The Baby Pact (Babies and Billions Book 5)

by Holly Rayner

  “Well, I don’t think it would have any effect on your feelings,” Zach hastened to clarify. “But you must understand by now that what I want is for the three of us to be a family. You, me, and the baby. I would do anything to make that happen. If there was something that you needed from me that would bring about that result, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it.”

  She trailed her toes slowly through the water, then lifted her foot out and examined it. “That’s what you meant when you said you could understand why your father would commit a crime,” she said thoughtfully.

  “Yes,” he said. “That’s it exactly. My father was a man who would do anything if he believed his family needed it. I’m the same way. He shouldn’t have done what he did. But he must have believed it was necessary in order to give me the life he thought I should have.”

  Rhea nodded slowly.

  “He was wrong about that,” Zach said. “I wish he had just asked me back then, because I would have told him I didn’t want anything of the kind. I would have told him it was fine that we didn’t have money, and that I would find my way regardless.”

  “I understand,” Rhea said quietly.

  He glanced at her. “You do?”

  “It’s hard to say no when there’s something you believe your family needs,” she said. “I’ve been in that position myself. My family wanted me to stop seeing you.”

  “That wasn’t something you wanted?”

  “That was never something I wanted,” she said, her voice breaking slightly. “But my family told me they couldn’t accept having you in their lives. And they’re my family. I would give up anything. I would do anything.”

  Zach nodded. “That’s exactly what I’ve been saying,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been feeling about our child. I know that when he or she is born, I’ll do anything to make sure that they are happy and provided for. And feeling like that makes it easy for me to understand how my father could have done what he did—even though he judged wrongly.”

  Rhea nodded. “I see,” she said. “I think I’ve been too harsh with you about this.”

  His heart beat faster. “Really?”

  “I thought you were saying you agreed with what he had done,” she said. “I thought you were saying that if you didn’t have money today, you would be comfortable stealing from someone who did.”

  “Definitely not,” Zach said. “We may not have had money, but we didn’t need a windfall. We were doing all right. I feel awful about my father’s choices. All I’m saying is that I can understand how he must have felt.”

  She closed her eyes, then pushed off the patio and slipped into the water of the lagoon.

  The water was so clear that Zach was able to watch her even when she was fully submerged. She swam back and forth underwater, her hair streaming out behind her and making her look like a mermaid. Then she surfaced a few feet away from him, bobbing gently, looking as comfortable in the water as she did on land.

  “Are you coming in?” she asked.

  Zach pulled off the pajama pants he was wearing and dropped into the lagoon in his boxers. The water was too deep to stand in, so he held on to the cement of the patio with one hand.

  Rhea watched him. “What’s up?” she said. “Come over here.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not the strongest swimmer.”

  “Really?”

  “We couldn’t afford swimming lessons when I was a kid.”

  “And you never learned as an adult?”

  “I was busy,” he defended himself.

  “Well, come on out here,” she said. “I’ll teach you.”

  He eyed her dubiously. “You’re not a teacher.”

  “You’ll be fine.” She grabbed his hand and hauled him off the patio. “Come on. This is easy, I promise.”

  “Easy for you to say. You’ve been doing it all your life!”

  “Your instincts are right,” she said. “You’re kicking your feet. That’s what you should be doing.”

  “I’m trying not to drown.”

  “Okay. Here.” He felt her hand at the back of his leg. “Lie on your back on the surface of the water.”

  “Do what now?”

  “Come on. You have to float before you can swim. Once you can do a back float, you’ll feel comfortable enough with the water to try more complicated things.” She moved around behind him and hooked her arms beneath his. “Lean your head back on my shoulder,” she said.

  Zach tried to flatten his body out. It didn’t come naturally. He kept trying to look up to see what his toes were doing.

  “You’re fine,” Rhea said. “You need to trust that the water is going to hold you up. Humans are buoyant. We float naturally.”

  “I’m not floating.”

  “That’s because you’re not relaxing. You need to act like you’re lying in bed. Let your muscles go. Lean your head all the way back.”

  “My face will go underwater.”

  “No, I’ve got you,” she promised.

  “Why are we doing this?”

  “You wanted us to trust each other, right?” she asked. “I want to trust you, Zach. But I want you to trust me too. Show me that you do.”

  Zach drew a deep breath and forced his muscles to relax. He closed his eyes and imagined he was lying on a solid surface instead of on top of the water.

  Rhea’s hands slid down his back and pressed upward ever so slightly, easing him into a better position. He followed her lead, allowing his head to rest on her shoulder.

  “That’s perfect,” she said quietly.

  Zach turned toward her, his body moving almost automatically, without thought or design, and it seemed that she had had the same idea. Her lips met his, and as they kissed, any doubts Zach had been harboring about his ability to float drifted away. He could have floated on air in that moment.

  Together, wordlessly, they made their way back to the patio. Zach climbed out of the water, reached down, caught Rhea by the hands, and pulled her straight up to stand beside him. Her body was radiant in the moonlight.

