Buch lesen: «Nine Months' Notice»

Chapter One

There were two pink lines on the plastic stick. Tori stared at the pregnancy test she was holding in her right hand as if willing it to change. Even though she had a master’s degree in computer science, she held the test up to the back of the box to make sure she’d read the results correctly.

Two lines. Pregnant.

The box gleefully proclaimed that it was 99.9 percent accurate, but Tori read the wording again. The odds she was pregnant were pretty good; this was the second test she’d taken—the first one she’d wrapped in layers of toilet paper and stuffed back inside the box about five minutes ago.

That test had also been positive, which meant she wasn’t just missing her period because of stress as she had done a few times before in her life. As she’d thought had happened at the end of May. No, two months of missed cycles and two positive tests meant one thing.

She was having Jeff Wright’s baby.

Tori wrapped the second stick in toilet paper and shoved it into the box before placing the whole package back into the plain brown bag the drugstore had thoughtfully provided. She tossed the sack in the trash can, making sure to hide it at the bottom.

She hadn’t planned on taking the test, especially not at work. She’d run by the drugstore at lunch to get some headache medicine and, worried about having missed her period twice in a row, had picked up the test after she’d passed it in the aisle. Then the box had sat in her purse like a homing beacon. Finally, at about four o’clock, she hadn’t been able to take the suspense any more. She had to know the results.

And now she did.

She straightened and took a long, hard look at herself in the mirror. She was about to be a mother. While a woman had reproductive choices today, Tori had known the moment she’d bought the test what her decision would be if the results were positive.

She gazed into her own brown eyes. While this wasn’t quite how she’d planned it, she knew she would be a wonderful single mom. She was turning thirty December first; she had a good job with excellent benefits; and, as a fantastic “aunt” to her friend Joann’s kids, Tori knew she could handle diapers and feedings. Besides, her whole family lived near Kansas City, where she had recently moved, giving her a great support system to draw on. And she knew that her best friends from college, the Roses, would agree with her and support her decision.

Still, the irony mocked. While she’d been trying to change her life by moving to Kansas City and breaking up with Jeff at the end of May, she certainly hadn’t intended this.

Tori blinked and shook her head. She’d recently shed her long, dark hair, chopping off six inches so that the locks now bobbed just below her chin. She wasn’t quite used to not having the weight and the strands tickled her chin.

She sighed. Taking the test was probably going to be the easiest part. Despite all her book smarts, she had little idea how to proceed. Did one just call up and announce, Guess what? I’m pregnant? Was there a chain-of-command of people you were supposed to tell first, such as your own parents or the father? Did it even matter?

Even the decision to accept the promotion and transfer to Kansas City had been easier to make than facing the situation now looming on the horizon.

She thought about her new job a moment. Her career had always been a top priority in her life, and relocating had let her leave Jeff behind. She hadn’t seen him since leaving St. Louis, and time had been a healing balm, giving her much-needed space and perspective. Oh, she still loved him—part of her always would—but she wasn’t moping anymore. She’d put the past behind her and was ready to start a new life. She’d joined some of the women in the office in their Internet dating adventures. While she hadn’t found anyone, at least she was back on the market.

Although not for long. She was going to have a baby.

How would Jeff take the news? Would he be excited? Or would he feel inconvenienced, trapped? She’d been on the Pill and they’d never discussed the possibility of kids.

Tori swallowed the hurt that often rose when she thought of both Jeff and her past failure in not accepting the hopelessness of her situation earlier. Deep down she knew that his first love was his job; he focused on work and the endless travel that came with it. He and his brothers, Jared and Justin, had founded Wright Solutions, a technology company that did everything from designing and installing high-end networks to selling software to hardware recycling and disposal. Jeff and his brothers had made Wright Solutions a one-stop shop for business computing needs.

Of the three brothers, Jeff was the problem solver, which was the trait that had first attracted Tori. He stopped hackers, recovered data, and strengthened firewalls. He was focused—like her.

When she’d first been hired, she’d worked in his division. Their paths had diverged when she’d been promoted, and now everything Wright Solutions touched west of Kansas City was handled through her office. The management position was a crowning achievement. Her salary and stock options let her live comfortably.

When she’d broken things off, she’d been determined not to let her personal life interfere with her career. She had no intention of changing companies and jeopardizing her future advancement. She and Jeff had been friends first; surely they could be friends post-breakup.

