Surprise Delivery

by Susan Mallery

  “How do you do that?” she asked as she leaned her head against the sofa back.

  “Do what?”

  “One minute we were talking about why you shouldn’t be giving me clients and the next you’ve got me going on about my life. You always do that. When I try to talk about you, you change the subject by asking about me or the baby. Why don’t you like to talk about yourself?”

  He didn’t even have the good grace to look annoyed that she’d caught him. Instead, he grinned. “I don’t like to talk about myself because I already know everything that’s happening in my life. It’s more interesting to talk about you.” He angled toward her on the sofa. “What do you want to know, Heather?”

  What she wanted was for her stomach to stop tingling every time he said her name. But instead of mentioning that, she asked, “How did you come to own a helicopter charter company? Was it in the family?”

  He shook his head. “My dad was in construction. At least that’s what he did when he walked out on me and my mom. I went to college and got my degree in engineering, then I went into the navy. I thought I wanted to fly jets until I went up in a helicopter with a buddy of mine. I knew then that I wasn’t a flyboy at heart. I wanted more than flashy aircraft carrier takeoffs and landings in my career.”

  “I’m sure fighter pilots really appreciate your assessment of their careers,” she teased.

  “They do.” His smile faded. “Actually, they work damn hard to get to fly those multimillion-dollar planes, and I respect that. But it wasn’t for me. I learned to fly helicopters, and when my tour was up, I looked for a job that would let me fly them for a living.”

  “You found one where you are now?” she asked.

  “Yeah. At first I was a charter pilot, then I started learning more about the business end of things. Mac—Philip J. Mackenzie—was the owner at the time. He’d grown the business up from nothing until he had a pretty steady clientele. I had some ideas about expanding and we agreed to go ahead with them. I put in my savings, he took me on as a partner, then when he retired, I bought him out.

  “I still owe him three years of payments, then I’ll own the company free and clear, though the way business is growing, I could cash him out tomorrow. I mentioned that to him recently and he told me to invest my money in new equipment. That he was happy to get his amount monthly. He said it kept him from playing the horses too much.”

  Heather shifted on the sofa. Her breasts were getting heavy. She glanced at the clock and figured Diane would be waking up hungry in the next half hour or so. “He sounds like a great guy.”

  “Mac’s the best. I learned a lot from him. I wanted to move into renting and leasing helicopters as well as the charter service. Mac made me go slow and that paid off in the end. We never got too buried in debt.”

  There was a reverent and loving tone to his voice. Heather recognized it easily. Mac was more than a business partner to Jim—he’d been like a second father. She thought about Jim’s brief comment that his father had walked out on him and his mother. He’d brushed over that fact as if it had no value or was of no interest.

  But his father leaving had to have been hard on him. A boy needed his father. Was that the reason Jim was in her life? To give Diane what he had missed?

  She realized that while Jim had talked a lot about his business, he hadn’t told her anything personal. In fact, he rarely talked about himself. She knew only the barest details. What about the man inside? About what he felt and thought and dreamed?

  She did know that he adored her daughter and seemed to like her. She also knew that he could make her heart beat a little faster every time he walked into a room. But little else. He always brought the conversation back to her and Diane.

  She reminded herself that they were friends and that he didn’t owe her anything. Maybe he needed more time to get comfortable. Maybe—

  “Heather, I have something I want to talk to you about.”

  He sounded so serious that her stomach knotted into a ball. A thousand thoughts raced through her brain. He’d gotten tired of visiting her. He’d figured out that having him around was the closest thing she’d had to a hot flash her entire life and he didn’t appreciate her staring at his well-formed, incredibly tempting rear end. He thought she was raising her daughter all wrong and he—

  “Stop it,” he commanded. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but forget it. Nothing I’m going to say is worth that panicked expression in your eyes.”

  “I’m not panicked,” she lied as she came face-to-face with the uncomfortable realization that during the past month Jim had become an important part of her life. He was her most steady visitor and she depended on him. If Jim were suddenly gone, she would miss him terribly—perhaps even more than she’d ever missed Luke.

