“Jason!” a gnarled crone croaked. “Come here and let me smack you for making me wait to kiss you.”
“Grandma Sybil!”
Jason folded his ancient grandmother in a tender embrace and the moment was over.
“So, sonny, when are you going to get it in gear and get yourself married?’’ Sybil demanded, squinting up at him as she fiddled with her hearing aid.
“Don’t make me wait. I’m not into waiting these days.” Her dry cackle was filled with good humor.
Jason cast a long-suffering glance at Elizabeth as she moved off to make small talk with cousin Brenda, the wearer of the divine gown that she was to have worn.
Elizabeth smiled. Yes, she thought with a sigh as the magic moment that had been hers too briefly, struck midnight, life continued to go on. The baby gave her a healthy kick and once again, she was a single pumpkin.
Finally, the multitude of guests were herded through the line and into the church’s lush, beautifully landscaped wedding garden off the back of the sanctuary. Over a century old, the Spanish-style courtyard was secluded and romantic with its statues and fountains, yet large enough to host a sizable reception. Lavishly appointed tables for the sit-down dinner were scattered about under a number of huge, gauzy white tents, and a mouthwatering buffet was positioned up against a long, stucco wall. An orchestra played sweeping waltz music, encouraging the bride and groom to take to the floor for the traditional first dance.
In a blurry haze, Elizabeth peeped through her handkerchief and watched Savannah whirl across the worn-smooth cobblestone dance floor on the arm of her new husband. When Savannah’s father cut in, Harrison turned to his mother. These two couples were joined by the best man and the matron of honor, and again, Elizabeth found her attention riveted to Jason Colton as he led his attractive partner around the floor.
What would it be like to dance with him? A bit like floating, perhaps. She glanced ruefully down to her tummy. Then again, perhaps not. She needed to find a seat. There was a stitch in her side that had been bothering her all morning.
Suddenly, she was starving and moved into the buffet line. When in doubt, eat. That had become her motto, of late. After filling her plate, she settled at a table and introduced herself to what had to be a dozen Coltons of various shapes and sizes, from seemingly all corners of the earth. Again, she used her married name, to keep from having to dredge up the unfortunate history between the Mansfields and the Coltons, and then skillfully erected her vacant wall to avoid small talk.
She trained her covert gaze on Jason and nibbled at her food and noticed that he seemed to make a point of catching her eye now and again. Probably out of a sense of medical duty, she supposed, but still, it was nice. He was definitely the belle of the ball, if a man could be such a thing. Women were practically lined up to dance with him, fawning and palavering. To Elizabeth he appeared to be the John-John of this giant Colton family. And, though he had his pick of the crop of single, young beauties, he chose to slowly whirl his decrepit Grandma Sybil around the dance floor, causing her cheeks to pinken and her eyes to sparkle.
Elizabeth took a moment to dab her cheeks and blow her nose. Savannah was right. He really and truly was very nice. Once the waltz had ended and Jason had escorted his grandmother back to her seat, he made a beeline toward Elizabeth.
At first, Elizabeth thought he might be heading to the buffet table directly behind her, as he hadn’t had a chance to eat yet. But now, much to her consternation, she realized that he was heading straight for her. But why? Had he remembered that he needed to impart some prenatal advice regarding not overdoing at the wedding buffet? She glanced at her loaded plate. Well, he was too late for that.
Her heart seemed to pause in its pounding to allow her to hear his whispered words as he dipped low and brought his face even with hers.
“Care to dance?”
What? Yes! No, wait!
Dance? Here? Now? In her condition? Flustered, she glanced down at her navy-blue maternity dress and noticed that her napkin had shifted and she’d dripped a bit of salad dressing on her stomach. Figured.
The music started and she knew she had to give him an answer.
No. There was no way she was going to follow the best-looking man at this shindig to center stage and stumble all over his feet. Gathering her courage, she looked up into his liquidy, intoxicatingly beautiful brown eyes and felt herself go all mushy.
