The Texas Tycoon's Baby(15)

“Hey!” Mina laughed at the antics of her only niece. So far, there’d been no nephews, either, so Mina was addicted to everything Lizzie did and said.

“Auntie Mina, Auntie Mina!” Lizzie was climbing onto her mother’s lap. “Ready to see?”

“You bet.”

Lizzie preened in front of the camera, this way and that, her freckled face delighted as she modeled the pink costume she would be wearing tonight. Her mom, a whiz with a needle and thread, had whipped together a fairy-inspired outfit for her.

Mina noticed a crucial element was missing. “Don’t tell me you haven’t earned your wings yet.”

Lizzie giggled and veered closer to the lens. “No. Mommy said later.”

Katie chimed in. “I still have a little more work to do on those wings, but she’ll be wearing them for the show.”

The little girl had already slid off Katie’s lap and, seconds later, was back with the wings, which looked like gossamer daydreams that any little girl would adore.

“See?” she said, putting them so close to the camera that they merely looked like sparkly blurs.

“Gorgeous!” Mina said nonetheless. “I just wish I could be there.”

Lizzie lowered the wings from the lens, and Katie wriggled her way out from under her daughter, standing up, then taking the wings from Lizzie. Alone now, the little girl’s green-blue eyes were wide and sad.

“I wish you were here.”

Something stirred in Mina’s chest, then in her tummy. Yearning. A keening desire for a child just as sweet as Lizzie.

Once again, the news Mina carried begged to be revealed.

Soon, Lizzie would have a cousin. Four and a half months soon. But Mina wanted to see the joy on Lizzie’s face now, wanted the rest of her family to celebrate this miracle with her, although she wasn’t so sure about their response.

Good heavens—she could just imagine how Chet might have to undergo a bunch of questions about his family scandal and why he and Mina weren’t married yet. Could just picture her conservative family wondering if she’d hooked up with another commitment-shy Michael.

“Can’t you come tonight?” Lizzie asked Mina.

“I’m afraid not. I’m far away right now, in another state called Utah.”

Lizzie nodded, but Mina was pretty sure the girl didn’t know what a state was. Or Utah. But Mina would show her next time she visited, telling Lizzie more about the places she got to travel on business. Her niece loved Auntie Mina’s stories.

“But,” Mina said, “I aim to see you dancing around in that fairy costume sometime soon, just after I get back to Texas. Will you put on a show for me then?”

This time, Lizzie’s nod was even more emphatic. “And I can dance now for you.”

And, with that, she hopped off the chair. Mina couldn’t get a full view of her, since her niece was nearly out of the camera’s view, but she got the impression that Lizzie was spinning around, her arms over her head like a pixie ballerina.

Katie came to the rescue and pointed the lens toward Lizzie, who still jumped and swept out her arms all around as she previewed her show.

When she was done, Mina applauded, wishing she could give her niece a great big hug, too.

Instead, she took solace in resting her hand on her belly after she was done with the bravos.

Her own girl or boy. She hadn’t wanted to know the sex during her first ultrasound. Didn’t want to know until she told Chet.

Or could it be that she’d put off the discovery because the news of the pregnancy hadn’t seemed real during her visit to the doctor?

Now, though, it was getting more real by the day, and tears needled the back of Mina’s eyes as she felt more alone than ever in this.

When a knock sounded on her front door, she prayed that her sorrow wasn’t obvious.

Through the glass that decorated the thick door, she saw a hint of cowboy: jeans, boots, hat. Chet?

“Come in!” she shouted. Then she turned to the computer. “Lizzie, you’re going to be wonderful tonight. Big kisses. I love you!”

“Love you!” Lizzie blew kisses at the screen and flitted off.

Mina heard the door shut, then boot steps. She glanced over her shoulder to see her boss, his hat in one hand, leaving his dark blond hair ruffled.

It was as if the earth sloped, just like one of those walking ramps on a fun house that tried to throw you off balance. The irony was that Mina hadn’t been having all that much fun lately.

Katie came back on, taking the camera over just in time to spy him, too. With a saucy, curious expression written all over her face, she said, “Doing business out of the office today, sis?”

Mina shot a don’t-get-any-ideas glare at her sibling. It was obvious that Katie was trying to get an even better gander at Chet.