Pregnancy Plan (11 page)

“
I know I’ve told you that, but it
isn’t what you think. Derek is my baby’s father. He knows all about
the baby, and he wants to raise his child.”

“
What I think doesn’t matter. What
were you thinking? This town is made up of senior citizens. They’re
going to crucify you.” Karen Ann pointed her finger at Jillian like
a mother scolding her daughter. “I told you when you thought up
this plan that you’d lose customers.”

“
But—he's real.” She rushed to her
computer. “Look, I’ll show you the e-mail he sent. Then you’ll have
to believe me.”

She searched through the list of messages
then clicked on his latest e-mail.

Should be home in the next week or two.

Take care,

Derek

Karen Ann read the message. “That’s all he
wrote?”

“
He is a very private person and
doesn’t want his messages read by the wrong people. His e-mail is
not very secure so he prefers to keep it simple. I write short
little messages as well. Matter of fact, I still haven’t responded
to this one. I’m not sure what to say.”

“
And this is the stone-faced military
guy you dated last summer?”

“
Yes.” Jillian, overwhelmed by her
best friend’s comments, realized she needed her friend to lean on.
“Look, why don’t you come home and have dinner with me tonight?
I’ll explain everything about how we got back together, but first
let me respond to his e-mail.”

Karen Ann scanned the note again. “You
better tell him the cat is out of the bag.”

“
Right, like he’ll want to hear
that.”

Happy that you will be coming home soon.
With the problems I’ve been having with junior, and the natives
getting restless, I’m looking forward to see you.

Love,

Jillian.

She hit the send button, unsure if Derek
would read her note as the call for help that she intended it to
be. “Let’s lock up and get going. It’s been a rough day.”

****

Several hours later, Derek walked into his
office and booted up his computer. His stomach and head were
bothering him, again, and his patience was skidding along on thin
ice. He retrieved an aspirin from his desk drawer and washed it
down with a gulp of cold coffee.

This assignment stunk, and the stench was
getting to him. Restless and uneasy from the beginning, he reviewed
everything that had happened. With his short leave and the fight
with Jillian, he’d been jaded against this mission from the start.
Mark Evan’s irritability, lack of terrorist information, difficult
negotiation sessions, and even the staff’s edginess was making him
nervous. Derek's gut reaction was to get out. And, although he
wanted to shut the whole operation down, he couldn’t pinpoint the
problem.

Scanning his e-mail, he saw her
message
Home
and opened it.
Reading the message, he suddenly caught his breath. Was she having
a boy, a son? Why else call her baby junior?

What did she mean about the natives? And
what kind of problems? Was someone in town harassing her?

Love?

His gut churned and he jumped from his
chair. “Kevin! Get in here.”

He hit the reply, and sent a short note.
Then he followed it with another quick message to his brother.

Kevin stood in the entryway. “Yes,
boss.”

“
Snag the corporate pilot and meet me
by the car in ten minutes. We’re getting out of here.
ASAP.”

His assistant raced down the hall, not
bothering to question Derek’s reasons for their sudden
departure.

Derek stalked into the conference room
on the second floor. Mark wouldn’t be happy about their sudden
departure, but Derek didn’t care
. This
assignment is so over.
Being in charge of security
meant he called the shots. Whether Evan liked it or not, they were
leaving.

Mark, conducting the meeting, stood at the
head of the table. Derek stared out the window while waiting for a
break in the conversation. The street below busy with people, they
were hurrying in every direction bent on getting to their final
destination. Cars sat in traffic, just like they did in every other
city across the globe.

Hearing a lull in the discussion, Derek
announced. “Gentlemen, there will be a short break while I talk to
Mr. Evan. Please excuse us.”

Glaring at him, Mark rushed through the
conference room door before turning and demanding, “What the hell
is the meaning of this?”

“
We’re leaving.” Derek closed the door
and marched down the hall.

Mark fired off questions. “What do you mean,
we’re leaving? Who gave you the authority to walk into my meeting
and drag me out? I have important business to conduct, and if I
suddenly leave, it will look bad for the company.”

“
I’m in charge of security, and I say
we’re leaving. You have been fighting me through this whole
assignment. Now I’m telling you, it’s time to go.” Not caring what
Mark did, Derek continued down the stairs, heading toward the back
of the building. “If you choose to stay, it will be without me. My
staff and I are leaving for the airport, right now. We’ll lay over
in Germany at the branch office and get directions from there. Now,
you better decide what you want to do.”

Mark followed, ranting at Derek about his
future with MEOC. “If this is some kind of joke, Mr. Harris, I
assure you it is not funny. Your boss will hear about this. I plan
on giving him a full report when we get back to the states. This
little stunt is going to cost you your job.”

Not slowing his fast pace, Derek stepped out
of the building and stopped next to the car, his fists clutched at
his sides. “If you don’t shut up, I’m leaving you here. Now get in
and be quiet!”

He slid in the back seat beside Mark, with
Kevin and John in the front.

“
Let’s head to the airport. I want to
be out of here within the hour.” Derek’s bark allowed for no
questions.

Driving out of the back entrance, Kevin
turned right and exited the parking lot. The street took them along
the side of the building. When they stopped at the light, Derek
studied the building they had just exited. He never planned to see
it again. This was his last trip to the Middle East. He couldn’t
leave Jillian again.

The light turned green, but with the heavy
traffic, the car crawled through the intersection.

A thunderous noise exploded out of nowhere,
deafening in its intensity. The back windshield shattered. He
shoved Mark to the floorboard as the car vibrated.

"Get us the hell out of here." His scream
rang over the wail of the people on the street.