“Yes, I’d love to dance,” she heard herself murmur and, taking his hand, rose to her feet and followed him through the endless sea of eyes.
His hands were gentle as he positioned one at what was left of her waist and the other in her own hand. With seeming effortlessness, he guided her around the floor, and suddenly Elizabeth knew why his Grandma Sybil had looked sixty years younger in his arms.
“Do you make it a point of dancing with all the wallflowers?” She smiled up into his attractive face and watched the lines fork at the corners of his eyes.
“No. But I always make it a point to dance with the most interesting women in the group.”
“And I’m interesting?”
“You tell me.”
Oh, she was interesting all right. In an I-don’t-care-to-talk-about-it kind of way. Months of practice made changing the subject easy. “Savannah was right about you, you know.”
“Uh-oh.”
“No uh-oh. She thinks you’re very kindhearted.”
“She hasn’t seen the limo yet.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing much. Just a bit of shoe polish and shaving cream. A few cans, some balloons, streamers.” He shrugged. “Naked blow-up dolls, lipstick prints on the mirrors, fancy underwear on the antenna, you know, the regular.”
She laughed. “Naked blow-up dolls are the regular?”
“It’s payback time for all the times he tortured me when we were kids. Besides, somebody has to drive.”
Again, the mirth bubbled. “I can’t wait to see this.”
“You shouldn’t have to. Won’t be long now. Their plane takes off in two hours so they’re going to have to toss the garter and the bouquet and hightail it outta here.”
As Jason swept her around the floor, Elizabeth laughed the carefree laughter of days gone by. Days filled with hope for the future. Her own wedding seemed like a lifetime ago. Something about Jason made her forget she wasn’t innocent and slim and newly divorced. Something about Jason made her feel alive again.
* * *
The twisting pain in her stomach was killing her. Doubled over at the very top of the long cascade of steps that led from the front of the old church to the street, Elizabeth took a deep breath and cast frantic eyes about for a place to sit. This shouldn’t be happening. It was too early. A scream rose in her throat and lodged there in frozen silence.
Everything seemed to turn to slow motion in Elizabeth’s anguished mind. A cloud stole across the sun, casting a sudden chill over the landscape. The crowd’s cheers and laughter roared in her ears and she felt suddenly light-headed. Disoriented. Panicky. Reaching out, she groped for a hand, hoping that someone might help her find a place to land, but there was no one.
Savannah was standing with Harrison at the church’s enormous entrance doors. Lined up at the bottom of the long flight of concrete steps, single women flocked, eager to catch the bouquet. There was much movement and chaos as the flowers flew through the air and were caught by a squealing girl who did not look old enough to date, let alone marry.
Amid a shower of rice, Savannah and Harrison rushed down the church steps and were swept away in the gaudily decorated limo.
Still standing off on the sidelines, behind the waving crowd, Elizabeth clutched a low stone wall and sank to her knees as another pain bore down on her belly.
She was losing the baby.
On Savannah’s wedding day, no less.
Tears, this time of terror, sprang to her eyes, and she fiddled in her pocket for the lacy handkerchief she’d been given earlier.
> “Elizabeth?”
Jason’s soothing voice seemed to come to her through the fog. Was she dreaming?
“Elizabeth, are you all right?”
“Oh, Jason,” she cried, grasping his hand so tightly, she feared she might pull his thumb from the socket. “The baby. I think I’m losing the baby.”
Chapter 2
Given six months’ pregnant, Elizabeth was surprisingly light. With very little effort, Jason lifted her into his arms and, pushing the heavy mahogany door open with his foot, ignored the curious stares of friends and family. With a professional sense of purpose, he carried her back into the church, through the lobby and into the now eerily silent sanctuary. Her head was tucked against the crook of his neck, her silky brown hair tickling his chin, filling his senses with the scent of spring flowers. Low moans emanated from deep in her throat and he couldn’t be sure if these were from the pain or fear.