Now a wrench had been tossed into the machinery. She put her hand on her still-flat stomach. He’d make beautiful babies. He had the right to know. She winced. She had no desire to tell him. She would, of course, but only after she saw the doctor and made sure the tests were correct.

Tori backed away from the sink. Oftentimes, she’d wondered if she’d made life too easy for Jeff—maybe that’s why things had never progressed. Unlike most couples, they talked only in person, keeping in touch via short e-mails, Jeff’s preferred means of communication. He wasn’t a phone conversationalist and all their calls lasted less than five minutes, unless they were fighting.

Not that they fought often since, really, there wasn’t much to argue about. From the beginning, Jeff had been clear on how their relationship was going to be—monogamous, hot, passionate, no strings, easily ended whenever the other felt like it.

Never once had they discussed children, much less marriage. She’d told Jeff how she felt about him once, but he hadn’t replied in kind. He’d told her he liked things how they were. Instead of walking away as she should have done—and isn’t hindsight twenty-twenty?—Tori hadn’t pressed, accepting that something was better than nothing. She should have left him long before she had.

Now the writing was on the wall or, more aptly, the lines were on the stick. Tori Adams, who had graduated summa cum laude and who could solve complicated math problems in her head, had blown it. Just as she had been poised to start over, to find someone to spend her life with, the traditional life she wanted—find the guy, get married, have children—she was about to get exactly the opposite. She’d always be tied irrevocably to Jeff. They’d always share a child.

A knock sounded on her outside office door and Tori opened her bathroom door and called out, “Hold on.”

She made sure the remnants of her tests weren’t lying around, washed her hands and closed the door behind her. She gave her office one last glance to make sure nothing was amiss, then double-checked her Friday casual outfit for lint before she greeted her visitor.

Jeff Wright stood in front of her, a wide grin on his face. “Surprise.”

“JEFF,” TORI SAID, her equilibrium rattled. She suddenly felt like the neurotic, guilty man in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” She took a deep breath to calm her nerves; there was no way Jeff could know her secret and she refused to blurt out her news here. “Jeff, what are you doing here? Did we have an appointment?”

Jeff frowned, the grin slipping from his face. “No, we didn’t have an appointment. I didn’t know I needed one. In fact, I’m not really visiting, I just have a fast layover before flying back to St. Louis.”

He closed her office door behind him, the click audible. “I figured I’d pop by, check out the KC office. See how you were doing. We haven’t talked in a while.”

Tori stared at him. “Well, I haven’t seen you since I transferred and I report to Justin now,” Tori said, trying to get a sense of why he was here unexpectedly. This was out of character for him.

Jeff shifted his weight from one foot to the other as if the situation wasn’t going quite the way he’d envisioned. “Everything okay with the job? Still like it?”

Tori nodded, her hair dancing around her chin. “It’s been great. We’ve landed five new accounts and exceeded all of last quarter’s income projections.”

Jeff stuffed his hands into his pockets for a moment. Tori had never really liked wearing heels, and in her flats he was seven inches taller than she was. “I guess I should have asked if everything is okay with you?” he clarified.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Tori asked, forcing herself to relax. She’d tell him about the baby after visiting the doctor, when she would know things such as her due date. Now was not the time.

“No reason.” Jeff raked a hand through his strawberry-colored hair, a habit whenever he was nervous. “I guess I just miss talking to you. Maybe things aren’t okay with me.”

He missed her. She could see it reflected in his eyes. Maybe they had a chance. Maybe…

“I’ve really missed you,” he repeated. “I want you back in my life. It’s been weeks.”

While her body hummed with the longing it always felt around Jeff Wright, his subsequent statement had made her want to fall through the floor with disappointment. He didn’t love her. He was just sexually frustrated. They’d never had problems in that department.

She was determined that this time she wouldn’t succumb to his charms or his “needs.” She was going to be a mother. Time to grow up and stop living in fantasyland. He wasn’t going to change.

“I can’t see you anymore,” Tori managed, proud of herself for keeping her chin up and somehow looking him in the eye. They’d fit each other once, but no longer. He was a man married to his computer and his cat. She wanted more than an addiction she slaked every week. She wanted it all, like the love her mother had found with her second husband, Tori’s stepfather. “I’m sorry, but no. It’s high time for both of us to move on. Although I would like for us to be friends.”

Jeff stood there, his pale-green broadcloth shirt making him look sexier than any model. The imaginary devil on her shoulder screamed in her ear that she was being an idiot. But deep down she knew this was the right thing to do. She wasn’t aware she was holding her breath until she exhaled at the exact moment he slowly said, “I see.”

