Baby Times Two

by Marie Ferrarella

  Her hand closed over her key, but she remained where she was. “I wasn’t thinking about the city.”

  Rene was a widower with no children. He enjoyed well-played classical music, well-acted drama and had a secret passion that no one but Gina knew about for Dixieland bands. Some found him stuffy and aloof. Gina had doggedly burrowed beneath the layers and had found a warm, compassionate, slightly lonely man. She meant a great deal to him, more than he admitted out loud, though it was understood between them. He regarded her, as much as he was able, as the daughter he had never had.

  “Did he hurt you?” Rene’s voice had softened measurably.

  It wasn’t something she enjoyed admitting. She certainly would have died before letting Chase know. “Yes.”

  He heard the ache in her voice. Had he been someone else, he would have placed his arm around her. Instead, he touched her elbow. It was enough.

  “Badly?”

  She nodded, hating the lump that rose in her throat. “If I were a piece of bread, I would have been a cinder.”

  Taking her chin in his hand, he elaborately looked her face over, one side at a time. “You are a very healthy-looking cinder.”

  She gave him a small smile. He was trying to minimize this for her. Maybe he was right. Maybe that was the way to go. “On the outside.”

  Rene let his hand drop to his side, and though his expression was stern, his eyes were kind.

  “I don’t profess to be an internist. I do, however, profess to be a student of human nature. Mr. James does not strike me as a man who will ‘settle’ for what he presumes to be second-best.” He cocked his head to one side and modestly added, “Even though in this case he is, of course, wrong.”

  This wasn’t a case of one-upmanship between her and Rene. They had never had that problem. Unlike she and Chase. Gina raised a brow.

  “He’s settling on Chase, isn’t he?” She thought that put the argument to rest.

  Rene laughed softly. It was almost a nonsound. “You will note that the key word here is presume. If I were to relieve your agony and go in your stead, James might take it as an insult. Worse, he might take his business elsewhere.” Rene spread his hands wide. “And while we aren’t destitute by any means—”

  She closed her eyes and sighed, sagging against the car door. “I get the point. You can desist with the guilt trip.”

  Satisfied, he could afford to be forgiving about her cavalier rhetoric. “I do not inflict guilt trips, Gina, I merely state facts.” He peered at her face. She still looked somewhat pale, but that could just be the moonlight. “Will you be all right?”

  “Will you go in my place?” Though she asked, she was already resigned to her fate. She wasn’t actually expecting a reprieve from the governor until after the switch had been pulled.

  He thought they had just settled that. “No.”

  Gina blew out a breath. “Then I’ll have to be, won’t I?”

  Rene leaned down and kissed her forehead. “You’ll be splendid. Never knew you not to be a match for anyone. Except me, of course. Now do try to get a good night’s sleep. James threatened to have his car pick you up for the airport at five a.m., and for all his ‘cowpoke’ mannerisms, I’ll wager next year’s commission that Mr. Nicholas James is not a man who makes idle threats.” He opened his car door. “Stay in touch.”

  “Every day.” He’d probably be her lifeline to sanity if she didn’t miss her guess.

  Rene frowned as he got into the car. “Not that in touch.” He poked his head out of the open car window. “And don’t forget to take your telephone book of our suppliers with you.”

  She was never without it. Gina nodded, attempting to bolster her sagging spirits.

  “It won’t be so bad. I’ll have to fly back to select materials, patterns, furniture—”

  She was running, Rene thought. He didn’t like to see her this way. Whatever still remained between her and her ex-husband was something she was going to have to face head-on to conquer.

  “I’ve heard that they do wonders with faxes and express mail these days. You may have to fly less than you think.”

  She crossed to his car. “Why are you raining on my parade?”

  “Because you haven’t even gotten a permit for the parade route yet.” He studied her face. He’d never seen her this agitated before, even when deadlines were breathing down their necks. She’d given him a few details in passing, but never much of the story. He wondered just how much of a cad this Chase was. The man certainly had looked decent enough. “You might be making a mountain out of a molehill.”

  But Gina knew better. “No, it’s more like I’ve just stubbed my toe on a white pebble and discovered that it’s the tip of an iceberg.”

  Rene shook his head. “You do have an imaginative way of phrasing things, Gina.” He turned the key and his car hummed into life. Carefully, he backed out of her driveway. “See you in a month.”

  “Hopefully sooner.”

  Gina sighed as she watched Rene’s car pull away. For the first time in a long time, she felt very lonely. Abandoned.

  She ran her hand through her hair. Damn it, what was she doing to herself? There was no reason to feel this insecure, this unsteady. Was she just going to toss away four years—all right, almost four years—of working her way through this emotional quagmire and return to square one without so much as a fight? She was over Chase. Completely over him.

  He was the one who had ended the marriage, and if he was expecting her to play the part of the pining, contrite little whimpering wallflower, he was going to be painfully surprised.

  Her mouth curved in anticipation. Yes, she could actually look forward to that. Look forward to showing him just how over him she really was. Maybe this could even be fun.

  She unlocked the door and walked inside her house. She’d spent a lot of time making this into a home for herself. This was her haven. Her retreat. Her pride and joy.

