by Katie Dowe
Cara looked over at her and realized that she had not thought about her at all in all this. “I am sorry Jen,” she said softly. “You are right. I am going to go into one of the other rooms and get some sleep.”
“Good idea.”
Jennifer made sure she was comfortable before going into their suite. He was reading a report that he had had sent over from the office, his brow knitted into a frown. “Matthew Logan I don’t believe what I am seeing!” she marched right over and took the document from him. “You are supposed to be getting better not trying to run the company from here.” She fixed the pillows underneath his head to make him more comfortable and fixed the covers on him.
“Not you too,” he groaned. “Where is Cara?”
“Getting some much needed rest in one of the other rooms.”
“She has been running herself ragged ever since the accident,” he said softly. “When I tell her to go get some rest she refuses. You persuaded her to?”
“Someone had to.” She said firmly sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at him searchingly. “We were badly shaken up but she worst of all.”
“I know,” he sighed. “The last thing I remembered thinking about was I was supposed to be coming home to her.”
“You love each other very much don’t you?” Jennifer said softly. “There is a connection between you that can never be broken, I wished I had something like that.”
“What about the doctor?” he asked looking at her with raised brows.
“You knew?”
“Not much escapes me Jen,” he told her with a grin. “Several doctors from the same hospital and I play golf some Saturdays and I was apprised. Why did you think you have to keep it from us?”
“I wanted to make sure how I feel and where it was going before I said anything,” she spread her hands wide and met his gaze so much like hers.
“You are an adult and free to do anything you want to do.” He told her. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I have no intention of getting hurt,” she moved closer and took his hands. “I have a terrific family right here: A brother, a sister in law and three beautiful nephews and niece that hold my heart in their hands.”
“And they adore you.” He told her softly touching one cheek. “As soon as she wakes make sure she gets something to eat.”
“I will.” Jennifer leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before getting off the bed. “Hungry?”
“Starving!” he said with a little laugh.
“Good I had Caleb prepared your favorite, I will send it up.” She said briskly.
“Jen?” his voice stopped
“Thanks.”
“You are welcome,” she said with a smile.
Chapter 12
He made the worst patient. His ribs were healing slowly and Cara took him back to the hospital to let the doctors see the progress but he was not very happy staying home all day. He insisted on running the company from his office at home and had his secretary come over to the manor to deal with several matters. Cara made sure that he got some rest in between which did not sit too well with him. He growled at the household staff and they started to avoid him but he managed to spend some time with his children in the playroom which delighted them.
August was a sizzling hot month and Cara had gone back to the center for a couple of days to help out, coming back home early to make sure her husband and children were okay. It was a Tuesday afternoon and he was in the middle of a phone call overseas and his secretary was busy making notations on her tablet when Cara came in. She waited until he had finished the phone call and then told his secretary to go downstairs and get something to eat.
“Let’s go,” she said in a no nonsense voice coming over to his desk to take his hand.
“What?”
“You have been driving the household staff crazy and your sister and I are this close to leaving so you have a choice: either you come out with me to the park to get some fresh air or you end up losing both of us.”
“I certainly cannot afford that now can I?” he drawled in amusement as he looked up at her. “Do I get to finish up this report before I leave?”
“How soon?”
“Within the next hour.”
She glanced at the watch on her wrist noting that it was after two. “I will be back here at three fifteen. I am going to check on the kids and spend some time with them. Matthew I am not waiting one minute over.”
“Yes ma’am.” He said with a rueful grin.
*****
He was still a bit bruised and she hated to see the reminders of how she had almost lost him. The doctors said he was healing nicely and should be back on his feet next week.
The August day was bright and hot with clouds scudding across the bright blue sky. They went back to the same stream they had gone to when they had first started seeing each other. She had on a thin floral dress and her hair had been bundled up on top of her head. She had no makeup on and looked like a teenager. Looking at her it was hard to believe that she had three children, one of them only one month old.
“Remember when we came here?” she asked him softly as she dipped her feet in the cool water.
There were birds chirping overhead and ducks swimming upstream. The place was scanty and even the park nearby had only a scattering of parents and children there. The weather forecast predicted rain later in the afternoon but for now it was a beautiful day.
“How could I forget?” he sat on one of the stones and pulled her down beside him. “It was the day after I first made love to you.” He brought her hand up to his lips. “I found myself thinking that there was no way this was going to last. I was too old for you.”
“You worry too much.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “You were foolish enough to think that I would be seeing Luther after being with you.”
“Love and uncertainty made me foolish,” he said with a grimace. “I should have known the type of woman you were and that you would never be that person.”
“That’s all in the past now.” She stared off over to where a mother was scolding her toddler for wandering away. “We have a family and sometimes I get scared into thinking that I am going to lose you. When I heard about the accident I could not function, I went numb,” her hand tightened on his. “I had never prayed so fervently in my life.”
