by Karen Booth
“Your father will see you now,” said his dad’s secretary.
“Thanks.” Sawyer marched in and sat down opposite his father’s tank of a desk. You’d think he was the president in the oval office, judging by the furniture in the room.
“How nice of you to drop by.” His dad scrawled on a pad of paper, not bothering to look up at Sawyer. “It might be nice if you called first. Catherine would love to see you. She is your stepmother after all.”
“I wouldn’t call her my stepmother. She’s your wife. I was twenty-nine when you got married.”
“Do you know what your problem is, Sawyer?”
“No. But I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
“You’re wound too tight. You always have been.” He sat back in his chair. “You need to get married and have a few kids. Enjoy life. You’ll end up with high blood pressure if you don’t watch it.”
Sawyer could’ve gone for the jugular, reminded his dad of the things he did to contribute to his stress levels, but that wasn’t what he’d come for today. “If anyone knows the health benefits of marriage, you do.”
“I’ve been lucky enough to find four women who wanted to be my wife. There’s no shame in that. I’ve loved them all.”
Not equally, Sawyer thought. That had been the saddest revelation after his mother passed away. Sawyer, Noah and Charlotte were still grieving the loss of their mother when their father married his second wife, Abigail. She moved into their house with her four kids, and even though there was plenty of room for everyone, Sawyer couldn’t help but feel put out and left out. When he’d dared to bring this up to his dad, to actually share his feelings, his dad accused him of trying to kill his happiness. He then delivered the line that would forever remain in Sawyer’s mind: I never loved your mother like I love Abigail. She’s the real love of my life.
For a boy mourning his mother, it had felt as though his father had sent every happy memory of his mother up in flames. Everything was tarnished from then on. Well, at least until Abigail also died, and the third wife came along. His dad delivered the same line about her and that was when Sawyer deduced it wasn’t about who his father was married to. His dad was in love with the idea of romance, and he went through women accordingly. It was such a bizarre contrast to his father’s otherwise ruthless ways, but Sawyer had long ago stopped trying to figure out his dad.
“I’m here to broker a truce over the Grand Legacy. The vandalism went too far.”
“I read about it in the paper. Terrible setback.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll still reopen. Just not when we’d originally planned to.” He kept his voice even, but the inner sense of triumph he had about executing Kendall’s new plan was immense.
“Oh, it must not have been that bad then.”
“You’re going to sit here and act as though you don’t know.”
“I’m not the only one who wants the history of the hotel to be left in the past. Your marketing plan made it so much worse. Calling it the most notorious hotel in the city? It’s like you want to send our family reputation straight into the gutter.”
Sawyer kneaded his forehead. “You spend too much time worrying about appearances. The history of the hotel is fascinating to people. Nobody thinks badly of our family for things that aren’t even illegal anymore.”
“Believe me, plenty of things went on in that hotel that are still very illegal. Your great-grandfather had some very shady partners at the beginning. People who feel they never got their fair share.”
This caught Sawyer’s attention. His father was always very vague when he spoke about the shadier side of the hotel’s past. “Why didn’t you tell me this before? There’s no paperwork that even makes mention of a partnership.”
“We aren’t talking about people who like to leave a paper trail, Sawyer. Honestly, I shouldn’t even be talking to you about this. The less you know, the better. I don’t know why you won’t believe me when I say that.”
“Dad. I have millions of dollars on the line. I’m not a kid, and I can’t make business decisions based on anything but facts. So if there are actual details you care to share with me, please do.”
“Like I said, the less you know, the better.”
Sawyer grumbled under his breath. “We need to talk about Ms. Ross. I want you to stay away from her. I don’t want you to communicate with her in any way, especially not by sending flowers.” The steadiness in his voice had failed. The idea of Kendall being in his father’s sights was more upsetting than he cared to admit.
“I guess I have my answer then, since she decided to tell you. You must have done something quite extraordinary to warrant that kind of loyalty.”