  He pulled her close and kissed her again, and she fitted herself against him like a glove. The wind was chilly against their wet skin, but they were warm where they touched.

  “Inside?” Zach murmured.

  Rhea nodded, her breath coming rapidly.

  After a warm shower together, they found their way to bed. To Zach, it felt as though they had never spent a single day apart. They were able to easily resume the patterns they had established back home, and though they were relearning one another’s bodies, Zach was pleased to find that his knowledge of how to love Rhea had not been lost in the intervening weeks.

  When they were finished, they lay in one another’s arms as their breathing returned to normal.

  “This is the most beautiful place in the world,” Rhea said quietly.

  “I’ve always thought it was special,” Zach agreed. “But now it’s the place where you and I found our way back to one another.”

  Rhea didn’t respond.

  He looked down at her, suddenly concerned. “We are back together, aren’t we?” he asked.

  “We are,” she said. “I can’t keep away from you, Zach. I know that now.”

  “Then why do you look sad?” he asked anxiously.

  “I’m not sad,” she assured him. “I’m just… I don’t know. I’m worried, I guess.”

  “Worried about what?”

  “It’s easy for us to be here in this moment together, and to promise each other that everything’s going to be fine going forward,” she said. “But there was a reason we had to leave the country to get to this point.”

  “You’re worried about your family,” he realized.

  “Of course I am,” she said. “They’re going to feel so betrayed when I tell them I let you back into my life, Zach.”

  “Won’t they understand that my father was the one who stole from them?” he asked. “I had nothing to do with it. We’ll tell them that.”

  “We will,
” she said. “And I’m sure they’ll believe it. But I don’t know how they’re going to be able to look at you without seeing that betrayal. Do you know what I mean? It was difficult enough for me to do it. My father trusted your father.”

  “Rhea, they’re going to have to find a way to move past it anyway,” Zach pointed out. “Your baby is my father’s grandchild. They’re going to have to figure out some way to accept that our families are tied together now.”

  “I know,” Rhea said. “You’re right. And I’m not saying it isn’t worth the effort. It’s just difficult to think about. I’m afraid my father’s going to be heartbroken over this.”

  Zach sighed. “I don’t know what to say,” he said.

  “You don’t have to say anything,” she assured him. “You’ve been through enough over this, Zach. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’ll handle my family. I don’t want you to worry about that.”

  “I just want you to be happy, Rhea,” Zach said. “I’ll do whatever it takes. If you need me to talk to your father, to convince him that I had nothing to do with the theft, I’ll do that. I’ll even pay for the formula that was stolen, if you think that will help.”

  “No,” Rhea said quickly. “I don’t want that. My father will be upset as a matter of principle, not because he actually needed the profits he would have gotten from that formula.”

  “Then what do you think we should do?”

  Rhea sighed. “The best thing to do right now is probably just to try not to worry about it,” she said. “We’ll deal with this when we get home. But for now, we’re in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and we’re together. Let’s try not to worry too much about what we can’t control.”

  Zach nodded. “I think that’s a good idea,” he said. “We’ll worry about it when we get back home.”

  He turned toward her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, and within a matter of moments all their worries seemed very far away.

  Chapter 19

  Zach

  A Month Later

  Zach’s phone was ringing, but his hands were covered with flour.

  “Can someone get my phone out of my pocket for me?” he called to his staff.

  A hand slipped into the pocket of his apron. Then Jeff appeared beside him, holding his phone.

  “It’s Rhea,” he said.

  “Put her on speaker?”

  Jeff answered the call, put it on speaker, and placed the phone on the counter.

  “Hey, Rhea,” Zach said. “You’re on speaker, just so you know.”

  “Why am I on speaker?”

  “I’m making bread,” he said.

  “Are you bringing some home for me?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then that’s fine,” she said.

  “Hey, Rhea,” Jeff called out over Zach’s shoulder.

  “Who is that?” Rhea asked.

  “It’s just Jeff,” Zach said. “He should be dicing onions, but he’s getting in my face instead.”

  “I’d go dice those onions if I were you, Jeff,” Rhea said.

  Jeff laughed. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “He listens to you and not me,” Zach said. “Maybe you should come to work with me and be my sous chef.”

  “Right. Then who would run Green Destiny? Tomas and Gregory can’t handle this place on their own.”

  “That’s true,” Zach said. “How did the doctor’s appointment go?”

  “It went well,” she said. “Everything’s going perfectly.”

  “I wish I could have been there,” Zach said.

  “You’ll come next time,” she said. “Not a big deal. There will be plenty of these.”

  Zach knew she was right. And he had had the opportunity to accompany her on a doctor’s appointment since they’d returned from their Icelandic vacation. But he was so happy to be reunited with her that he found himself wanting to do everything he could with her. Unfortunately, there had been no getting out of his work obligations today. They were preparing for a wedding, and the bride had insisted upon a full tasting before the event.

