Theodore (Members From Money Book 25)

by Katie Dowe

  Leesa stared at her in surprise. “Mind if I asked why?”

  “I mind, but I am going to tell you,” she said with a breathless laugh. “Several years ago, I was in a relationship with this guy. We had plans to get married and everything but he kept saying that he wanted a family as soon as possible. So I decided to go and get checked. When I was a teenager, I had my periods at irregular times, sometimes three months or more would pass and nothing and the doctor told me that I had a hormonal imbalance. I never paid it any attention until he said he wanted a family. When I went to get checked the doctor told me the same thing and told me that I had a slim to none chance of ever having children.”

  “And I take it you have not told Theodore,” Leesa said slowly.

  Ebboni twisted her cloth napkin in her fingers in agitation. “I thought of telling him when he asked me to marry him but before I could turn him down he went ahead and paid off my debts.”

  “And then the die was cast,” she said wisely.

  “My friend Andrea said I should find a way to say it to him, but it’s too late now.” She looked at the older woman. “He wants children. He told me the first time he approached me that he wanted an heir.”

  Leesa put away her glass of water and reached for the girl’s hand. “There is this doctor; her name is Margaret Salmon as in the name of the fish,” she said with a smile and a gentle squeeze of Ebboni’s hands. “She specializes in hormonal imbalance and she is a close personal friend of mine. We could go together. Also, she is very discreet. You could go for a checkup and find out if anything is wrong. It could just be anxiety, darling.”

  “I am praying so,” Ebboni said with a shaky laugh.

  “You have not been married a month yet. Enjoy the time you have together. When Bradley and I started having children, we could barely find time to make love the usual way we used to.”

  “If it was an ordinary situation then I would not be worrying.”

  “Every single one of us in the group as people refer to us as did not get married under normal circumstances. I was in love with Brad for years before he noticed me and I had to make him notice me. I went about making myself famous while I waited for him to come to his senses and realize that we belonged together and in the meantime he went ahead and got engaged only for his fiancée to die in a car with her lover. I never embraced the thought that I never stood a chance. I knew I was in love with him and somehow I was going to get him to love me back.” She laughed whimsically as she remembered how she had tricked him into coming to look at a house she told him she wanted to purchase. That was the first time they had made love and he had fought her so many times after that! “Make it work, darling, because I have seen the two of you together and there is something there!”

  *****

  “Happy birthday, darling.” Emma wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed him soundly on the cheek. Eaton had made the arrangements and Ebboni had to admit that he had left nothing out. They had been given the corner booth for privacy and cupcakes with strawberry frostings, his favorite kind, rested on a table next to the one where they were seated. Eleanor had come with her mother and the girl looked relaxed and happy as if she had enjoyed her stay in Europe.

  “You are getting old,” Eleanor teased him as she leaned over and kissed him. “All of twenty-eight.”

  “But I look like twenty-five. Ask my wife.” He grinned at Ebboni, his eyes lingering in admiration. She was wearing a stark black dress with a modest neckline but somehow she managed to transform the dress and made it hers. She was stunning!

  “I did say twenty-four,” she reminded him softly. He was wearing a blue cashmere sweater that brought out the blue in his eyes and the blonde highlights in his hair shone in the overhead lights.

  “You two look like you are still newlyweds,” Eleanor said lightly as she stared at them.

  “We are.” He stared at her curiously. “How are you?”

  “I am rested and trying to cope with being back here.” She looked down at the table for a moment. “Most of all I am trying not to think that this would have been my wedding day.”

  “I shouldn’t have asked you to come,” Ebboni cried.

  “I am okay, really,” she said with a smile. “I saw Jeffry the minute I arrived and after the first moments of awkwardness, we started talking.”

  “We are here for you, darling,” her mother said as she touched her arm.

  “I know. Okay, let’s get on with the celebration.”

  *****

  Dr. Salmon was a petite dynamo of a woman and she did a thorough examination. Leesa had come with her and was waiting for her in the waiting room. “Okay, my dear, I will leave you to get dressed and ask you to meet me in my office.”

  Ebboni got dressed slowly, her heart racing! There was no indication on the woman’s face to suggest whether the news was good or bad. Last Friday, after the birthday celebration for Theodore, he had made love to her almost the entire night. “I am proving to myself that even though I am this age, I can still do an all-nighter,” he had told her with a soft laugh.

  She walked into the office and sat down in front of the desk, her hands clasped in front of her. Dr. Salmon looked over at her with a reassuring smile. “You do have a hormonal imbalance I am afraid. And aside from that you have fibroids growing inside your womb. I am going to prescribe a number of medications for you that should work.”

  “How soon will they start working?”

  “In a couple of weeks at the most.” She scribbled on her pad. “I am also going to suggest that you try and put it out of your mind. Most of what you are feeling is purely psychological. I want you to clear your mind and not think about getting pregnant at all. Enjoy your marriage without the pressure of bringing a child into it.”

  *****

  “Talk to me,” he told her quietly that evening when he came home. On Mondays he usually reached home earlier than the other evenings. She had been at his office maybe two times and admired the elegance of the building. He had taken her on a tour and explained proudly the changes over the years.