“Kendall has a conscience and she’s committed to her job.” The room grew eerily quiet. Sawyer shifted in the antique chair he was sitting in, which creaked.
“You seem pretty worked up about this woman. Is there something you aren’t telling me? A little romance I don’t know about?”
Sawyer had done his best to keep his feelings concealed. Perhaps he wasn’t as good at being poker-faced as he thought. “I’m not going to discuss Kendall.”
His father cocked an eyebrow. “So there is a romance. There’s hope for you, yet.”
“Please don’t speak to me like that. I don’t need your help or your blessing or anything. Just please leave Kendall alone. She has nothing to do with your obsession with the hotel. I’m merely asking you to leave her alone.”
“It’s not an obsession. I’m trying to keep our family in one piece. The Locke name is everything. The money and the business mean nothing without it. Some day, you’ll have children of your own and you’ll understand how important it is. If you and your brother aren’t careful, you’re going to hand them something damaged.”
The fire smoldering in Sawyer’s belly began to roar. His father was far guiltier of damaging the family name, and the actual family for that matter. As far as Sawyer was concerned, the business of having children and handing down the Locke name would not be carried out by him. There was too much poison running through this family line. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not trying to follow in your footsteps.”
“Passing on the Locke name is of paramount importance, Sawyer.”
“This happens every time we talk about the Grand Legacy. You start going on about the family name. I’m reopening the hotel. I’m seeing Great-Grandpa’s dream to fruition. That’s my way of honoring the family name. It will be just as amazing as it once was. You’ll see that your paranoia about it has been for nothing.”
“If your mother was still alive, she’d agree with me.”
Sawyer’s eyes narrowed. “What does my mother have to do with it?”
His father cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. “You don’t know everything there is to know about your mother and her family. She wasn’t the perfect woman you thought she was.”
Sawyer had had enough. He stood and headed for the door. “I’m leaving now. I’m not going to listen to you talk about her that way. You didn’t even love her. You told me as much.”
“We were young. We thought we were in love. We weren’t.”
Every word out of his father’s mouth was designed to cut, but Sawyer wouldn’t let him get away with it. Not today. “Goodbye, Dad.” He opened the door, when his dad’s voice came right behind him.
“If you want to find out who vandalized the Grand Legacy, you need to look somewhere outside the confines of this office.”
Sawyer closed his eyes. More manipulation. That was all that was. “All signs point to you, but nice job deflecting.”
* * *
Kendall had finally broken down and made a doctor’s appointment. Sure, work was crazy, but her fatigue wasn’t normal. Now that Sawyer had agreed to the new, tighter timeline, Kendall had to be on her A game. Getti
ng sick would ruin everything.
Things at the office were beyond busy, leaving Kendall with no choice but to forgo lunch so she could take that hour, get to her doctor’s appointment and figure out once and for all if she was getting the flu.
“Ms. Ross,” the nurse called.
Kendall set down the magazine she’d been flipping through, and followed. The nurse took her blood pressure and recorded her weight, then showed her to an exam room.
“The doctor will be in shortly.”
Kendall sat on the exam table, kicking her legs. It was nice to be in a room that was completely quiet. No boss yelling from the other room. No sound of fire trucks whizzing by, like at home. If only she could turn off these horrific fluorescent lights, lie down and get in a nap.
A knock came at the door. “Hello, Kendall,” Dr. Adams said. She shook her hand and took a seat on the physician’s rolling stool. She plucked a pair of red reading glasses from her pocket and put them on, then smoothed back her shoulder-length gray hair. “What can I do for you today?”
“I haven’t been feeling well. I’m really run-down, my stomach is unsettled and I’m ridiculously tired. All I want to do is sleep.”
Dr. Adams wheeled her way closer. “Any congestion? Headaches?”
Kendall shook her head. “I’ve been a little stuffy, but not like I was last time with the sinus infection.”
“Fever? Body aches?”
“Nope.”
