to get water from a rock?”

“That’s one way of putting it. Justin may never love with
the same intensity you do, but I saw the way he looks at you when you’re not
watching. I suspect he loves you much more than you think.”

“Maybe I just need him to look at me that way when I
am
watching.”

“Then perhaps you need to watch more carefully. You’re
forgetting that women show men they love them by giving them sex, which is
exactly what you’ve been doing.”

“I guess I have. Maybe the only way I’m pathetic is in not
applying the psychology I know to my own life and relationships.”

“Exactly. Some men don’t realize that women don’t receive
love the same way they do. It’s all about romance for us.” Frankie tipped her
head and narrowed her gaze. “You said you’d give Haley back her mom if you
could. Wouldn’t you like the chance to fill in for Lindsey?”

“Desperately. I feel so guilty about abandoning her right
before she was about to have Haley. Lindsey needed me more than ever.”

“No. She needs you more
now
—to
love her baby girl. If you give Justin a chance, the two of you could finish
raising your friends’ child together, not to mention your own. Doesn’t your
baby deserve the chance to know his dad if possible? Especially if you have a
boy?”

Trisha tossed up her hands in surrender. “Okay. You
convinced me. Tonight, I’ll tell him I used a donor and that was why I
hesitated to get involved. If he still wants a relationship with me.... ”

When she didn’t continue, Frankie’s eyebrows lifted. “If he
wants a relationship with you, then what?”

“I don’t know. I think he’ll have to convince me he doesn’t
want me merely because I’m hot in bed, or I’d be an expedient solution to
providing a mother for Haley.”

Damn it, he was late. Justin floored the gas pedal during
the last mile of his drive home. He’d promised Haley he’d be there no later
than six, and it was already six-fifteen. He wouldn’t blame her if she’d thrown
his dinner down the garbage disposal.

He pulled his truck into the garage and closed the overhead
door. When he burst through the back door, panting, Haley beamed at him.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I had to pick up your birthday
present.”

“It’s all right. I know you, so I made dinner for six-thirty.”

He planted a kiss on her forehead, and handed her the small
gift-wrapped box he’d just picked up from the jeweler. If the idiot hadn’t
waited until the last minute to engrave it, Justin would’ve been on time.
“Happy Birthday, Pinky.”

“Thank you.” She shook the box. “Good things are supposed to
come in small packages, right?”

“I’m hoping you’ll think so after you open it.”

She tore off the paper, excitement twinkling in her eyes.
She pulled out the heart-shaped key ring and gasped. “It looks a little like my
mom’s locket. It even has the diamond in the center.”

“It’s only a cubic zirconium, and it’s brass not gold.”

“I still love it.”

“Your real gift is underneath it.”

She pulled out and unfolded the gift certificate for
driver’s training. “Yes!”

“If you take the classes, your insurance will cost less.” He
inhaled the heavenly aroma of the lasagna baking in the oven, and his stomach
rumbled like a cement mixer. “Dinner smells great.”

He walked through the butler’s pantry into dining room where
she’d set the table with her parents’ good linen, china, and stemware. Candles
flickered on either side of a fresh floral centerpiece of white carnations and
pink and red roses.

“This is beautiful, Haley. Where’d you get the flowers?” he
asked, mentally kicking himself for not thinking of it.

“Aunt Sam and Uncle Nick sent them to me.”

Undoubtedly, it’d been Sam’s idea, and on Valentine’s Day,
the flowers must have cost a lot more than usual.

Haley had never referred to his sister-in-law and brother as
her aunt and uncle before. Did he dare hope she finally felt like part of his
family?

He stalled, noticing a bottle of red wine on the table. “And
where did you get the bottle of vino?”

“From my dad’s wine rack downstairs. I thought you might
like some with your dinner.”

Marc and Lindsey had collected a wide variety of fine wines
and had even built a small wine cellar in the basement.

Justin picked up the bottle and studied the label. “Thank
you. But this is an awfully expensive vintage to drink alone.”

He knew because he’d bought it for her parents for their
last Christmas together. They’d planned to enjoy it on Lindsey’s birthday the
next spring and never got the chance. “And don’t even suggest helping me
dispose of it.”

“I wouldn’t.” Haley glanced at her watch and raced back into
the kitchen. Justin followed and watched her pull the tray of steaming lasagna
from the oven. She placed it on the stove next to a baking sheet with garlic
bread all ready to slide under the broiler.

The doorbell pealed in the front hallway.

When Haley didn’t run to the foyer as she usually did, he
strolled down the center hallway to the front of the house. As he swung the
door open the sound of the back door closing distracted him, and he glanced
over his shoulder.

