by Val Daniels
She glanced down at the dress. “I thought it was perfect,” she agreed.
Love was the missing piece that linked what Laura had told her today and the relationship she and Dan shared. Love had come through in Laura’s conversations again and again. Maybe you could weather anything—even infidelity—if there was love.
“Your mother bought it and I couldn’t think of any way to refuse it.”
He took her arm and escorted her to the car. “She likes giving,” he said simply. “But I didn’t mean just the dress. You look perfect.”
He was still trying to make her feel attractive because of her confession earlier. Doctor Dan, the Bandage Man, determined that everyone should feel good. But did he love her?
Or did he just have an incredibly poor sense of timing mixed with a wonderful sense of obligation and responsibility? The last two things left him with no choice except to do his duty to her and his baby... despite the fact that his childhood sweetheart was finally free.
She was thankful for the bustle of friends greeting friends around the room as the President of the Chamber of Commerce seated her at his right hand at the head table. Dan, heart-stoppingly handsome in the dark suit he had chosen for the occasion, looked over at her as he was seated to the left of the President’s wife, the other side of the podium.
Are you going to be okay? his eyes asked.
She smiled ever so slightly and settled into the chair the gentleman beside her held. This wasn’t at all what she’d expected. She’d planned to sit at Dan’s side, nod a lot, and let him do all the talking.
“And what do you do, Mr. Randall?” she asked as he sat down beside her and the waitress put salads in front them.
He was an easy man to talk to. He filled her with stories of his twenty-five years as the owner of the town’s most prominent manufacturing plant, then drew her out with questions of his own.
“You trained people to use computers systems?” he asked when she told him what her job had been before she had married Dan.
“It was more that I trained them to use the customized software my bosses wrote,” she explained.
“But you must have a fair grasp of the subject,” he said.
“Fair.” She fluttered her hand in a maybe-so, maybe-not gesture. “I think it’s more that I have a knack for understanding computerese and translating it into common, standard English.”
“Would you come over tomorrow and try your hand at our system?” he asked suddenly.
She was taken back. “I don’t know if—”
He explained briefly the problems they’d been having since they recently installed a new computer and software. “As a consultant, of course. I want to hire you as a consultant.”
“But I don’t know anything about your system, or what you do.”
“But you could look at everything. Could you come for at least a day? I’ll assign one of my best people to help you, answer any questions. If you can’t make heads or tails of how it operates, I won’t hold it against you. No one else can understand it, either.”
“Surely the company who sold it to you offers some type of support?”
“Sure. But they don’t talk to anyone in my offices except in computerese. I personally don’t think they are going to be in business very long,” he added with a rueful shrug. “In the meantime, we paid a fortune for something that is supposed to be making us more automated, and we can’t seem to do anything but the very simplest of things. If someone could just understand all of the instructions, I think we’d be up and running in no time. And if it’s something wrong with the system instead of us, well, I’d like to know that, too. Then I could do something about it.”
“Well, I suppose I could come and look. I don’t know if I—”
He grabbed at her offer. “Nine tomorrow morning?”
She explained about her classes and they finally settled on an indefinite time in the afternoon. “I’ll call you first thing in the morning.”
They talked in more detail as they finished their meal, then Mr. Randall introduced Dan, and Alicia sat fascinated as her husband described services the hospital planned to initiate in the future. He finished his formal presentation by sharing his vision of how the medical and the business communities should work together to achieve the best of health care for the people who lived and worked in their small community. He kept the talk short, under ten minutes. Then with an easy smile he said, “For anything to be effective, we have to have communication. What do you, as business leaders, have to add to this dialogue?”
She watched with admiration as he answered the questions that followed. He often turned the question back on the person who had asked. Somehow, he managed to get them to answer it logically, as he would have. He was very skilled at dealing with people, charming everyone around him as easily as he’d charmed her.
Charmed her. Made her love him. She struggled restlessly in her seat.
The baby kicked, as if to remind her that she didn’t have just herself to think about. She caught herself stroking her rounded stomach and wasn’t sure who she was reassuring, herself or their child.
Dan caught her eye as he finished and Mr. Randall rose. She gave him a thumbs-up behind Mr. Randall’s back as the President formally thanked Dan and ended the meeting.
“You will bring your husband to our anniversary celebration next month, won’t you?” Mr. Randall asked as she gathered her small purse from the table and stood up.
“If you invite us,” she promised. “That is, if he isn’t on call or at the hospital or something.” Dan had joined them and gave her a questioning look. She explained quickly and Dan endorsed her acceptance. They were working as a team, just like some ordinary married couple planning the small events of their lives.
“I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and talking with your wife,” Mr. Randall said as they crossed the small stage. “In fact, I have plans for her.”
Dan laughed. “So do I.” He gave her a smoldering look that would have melted a rock.
