A Baby for the Boss(42)

Jenny smiled, reached out and covered Betty’s hand with her own. Betty was right. She wasn’t alone. She had family. A family that Uncle Hank had given her. She grabbed for her uncle’s hand, too, linking the three of them.

“She’s right, you know,” Uncle Hank told her, with just a touch of discomfort. “You’ve got us. For whatever you need.”

“Thank you,” she said, as warmth spread through her. He’d given her a real gift today. He’d let her know that her early fears in childhood hadn’t had a basis in reality. He had wanted her. Still did. And now, he was making another choice, Jenny thought. A deliberate one, to once again be there—not just for her, but for her baby.

“Jenny,” Betty said, giving her hand a quick pat, “you should think about moving back home.”

“What?”

“That’s a good idea,” Uncle Hank piped up. “Never did like the idea of you living alone.”

“Nonsense, why shouldn’t she live alone?” Betty countered. “You’re living in the dark ages, Hank. What I’m saying is, with a baby coming, she should come back home where she will have all the help she needs.”

Both of them turned to look at Jenny, waiting for her response. Though she really appreciated the thought, Jenny wasn’t ready to give up her little apartment and go running back home. Maybe that would change later on, when the baby’s due date was closer, when she began to worry about being able to handle everything on her own.

But for now... “Thanks,” she said, meaning it completely. “I appreciate that a lot, really.” She looked from one to the other of them. “But I’m fine for now. I have my work and my own space.”

Betty and Hank exchanged a knowing look, then her uncle turned to her. “Okay, but...” He paused and with an embarrassed shrug added, “You should remember that you’ve got a home here. People ready to help.”

Jenny’s eyes filled with tears but she blinked them back because she knew if she cried, Uncle Hank would panic. Instead, she squeezed his hand and whispered, “Thank you, Uncle Hank.”

He squeezed back briefly. “No need to thank family.”

Betty gave a loud sniffle, then snapped, “All right, now, that’s enough of that. Soup’s getting cold and, Jenny, you need to eat. That baby doesn’t need a skinny mama.”

Smiling to herself, Jenny did as she was told.



Mike spent the next few days at home. He couldn’t go to the office because there, he’d have to deal with Jenny and he needed some damn time to come to grips with what had happened.

A baby.

Because of faulty condoms, he was going to be a father and he couldn’t quite wrap his head around that one simple fact. Mike had never considered having children. To his mind, being a father meant being married and he’d never do that. Never give another person the ability to cut him off at the knees. To bring misery and—

Hell.

He left the silence of the house and stalked across the stone patio that led down a wide sweep of lawn toward the cliff. Beyond those cliffs was the Pacific and as he stared out at the ocean, glittering brightly beneath the morning sun, he squinted to see the handful of sailboats skimming the water. Closer to shore, there were a few surfers waiting for a decent wave.

The sound of the ocean reached him and the steady pulse of water against rocks seemed to steady him. He’d bought this house mainly for the view. It was too damn big for a man alone and he knew it, but until today, the quiet and the...emptiness really hadn’t bothered him much.

Now, though, he looked at the pristine backyard and pictured a swing set there. He turned and stared at the shining windows and imagined Jenny in one of them, smiling down at him as she held their child in her arms.

Shaking his head, he rubbed his eyes and told himself he was just tired. Not surprising since he hadn’t gotten much sleep over the past few days. How could he when memories of Jenny kept intruding? He saw her as she was the night he’d come to her after a miserable dinner at his parents’ house. In her flannel pajama bottoms and slinky tank top. Saw her eyes as she leaned into his kiss. Heard her sighs as he entered her.

“How the hell is a man supposed to sleep when his own mind is working against him?” he demanded of no one.

“It’s a bad sign when you talk to yourself.”

Mike spun around to see Sean strolling out of the house and down the patio toward him. “When did you get back?”

“Last night,” Sean said, shaking his head. “It was a hell of a storm. Kept us locked down for way too long.” He tipped his head back, stared up at the blue, sunny sky and sighed. “It’s good to be back in the sun. Man, I thought I’d never get warm again.”