“He’s being very attentive by long distance—he’s in Tulsa at the moment—calls me every night to see how I’m doing and how Flash is. We call the baby Flash because my finding out I was pregnant was The Newsflash…with capital letters. Anyway, the subject of marriage has been dropped and…”
“Oh…my…goodness,” Kara interrupted, sinking back in her chair. “It’s Richard. The father of your baby is my brother, Richard.”
Brenda’s eyes widened. “I never said that, Kara. Where on earth did you get such a…a crazy idea?”
“Strauss waltzes,” Kara said, leaning forward again. “Neatnik. Organized. Tulsa. Traveling all the time. Your friend.”
“Oh.” Brenda shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “I guess I was blithering on there a bit, wasn’t I? Yes, well… Kara, did you know that an ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain? Just thought I’d whip a little trivia on you there.”
“That’s very fascinating information,” Kara said, narrowing her eyes. “Has Richard gathered a lot of great trivia while he’s been in Tulsa to share in the game you two have played forever?”
“Oh, yes, he is really on a roll and— Would you cut that out, Kara?” Brenda said. “That wasn’t fair. Were you an FBI agent in a former life? You snuck up on me and— No, that wasn’t fair at all.”
“Am I correct in saying that Richard MacAllister is the father of your baby?” Kara said.
Brenda sighed. “Yes, he is. It just…just happened, that’s all. It was one night…one…when we were both vulnerable, feeling sorry for ourselves because we can’t seem to find our soul mate, the person we were meant to love, spend the remainder of our days with, and…we agreed, Richard and I, never to allow the…it…to be repeated. We would just forget it and continue being best friends.”
“But you got pregnant that night.”
Brenda nodded as she struggled against tears.
“And Richard is happy about the baby? Stepped right up and asked you to marry him?” Kara said.
“Yes, but I refused for all the reasons I’ve already opened my big mouth and listed,” Brenda said, sniffling. “Richard and I would never survive together under the same roof. I need him to be my best friend, Kara. Can’t you see that? I need to know he’s there for me, no matter what, just as he’s been for the last year and a half.”
“But—”
“No, don’t try to change my mind because you’d be wasting your breath,” Brenda said. “Richard and I would be a complete disaster as husband and wife. Besides, I don’t love him like that…romantically, I mean. I love him as my buddy, pal, my chum.
“I won’t marry anyone who isn’t my soul mate. I intend to love my husband with all my heart and know that he returns that depth of love in kind. To marry Richard because of the baby would be a terrible mistake, and it isn’t going to happen.”
“Okay,” Kara said.
Brenda eyed her warily. “That’s it? Just…okay? You’re not going to deliver a twenty-minute speech on why I should marry your brother?”
“Nope,” Kara said pleasantly. “You’ve obviously made up your mind on the subject, and that’s that.” She paused. “Now then, let’s look at how you’re doing here.” She shifted her gaze to the file in front of her on the desk. “You said you’re over your morning sickness, which is good.”
“I’m eating everything in sight and stuff I don’t even like is delicious,” Brenda said. “Aren’t you even going to say that it would be best to marry Richard so that the baby has his name, is legally a MacAllister?”
“No, it’s none of my business,” Kara said. “Your blood pressure is fine, weight is fine. You’re a generally fine mommy-to-be.”
“I’m fat. I can’t close the button at my waist on my slacks and skirts. Am I supposed to be this chubby this soon? And don’t you want to point out that I should take what I can get, and that marrying my best friend is better than nothing, that I should just forget about the fairy-tale romance part?”
“No-o-o,” Kara said slowly, “but I will say that I consider Andrew to be my best friend, as well as my soul mate.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Brenda said, throwing up her hands, “you sound like Michael. He said something like that about Jenny, and neither Richard nor I understood what he meant. A best friend is in a totally different category from a romantic lover, a soul mate, Kara. It’s like…like apples and oranges.”
“Is it?” Kara said, raising her eyebrows.