An awkward silence descended. Tori’s body still hummed; the man was as irresistible as chocolate cake—but she was winning the battle against indulging. “I know this sounds harsh, but we always said we’d let each other know when we were ready to move on. I’m happy here. New town, new life.”

“New man,” Jeff said, his tone edgy.

“Eventually,” Tori confirmed, knowing that finding a man was now the lowest item on her priority list. Her baby came first. “We’re at opposite ends of the state. We’ve always been friends—we can put things back the way they once were. That would be best.”

“Yeah, I guess we can be friends,” he said, his watch beeping as the alarm went off. He silenced it.

“Work?” Tori said.

“Always. I need to get back to the airport,” Jeff said. “I’m flying to St. Louis and then tomorrow I’m headed to Buffalo for a week-long project. After that I’m home for a little while before I’m back out in L.A.”

“You do travel a lot,” Tori observed. She knew that he’d racked up over half a million frequent-flier miles the year before.

Jeff grinned, but this time his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Yeah, well, you know how I like to be constantly on the go. I like the adventure. No grass grows under my feet.”

She did, which was why she held her tongue and simply gave him the patient smile of one ready to get back to work. He recognized the message and stepped toward the door. “I guess I’d better get going. Airport security’s tight right now and I don’t want to miss my flight.”

“Probably a good idea,” Tori said, doing her best to hold herself together for a few more minutes. She could let him go, let him walk out without breaking down. Seeing him was hard, but she had to remember that he hadn’t changed. This visit confirmed the futility of her current situation. She was having his baby, and part of her would always love him, but he’d never love her. And to top it off, he was always working and jetting off somewhere. The job would always be number one, not her or the baby.

Jeff paused. “Should I tell Lauren you said hi?”

Tori nodded. “Please.”

Lauren was Justin’s wife and she was currently on maternity leave. Over three years ago, she and Tori had been on the company Christmas-party committee together and they had been friends since. That night had been a catalyst for both women’s relationships with the Wright twins.

Tori suddenly realized she’d have to take a six-week maternity leave at the very least. She made a mental note to check her company benefits brochure. A bit overwhelmed by all the changes she was facing, Tori moved to sink into the sofa located in her office.

“You appear a little pale,” Jeff said. “Can I get you something to drink before I go?”

“I’m fine,” Tori said, waving him off. “Go catch your flight. I’ll get something later.”

He didn’t seem to believe her. “You’re sure?”

“Yes.” What she needed was for him to leave.

“Let me get you some water anyway,” Jeff said. He strode to the small bar fridge in the corner. “Have you been eating?”

“Yes. Plenty,” Tori said, watching him. He’d always been kind to her, remembering things such as her favorite foods. She focused. That didn’t mean he loved her.

“So, do you still talk to your friends in St. Louis?” Jeff asked as he gave Tori a bottle of water.

“Yes. Lisa’s getting married. She called to tell me last week. I’m still in shock.”

“Lisa’s one of your sorority sisters,” Jeff said. He dallied for a moment.

“Right. Rho Sigma Gamma.”

As she spoke the words, Tori felt a slight twang of depression. She, Lisa Meyer, Joann Smith and Cecile Deletsky had pledged together and become fast friends. Joann was a stay-at-home mom of three. Lisa was a political fund-raiser working on getting her candidate into the Missouri governor’s mansion. Cecile had relocated to Chicago and was a producer for a popular talk show. They’d been extremely supportive of Tori’s decision to leave Jeff. She wondered what they’d think when she told them her news.

At least that would be easier than telling her own mother. Her mother was going to be, in a word, disappointed.

Her friends would understand. They’d all vowed on graduation day to have it all—love, marriage and children. So what if Tori wasn’t doing things in order? Of course, while Joann had been pregnant when she got married, she’d at least had a man who loved her.

Tori, well, she had Jeff. He was now standing beside her, a reminder that for her, dreams didn’t come true. He didn’t love her. He wanted her for sex. She was going to have his baby. The situation was all messed up.

“You’ll be late,” she told him, impatient to get him out of the office. “And I have phone calls to make.”

“Oh. Okay.” He again moved toward the door as if finally believing she meant to send him away. Or maybe it was because he had a plane to catch. How many times had she caved over the years? He popped a piece of gum into his mouth. “I can’t miss my flight. I’ll see you later. Call me if you change your mind about us.”

And with that he was gone, the door clicking shut behind him. Tori trembled and placed her head in her hands. She’d made it. She’d seen him and survived.