  “What?” She looked up at him startled. She had gone into the living room to sit by the piano as she fiddled with the keys. She had thought the piano was for decoration and had been surprised when she heard him playing one night after they had finished their meal.

  He climbed down the steps and came towards her. He had taken off his suit jacket and his tie and had loosened the buttons on his shirt. He had a glass of his usual cognac in his hand that Eaton had handed to him as soon as he came through the doors. “I stood there watching you for a minute and you look pensive.” He joined her on the seat and started touching the keys automatically.

  “I feel a little useless,” she admitted. It was not exactly what she had on her mind, but she had to tell him something and it was partly true.

  “I thought you were involved with the building at Oak Park.”

  “I am.” She shrugged. “But the men are doing such a good job that I have nothing to do.”

  “You have already done your part,” he pointed out. “They will be finishing up in a week or two and then you can work with the interior decorator to get the place sorted out for the official opening.”

  “I thought about cooking you something, but I am afraid of stepping on Eaton’s toes.”

  “The kitchen is his domain,” Theodore admitted. “And besides I don’t want you slaving yourself over a hot stove when you don’t need to.”

  “I feel like a stranger here,” she admitted.

  He stopped fiddling around with the keys and looked at her with a frown. “We cannot have that. This is your home as much as it is mine and Eaton’s.”

  “I don’t think he likes me.”

  “Eaton?”

  She nodded.

  “I need to tell you something about Eaton.” He turned sideways and placed his empty glass on the smooth surface of the piano. “When he was a young man he was married and they had a child, a son. They were driving hom
e from the park one Saturday in the summer when a drunk driver cut them off. Eaton woke up in the hospital a week later to discover that his entire family had been killed.”

  Ebboni stared at him in shock. “Oh God!” she whispered.

  “He had just started working with my family when it happened and I believe that it was the job that saved his life. My father as much of a hard ass that he was, gave him time off to mourn and assured him that whenever he was ready he would always have a job with us. I used to follow him around and he sort of adopted me. He is not an easy person to get to know and he is very loyal to me, but in time he will be loyal to you as well. I gave him total control over this place because it makes him feel worthwhile and makes the memories of his loss less painful. When I was single, we used to play pool down in the pool room and drink out on the balcony. We are not just employer/employee, but he is my dad and I am his son.”

  Ebboni nodded in understanding. “He would die for you.”

  “I would do the same for him.” He brushed back her hair from her face. “Get involved in the company and also with the other wives and leave the place to Eaton.”

  “I will.” She moved into his arms. “What are we doing for Christmas?”

  “Mother is planning her usual lavish get together so we are of course invited,” he said with a wry grin as he pulled her onto his lap.

  “I am looking forward to it,” she told him softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  Chapter 11

  The opening of the apartment building was a huge event! The press was there in their numbers to capture the moment. Oak Park Apartments had been restored to its original grandeur and already had full occupancy! Not only was it a great success, but it had been made very affordable to working class people. Ebboni had spent a great deal of time with the interior decorators so that they were on a first name basis.

  “This is a lovely place,” former first lady Melore Hawkins told her as she came over to her. The wives were there as well as their husbands as well as the people who were going to be occupying the building very soon.

  “Thank you.” She was a bit flustered as she turned to face the very attractive middle aged woman.

  “I understand that you had a lot to do with the designs and retaining the original structure.”

  “I had some input.”

  “My wife is being modest, Melore,” Theodore said mildly as he wrapped his arm around her waist. “She had a lot of input.”

  “I see you are a very proud husband, Ted,” Melore said with delighted laugh.

  “That I am.” He brought her closer to him.

  “Very nice to meet you officially, my dear.” She looked at Theodore. “Your mother and I have some catching up to do.”

  “Why are you not mingling?” he demanded as he turned her to face him.

  “I was.” She brushed her fingers against the thick black and white sweater he had on. “I just decided to take a little break.”

  “Have I told you how absolutely lovely you look tonight?” he asked as he admired her champagne colored dress. She wore her clothes well and looked like an elegant and beautiful queen. He had promised her that he would take her to Costa Land sometime in the future.

  “Several times,” she murmured as she wrapped her hands around his neck. She had tried not to worry about the situation, but she could not help but remember that it was now January and she was still not pregnant. She had put it aside for a little bit but every now and then it would resurface. She had not told him that she loved him but she had found that she did and was afraid of losing him! “Can we talk later when we get home?” she asked him quietly.

  “It sounds serious.” He looked at her quizzically.

  “It might be.”

  “Okay.” He bent to kiss her lips lightly. “Let’s go and do our duties.”

  *****

  It would have been a perfect night. The building was finished and the press would have given it a positive review and laud the contractors and the decorators especially Ebboni Amberville who had helped with the restoration process. It would have been a perfect night because it was a clear and beautiful night, not very cold for January. It was said after that the accident could not entirely be blamed on the contractors, they were just hurrying to keep a deadline, an almost impossible one! One minute Theodore was standing on the second floor landing and the next minute the floor was caving in with him! It would have been Ebboni as well as him except that she had left him to go and talk to someone. She heard the scream from someone and stood there and watched in horror as her husband went through the floor, landing on the balcony on the first floor! There was silence for a moment and then pandemonium broke out as everybody rushed to see what had happened. Ebboni sped downstairs and saw her husband lying still on the carpeted floor, blood seeping from his mouth and his head. His left foot was set at an odd angle indicating that it was broken. A medical doctor was crouched over him and instructing everyone to step back. They could hear the sirens approaching indicating that the ambulance was on its way.