  “I’ve been talking to my accountant about using your bookkeeping service,” he began. “However, because of the way the books are set up and the computer program I use, there’s no way for you to do them at home. They have to be done at the office.”

  She stared at him. His books? This was about his books? Disappointment flared through her. Then she told herself to snap out of it. First she’d been terrified he was about to say he didn’t want to be friends anymore. Now she was disappointed that he wanted to talk business? Obviously, she was still wrestling with some heavy-duty hormones from her pregnancy. She had to get a grip.

  “So what I’d like to do,” he continued, “is offer you a part-time job working for my company. I’ll have my accountant show you the work and you pick your own hours.” He leaned toward her. “I’m not asking just because we’re friends. I’m asking because I know you’ll do a good job for me. I meant what I said about picking your own hours. Whatever works best with your schedule and Diane’s.”

  She was stunned. “I don’t know what to say.” He was offering her a job? With Jim, she frequently found herself in the position of not knowing whether to slap him or hug him, and here she was again.

  “You can bring her in with you,” he said before she could decide on a course of action. “There’s a small storeroom off the main office that would make a perfect temporary nursery. Flo, the woman who manages the office, loves kids. She would be thrilled to have Diane around.”

  “I’ll bet,” Heather muttered. She was too confused to be having this conversation. Things were moving too fast. Although, knowing Jim, this conversation wasn’t completely unexpected. “You’re still trying to rescue me,” she said. “I don’t need rescuing. I’m perfectly capable—”

  “Of taking care of yourself,” Jim finished for her. “I know. All I’m saying is I need someone in my office. You need a part-time job. I don’t care when you work and you need flexible hours. Besides, I’ll be able to see my best girl more often.”

  For a split second, she thought he meant her. Then reality returned to her brain and she knew he was talking about Diane. I will not be jealous of my own child, she told herself firmly.

  “So what’s the problem?” Jim asked.

  You are, she thought to herself, but couldn’t say that aloud. He wouldn’t understand. She knew that Jim was not for her. Even if he was, she wasn’t interested in anything like that. So why was she tempted to accept his offer? It was crazy. She didn’t want another man in her life, in any form. Their friendship was already straining the promise she’d made to herself not to get involved. She knew all the risks and pitfalls of a relationship with a man. She’d lived through every possible variation on that theme, with the possible exception of accidentally dating a man who was gay.

  Except Jim wasn’t talking about dating. He was talking about work. Was that safe? Could she stay friends with him and not get hurt? Was working for him crossing the line in some way?

  She drew in a deep breath. The problem was that she was getting more and more involved. She needed him too much. This was the perfect time to tell him that their friendship was becoming too intense and that she wasn’t comfortable. Working for him would only make things m
ore difficult and complicated. She had to tell him no.

  Chapter Five

  “I never meant to agree to this,” Heather said as she bent over her daughter’s car seat and unbuckled the seat belt. “I said no, didn’t I? I distinctly remember saying no.”

  But when she pulled out the car seat and straightened, she found herself staring at a large sign that read Valley Helicopter Services. If she hadn’t taken the job that Jim offered her, what on earth was she doing here at his office?

  Heather secured her purse more firmly over her shoulder, then closed and locked the car door before heading toward the main entrance to the building. There had to be a logical explanation, she told herself. A reason that she’d changed her mind. Unfortunately, she knew exactly what that reason was—Jim had made the part-time job impossible to turn down. Not only had he offered her a generous salary, the ability to set her own hours and the chance to work on an accounting program she’d wanted to learn for a long time, but he’d said she could bring Diane into the office with her. Which meant that she wouldn’t have to pay for child care or worry about being apart from her infant.