“Yes, definitely,” Brenda said. “See, the thing is, I don’t believe that you or Michael have ever had a best friend…not like Richard and I are.”
“Ah,” Kara said.
“If you had,” Brenda rushed on, “you’d understand what I mean when I say you can’t compare that kind of relationship with a forever-love type.” She nodded. “There. That explains it. You and Michael are speaking from a lack of experience.”
“Ah,” Kara said again.
“Yes, indeedy,” Brenda said. “Richard and I…being best friends, you realize…know of what we speak. End of story.”
“Ah.”
“Would you cut that out?” Brenda said, frowning. “You sound as though you’re waiting for someone to stick a tongue depressor in your mouth to see if you have a sore throat or something.”
Kara laughed. “I’m just letting you know that I’m listening to every word you’re saying. Do note that I didn’t conclude by announcing that I agree with you.”
“Whatever. Kara, do you think the MacAllister clan, all of the zillion of you, is going to accept The Newsflash and the fact that Richard and I never intend to marry? You’re very conventional, family-oriented people and…well, I’d feel just terrible if this created a problem for Richard. Or for me, for that matter. I adore all of you.”
“Give us a little credit, Brenda. MacAllisters love unconditionally. No one will be passing judgment on you and Richard, and the baby will be welcomed with opened, loving arms.”
“Thank you.” Brenda sighed. “I guess when Richard calls me tonight I’ll have to confess that I spilled the beans here today.”
“He phones every night from Tulsa?”
“Mmm,” Brenda said, nodding. “He’s working seven days a week so he can get home as quickly as he can to check on me and Flash in person.”
“Which, of course, only a best friend—which I have no concept of—would do,” Kara said, smothering a burst of laughter.
“Mmm.” Brenda frowned. “Could we change the subject and discuss why I’m so fat so fast?”
“Every woman is different, Brenda. I’ve seen women who were still wearing their regular clothes the day they delivered a full-term baby. Others? Well, they pop, as the saying goes, very early. You don’t have a big-boned frame—you’re slender, delicate, and you’re obviously going to show sooner rather than later.”
“Dandy,” Brenda said. “Wouldn’t you know it? That means Richard and I will be facing the ‘Why aren’t you two getting married?’ bit sooner rather than later, too. Ugh. Well, at least my parents are making no noises about returning anytime soon from Greece. That just leaves the MacAllister group to deal with.” She rolled her eyes heavenward. “All million zillion of you.”
“Don’t worry about the family,” Kara said, getting to her feet. “When you and Richard decide to make your announcement, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the reception you’ll receive. I guarantee it. In the meantime your secret is safe with me.”
“That’s good to know,” Brenda said, rising.
“Brenda,” Kara said, “let me be certain that I understand where you’re coming from. You believe that Michael and I are out in left field by saying that our soul mates are our best friends, due to the fact that we’ve never had a best friend separate and apart from our soul mates. Right?”
“Well, yes,” Brenda said, nodding, “that sums it up quite nicely.”
“It’s sort of like you and Richard having the inside track on trivia,” Kara went on, “because you’ve been
concentrating on your game together for over a year. Correct?”
“Yes, that’s a very good comparison. Experience is the best teacher, Kara.”
“Got it,” Kara said, starting toward the door. “Make an appointment for a month from now before you leave.” She opened the door and turned to look at Brenda. “Oh, and, Brenda? Did you know that Winston Churchill was born in a ladies’ room during a dance his mother was attending? That, sweet Bren, is top-of-the-line trivia. Think about it.”
Brenda opened her mouth, shook her head slightly, then snapped her mouth closed again. Kara disappeared from view, leaving the door open behind her. Brenda walked slowly across the room, a frown on her face.
“What I think,” she said aloud, “is that you set out to confuse me, Kara MacAllister Malone, and you did a super-duper job of it.”
Six
That night Brenda sat propped up against the pillows on the bed, the telephone receiver pressed to her ear as Richard ranted, raved and swore.
