Her heart ached. Then something occurred to her. Perhaps Alex had asked them here to discuss a new plan?
Or a new wife?
She gulped. No, she couldn’t believe he would say anything about her infertility to his brothers. Not without her consent.
Still, later when he slid into bed in the dark she had to ask. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes.”
“You all looked quite preoccupied.”
“There’s a small problem. We can deal with it.”
She swallowed hard, hoping she wasn’t the problem they would deal with. Then she pushed it out of her mind and tried to get some sleep.
But the next morning as she came out of the bathroom after finishing her shower, she heard Alex talking on the phone and she stopped dead.
“Dad, I need to see you about something,” he was saying quietly, his back to her. “I’ll be there in half an hour.”
There was a pause.
“Cancel your appointment, Dad. This is important. It can’t wait.”
Another pause.
“Right. See you soon.” He hung up, pushed himself to his feet and reached for his trousers. Then he saw her and he seemed to freeze. Or was that just her imagination?
He scowled. “You look pale. Are you okay?”
She forced herself to move. “Yes, I’m fine. The shower was a bit too hot, that’s all.” She half expected he would tease her about them making steam in the shower, only he didn’t. He had that distant look back on his face.
“You take it easy, Olivia. You’ve been rushing around too much lately.”
“Thank you for your concern,” she said, unable to stop a hint of coolness to her voice.
He held her eyes for a beat, looking slightly puzzled, then turned away to glance at the bedside clock. “I have to go.” He headed for the door, stopping briefly to kiss her on the mouth. “See you tonight.”
He left the room.
But he left behind a very worrying silence.
Ten
A lex didn’t come home until after ten that night. He had phoned earlier to say there was a problem and he had to work late, but Olivia had heard voices laughing in the background and wondered if that were true. She wanted to believe him and for the most part she did, but memories of her ex-husband’s cheating kept flashing through her mind.
She knew Alex wasn’t like that. Alex had integrity and was honest and—
Was this the same Alex she now suspected might not even wait the twelve months before getting rid of her? The same Alex who might be plotting even now with his father and his brothers to find a way to end his marriage?
The same man who—
No, she was jumping to conclusions. She seriously didn’t want to believe any of that. Perhaps those voices had merely been his staff. There certainly hadn’t been any music in the background to indicate a bar, nor any woman’s voice specifically.
Still, when he stripped in the dark in the bedroom then went to take a shower, she found herself quietly sniffing the air for the scent of perfume. Thank God there was none. And when he joined her in bed ten minutes later, there was only the smell of Alex.
And it was wonderful.
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And when he slid his arm around her and pulled her up against him, she waited for him to kiss her and make love to her. Only, he kissed the top of her head instead then promptly fell asleep.
Strangely, Olivia felt comforted and she must have fallen asleep, too, because the next thing she knew the telephone beside the bed was ringing. Her heart jumped in her throat and instinctively she reached for the phone in the pre-dawn light.
Her heart thudded with relief when she heard her mother’s voice. Felicia always got the time zones mixed up. “Mum, it’s five in the morning over here.”
“Darling, I had to call you,” Felicia said urgently. “I’m afraid the newspapers know.”
“Know?” Olivia’s forehead crinkled as she sat up in bed. “What do they know?” She still wasn’t functioning right.
“About you not being able to have a…a…baby.”
Olivia’s brain stumbled. “Wh-what?”
“It’s in all the newspapers over here today. And my phone hasn’t stopped ringing.” Felicia took a shuddering breath. “I’m so sorry, darling.”
“I don’t believe this,” Olivia whispered, vaguely aware of Alex switching the light on and coming around to her side of the bed.
“I don’t know how they knew,” her mother continued. “I certainly didn’t tell them. I hope you believe that.”
She was having trouble coming to grips with this. Why would anyone want to know about her and her infertility problems?