He turned, expecting a solicitor, and nearly choked when he,
instead, found Trisha standing on the porch, holding a white teddy bear with a
tiny gift-wrapped box tied to his paw.

She looked beautiful. She’d always had a flawless
complexion, but now her face practically glowed. Her sky-blue maternity top,
trimmed in lace, made her eyes look bluer than ever.

He swallowed hard. “Hi. You must be here to see Haley for
her birthday.”

“I guess she didn’t tell you she invited me to her party.”

Justin frowned. “The party isn’t here. I had no idea what to
do for a girl’s sweet sixteen, so Samantha offered to throw the party at their
house in,”—he glanced at his watch—“another fifty-five minutes.”

“Haley told me to be here at six-thirty.”

“She did, did she? Haley!” He stepped back from the door.
“Come in while I go find out what she’s up to.”

He stomped back to the kitchen and found it empty. A note
lay on the island’s granite counter.

“I think we’ve been had,” he called to Trisha as he read
Haley’s flowery handwriting.

I’m sorry. I know you’re probably mad right now, but I had to do it
this way. All I want for my birthday is for the two of you to have dinner
together and make up. Aunt Sam picked me up for my party at the corner. Please
DON’T come. Uncle Nick invited me to stay overnight with Dani and is bringing
me home tomorrow afternoon.

Love,

Haley

So his brother and Sam had been in
on the little stinker’s plan. He shook his head and glanced up when Trisha
joined him in the kitchen. He handed her the note to read. “My goddaughter is a
piece of work.”

“
Our
goddaughter.”
She laid the teddy bear on the kitchen table and scanned the note. “When Haley
heard I was originally supposed to be her godmother, she asked me to accept an
honorary position.”

That explained her switch to
Aunt Trisha
.

“If you have no objection to eating with me, you might as
well have dinner. Haley made lasagna.”

“I’d love to. It smells great.”

He pulled a green salad out of the refrigerator and found
two parfait glasses filled with layers of chocolate pudding and whipped cream
that Haley had made for their desert. He placed a set of tongs in the bowl. “If
you’ll serve this, I’ll open the wine.”

Trisha held up her hand. “None for me, thanks.”

“Oh. Right.” He slapped his forehead. How could he have been
so clueless? He pointed to her stomach. “That was why you didn’t drink at the
wedding.” And why she’d run to the bathroom every two hours. And the morning
after the wedding, she’d probably had morning sickness.

She rubbed her abdomen. “Yes, this was the reason. It was
also why I told you I wasn’t in a position to get involved right now.”

“Is the father a part of your life?”

“No. Not at the moment.”

“But he might be in the future?”

She shrugged. “That depends on whether he loves me, or just
his baby.”

“Can’t he love you both?”

“Yes.” She smiled. “But he has to love
me
first.”

Justin nodded. If he didn’t risk going out on a limb right
now, he would regret it the rest of his life. “What if another guy beats him to
you—I mean
loving
you.”

“Then he’ll be out of luck.”

He took her hand in his. “I thought your baby might be mine.
When I found out you were with someone else, I was upset and said some things I
didn’t mean.”

“I know. Frankie says you were just hurt.”

“Frankie’s smart.” He sucked in a fortifying breath.
“Trisha, I lost you once sixteen years ago and haven’t fallen for anyone else
since. I’m afraid you’re the only woman I’ll ever love, so if you don’t want me
and Haley, I’ll probably spend my life alone. It doesn’t matter that your baby
isn’t mine. I’ll love him just because he’s part of you.”

She hesitated a moment, pursing her lips. “Is this a
proposal?”

“If you want it to be.” He spread his arms, praying she’d
fill them.

“Yes.” She threw herself at him and pressed her mouth to
his. Her lips gradually parted and gave his tongue access to the sweet interior
of her mouth. Every cell in him rejoiced at having her body plastered against
him again.

He drew back and dotted her face with kisses. “I love you so
much.” He slid his hand down to her belly and spanned the tiny mound growing
there. “And I can’t wait to meet our little Brain.”

“I’d argue with you about that, but I really do think it’s a
boy.”

“When will we find out?”

“In a couple of weeks.”

He slid his hands up to cup her breasts. “Do I have to wait
until after dinner before making love to you again?”

“If you do, it’s going to be a very short meal.”

It was all the invitation he needed. In practically no time
at all, both of their clothes lay strewn over the family room’s floor. He
tumbled her back on the sofa and kissed her while his hands reacquainted
themselves with her curves. “I think your breasts are bigger,” he murmured.

“Is that a good thing or bad?” She moaned.

“Just different.” He sucked one of her luscious nipples into
his mouth. “You still taste wonderful

“I need you, Justin. Now.” She wrapped her legs around his
hips and arched her back.