“The guy was a con artist, no doubt about it,” Richard said. “He just threw this computer system into place, collected his money and split. The cops are looking for him, that’s for damn sure, because this isn’t the only company he took for a ride. What a mess. The lousy part is, I’ve finished fixing this disaster, but the schnook sold these good ol’ boys two setups. One here in Tulsa and a link to their Dallas office. I’m flying to Texas in the morning to start all over again.”
Brenda sat bolt upright on the bed, her hold on the receiver tightening.
“You’re not coming home?” she said.
“No,” Richard said, then sighed. “I was trying to figure out a way to make a quick trip to Ventura, but I just can’t. The Dallas branch of this company is literally shut down without their computer system. I have to get over there right away.”
“Oh,” Brenda said, her shoulders slumping. “Well, yes, of course, that makes sense… I guess. No, cancel that. It definitely makes sense. It’s just that I…”
Brenda’s voice trailed off and she frowned.
She missed Richard, wanted him here, home, with her…right now. The strange part was that this was a different kind of missing Richard than she’d experienced in the past. A feeling she was growing more accustomed to.
She couldn’t quite put her finger on what the difference was, but it was definitely there. It was causing a dark cloud of gloom to settle over her as it really sank in that Richard wasn’t going to thunk on the wall to announce his arrival home for heaven only knew how long.
“It’s just that you…what?” Richard said.
“Oh, well, nothing. I’m sorry you’re having such problems, Richard.”
“Me, too,” he said. “The only bright spot in this picture is that I now know what’s wrong with the system, and it shouldn’t take me as long to fix the one in Dallas as it did here.”
“How long?” she said quickly.
“I can’t say for certain…maybe a month, instead of the two that I’ve spent here.”
“Another whole month?” Brenda said, nearly shouting. She pressed her free hand to her forehead and flopped back against the pillows. “Ignore me, Richard. I sound like a nagging wife.”
Richard chuckled. “If you’d marry me, you’d have the right to nag your little heart out, Bren.”
“No, thank you.” Brenda paused. “Do you need to vent some more about the crummy situation there? I’m not rushing you to wrap it up, I was just wondering if you were finished yet.”
“Yeah, I’ll shut up,” he said. “Dumping it on you isn’t going to change anything.”
“I’m more than happy to listen.”
“I know that, Bren, and I appreciate it. So! How are you? And how’s Flash? Hey, wait a minute. You had an appointment with Kara today. Bring me up to date. What did she say?”
“I’m fine. Flash is fine,” Brenda said. “But I’m fat, really Porky Piggy.”
Richard laughed. “I seriously doubt that, Brenda. You’re only three months pregnant.”
“I kid you not, Richard. I can’t button my slacks or skirts. Kara said that I’m apparently going to be one of those women who pop—that’s the jargon—pop early. Everyone is going to know about Flash much sooner than I was thinking they would.”
“Well—”
“Richard,” Brenda interrupted, “I have to tell you this and I’m really, really sorry. I was chattering away, you know how I do sometimes, and I was dropping clues left and right without realizing that I was, and Kara…sort of…kind of… Richard, Kara figured out that you’re the father of this baby.”
Brenda took a much-needed deep breath, then realized there was nothing but dead silence coming from the telephone receiver.
“Oh, dear,” Brenda said. “You’re furious, aren’t you? Kara did promise that she wouldn’t tell any of your family that you…that we— I’m just so, so sorry.”
“Whoa,” Richard said. “Slow down. I’m not angry, Bren. Not at all. As far as I’m concerned the entire MacAllister clan can be told about The News-flash right now.”
Brenda sat up again.
“Don’t be absurd,” she said, her eyes widening. “There are going to be enough months of them asking why we aren’t getting married and…no. No way. No one is going to know until I can’t camouflage my condition anymore. Promise me that you won’t tell the MacAllisters yet, Richard. Please? Promise?”
“Okay, okay, don’t stress, Bren. But when I come home we need to have a serious discussion.”