  Ebboni felt the touch on her arm and turned around in a daze. “What happened?” Emma asked, her face rigid and white.

  “I just left him to go and talk to Brianna-” Ebboni was trembling and her lips were dry. “I just left him-”

  Emma wrapped her arms around the trembling girl as they waited for the ambulance to come and get him!

  *****

  They waited for hours to get some news. The reporters had followed them there and had had to be banned from the building. The news was already reporting that a shoddy job had caused the near fatality. Ebboni did not care about anything like that right now, she only wanted to know if he was going to be okay. She sat on the chair and wrapped her arms around her body. The doctors were still working on him. They had been told that he had a fractured skull, a broken leg, and internal bleeding. They had looked so solemn when they said it that Ebboni had felt her insides quaking.

  “Darling, you need to drink this,” Emma said quietly as she handed her daughter-in-law a glass of water. The girl looked as frail as a newborn baby as if she was going to pass out any time now.

  Ebboni started to shake her head, but Emma ignore her and pushed the glass to her. She took it and gulped the water down. They had been at the hospital for three hours now and still not a word. People had come with them and had left. Leesa and the others had told her to call as soon as they hear anything. “They are taking so long.” Her teeth were shattering and she pulled the cashmere jacket closer to her to garner some warmth. “What’s taking so long?”

  “He was pretty bruised and banged up,” Emma said gently as she sat next to her. Eleanor had gone to get some coffee and some air. “They have the best doctors operating on him and I have great faith in them.”

  “I have faith in God,” she said suddenly as she looked at the woman. “My father was very ill for a long time and I used to pray that he would get better and that we would finally be father and daughter. My mother was dead so there was just us and surely he would change and see that we needed to be a family.”

  “Oh, darling.” Emma gripped the girl’s hands tightly as she felt the waves of unhappiness surrounding her.

  “I know you and everyone think that I married Theodore for what he could do for me. That was true at the beginning, but I fell in love with him along the way and I never told him.”

  “You will have plenty of time to do so.” Emma’s hands tightened on hers. “I believe that.”

  *****

  The doctors came out of surgery five hours later with partially good news. “We managed to stop the internal bleeding. His skull was badly fractured so the next forty-eight hours will tell.” The man looked first at Emma and then at Ebboni and Eleanor who were sitting together as if for support. “We are hoping for the best.”

  “May we see him, Glen?” Emma asked.

  “Of course.” He ventured a smile. “As I said he won’t regain consciousness until the next day or two but sitt
ing by his bedside won’t do any harm.”

  “Why don’t you go first, darling?” Emma said to Ebboni.

  “Thanks.”

  “We will be here when you come out.” Eleanor walked over and hugged her tightly. “He is going to be fine. Teddy has a tough head.”

  “Thanks, Eleanor,” she said with a wobbly smile.

  She walked swiftly to his room. He had been appointed a private room complete with a small sitting room and a bathroom. A nurse looked up as she came in and finished adjusting his drip before she left. There was a bandage around his head, scrapes on his cheeks and forehead. His left leg was suspended and had a cast on it. He looked so still, quite unlike the man she knew who was always heading somewhere. She stood there looking down at him and for the first time noticed how long his lashes were! Dark brown with tints of blonde at the end. His skin was tanned, but she had noticed that from the very beginning and there was a cleft in his strong chin. She touched his face briefly and for a moment thought she saw him stirred against her touch, but it was just her imagination. She looked around for a chair and pulling it up, she sat next to his bed. “Maybe you did not want to hear what I had to say and you used this horrible way to avoid having the conversation.” She took his hand in hers and rest her head on it. “I was emotionally unavailable before I met you. I swore that no man would have such power over me that I forget who I am. I saw it happened to my dad and I swore it would not happen to me. When you touch me I forget who I am or where I am headed and I thought that loving you would turn me into who I did not want to be but I was wrong,” she felt the tears leaking from her eyes and splashing on his skin. “I knew I was in love with you the second we made love and I tried to ignore it. I tried to deny it because of what it would mean! You treated me with so much love and caring that I realized that even though you never said it to me that you love me too. I have no idea why you chose me and you have some explanation to do because I know you could have any woman you want!” She took a deep breath and willed the tears to stop. “I wanted to tell you that I have no idea if I can get pregnant. I was so afraid, Theodore! I was afraid that you would want to end our brief marriage because I know you want children and what if I cannot give you kids? What if even after going to the doctor, I am still unable to give you what you want? You are an Amberville and you expect heirs, what if I cannot get pregnant?” She stopped and rested her head on his hand, closing her eyes wearily. She was spent emotionally and physically. It was almost four the next morning and that meant she had not gotten any sleep.