“Oh, yes.” Mr. Randall laughed with him. “You’re still newlyweds. I’ll see you tomorrow then?” He offered Alicia his hand.
“Tomorrow,” she promised, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. She was weary to the bone.
With minimal delays Dan skillfully led them through the crowd of people waiting to offer Dan personal greetings or to comment on his remarks.
“Whew,” he said as they finally made it outside. “You look exhausted.”
“It’s been a long day,” she agreed. “I didn’t know you were such a polished speaker,” she complimented, heading for the car. “I’m impressed.”
“Good. I intended you to be.” He stepped off the high curb and turned to help her. “Though public speaking isn’t something I especially like doing.”
“You do it very well,” she said. “I keep thinking I know you, then you surprise me.”
He shrugged. “Just filling my niche in the community.” His arms still rested on her waist as they stood beside the car.
“I’m constantly amazed at how high people’s expectations are of you,” she said.
He shrugged again then kissed her softly before he opened her door.
It’s like marrying your girlfriend when She gets pregnant. Just one more niche of expectations to fill, she thought. One more obligation. The word echoed in her mind like the ghostly remnants of a nightmare, then evaporated like a mist as Dan started the drive home.
“What are you seeing Mr. Randall about tomorrow?”
“Oh, they’re having some problems with a new computer system they installed. It’s not doing everything it’s supposed to. When he heard what I used to do, he thought I might be able to help.” She grinned. “I tried to explain that I only taught people how to use the software, I didn’t always understand what was happening or why, and he still wanted me to come take a look. I couldn’t refuse.” She smiled her pleasure. “Especially when he plans to pay me, whether I could do anything for him or not.”
She lifted her nose arrogantly. “You may now call me a computer consultant.”
He studied her for a moment before turning his eyes back to the road. “I imagine you know more about it all than you realize,” he conceded warily.
“But?”
“It sounds like it could lead you back in the direction you were trying to get away from.”
They were both very quiet the rest of the way home.
The phone was ringing when they walked into the house. Alicia headed for her room, expecting it to be the hospital or one of Dan’s patients.
“It’s for you,” he called, bringing the cordless phone to her bedroom door. He stood listening as she answered.
“Yes?”
She listened for a moment. “Can I call you back in the morning?” She motioned Dan out of her way as she went back into the kitchen to get the pad of paper that always occupied a place at the end of the counter. “I may have a problem with transportation,” she said, then explained about her car being in the shop. “But go ahead and give me the address. I’ll let you know what time I can make it.”
Dan watched as she jotted the information down. He was beginning to make her nervous. And her stomach was fluttering enough already. Mr. Randall not only wanted her to simplify his computer system for his employees, he wanted to talk to her about a job.
“Well?” Dan asked as she hung up the phone.
“He wants to talk to me about a permanent job,” she said hesitantly. “He said he had an idea on the way home that he hoped I would like.”
“A job?”
She nodded.
Dan was suddenly all smiles. “You can take my car,” he offered. “I’ll get...someone to pick me up in the morning.” He’d almost said Maggie. She hated herself for thinking it, but she knew that had been what he’d been going to say. When was everything—even a job offer—going to quit taking her straight back to thoughts of Maggie?
“What if you have an emergency or something?” she asked.
“Bill’s on call this week,” he said. “It won’t be a problem.”
His enthusiasm surprised her. On the way home, he hadn’t acted at all keen about this whole idea.
“Then you can come straight to the clinic and let me know how it went,” he went on. “Besides, aren’t the repairs on your car supposed to be done sometime tomorrow?”
“Maybe,” she said.
“I’ll clear a block of time on my schedule about noon so I can run you over to pick it up. We’ll be back in business again,” he finished.
“Why are you so happy about this all of a sudden?” she couldn’t help asking.
He smiled. “Because I realized that if you go to work at Randall Manufacturing, you’ll never go back to work for Adams and Associates. Good job. Right here. I like that idea.”
Of course he did! Alicia thought as she tossed and turned in her bed fifteen minutes later. If this job panned out, she’d be in town all the time. She could support herself. He would be able to see the baby whenever he wanted. They would both finally have choices. This marriage would no longer be necessary.
He and Maggie could...
Nightmares plagued her all night. They were as terrifying as the ones she’d had right after her mother had died. She woke in a cold sweat for the fifth time and desperately wanted to talk to Brad. Brad had always been the one to comfort her back then, back when the nightmares had started when she was so young.
She gave up the idea of sleeping and got out of bed as the sky began to lighten in the east. She sipped coffee and watched the clock on the stove inch its way toward seven.
“What are you doing up so early?” Dan asked from behind her and she jumped a foot.
“I didn’t sleep well,” she admitted.
Dan came slowly toward her, examining her from head to toe with his a practiced eye.
“I feel fine,” she assured him. He’d slipped on a ragged pair of old jeans over nothing, she suspected. His chest was bare. She forced herself to look away, back to the rising sun outside.