  Gina closed the door behind her and stood in the dark for a long moment, watching as an approaching car cast beams of light over her ceiling. They chased each other before receding into darkness again. Gone. Like love that had never had a chance to flourish.

  Who the hell was she kidding? Fun? A month with Chase? A whole month. That wasn’t going to be fun. That was tantamount to a prison sentence.

  The next moment, Gina slapped the light switch upward, a soldier girding for battle. Lights flooded the area from all four sides.

  She stormed into the living room, kicking off her heels and tossing her purse onto the gray-and-pink love seat that was a part of an intimate conversation cluster. In front of it was a honey-colored coffee table; a nine-foot sofa was parallel to the love seat.

  This was ridiculous. Just what was it that she was afraid of? Of being overwhelmed with memories and tidal waves of passion? That wouldn’t happen as long as she kept her wits about her.

  As long as she remembered what it had been like—not what she had hoped it would be like, but what it had really been like—she would be fine.

  Gina had had a decent enough preview at dinner of what things were like. Chase was the same pigheaded, annoying man that he had turned into toward the end of their relationship.

  She took a deep breath as she continued with her silent pep talk. There was nothing to be afraid of but herself, and as long as she kept a tight rein on her emotions and her rampaging optimism, she was going to be fine.

  Just fine.

  Squaring her shoulders, Gina reminded herself of the job that lay immediately at hand. Packing. It wasn’t going to take care of itself. There were a few knockout outfits she had that she was going to take with her just to show the rat what it was he had stupidly let slip through his fingers.

  With determination, Gina marched off into her bedroom. Maybe, just maybe, to pray.

  It couldn’t hurt.

  Chapter Three

  Once, for whatever reason the fates chose, had been by accident. This time Gina would be facing Chase by design. Not her o
wn design, but by design nonetheless. Forewarned, she was prepared. She was confident.

  She was queasy.

  Her nerves had refused to settle down all night. Each time Gina thought she had herself convinced that the situation she found herself in was going to be all right, her nerves would suddenly erupt like a volcano spewing fresh lava down onto the grass huts of the trusting villagers. Consequently, she’d wound up getting next to no sleep at all.

  She felt like hell.

  Makeup helped erase the telltale signs of sleeplessness, once she’d steadied her hand enough to apply it. She absolutely refused to appear in front of Chase looking like hell warmed over. Aside from the fact that she took professional pride in her appearance, she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of thinking that he was the cause for her insomnia.

  And one look into her eyes would tell him.

  She groped for sunglasses and popped them on top of her head, ready to slide them into place at the flip of a wrist.

  Her bags were packed and by the door. The schedule for the next month was secured and had been faxed to Rene via the office at four this morning.

  She was ready.

  The doorbell rang, and her hand flew up to her stomach as it did a half gainer before lurching. Grow up, Gina. You’re past this, remember?

  Gina laid a hand on the doorknob, then glanced one last time in the smoky-blue beveled glass mirror that hung on the wall beside the door. Every hair was in place, her makeup was perfect. The shadows beneath her eyes were completely camouflaged. She looked ready.

  She’d never be ready.

  “‘Into the valley of Death rode the six hundred,’” Gina muttered as she opened the door.

  A very tall man dressed in light gray livery nodded a greeting at her. “Good morning, Ms. Delmonico. My name is Howard. I’ll be your driver to the airport.”

  He didn’t wait for a response. Giving her another genial smile, the chauffeur picked up Gina’s two suitcases and led the way to the limousine.

  It was a stretch limo, white and gleaming as it sunned itself in her driveway. It made Gina think of the modern equivalent of a white charger.

  All that was needed, she thought, was a knight to go with it. Too bad there wasn’t one around.

  She smiled at her own flight of fancy, one that Chase would have readily made a derogatory comment on had he known. His very practical, very analytical mind had always gotten in the way of her wings, she thought philosophically.

  Gina’s smile spread to Howard as he held the door open for her. The smile faded around the edges, tightening, as she realized that she was Howard’s second pickup of the morning.

  Chase was already inside.

  Dressed in a navy blue suit that would have brought out the color of his eyes had they been open, he was leaning against the creamy white leather seat, looking sleepy and just the slightest bit rumpled. Not his suit, which was impeccable, just him. His hair was mussed and some of it hung endearingly in his face.

  Endearingly? she thought, annoyed at her silent choice. As if she cared!

  A memory pricked at her, nudging an involuntary flow of fondness as she remembered how difficult it had always been to get Chase out of bed in the morning. He’d mumble into his pillow, offering her anything if she would only let him sleep for five more minutes.

  The small sliver of satisfaction that he had had to be roused at such an early hour did little to assuage the massive surge of butterflies taking flight in her stomach, seeing him this way.

  She couldn’t be having feelings like this already. They hadn’t even left her driveway yet, much less started working together.

  Gina fought valiantly to shore up her beaches as she sat down in the limousine. Howard closed the door. The sound was very much like that of a prison door being slammed shut.

  Chase sat up, coming to at the unexpected noise. She folded her hand around her purse, shifting it to her side. “You came.”

