He loved his job, and he made a lot of money at it because he really did have their best interests at heart. And the sweetest part of the deal was everyone benefited. He was darn close to whistling a happy tune as he led them through one fine room after another.
The home was even nicer than he’d realized on first inspection. It had good bones, was solidly built, had wide hallways and a roomy, open feel. If these people didn’t snap it up, he might raise the cost another ten grand.
Now that would make Cindy happy and be an interesting dinner conversation. He hoped she wouldn’t forget his Singapore noodles. He was particularly fond of them—especially the next day for a lunch on the run. Not that he’d be staying over or taking them home, but Regan loved them too. Damn, he wished he’d come home.
The man was staring at him and Brad cleared his head.
“I’m sorry, Kevin, I didn’t catch your last question.”
“I asked about the taxes. It’s a good size lot and I’m sure in this school district the taxes are pretty high.”
“Not as bad as you might think. It’s under ten thousand, which is pretty low considering,” he told the couple. By the way they were whispering and the wife’s sparkling eyes, he could see they were excited about the place.
He might have to ratchet it down a notch or Cindy would be tossing those noodles right in his face.
“Mrs. Harris is a local school teacher and as I stated, she lost her husband in a car accident last year. I think she’s feeling a little overwhelmed right now, with the holidays approaching, and money concerns which require her selling her beautiful home.” He gave a sad shake of his head. “She’s adamant about not moving too fast on this. Would like to close by the spring, so she can find something suitable and not feel pressured to leave in a rush.”
“That’s fine,” the wife said. “We’ve decided to wait until after I give birth. It would be too difficult to manage right now.” She put her hand on her husband’s arm. “This must be very hard on her. I can’t imagine losing Kevin.”
“Neither can I,” Kevin replied with a wry grin. “We still have a few months before we’ll be ready and plenty of other homes to see.”
“That’s good then,” Brad said, feeling unexpected relief. He didn’t want to screw things up with Cindy, whatever those things were. A mad attraction going absolutely nowhere, that’s all it was.
Kevin gave his wife a gentle hug, and kissed her forehead. “This is our first home purchase, and we intend to live in it for a great many years.”
“That’s good. I have plenty of listings that might appeal to you. We could arrange a day when I could take you to see three or four.”
“We’ll do it. It’ll have to be a weekend, since we both work.” Kevin put a hand on his wife’s back. “Nikki and I will just run up and see the bedrooms.”
“I should come with you,” Brad said smoothly. Not that he didn’t trust people, but some people just couldn’t be trusted. And it was his responsibility to keep the house safe while strangers walked through.
“No need. We’ll only be a minute, and we have a few things to discuss.”
Brad watched them go up the stairs, and he sat down to wait.
A minute later he heard a crash and a scream. He flew up the stairs. The wife stood there staring at a puddle on the bathroom floor. “I had to use the toilet,” she whispered. “I think my water broke.”
“Oh, crap!” Brad jumped into motion. “Kevin, call 911. I’ll grab some towels.”
Kevin seemed to come out of his trance, and he made the call, then wrapped a towel around his wife and sat her down. “Ambulance will be here any minute. Relax, honey. Everything will be all right.”
“But the baby…” tears ran down her cheeks.
“Nikki…sweetheart. The baby will be fine. Don’t worry.” He looked up from the floor where he sat with his wife. “Will you wait outside? Tell them we’re here.”
Brad nodded, and took off down the stairs. At least it gave him something positive to do. He just made it to the sidewalk when an ambulance rounded the corner, siren on. He waved them over, told the medics what happened, and watched as the couple were led into the ambulance.
With a sick feeling in his stomach, he returned inside and began the clean-up job. He was on his hands and knees mopping up when he heard a voice behind him.
“I saw the ambulance,” Cindy said, sounding out of breath. “What happened?”
CHAPTER TEN
“Tyler, wait downstairs for a moment, please. I need to have a word with Brad.”
“All right, Mom. Is he okay?”
Cindy watched Brad mopping up the floor and noticed the strain on his face and the beads of sweat dotting his forehead and upper lip. He looked shaky, and like he might puke. Something had gone horribly wrong.
“Everything’s fine,” she assured her son, keeping her voice normal. “I’ll just be a sec.”
She touched Brad’s shoulder and knelt down beside him. “What in the world is going on? Was that the prospective buyers who left in the ambulance? Their car is still outside.”
At his nod, she grew even more worried. “Will I be sued? Did someone trip going up the stairs, or slip on the bathroom floor? Is this blood?” She put a hand to her throat, her mind creating and rejecting scenarios. “Is the person okay?”
He dropped the towel on the floor, and turned to her. “The wife, Nikki, is pregnant and her water broke. She has a couple of months left to go.”
“Oh, no!” Cindy put a hand to her mouth “She won’t lose the baby, I hope?”
“That’s why we called an ambulance. I didn’t want them driving themselves to the hospital, or taking any chances. They seem like a real nice couple.”
“Brad. I’m so sorry. I see how concerned you are, and that you’re a nice person too. I shouldn’t have been such a bitch about leaving.”
“You weren’t. Well, maybe just a little, but I was pushing you pretty hard. Sorry about that—usually I have more finesse.”