“I am sorry you had to go through that baby,” he kissed the top of her head. “But I am here with you and I am not going anywhere.”
*****
“We need to talk,” Marissa said without preamble. It was nine in the morning and her husband had just gotten up because he had come in late last night where he had gone to a function without her, he had been doing that recently.
“Not before my morning coffee,” he muttered heading for the kitchen. They had a helper who came in three times a week but today was not her day to come in. Usually Marissa prepared a light breakfast and they went out to dinner or order in.
She went and poured him a cup and handed it to him before sitting down at the shiny marble counter expecting him to join her.
“Why did you marry me?”
He looked over at her startled. “You know why.”
“Please humor me.”
John replaced the coffee cup on the saucer and looked at her quizzically. He was sixty-five years old but looked ten years younger with a heavy mass of iron gray hair and light blue eyes. His skin was tanned and leathery from the time spent in the sun. He had a farm in the country where he had spent most of his time before he had met Marissa. He was wealthy and his business was doing pretty well. It had psyched him to have a young wife on his arm but now the novelty was wearing thin. She had been hinting about adopting a child but he had been there and done that and he had no intention of going down that road again.
“You are a beautiful girl and I care about you a lot.” He took up his cup and hoped that would be the end of that line of conversation.
“I am sorry I had the impression th
at you were in love with me.” Her tone was sarcastic, masking the hurt she was feeling.
“You know I do,” he said impatiently. Maybe his children were right. Maybe he had been too hasty. She was young and beautiful and he was a man who had seen the world and done what he was supposed to do. What the hell was he thinking of when he had married someone so much younger? “Look Marissa, I know we have not been close recently but you know I have been busy. I have asked you to find something you like to do and I will give you the funding but so far you have not said anything at all to me.”
“I volunteer at the center for the pregnant mothers that I told you about. You even gave some contribution towards it.”
“That is Logan’s wife’s dream and I am sure it is not yours. What is your dream?” he asked her curiously, realizing that he had never really asked her that before.
“I want a child.”
“That is something I am not prepared to discuss or even entertain,” he drained his coffee cup and stood with the intention of leaving. He had an inspection at one of the hotels he owned and he had a meeting with some of the shareholders, he certainly did not have time for any of this. “When we first met, I told you that I did not want any more children, I have been there and I am not going back. Find yourself a hobby or something.”
“Like boinking the pool guy?” she asked him sarcastically getting to her feet.
“Is that a threat?” he asked her coolly, his light blue eyes taking in the crotch length shorts she had on and the thin lace blouse that showed glimpses of her skin. “We signed a prenup; remember so any idea of you screwing around on me, you will be out on your ass with nothing to show for all the years you were married to me.”
“Is that all you can think about? Money?” she was near to tears but she would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her break down. “We were good together and we did things with each other. What changed?”
“I am a busy man Marissa and I have little time for theatrics.” He said coldly. “You threaten me with theatrics and you expect me to be okay with it. You said I have changed but have you considered that maybe you are the one who has changed?”
She came and stood in front of him and his eyes narrowed as she pulled her blouse over her head leaving him staring at the small breasts with their tight nipples. She had beautiful dark skin that he loved touching and right now was no exception. “I want back what we had.” She whispered wrapping her hands around his neck.
*****
“Matthew back at work?” Jeanette asked her as soon as she came in.
She had brought Jeremy with her and left the twins with the nannies. “Oh my goodness! He has certainly grown.” She exclaimed as soon as Cara put the car seat on the floor. The others crowded around him crouching down to look at the baby. His deep green eyes looked up at them and his hands reached out to touch Marissa.
“Matthew went back to the office this morning and I am sure the household staff is breathing a sigh of relief,” Cara said with a laugh. “Okay girls we have some work to do. I understand that we got some baby food and diapers and today being Monday you know the mothers will be coming in soon.”
Christine handed her a list of the new mothers that had come in recently. Janet came in just then with her two week old baby boy. Jeanette had decided to let her stay with her and the girl had accepted gratefully. She and her son had been living with the elderly woman for the past three weeks, shortly after the break in.
Cara had asked her if she was sure and the woman had told her that she was a lonely old woman with too many rooms for her alone and it would be good to have young people in the house again. Janet had been going out of her way to prove that she was an excellent housemate by making sure to keep the place clean and helping with the gardening. Jeanette was encouraging her to go back to school and she had applied to go and get her GED. She was still going to put her son up for adoption telling them that she was not half ready to be a parent at all.
“Marissa can I talk to you for a minute?” she said as soon as she came in.