The doctor stood and reached for the otoscope on the wall. “Alright then. Let’s take a look.” She pulled at Kendall’s earlobes and after a few seconds, replaced the instrument. “Any chance you could be pregnant?”
“I thought you were checking my ears.”
Dr. Adams laughed. “I was. But you have an awful lot of symptoms that could be attributed to a pregnancy. No fever. Tired and run-down.”
“I’m not pregnant.” Of course she wasn’t. Absolutely not. “I’m on the pill. It’s in my chart.”
Dr. Adams nodded, standing up. “Let’s do a quick test to rule it out, though. Let me feel your glands. I apologize if my hands are cold.” She placed her fingers on Kendall’s neck.
“Is a pregnancy test really necessary? I don’t see any way I could be pregnant.” Her mind began to start and stop. Her last period had been unusually light, but she hadn’t thought anything of it. She’d just been thankful. Could I be? No. No way.
“It’s not a big deal. Just a quick trip to the bathroom.”
Dr. Adams wrote down a few things, but Kendall wasn’t paying much attention. The thing was, if she was indeed pregnant, which was the most ridiculous idea ever, there was only one person who could be the father. She’d only been with one man in the last year. Sawyer.
“You seem perfectly healthy to me. You might just be fighting something off, but let’s rule out a pregnancy. We should go ahead and get you a flu shot while you’re here, as well.”
Kendall clutched Dr. Adams’s arm. “How could I get pregnant on the pill? How does that happen?”
Dr. Adams’s glasses slid to the end of her nose as she peered at Kendall. “Have you been sexually active?”
A flush crossed Kendall’s cheeks like she was a teenager. “Well, yeah. But isn’t that the whole point of the pill?”
“It is, but it’s not foolproof. And you were on antibiotics two months ago for a sinus infection. Those reduce efficacy. It should’ve said on the pill bottle to use backup contraception.”
“It didn’t. I definitely know it didn’t say that. Should I complain to the pharmacy?”
“Kendall. This isn’t something you can argue your way out of. Either you are or you aren’t. So let’s find out, shall we?”
Kendall shrank back, realizing just how ridiculous she was being. “Yes. Right. Of course.” It was probably nothing. Still, she couldn’t feel her hands or her toes right now. Everything was a little numb.
The nurse came in and handed Kendall a plastic cup. “Out in the hall, the bathroom is the second room on the left. Follow the instructions and leave the specimen on the shelf. You can get dressed after that. It’ll just take a few minutes for the results.”
Kendall did as she was told, focusing on following the directions posted on the bathroom wall to the letter of the law. When she was done, she went back to the exam room and sat in the chair and waited. Why is it taking so long? Why is it so cold in here? She checked her phone. She’d been gone from the office for nearly an hour. Jillian would not be happy. Kendall had been gone for the entire day yesterday.
Another knock came at the door. Kendall turned, expecting to see the nurse again, but it was the doctor. Oh no.
“Well, it looks as though you’re going to need to stop taking your birth control pills. The test was positive. You’re pregnant.”
Kendall had no clue how one was expected to react to this news when it was the last thing you were expecting. “Thank you.”
“Thank you?”
She stood and shook her head. What is wrong with me? Oh, wait. I know. I’m pregnant. With Sawyer Locke’s baby. That’s what’s wrong with me. “I’m sorry. Just a little shell-shocked, I guess.” I guess? I’m definitely shell-shocked. I’m beyond shocked. I’m flabbergasted.
“Perfectly understandable. I’d call your gynecologist when you have a chance so you can make your first appointment. Until then, make sure you’re taking a multivitamin, get your rest, drink plenty of fluids.”
Kendall stood there, information flowing from the doctor’s mouth into her ears, but it was so slow to sink in...it was like syrup on a waffle. Sitting there one minute, gone the next. “Okay.”
“As long as you take care of yourself, you’ll be taking care of the baby.”