She gave him a long look. In the past hour they’d both been through a lot. She felt a connection with him that hadn’t been there before.
“It’s okay. I understand why you wanted me gone, and I over-reacted. It’s just the stress of selling the house.” She took the towel off the floor, and tossed it in a laundry bin. “I’ll wash the floor later. Come downstairs with me, and we’ll eat.”
“Not sure that I could right now.” He grimaced. “I saw blood mixed with the water. God, I hope she doesn’t lose this baby.”
“Me, too.” Without knowing why, she touched his face. “You look terrible. Why don’t you wash up, and I’ll pour you a good strong drink. What do you like? Scotch? Vodka? Wine?”
“Whatever you’re having.” He glanced at his reflection in the mirror. “I’ll be all right in a minute. It’s the first time I’ve seen a woman in labor.”
“That wasn’t labor,” Cindy told him. “Her water breaking is startling, but it gets much worse.”
“I can’t understand why women have so many children when they have to go through so much.” He ran a hand over his face. “You women are tough.”
She grinned. “Yup. We are. And as far as giving birth, if we don’t, who will? Someone has to populate this earth.”
“Lucky for us men, we get the fun part.”
Her eyes met his, and she felt her cheeks flame. That sexual attraction she’d been feeling around him went a little haywire. Her nerve ends tingled. Her pulse rate tripled. An electric current buzzed between them.
“Uh. I bought a pizza instead of Chinese. Hope you don’t mind?”
“I don’t care.” He continued to stare at her. “Whatever you want is fine by me.”
She licked her lips. Did he know what he was saying? Whatever she wanted…what if it was him?
“I’ll pop it in the oven,” she said, backing up, her eyes still on his face. “Take your time.” Then she turned and raced down the stairs. When she glanced back up, he was standing
in the doorway of the hall, watching her with a puzzled expression. He scratched his head, then stuck his hands in his pockets.
So he couldn’t make sense of it either. Well, good. Because this crazy attraction had to stop. It wasn’t going anywhere, and would only strain their business relationship. She didn’t want that. He didn’t want that—if the expression on his face just now was anything to go by.
“Tyler? Can you help me set the table?”
“Sure, Mom.” He got up from where he was playing with his Lego set, and came into the kitchen.
“Are you hungry?” she asked. “I want to warm up the pizza a little in the oven. Can you wait?”
“Do I have to?” he asked and rubbed his tummy. “I’m starving.”
“Can’t have you starving, can we?” She cut him a slice and put it on a paper plate. “Want to eat at the kitchen table, or here on the stool?”
“Stool.”
She helped him up, and he sat at the kitchen counter where he could watch her as she worked. She popped the pizza in the oven, and uncorked a bottle of red, pouring it in two balloon shaped glasses.
She heard Brad’s footsteps as he came down the stairs.
“Something smells awfully good,” he said, pointing to Tyler’s plate. “You gonna eat all that?”
“I sure am. Not the crust though. You like crust?”
“Yup. It’s man eating stuff.”
“So, I have to eat it if I want to grow up and be a big man?”
Brad looked at Cindy, and she was careful to hide her smile. He raised a brow. “Not sure how I should answer that one.”
“Don’t.” She laughed, and handed him his wine. “Cheers,” she said and touched his goblet with her own. Awareness added a layer of heat in the kitchen.
They both took a sip, and she turned away. She grabbed two large plates from the shelves above the counter. “Ty, stay right there on the stool while Brad and I discuss a few things on the couch. Tell me when you want down, okay?” She turned on the small TV set under the kitchen counter, and put SpongeBob on for him to watch.
“Okay, Mom.” He stuffed a big bite in his mouth, and watched them both.
She led Brad to the family room just off the kitchen, where she had full view of Tyler. Their knees brushed as they sat next to each other. “So. What else happened after I left? Did they like the house?”
“Very much. And they aren’t in a hurry to buy. Nikki wants to have the baby before they move, and Kevin wants to see several more homes before making a decision. This is their first home, and of course, a huge investment. They might not need a house now,” he said quietly, staring at his glass of wine.
She touched his hand, moved by him as well as the unlucky couple. “Will you call them later tonight?”
“I was thinking I’d wait a few hours. I hate to disturb them if things go bad.” He held his wine glass between both hands.
“It’s a tricky decision—to call or not to call.”
“Tricky or not, I’ve got to do the right thing.” He sipped his wine. “You’re a mother. What’s the usual sequence of events? The water breaks. Then what?”
“Normally labor follows. But not always. Sometimes it can take a few days. In this situation, due to the fact she’s so early, they’ll likely keep her in the hospital or on bed rest, even if she’s not in labor. Especially with her first baby.”
“That sounds positive,” he answered. “Hopefully, they’ll be able to postpone the delivery a few more weeks until the baby has a fighting chance. Right?”
When his eyes met hers, she saw the worry and hastened to reassure him. “It’s amazing what they can do now. I think mother and baby have an excellent chance of a healthy delivery.”
“They love each other a lot. I hope everything works out for them.”
His empathy was the real deal, and it moved her. She stood up before she did something stupid like lean over and kiss him.