Or both.
Taking great care, Jason lowered her to a pew in the back. He kept her gathered against his side as he found her wrist and took her pulse. With the exception of some giggling kids playing tag in the lobby, they were alone. When he spoke, his voice echoed off the high ceiling.
“Where is your husband?” He schooled his voice to reflect a calm confidence that he didn’t really feel. There was something very special about this woman. A vulnerability she tried—without much success— to mask brought out the protective streak in him.
“Greener pastures.”
“Is that a restaurant?”
“No. That’s his new residence.”
“Oh.” Though he remained carefully neutral on the outside, inside the cogs were turning. So, this was why Savannah and Harrison had been teasing her about becoming an in-law. He’d thought it had been idle chitchat designed to get them all acquainted, so he’d played along. But it seemed that she and her baby had been abandoned. His gaze strayed to her bare ring finger and a muscle in his jaw jumped as he swallowed back his anger.
He switched his focus to the second hand on his watch and timed her pulse. Strong. A little fast. He touched her brow with his fingertips and then her cheeks with the back of his hand.
“He didn’t want kids.” Elizabeth lifted a limp hand to her mouth and valiantly fought the tears. “And now it looks like he’s going to get his wish.”
“Not necessarily. Try to relax.”
“I can’t,” she moaned. “I’m terrified that I’m losing the baby.”
“I know.” While his hand was at her face, he tugged a stray strand of hair from her lips. He could tell that she knew as well as he did that having the baby now would present untold complications. “Tell me about the pains.”
“Right here.” She pressed the palm of her hand low against the side of her belly. “And here.”
“Sharp or dull?” He followed her hands with his own, probing, palpating for the baby’s position.
“Sharp. Not like a cramp, really, but more...I don’t know. Like something tore.”
“Here?”
“Yes.”
“Mmm.” He moved his hand to where the she’d indicated pain and prodded again. “Does this hurt?”
“Not really.”
“Mmm.”
“What, mmm?”
“Just mmm. No deeper medical nuances. Do you feel nauseated?”
“No.”
“Mmm. Faint?”
“Not anymore.”
“Are you on any medications?”
“No, just prenatal vitamins.”
“Any spotting or bleeding?”
She blanched and looked to him for reassurance. “I don’t think so.”
“Okay, then. Where is your purse?”
“Uh...” She glanced around. “Out on the front steps, I think.”
“Wait here, and I’ll get it and then pull my car around and we’ll go.”
“Where?”
“To the hospital.”
Alarm filled her eyes, filling her expression with dread. “The hospital? Jason, will my baby be all right?”
He took her slender fingers and twined them with his own. Gathering as much professional demeanor as he could muster, given the personal interest he was taking in her, he nodded and winked. “This is just a precaution. We want to make sure junior stays where he is, for a few more months anyway. Try not to worry. You’ll be in good hands. There is an excellent chance the baby will be fine.”
“Okay.” Elizabeth sagged against his arm and nodded. Light streamed through the stained-glass impression of Jesus in the clouds, high in the apex of the nave behind the altar. Tears welling in her eyes, voice faltering, she whispered, “From your mouth to God’s ears.”
* * *
“What did they say?” Elizabeth pushed herself up on her elbows as Jason came into her hospital room, carrying a chart. She tried not to let her anxiety show, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. They’d been here in the maternity ward at Pros-perino Medical Center for nearly an hour now and Elizabeth had been examined by everyone but the receptionist, it seemed.
The strong, steady beep of the fetal monitor had been the one lulling factor as she lay in bed, waiting for someone to return and tell her what all the tests and consultations indicated.
Jason’s carriage was confident as he moved to her bedside, and from her angle, he was all shoulders and broad chest and safety. He’d taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, and against the white cotton of his dress shirt, good-size biceps strained.
“Dr. Mhan wants you to spend the night.”
“Why?” She clutched the rails at the sides of her bed.