  “Anyway,” Rhea said, “I was just calling to confirm that we’re staying at your place tonight.”

  “That’s what I was planning on,” Zach said.

  “Good,” Rhea said. “I’m not going back to work today, so if it’s all the same to you, I’ll just go ahead over there and wait for you.”

  “That’s fine,” Zach said. It was more than fine. He always enjoyed coming home to Rhea. “You still have the key I gave you, right?”

  “Of course I do,” she said.

  “I’ll probably be another couple of hours here, but I’ll try to get off early.”

  “Good.” She hesitated. “There’s something I want to talk to you about when you get home.”

  He frowned. That sounded serious. “What kind of thing?”

  “We’ll talk about it later,” she said. “I don’t want to distract you while you’re working.”

  “But everything’s okay with the baby?”

  “Oh, yes, everything’s fine,” she said. “It’s nothing to do with that. The baby’s healthy, and so am I.”

  “All right,” he said. “I’ll see you at home, then.”

  He wiped his hands on a towel and ended the call.

  Jeff was watching him. He’d clearly heard the whole thing.

  “Do you want to dip out of here early?” he asked.

  “I can finish up,” Zach said. “I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.”

  “No, really, you should go,” Jeff said. “You’re not going to be able to keep your mind on things. I know I wouldn’t, knowing that something stressful was waiting for me at home.”

  “I’m sure nothing’s wrong,” Zach insisted.

  “Do you think she’s going to break up with you?”

  “I wasn’t!” Zach said. “Why would you say that?”

  “I’m not trying to freak you out,” Jeff said. “I just know that you guys have had your problems in the past.”

  “Well, maybe you should just stay out of it,” Zach advised.

  Jeff raised his hands. “All right,” he said. “You’re right. It’s none of my business.”

  “Are those onions chopped yet?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Well, get on it.”

  Jeff mock saluted. “Yes, sir,” he said, and turned toward the cutting board.

  Zach sighed and punched down the bread dough. He was sure Jeff was wrong. He and Rhea had been getting along better than they ever had lately. Since they’d come home from Iceland, Zach had finally felt as if the two of them were settling into a routine.

  But what if I’m wrong?

  What if she had realized that she’d made a mistake by taking him back?

  Suddenly, he was too anxious to remain in the kitchen.

  “Make sure everything gets packed up in the refrigerator for the tasting tomorrow,” he told Jeff.

  Jeff nodded. “You got it,” he said. “I hope everything goes well at home.”

  Zach took off his apron, hung it on its peg, and hurried out of the kitchen.

  Rhea was sitting on the couch in the living room with a wine glass full of orange juice when Zach got home. She looked up in surprise and set her glass down.

  “I wasn’t expecting you back for hours yet,” she said.

  “Why are you drinking orange juice from a wine glass?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. It makes me feel fancy.” She shrugged. “Is everything okay at work? Why are you home so early?”

  “Work’s fine,” he said. “I was just worried about you.”

  She sighed. “I knew I shouldn’t have given you a heads-up that I wanted to talk. There really isn’t anything to worry about.”

  “What did you want to talk about?” Zach asked, not feeling particularly reassured.

  “About my family,” she said. “I think it’s time we let them know about us.”

  Zach sat down on the couch bes
ide her. He had been fearing this day for a long time, but of course he had known that it would come.

  “Are you sure that’s what you want?” he asked.

  “They’re going to have to know about it eventually,” she pointed out. “All we’re really doing by waiting is making it harder on ourselves. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been having trouble sleeping because I’ve been so worried about their reaction.”

  “I’ve been stressed about it too,” Zach admitted.

  “Then the best thing for us to do is to just tell them,” Rhea said. “Get it out of the way and move on.”

  “What if they don’t take it well?” Zach asked.

  “Oh, I’m sure they won’t,” she said. “But I’d rather give them as much time as possible to come around on the idea before the baby is born. I don’t want to be dealing with this when I’m nine months pregnant, or when we have an infant to take care of. I want to get past it, if we can.”

  Zach nodded. “You’re right,” he said. “This is the best way to go. How do you want to tell them?”

  “I’d like it if we could go over there together,” she said. “Show them a united front, and make it clear to them that no matter how they react, you and I are in this together. I don’t want them getting the idea that they have a shot at talking me out of being with you.”

  Zach closed his eyes. “It’s good to hear you say that,” he said.

  “You didn’t really think that I’d let them change my mind, did you?” Rhea asked.

  “I don’t know,” Zach said. “It’s family. Family is powerful.”

  Rhea reached out and took his hand. “You’re my family now,” she told him firmly. “You, me, and the baby. We’re family. I’m not going to let anything get in the way of that.”

  Chapter 20

  Zach

  “Don’t be nervous,” Rhea said, squeezing his hand.

  Zach snorted. There was absolutely no chance that he wasn’t going to be nervous about facing her family.

  Rhea seemed to realize the unlikelihood of what she had asked. “All right,” she conceded. “Be nervous. But you trust me, right?”