“The baby?”
She grabbed the excuse he gave her. “He was restless all night.”
Dan laid his hands over the bulge and leaned over. “What are you doing in there?” he crooned softly. “Trying to drive your mama crazy?”
The baby didn’t need to drive her crazy. Dan was doing a fine job of that. Alicia felt like she had landed somewhere between heaven and hell.
“I don’t blame you,” he said. “She keeps calling you a boy.”
Even his teasing couldn’t distract her from the gentleness of his touch. It did things to her that she didn’t want to contemplate. And his voice, so concerned, made her want to cry in protest for the love so obviously there for her child. It should be hers, too. Tears clogged her throat.
She watched as the muscles in his back rippled, changing the hard planes and making her fingers itch to feel the warmth and motion as he talked.
For once, the baby didn’t respond to his voice.
Dan would let her—and the baby—stay with him forever. She knew that without a doubt. He would treat her with the same constant affection as he treated her now. But she also knew that wasn’t enough. It wasn’t what she wanted.
“Please, Dan,” she whispered, drawing as far away as the straight-backed chair would let her. “I think he’s finally tired. Let him sleep.”
Dan didn’t remove his hands from her stomach, but turned his full attention to her. “You should have come to me. I could have kept you company.”
The last thing she needed was his company.
“You need your rest,” she answered, and this time, she didn’t suppress the urge to let her fingers smooth a strand of sleep-crimped hair away from his forehead. His navy eyes froze her in the chair. His jaw relaxed, then tightened.
“My family,” he said carefully, “will always be my priority,” he said. “Don’t ever forget that.”
Mesmerized by his sincerity and concern, she nodded slowly. She felt guilty for using their baby, once again, as an excuse. “I think this job thing has me nervous, too,” she admitted.
“That kept me awake for a while, too,” he said quietly.
“It did?”
He finally removed his hands from her stomach and went to get a mug out of the cabinet for himself. “I don’t want you to feel rushed into anything. Whatever happens, Allie, do what’s right for you.” The sound of pouring coffee muted the words. Then he turned to face her again. “Don’t rush into anything. Promise?”
She was startled by his urgent tone.
“Promise?” he said again.
“I don’t plan to.”
He looked like he wanted to say more as he held her gaze. “Speaking of rushing into things,” he finally said, glancing at his watch. “I’m going to be late for early rounds.” He turned and padded quickly from the room.
“And I guess I’d better go get dressed if I’m going to take you,” she said to the empty room.
CHAPTER TEN
THE meeting with Mr. Randall was everything she could have wished for...and more. He offered her a job to begin immediately.
“But shouldn’t I finish my classes, get my degree?” she had asked.
“Of course,” he’d answered, then explained what the company did in a little more detail than he’d discussed last night. They manufactured promotional items, and his company was expanding, with the construction due to be completed by early next fall. By the end of the planned expansion—nearly two years away—he would quadruple his labor force. With twenty-two people working for him now, it had all been more or less like family. When that number reached more than eighty, he thought she would be an invaluable asset. She would be part personnel manager, handling not only hiring and firing—on that bit of information he grinned—but also things like the health plans and other benefits.
“After talking to you last night, I realized you have just the set of assets I need,” he had finished. “Right now, any way you can help us wi
th the computers is just a bonus. And once you finish school, you’ll know the basics of personnel management and we’ll learn together.”
He had smiled then and told her the thought of hiring someone experienced in this sort of thing had left him quivering inside.
“I’m easily intimidated,” he’d admitted, and she’d laughed at the incongruity of the comment. The man was a virtual dynamo and she couldn’t imagine him being intimidated by anyone or anything.
“If I hire someone who has done this several places or knows too much, I’m afraid I’ll lose my vision of the cooperative, family spirit that’s always been Randall Manufacturing. I want to keep that. I don’t want to run the risk that preconceived notions or how it’s been done somewhere else will ruin things here.”
Alicia had known then that she wanted to be part of his “family.” Maybe it would help make up for the one she would probably have to give up soon.
With her background in training and computers, her expertise would also be a bonus as the growth was happening. He would have her do any training or orientation that was needed. “I plan to get a lot of good out of you,” he had added, then named a salary figure that wouldn’t make her rich, but would certainly support her and the baby if she needed it to.
He wanted her to start immediately, fifteen to twenty hours a week, she explained to Brad and Cindy later, sitting at their kitchen table. Her hours would be flexible, whatever fit between her class schedule. She would get to know the employees, organize her own filing system, review current benefits, make recommendations. The policy they had now was whatever he had told each employee as he had hired them. He didn’t want to go back on any promises he had made to any of them.
“Then after I’m finished with school and the baby is born,” she finished, “I’ll work part-time in the office, ten to twenty hours a week, and partly at home if I want to. By fall, when we’re ready to begin hiring additional employees, I’ll go to full-time. Isn’t it perfect?”