He glanced out the hole in the back window
at a burning car. The flames sizzling high in the air from the
middle of the street. Glass from their office building peppered the
people below causing mayhem as pedestrians ran from the disaster.
Blood and bodies lay scattered across the pavement. He brushed his
hand over the back of his neck and swallowed the sickening bile in
his throat.

“
We could have been in there.” Mark’s
white face showed the shock of the nightmare before
them.

“
Stay down.” Derek shoved at the man's
shoulders. Pain pounded through his head. “Kevin, step on it. Let’s
get as far away from here as we can.”

His bloody hand stained the man's white
dress shirt. His vision blurred and his body went limp.

“
Jillian,” he whispered and his world
turned black.

****

In bed, Jillian lay trembling. The nightmare
she’d just had replayed over and over in her head. A sea of red
swam before her vision. She couldn’t escape the blood.

The phone rang.

Startled, she glanced at the device.
Fear gripped her. Coming on the heels of the dread that had
awakened her, the call couldn't be good news. She tried to calm
down and steady her harsh breathing before grabbing the receiver.
Her gaze landed on the bedside clock—3:52
.

“
Hello?” Her muddled mind listened
intently. In her heart, she knew something terrible had
happened.

“
Jillian, it’s Jason. I’m sorry to
wake you, but I have some news about Derek.”

“
What’s wrong?” Her heart thundered in
her chest. “Is he okay?”

“
He’s in the hospital in Germany.”
Jason spoke slowly, as if he, too, struggled to believe
it.

“
Why? What happened?” She whispered,
the words trapped in her throat. A picture of Derek bleeding melded
with her earlier dream of death.

“
There was an explosion. He was hit in
the head by flying debris. He has a concussion and…” Jason's voice
wavered. "He's confused and experiencing some memory
loss.

He paused, and she heard his exhale. “He
says you two are married. Is he delusional?”

Her mind raced. How could she explain? “No,”
she cried, letting her inability to help the man she loved on the
other side of the world lead the way. “He’s not.”

“
You can’t be married!” The sharpness
of his voice cut into her like a knife. “You two quit dating over a
year ago.”

“
I know Jason, I’m sorry.” She hated
hurting him, but he’d get over it. Right now, all she could worry
about was Derek. “We met up again the weekend I came to Dallas, and
got married right before he left. He made me promise not to tell
anyone until he returned.” Tears clogged her throat. She stopped
and intertwined her fingers through the black lace on the bottom of
her gown. “I wanted him to be here when we shared our
news.”

“
Is this why you told me you’d given
up on your plan to get pregnant?” he asked suspiciously.

“
Yes.” She waited, but the line
remained silent. Working to unwind her fingers from her gown, she
tried to relax. “What exactly happened?”

“
A piece of debris from a car bomb
flew in through the back window of the car he was in. It caught him
on the back of the head. He's in Germany at...” Jason’s voice
broke.

She could hear him taking deep breaths. He
feared for his brother’s life. She ached with the same worry.

“
It also made him sick, which
according to Kevin, is not unusual for a concussion. It's the
additional problem that really has me worried. He can’t remember
any of the facts about his last assignment. They called me around
eleven to fill me in.” He paused, his voice stronger when he
continued. “After I got off the phone, I checked my e-mail. Derek
had sent me one saying that I should keep an eye on you. I didn’t
understand until I got the second call a few minutes ago. He’s
asking for you—his wife.”

She wiped at the tears streaming down her
face. “I’m sorry, I know that this has upset you, but he really
thought that you would be happy for us.”

“
Don’t cry, Jillian, I’m just upset
with Derek.” Gruffly, he tried to soothe her. “This sounds like a
stunt he’d pull.”

“
Don’t be mad. He’s...” Sobbing, she
couldn’t think. “I just want him home.”

His soft spoken words, offering reassurance.
“Now, Jillian, you have to pull yourself together. Derek will need
us to be strong when he gets here in a few days.”

“
I know, but he could’ve been killed.”
Tears continued to fall, she wiped at them frantically.

“
Yes, but he’s fine now. You’ll see
that once he gets home.” His calming words showed his concern for
her outweighing his own.

“
When did they say he could come
home?”

“
Right now, they’re saying Saturday,”
he answered. “I think it would be best if he stayed here in Dallas
with me for a while.”

“
He’ll never go for it.” She argued,
not wanting to be separated from him, not with him sick. “He’ll
want to be here with me. Please, I don’t want him in Dallas. I want
him here.”

“
Let’s wait and decide when he gets
home,” Jason reasoned. “We’ll know more then.”

“
All right. I’ll come to your condo
Saturday. Then we can go to the airport together.” She knew Derek
would want to be with her, so she decided not to fight over the
point now.

“
Are you going to be able to get away
from the store?” he hedged. “Aren’t you open on
Saturday?”

“
Yes, but I’ll close early if I have
to, or I’ll get Michael to run it.” She stuck to her guns. “I want
to be at the airport when Derek arrives. I need to be
there.”

“
Okay, call me if you need anything.
I’ll let you know if I hear more. Otherwise, I will see you
Saturday. Bye, Jillian.”

“
Bye, Jason.” She slumped back on her
pillow. The weight of what she’d just done closed in on
her.

She was now a married woman.

Sort of.

What else could she have done?

Derek believed they were married. He wanted
it. She wanted it. How could it be wrong?

His brother believed her.

Now, all she had to do was convince the rest
of the world, starting with Karen Ann, who knew the truth.

The clock read 4:27, the same as the last
time she looked. Jillian sighed and threw back the covers. It was
no use. She couldn’t go back to sleep.

The light from her lamp lit the area around
her. Pink lacy curtains adorned the windows. French provincial
furniture gave the room an elegant grace. A white crocheted cover
decorated the bed in a feminine style that she felt sure Derek
wouldn’t like.