Brenda narrowed her eyes. “About what?”
“I’d rather wait until I see you, because this is very important,” he said quietly.
“Richard, that’s not fair,” Brenda said, her voice rising again. “I’ll sit here and stew. I’ll go nuts trying to figure out what’s on your mind. My brain will be so preoccupied I’ll probably forget to follow my milk-drinking schedule.”
“That’s blackmail, Bren.”
“Whatever works.”
Richard swore under his breath, and Brenda cringed.
“All right,” he said finally, “you win, but I really did want to sit you down, face-to-face, to talk about this.” He paused. “Brenda, in spite of the long hours I’ve put in here, I’ve still had a lot of time to think when I get back to the hotel at night. Lots of time.”
“And?” she said tentatively.
“That is my baby you’re carrying.”
“No,” Brenda said, “it’s our baby.”
“You know what I mean,” he said. “I want our child to have my name, be a MacAllister. I need her to know that I’m proud and happy to be her father, never cause her to have one minute’s doubt that I want her very, very much.”
“Ohhh,” Brenda said, her eyes pooling with tears. “That is so sweet.”
“Just listen, okay?”
“Yes. Right.” Brenda sniffled. “Sorry.”
“I know you don’t believe we should get married, Bren,” Richard went on, “because we’re such opposites and also because you feel that being in love, romantically in love, not best-friend love, is vitally important when those vows are taken.”
“Yes.”
“So, I don’t know what the answer is here,” he said. “I can’t ask you to give our daughter my last name as though you didn’t exist. The only solution, I guess, would be to hyphenate our names, have her be Baby Girl Henderson-MacAllister.”
“That’s an awful lot for a child to learn how to spell in first grade, Richard,” Brenda said, frowning.
“I know, but it’s really important to me that she have my name…somehow. Will you think about this while I’m gone, then we’ll discuss it further when I get home?”
“Okay. Sure. I’ll give it a great deal of thought.” Brenda paused. “Richard, why do you keep calling this baby a girl, referring to it as ‘her’?”
Richard laughed. “Because she is a girl, Bren, guaranteed. I’m a MacAllister, remember? You know all about the Baby Bet that Forrest aced time after time.
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“Then Ted Sharpe snapped Forrest’s winning streak and since then the daddies have nailed it. Whatever the father says the baby is going to be is etched in stone.
“Jack’s buddy, Brandon, over in Arizona, said he and his wife, Andrea, were going to have a girl and…bingo…they did. Now Jack has announced that he and Jennifer are having a boy…who is due in about a month, now that I think about it. Believe me, Jennifer will have a baby boy.
“Anyway, we’re having a girl, Brenda. You can take that all the way to the pink booties bank.”
Brenda splayed one hand gently on her slightly rounded stomach.
“A daughter,” she said, awe ringing in her voice. “A precious little girl. You’re making her seem so real, Richard.”
“She is and she’s ours, Bren,” he said quietly. “She’s our daughter, our miracle.”
“Yes,” Brenda whispered.
A strange warmth seemed to weave through the telephone lines to wrap around each of them, drawing them close, so close, in a special and meaningful moment.
Then slowly, but very surely, the soft warmth became pulsing heat that ignited desires and brought forth the sensual memories of the lovemaking they had shared so many, many weeks before.
“Bren, I…” Richard said finally, his voice husky. He stopped speaking and cleared his throat.
Brenda blinked, snapping herself back from the passion-laden place she’d floated to.
“Yes, well, I’d better let you get some sleep,” Richard said. “I’ll call you tomorrow night from Dallas. I’m really sorry that I’m going to be gone so long, Brenda. I wish I was there with you.”
“I wish you were, too,” she said, “but I understand why you can’t be. You’ve always been gone a great deal and always will be, I guess. That’s just the way things are because of your career.”
“I’ve been thinking about that, too, but… Take good care of yourself and Flash. ’Bye, Brenda.”
“Good night, Richard,” she said quietly.
Baby: MacAllister-Made Page 7