Setting her wine on the coffee table, she said, “I owe you some money. The pizza was under twenty dollars and you gave me fifty. I bought stuff to make Christmas cookies for my second grade class with the extra cash. I may have to write you a check.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I kicked you out of your own house. You can spend it anyway you feel fit.”
“I shouldn’t have touched your money, but you ticked me off.” The entire trip through the grocery store, she’d rehearsed exactly what she planned to say once she got back. Which all went out the window when she got home and saw the ambulance, and then the concern in his big, brown eyes.
“I know I did, and I’m sorry. As things turned out, I wished you’d stayed.”
Tyler looked over at the two of them. “I’m still hungry. Can I have another piece?”
“Sure you can,” Cindy answered, walking over to the kitchen area to take the warmed pizza out of the oven. “But be careful. It’s hot.”
After they all finished eating, and the plates were put away, Brad made his excuses to leave. He promised to call her once he knew anything.
She walked him to the door, wishing for some unknown reason that he could prolong his stay. She still had so much to do—the upstairs floor to wash, Tyler to bathe and put to bed, prep work for her classes tomorrow, and presents to wrap when she found either the energy or the time.
But none of that had as much appeal as sitting with Brad, sharing another glass of wine, and getting to know him better. She’d seen a side of him tonight that had stirred her emotions. He was kind and sensitive, and she loved that in a man.
She was also starved for a little male attention, which was perfectly natural after being alone for nearly a year and a half. But dangerous too. She didn’t want to jump into anything and have Tyler disappointed if things didn’t work out. So what was she to do?
Keeping her distance would be the smartest and safest way to handle this. Because she knew that Brad was affected too. His eyes didn’t lie. And his glances made her so hot they must have short circuited her wiring—dimming her brain, and jump-starting her libido.
“Thanks for letting me stay for dinner,” he said, giving her a weak smile. “My brother was staying with me, but the night after the Santa Claus fiasco we argued. He left and hasn’t called me since. I’ve been trying to track him down and haven’t had any luck. Been at loose ends ever since.”
“Hopefully he’ll contact you soon. As for dinner—anytime,” she said, then put a hand over her mouth. “I didn’t mean it like that. Sounded like I was flirting, which I certainly was not.” She blushed. “I enjoyed having adult conversation, that’s all.”
“The situation was not very enjoyable, but I liked being with you too.” He reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. “Next time we have dinner together, we can talk about something more pleasant. I’d like that.”
Her eyes met his and if she was sending mixed messages, she didn’t care. Did she always have to do the right thing—be a good mother, a good wife, a good widow? Couldn’t she just for one minute do something good for herself?
“So would I,” she answered, brushing off the guilt.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Brad couldn’t get Kevin on the phone so he decided to stop at the hospital and see how things were progressing. He also wanted to take care of the car situation, knowing Kevin would need it to drive home.
He gave the name of the patient to the attendant behind the desk, was issued a pass and told to go to the maternity floor. He dialed Kevin’s cell phone number and this time he picked up.
“Brad here. I’m outside the ward, in the waiting area,” he told him. “Wanted to see how Nikki’s doing, and what you’d like to do about the car.”
“I’ll be right out.” A few minutes later Kevin walked in, and gave him a big hug.
“The doctor just gave us some good news. They want to keep Nikki in the hospital for a few days to monitor the situation. She’ll be on complete bed until the baby is born. But he seemed pretty confident that both mom and the baby will be fine.” Te
ars filled his eyes and his voice shook. “God. I was so terrified that I might lose them both. Calling the ambulance was a smart move. How can I thank you?”
Brad slapped him affectionately on the shoulder. “No need for thanks. I’m happy for you. I was worried too.” He smiled. “Thought you might need help with the car. Want to drive back with me and pick it up, or I can swing by tomorrow morning if you’re staying the night?”
“I’m not ready to leave yet.” He ran a hand through his hair, and Brad saw the lingering fear on his face. “Don’t worry about the car. I’ll grab a cab back to the house when I’m ready to deal with it. Thanks for stopping by.”
“Anything else I can do for you while I’m here? Buy you a coffee and a sandwich from the cafeteria?”
“I couldn’t eat right now.”
Kevin’s broad shoulders shook, and Brad realized the big strong act was wearing thin. “I’ll go then. Give Nikki my very best.”
“I’ll do that. Thanks again.”
Brad had a little more spring in his step as he retraced the path to his car. His heart felt lighter too. Thank God for modern science, and great hospitals and doctors. With any luck on their side, they’d have a healthy baby sooner rather than later. Which also meant they might want a home sooner than later.
He was pretty damned sure that they wouldn’t want to step into Cindy’s home again. So, he would find them another, and Cindy wouldn’t have to worry about losing her precious space anytime soon.
During the drive back to this apartment, he battled with himself as to why he didn’t simply take Cindy’s home off the market until after the holidays. It was only three weeks. They could list the place first of the year, and she wouldn’t have to worry about people traipsing in and out during the busy season.
It was the right thing to do. For Cindy and Tyler. But it was the wrong thing to do for him.
A CHRISTMAS COLLECTION Page 41