Baby. Coming to terms with the word pregnant was one thing, but the word baby was a leap she was not prepared to take. A baby. I’m going to have a baby? I’m going to have a baby. “Thank you” was again all she could mutter as she wandered out of the exam room, down the hall, paid her co-pay just like she had two months ago when she’d had the sinus infection. When she got out to the street, she didn’t know what to do, where to go. Technically, she belonged at work. It was after one and now she’d been away for over an hour.
She hopped in a cab, feeling as alone as she’d felt in a long time. Moments like this were the ones when she most missed her mom. They hadn’t always agreed, but her mom was an eager confidante. Sometimes a bit too quick with advice, but Kendall had always listened. Her mom had gone through a lot, more than any person should ever have to—single mom; abandoned by the guy who got her pregnant; endless string of bad, commitment-phobic boyfriends; never found her purpose. Well, other than Kendall. Perhaps raising a daughter had been her purpose. Thinking that way only made Kendall feel worse. She had so much to live up to. If her mom’s only purpose had been her, what did she have to show for it? An uncertain promotion and an unplanned pregnancy with a man she hardly knew, whose own father had threatened her.
Wrong turn or not, she had to tell Sawyer right away. She couldn’t work with him and keep this sort of secret from him. He’d told her from the beginning that he needed to be able to trust her.
She pulled out her cell phone to make the call before she got back to the office.
He picked up after the third ring. “Kendall. Tell me something good. Anything.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“I’m in the car on my way back into the city. I just had a showdown with my dad. It was ridiculous.”
Kendall closed her eyes and shook her head. “Was that a good idea?”
“Probably not, but I can’t take all of this lying down.”
Great. Maybe his bad mood can’t get any worse. “Are you free tonight? I need to see you.”
“Oh, really?” His voice dipped an octave.
“Not that, Sawyer. I need to talk to you. In person. Can I come to your office?”
“You first have to tell me you aren’t going to give me any bad news about the hotel. I can’t handle it right now.”
“Nothing about the hotel. I promise. Your office?”
“You haven’t told me what we’re talking about.”
“I need to say this in person, isn’t that enough?”
“What about the Club? On Lexington? I could use a good steak.”
“A restaurant? Don’t you think that’s a bad idea?”
“Kendall. If you aren’t going to tell me what we’re talking about, I can’t pick a place. I want a steak for dinner. Just indulge me, okay?”
“You aren’t worried about tempting fate?” Talk about tempting fate—she never should’ve said yes when Sawyer asked her to dance at the wedding. Then she wouldn’t be in this situation at all.
“It’ll be fine.”
The cab pulled up in front of her office. She had to get back to work or Jillian would have her hide. “Fine. The Club. Eight?”
“Perfect. I’ll make reservations.”
Twelve
Kendall got out of the cab in front of the restaurant Sawyer had asked her to meet him at for dinner. She’d told him it wasn’t a good idea, that he needed to stop acting as though they could continue to tempt fate like this. His attitude about it? He just wanted a steak.
She stepped inside the restaurant simply known as the Club, which she’d never been to but had heard so much about. It was classic romance—dark, secluded booths, candles flickering on white tablecloths, words spoken in hushed tones over champagne and martinis.
“I’m meeting Mr. Locke,” she said to the hostess.
“Of course, Ms. Ross. Daniel here will take your wrap.” Before Kendall knew what was happening, a mysterious man was behind her, waiting for her to take off her coat. “This way.”
Sawyer was off in the corner, looking far more handsome than was fair. Even from a distance, she could see that his usual five o’clock shadow was hours old, darkening his face, accentuating the chiseled lines. He stood as soon as he caught sight of her, and he smiled. It was a genuine smile, the kind you only get from a man after you’ve slept with him, the kind of smile that makes your knees turn to rubber. If things were different between them, that smile would’ve warmed her from head to toe. It would’ve been a sign that everything in her world was right. Instead, it only reminded her of what she couldn’t count on, of the ways in which her life was veering off course right now. A baby had never been part of her plan.