  Between this job and the other work Jim had sent her way, she was closer than ever to reaching her goal of a full-time home business. She didn’t know that angels took the form of handsome six-foot-three-inch men, but she wasn’t about to start complaining now. She’d had her chance to refuse and she hadn’t, so for better or worse, she was about to become a part of Jim Dyer’s world. Oddly enough, she found the thought more comforting than upsetting.

  She paused in front of the glass double doors and drew in a deep breath for courage. She didn’t doubt that she could do a good job for Jim. Working with numbers had always been easy for her and a real pleasure. She was more concerned about how she would fit in with the rest of the employees. She hoped no one would resent her for bringing her child to the office.

  She’d just convinced herself that the sooner she went inside, the sooner she could get those awkward introductions over when the door was pulled open and a fifty-something woman with an incredible bosom and flame-red hair grinned at her.

  “You must be Heather,” the woman said. “Jim told me you were coming, and I’ve been all excited at the thought of meeting you and your little girl.” She took the carrier from Heather and beamed down at Diane. “Aren’t you just the most precious little thing? I’m Auntie Flo and we’re going to be best friends. You’re even prettier than I was told, which means I’ll have to have words with your uncle Jim. Yes, I will. He said beautiful, but that’s not good enough. No, it’s not. You’re perfect. A perfect little girl.”

  Diane had slept through the entire introduction. Now she stirred sleepily, yawned, but didn’t open her eyes.

  The older woman laughed. “I guess she told me.” She turned her attention to Heather and held out her hand. “I’m Flo. Welcome to Valley Helicopter. I’m delighted to have someone else in the office. It gets pretty lonely when everyone is out, and when they’re in, they’re too damned macho for my taste. All those pilots thinking they’re God’s gift to women, not to mention the repair guys in their coveralls and dirty boots. I’ve been telling Jim we need curtains on the windows, but what does he go buy? Mini blinds. It’s not like a little gingham would’ve hurt anything.”

  Heather stared at the tall, curvy woman and hoped her mouth wasn’t hanging open. Flo was unlike anyone she’d ever met. Her incredibly bright red hair was piled high on her head. She wore a tight black blouse and an even tighter black skirt, both of which showed off a womanly shape that left Heather feeling about as appealing as a stick figure. But it was Flo’s conversation that was the most disconcerting.

  Flo shook her hand once, then released it and grinned. “Don’t pay any attention to me. I have an opinion on everything, and for the most part, I don’t care if anyone agrees with me. I just like to talk. Your desk is over here.”

  Still carrying Diane, Flo led the way through a medium-size office furnished with a small sofa and two straight-back chairs placed by the front desk. Behind that, a low wall with a swinging gate separated the waiting area from the rest of the room.

  An executive desk sat on the left, complete with attached credenza and computer station. The surface of the desk was relatively neat, with papers stacked into impressive piles. A couple of simple metal desks stood in the center of the room.

  “The pilots use those for their reports,” Flo said. “Or to make phone calls and stuff. You’re back here.”

  A doorway cut the rear wall in half. On the left side was a huge scheduling board, on the right an L-shaped desk flanked by several filing cabinets. Heather took in the computer setup, complete with printer, the neatly stacked files and a nameplate that read Heather Fitzpatrick, Senior Accountant.

  “I’ve been promoted and it’s only my first day,” she said, confused by all that was happening.

  Flo laughed. “Jim does that all the time. He likes to make people feel important. He claims it helps with morale. I’m the office manager, if you can believe it.” She set the baby’s car seat on the desk. “He’s that kind of guy. Always thinking about his employees and wanting them to do better. He’s the best boss ever. Smart, too. Not to mention good-looking. We fly some female executives and they’re forever requesting him as their pilot. I swear they just want to eat him up for breakfast. But it’s been a real long time since he’s been interested in a woman. He’s real careful before he makes a commitment.”

  Heather stared into Flo’s face, noting the perfect makeup that accentuated her full mouth and huge brown eyes. She supposed she could be insulted by the obvious matchmaking, but instead it made her smile. She’d been worried about being accepted by the office staff. From the looks of things, it consisted of Flo, Jim and now herself. Jim was already a friend and Flo seemed to be the kind of person who wanted to give the world a big hug.