“Sure honey,” she excused herself and they went into one of the other rooms. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong.” Janet sat on one of the sofas and held her son in her arms. She had been struggling with her decision because she had fallen in love with the little boy and had even named him Denzel after her favorite movie star.
But she had gone home to her mother to see if she could get some encouragement but she had been told that there was no way they would accept another mouth to feed. “The child’s father is doing time Janet so who is going to help you?” She had come to regard the women at the center as her family and Jeanette had opened her arms and her home to her even letting her have her own room, something she had never had before. It made her want to do better with her life.
“I want you to take little Denzel.”
“What do you mean take?” Marissa asked her carefully, her heart racing. The baby was an adorable little boy and she had been thinking of asking Janet to let her care for him when she went back to school.
“I need to make something of myself Marissa and being here among you all I think some ambition has rubbed off on me. Cara told me I could be anything I want to be and I am going to try.” She said with a tremulous smile.
“Honey that is so good.” Marissa said with a smile. “But are you sure?”
“I am sure as the sun is high in the sky,” she looked down at the child who was closing his eyes ready to go to sleep. “I want what is best for him as well and I am not able to provide for him the way I should and you can, seeing as how you have the means to.” She touched his soft skin. “My mama has so many of us that she and my daddy have a miserable time of it because they do not know how to provide for all of us. I don’t want that to happen to my son.”
“Is this something where you are going to change your mind later on?” Marissa asked her.
“Not at all!” she looked at the older woman with round eyes. “You think I would do that? This is for real Marissa I promise you. And besides I will get to breastfeed him when you bring him here and all that is if you don’t mind.”
“Can I get back to you in a few days?”
“Of course,” she said with a smile. “I spent all last night thinking about it and deciding what to do. I suspect you are going to want to talk to your husband first.”
*****
“I thought you said John is not open to the idea of you adopting a child?” Cara asked her as they were packaging the items to be distributed. Christine and Jeanette were passing around snacks to the mothers who were there and ice cold lemonade and iced tea. They had taken Jeremy and put him down for his mid morning nap.
“He is not but I am hoping to persuade him otherwise.” Marissa said with a hopeful note in her voice. She told her friend about the argument they had had just last week. “I was reminded by him that I really do not have anything of my own.” She saw the question on her friend’s face and elaborated. “I signed a prenup.”
“Oh,” Cara said. “I had no idea.”
“I thought to myself back then that I needed to prove to him that I was not into him for his money and frankly I was not but now I am wondering if that was such a good idea.”
“You really want to do this?” Cara asked her.
“ I do.”
“Then find a way to convince him.”
*****
“Are you sure he wants a party?” Jennifer asked her dubiously. Matthew’s birthday would be the end of September and Cara was planning a big splash to coincide with the annual celebration at Logan’s Software. This year they would be hosting the dinner at the Palm Tree hotel downtown and there would also be associates from overseas so Cara thought it would be a very good idea to incorporate his birthday celebration as well.
“I want to do this for him Jennifer and I know he has a problem with his age as far as I am concerned but I need to do this.” She looked at her sister in law for help.
�
�I am on your side my dear it’s just that he has never been one for birthday celebrations even when we were younger.” Jennifer told her.
“All the more reason for him to get a party now,” Cara said firmly.
“What do you want me to do?” Jennifer asked her.
With a grateful smile Cara handed her a list.
*****
Matthew breathed in slowly and leaned his head back against the rest. Ever since he had come back to the office two weeks ago he had been feeling a little tired not like his usual self. He had promised the doctors and his wife not to overdo it and so far he had been keeping his promise. His ribs still felt tender to the touch and he found himself feeling a little lightheaded at times. When he thought how he had almost lost his life in that accident he shuddered. He had seen the reports and realized that he was very fortunate because five people had been killed in all including a teenager. He had been shaken with the fact that he could have been a statistic now. He was aware that he had been very fortunate and he was counting his blessings.
His buzzer sounded and he pressed the button. “Yes?”
“Your two p.m. is here Matthew,” his secretary told him.
“Send him in.” he took a deep breath and shook off the weariness.
*****
“Daddy want popsicle!” Janice piped up.
They were by the pool and he had put both of them in their swimwear and floaty. Cara had Jeremy in the water, dipping him and bringing him up again. It was a brilliant sunny Saturday afternoon and they had decided to spend the day at the pool instead of going out. Janice and Joel had just come out of the water and their curls which had darkened to brown clung to their scalp. One of the maids had just carried out some juice and popsicles for the kids.
“How about the magic word?” he asked her indulgently as he rubbed the excess water off her skin with a towel.
“Please!” she was jumping up and down as he reached for the red Popsicle. “”How about this one?”
“Yes!” she shouted her green eyes lit in excitement. “One for Joel too please.” Her brother was wringing the water out of his favorite stuffed bear, his face a study in concentration.