As he entered her, she gasped.

“I’m sorry.” He remained perfectly still. “Did I hurt you?”

“No! You just feel so good inside me.”

Good
was a total
understatement for him. It was the first time he’d had unprotected sex since
the night Trisha bathed him in champagne back in college—the same night he must
have impregnated her.

She held him tighter and rocked her hips, urging him on.
“I’ve missed you so, so much.”

Her silken sheath gliding over his hard flesh felt so
indescribable every thought besides taking her hard and fast flew out of his
head.

Less than thirty seconds later, she shuddered beneath him
and clawed his back. “Yes!”

He said a prayer of thanks because he couldn’t last much
longer. A few more thrusts of his hips sent him over the edge with her. Every
muscle in him seized as a wave of heat flooded his body, and he pumped his seed
into her.

He collapsed on her, panting in her ear. “Damn, that was
good. Way too short but freaking fabulous. I’m sorry, sweetheart, I’ll do
better next time.”

“Please don’t.” She laughed into his shoulder. “If it gets
any better, the pleasure might kill me.”

~*~

Trisha smiled and closed her eyes, reveling in Justin’s
weight on top of her.

“Am I too heavy?” he whispered.

“No way.” She stroked his back and felt something wet. “Oh,
no! Did I draw blood?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care. I’m just glad Haley isn’t
coming home tonight.” He rolled off her and pulled his boxer briefs on before
handing her his shirt.

“You know,”—she slipped her arm into a sleeve—“she’s never
gonna let us forget she’s responsible for us getting back together.”

“That’s okay.” He helped her roll up the sleeves on the
shirt. “She deserves some credit. I just hope you’re up to handling such a
sneaky teenager. I’m starving. How about we have some of that lasagna?”

She had to tell him. If she didn’t do it now, it would only
become more difficult. “Can dinner wait another few minutes?”

“Sure. Why?”

She patted the sofa next to her and buttoned the shirt over
her belly. “Sit down for a minute. We need to talk.”

A worried look flitted across his face. “Those words don’t
usually bode well for me.”

“I hope what I have to tell you will ultimately make you
happy. Just promise you won’t get mad in the meantime.”

“I can’t make that promise,
querida
. Not until I know what it is I’m not supposed to be angry
about. But even if I’m furious, I can promise I won’t ever stop loving you.”

And Frankie said he was no good at expressing his feelings.

“Okay.” She couldn’t ask for more than everlasting love.
“I’ve never been to the Colonial Tavern.”

He chuckled. “I didn’t think you had been.”

“What I mean is—I haven’t been with anyone else but you in
over five years.”

His forehead furrowed as he laid his hand on her stomach. “I
don’t understand. How—”

“I went to a sperm bank. The same one you donated to.”

He stared at her for several tense moments.

“I was inseminated on October nineteenth.”

“Are you suggesting
I
could be the baby’s father?”

She gnawed on her lip and nodded.

He smiled and shook his head. “Not likely. Do you know how
many donors they have? Really, sweetheart, it doesn’t matter to me. I’ll love
the Brain no matter where his DNA came from.”

“I didn’t tell you everything yet.”

“There’s more?”

“Yes. You see, I’ve always loved you, too, and I was
devastated when I lost our baby.”

“I know you were.”

“I wanted our child back, so I gave a description of you
when the sperm banks’ counselor asked about my preferences. Well, in October, I
decided to use a new donor because I wasn’t having any success with the first
one. I joked with the counselor that I wanted a Ricky Martin lookalike.”

He cast a doubtful look at her. “Seriously?”

“What can I say?” She shrugged. “I’d never heard of him
until he released
Livin’ La Vida Loca
in
‘98. I couldn’t believe how much he looked like you. So I figured it was the
easiest way to describe you.”

“I don’t know about any similarity between us, but if anyone
resembles the other,”—he jabbed his thumb into his chest—“I look like Martin.
He’s older than I am.”

“That may be, but I knew you first. Not that I actually know
him.”

His gaze narrowed in a sideways glance. “Wait a minute. Are
you sure you only wanted your child to have my
ethnic background, or did you have some deep-seated need to get
back at your bigoted old man?”

She’d wondered that a few times herself. If she couldn’t be
honest with Justin, their relationship didn’t stand a chance. “I-I’m not sure.
Would it bother you if that was part of the reason why?”

Justin laughed. “Hell, no. It would make my day. I hope you
send him a birth announcement and enclose a five-by-seven glossy of our Ricky
Martin clone.”

She took his hand and stroked the back of it. “Justin, very
few people in the world are like my father. You need to stop looking for
prejudice everywhere you turn.”