  “You’re preaching to the choir,” Heather said when Flo paused for breath. “I think Jim is terrific. He’s a good friend and I’m lucky to have him in my life. But if you’re thinking about matchmaking, I have to tell you that neither Jim nor I want that.”

  Flo placed her hands on her hips. “Well, don’t that beat all? Here I was so sure that boy had finally gone and fallen for someone.” Her mouth twisted with regret. “Shoot. Are you sure you’re just friends? He’s a sexy man. I could make a lot of money selling tickets to let women stare at his butt if I could find a way to make him cooperate.”

  Heather laughed. “Yes, Flo, I’m sure. Jim and I are just friends, and we both prefer it that way.” She glanced around to double-check that they were alone in the office, then she lowered her voice. “However, I do agree with you about his rear end. It’s pretty amazing.”

  “That’s something, I suppose,” Flo said, but she still sounded disappointed. “Maybe I can change your mind.”

  “Please don’t try.”

  Flo’s gaze turned speculative. “There must be a reason Jim wanted you around. You swear it’s not personal, so I’ll have to figure it out. Don’t worry, I will.”

  Heather didn’t know what to say to that.

  “You probably want to get your baby settled so you can work,” Flo said with a swift change of topic that left Heather feeling a little off balance. “Come on back here. I’ll show you what we did to fix up a place for your baby.”

  Heather trailed after Flo. They left the main room and entered a short hallway.

  “Bathrooms are over there,” Flo said, pointing to her left. “Boys and girls. A cleaning service comes in twice a week to keep things nice. Supplies are under the sink. In that back room is a refrigerator and microwave, along with table and chairs. We have a television, but Jim doesn’t like it on unless there’s some big news story or a play-off game.” She gave a wink. “Sports and national disasters mean we have all the boys from outside tracking dirt on our carpet.”

  She opened a door to the right. “This was a supply room, which is kind of a grandiose term because it’s not mu
ch bigger than a closet. We put everything into two big cabinets in the lunchroom and then had this painted and fixed up for you.” Flo stepped back to let her pass. “I picked out the colors myself, so I hope you like it.”

  Heather wasn’t sure what to expect. She stepped through the doorway, turned on the light and entered baby paradise. The room was small, as Flo had said, but pale pink walls opened up the space. A crib and rocking chair in light oak took up most of the floor space. Netting acted as a shelf in a corner of the room and held nearly a dozen different stuffed animals, while teddy bears painted in pastel colors danced across two walls.

  “As you can see, there wasn’t much room to work with,” Flo said, stepping in beside Heather. She leaned forward to unhook what looked like a shelf from the wall. “Jim came up with this idea. Sort of a fold-out changing table.”

  She demonstrated how to pull down the padded table. Safety bars that would keep the baby from falling snapped into place. When not in use, the entire unit could be raised and stored out of the way.

  “There’s a playpen in the lunchroom,” Flo continued. “It’s the kind that folds up flat, so we tucked it behind the door. When you want to have the baby in the office with us, we can set it up between the desks. We get a nice bit of morning sun. It’s not too bright, but your daughter would probably like to play in it.”

  Heather took in the furniture and the decorations. Having just decorated a baby’s room herself, she knew the cost and time involved. A mixture of sensations flooded through her. It was too much, and she wanted to say so, but something in her heart told her that this had been a labor of love.

  “I’m overwhelmed,” she admitted.

  Flo picked up a teddy bear and shrugged. “I’ll admit I went a little over budget, but I couldn’t help myself, and Jim said he didn’t care.” She gave Heather a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I always wanted a dozen kids of my own, but I couldn’t have them. Plumbing problems. I’ve been spoiling my sister’s kids since they were born, not to mention those in my neighborhood. So I hope you don’t mind if I start right in spoiling your baby.”