“Precautionary measure. Nothing more.” He tapped her chart and smiled. “Right now he says there are no indications that this is a miscarriage.”
“Oh, thank God!” Elizabeth fell back against her pillows and laughed with dozens of emotions that when combined, equaled blessed relief. “That’s wonderful news.”
Jason’s pleased smile pushed creases into the corners of his eyes, and nudging her knee over, he settled at the edge of the mattress. “This calls for a celebration. How about I order us up a big old bowl of Jell-O?”
“Jell-O?” She could feel her face fall. “I was thinking more along the lines of a burger and fries. And a shake.”
His pleasant laughter rumbled as he reached for her bedside buzzer and called the nurse on duty. “You are feeling better.”
“Relieved. What was the problem, anyway?”
“Well, as near as we can tell, you were simply having a few growing pains. Since this is your first baby, your uterine muscles are tight. You are a small woman and junior seems to be on the big side. He was making some more room for himself in there and was probably a little more aggressive in his remolding than you were ready for.”
“Oh.” Elizabeth propped her elbows on her knees and eyed him, a small smile tugging at her mouth. “Why do you keep referring to the baby as ‘him’?”
“You don’t know the baby’s sex?”
“Sounds like it’s a boy.”
“Do you want to know for sure?”
She sighed. “I guess. Although I was hoping for a girl. Thought it would be easier to raise a girl, without a father, you know.”
She had no idea why she felt so inclined to confide in Jason. Other than it was easier to divulge private matters to a stranger than to an old friend sometimes. Especially a doctor stranger. A doctor stranger with sympathetic eyes the color of honey-soft leather.
He nodded. “Yes, I know. But not having a father can be hard on a girl, too.”
“That’s true. It was on me.”
“I’m sorry.” He folded her hand between his and gazed into her eyes, and Elizabeth knew a peace and comfort that transcended time. She felt as if she’d known him forever. It was strange.
“It’s all right. He died a long time ago when I was very little.”
“Do you remember him?”
“Some. Though most of my memories of him are sparked by pictures and
stories my mother tells, I’m sure.” Elizabeth fiddled with her covers with her free hand. “According to her, he was a paragon of virtue and a pillar of Prosperino society. Unfortunately, after his death, life was a bit of a downhill slide for the rest of us.”
“That’s rough.”
“Mm-hmm. Mom had to take on extra jobs to keep me in the boarding school I attended with Savannah and I remember worrying about her a lot.” Unconsciously, Elizabeth patted her baby. “I don’t want my child to have those kinds of worries.” She looked up at Jason’s sympathetic expression and was compelled to continue. “Anyway, when Mike—an old friend of the family—proposed, Mom was relieved that I’d finally be taken care of and no longer her responsibility. I was never really head over heals for Mike. But mom seemed so happy, you know? So, like a good little girl, I got married.”
“You married him more for her sake, than for yourself.”
“Unfortunately.” She heaved a noisy sigh and flopped back against the pillows. ‘‘But enough about me and my idiotic decisions. I don’t know why I’m blathering on at you this way. Usually I’m much more reserved. Honest.”
The light in his eyes turned playful. “I think your blather is interesting.” Reluctantly, he patted and let go of her hand. “You know,” he said, a slow grin transforming his handsome face, “boys might not be as interesting to dress, but they can be a lot of fun.”
At his winsome expression, Elizabeth felt the laughter bubble up once again. Too bad Mike and she had never had such carefree conversations. Mike was always so uptight and controlling. When he was home.
“So,” she said. “I take it it’s a boy.”
Jason nodded. “The ultrasound indicates that it’s a big, healthy one. Those things have been known to be wrong now and again, but still, I wouldn’t go painting the nursery pink. In any event, he needs to stay put for a while longer.”
“Do you think he will?”
“Chances are good that you won’t be back here for another three months.”
“That’s wonderful.”
“Yep. Now. Is there anyone I can call for you? Let people know where you are and what you might need?”
Brides Of Privilege (v1.3) Page 19