  He blinked. Sleepy though he was, he thought that was rather an obvious fact.

  “So did you.” He stifled a yawn. Would it have thrown off some grand design if James had chosen to fly at a reasonable hour instead of now, Chase wondered, before even the birds were awake?

  Gina shrugged. This had to be the worst small talk she’d ever engaged in, but she was desperate. Silence would make her crazy at this point. Talking was better than thinking. “I’m being paid to.”

  Maybe his brain was fogged in, he thought. Where was she going with this?

  “So am I,” he retorted.

  Though he was willing to bet that it wasn’t nearly enough to compensate for what he was about to go through. Getting up in the middle of the night to get ready for this flight was the least of it. He’d had a completely sleepless night. He couldn’t begin to count the number of times he’d drifted off, only to dream of Gina. Gina, laughing. Gina, being seductive. Gina, throwing things. That snapped him awake.

  The process repeated itself. Endlessly. She had haunted him all night.

  So much for thinking he was completely over her. God, but she looked good. She was wearing a red two-piece business suit that, on her, only looked that much more feminine. All his senses were at attention now. And they were nagging him mercilessly, softly reminding him what making love with Gina had been like.

  He reminded himself what living with Gina had been like.

  Undoubtedly alcoholics ran the gamut of similar feelings whenever they passed a liquor store window and saw all those bottles on display.

  For him, Gina was like that bottle.

  And, as with alcohol and alcoholics, they weren’t any good for each other.

  His face was just the slightest bit puffy, Gina noticed, like that of a little boy who had been woken from his nap too soon. Something very maternal tugged at her for just the briefest of moments. “You look awful.”

  He shook his head and then dragged a hand through his hair. “Thanks.”

  She wondered what time he’d gotten to bed. And if it had been his own. “Hard night?”

  He sighed stoically. She wasn’t about to get any confessions out of him on that score. That was all he needed at the outset, for her to know that she still bedeviled him. She’d learn that soon enough.

  “Yeah.”

  Chase, when he fell asleep, slept as if he were dead. That left her with only one conclusion to draw on. “What was her name?”

  He raised his eyes to her face, confused. It took him a second before he realized where she was going with this. “‘She’ didn’t have one. Unlike you, I don’t name inanimate objects.” The woman had even named their Christmas tree, for heaven’s sake. Who the hell named their Christmas tree?

  Gina didn’t rise to the bait, knowing that he was attempting to use diversion. He’d slipped and she went after that. “You were the one who said ‘she.’”

  Oh no, she wasn’t going to draw him into an argument this early. “Only because you did. I was referring to my mattress.”

  Fidgeting, Gina ran her hand along her neck and shifted in the soft seat. This arrangement was going to have to work somehow or else they’d be at each other’s throats by the time they reached the airport, never mind the month they’d be spending at the hotel.

  A fresh start was needed. Gina decided to give it a try. “We’re both adults—”

  He glanced at her, wondering if this was another salvo she was about to fire. Once she got started, there was no stopping her—except for that one time in the bathtub. A smile fought its way to the surface. It was amazing how a little water and suds could squelch an argument and spice up passion.

  But there were no bathtubs here to offer a diversion. “Chronologically speaking.”

  Her full head of steam evaporated, bringing her train to a dead stop on the track to peace. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He would have thought that was self-evident. “Our ages qualify us as adults. Behaviorally speaking, it’s another story.”

  Early-morning southern Orang
e County scenery, peaceful and green, whizzed by her window without Gina’s taking any notice. She narrowed her eyes. Was he trying to say that he had behaved childishly during their marriage?

  “Are you trying to apologize to me?” She could think of a hundred things offhand that he had to apologize for.

  Chase straightened in his seat. Now what did she think he’d done? “For what?”

  Gina frowned. He was as thickheaded as ever. He never knew when he gave offense, but that didn’t make the offense any less in magnitude, or excuse him, either. “If you don’t know, I won’t tell you.”

  “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” That was the line she had uttered in almost every one of her arguments. Most of the time he hadn’t a clue why she was angry. Gina hadn’t wanted a husband. She had wanted a clairvoyant.

  The small partition that separated the driver from the rear of the car slid seamlessly open.

  “Everything all right back there?” Howard asked.

  Obviously the man was monitoring them. Gina flushed. “Everything’s fine.” Leaning forward, she slid the glass back into place, then slanted Chase a look. “For the beginning of another war.”

  Maybe they had been going at it a little heavily. Chase raised his hands in surrender. “I won’t start if you don’t.”

  Too late. “You already did,” she pointed out.

  Okay, maybe he had at that. He wasn’t his best in the morning. He’d spot her one point.

  With a sigh, Chase decided to really try this time. “We need a cease-fire. My job is important to me.”

  As if that was news, she thought. “It always was.” And it had always come ahead of her.

  He bit his tongue to keep back a retort. “And,” he continued, “I assume that yours is to you.” His voice was only mildly strained. Chase congratulated himself on it.

  He had always found a way to denigrate what she was doing. He had thought interior decorating was “fluff.” Finances, of course, were heavy-duty stuff.