Reminding herself that Frank was still grieving, she put a metaphorical sock in it. Time to pull up her big-girl pants. Despite the fact that his grief seemed a solid wedge between them, the way they were drifting further and further apart might be her fault. She had to be more patient with Frank. More compassionate. Caring. Her therapist told her that men dealt with grief differently. They needed to fix it. Put things back in order. And having that goal gave them a way to handle the overwhelming pain. Unfortunately, Frank’s single-minded goal since discovering that Sandy had lied to them about Grace’s father had been to punish the man who’d actually fathered their granddaughter. As if it was his fault. Irene figured that was easier than having to face the fact that Sandy had let them both down one last time.
* * *
THE DRIVE TO Fortune took longer than she had anticipated—it was an hour or more before they pulled into the bedroom community. Considering all the wealth and privilege gathered in Silicon Valley, she figured Frank had booked them the kind of hotel where she’d be almost regretful to go back home.
But Frank pulled into the Budget Inn, a place that looked like a home to the traveling businessman. “Here we are.”
“This is it?” Not her idea of an inn. She tried to keep the dismay out of her tone. The least Frank could do was find a decent place for them to stay in this beautiful town.
“You said you wanted to stay in an inn, and this one was a good deal. Don’t worry, everything here must be nice.” He patted her hand. “Besides, we have to save our pennies if we’re going to move here. You’ve seen the price of real estate.”
“Don’t start with that again. We can’t afford to live here.”
“You never know.” Frank popped the trunk latch. “But the main idea is for Levi to think we’re moving here. That will rattle him good.”
Frank didn’t seem to see that his logic was circular and didn’t make much sense to someone not deep into the mind of Frank Lane.
Later, after they’d checked in and hauled up all their luggage, and Frank was situated in front of the TV, losing himself in another action thriller, Irene stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. At sixty-two years of age the laugh lines around her mouth and the crow’s-feet were deeper. Proof that she’d lived a busy and happy life. Two marriages, four children. One between them, two of her own and Sandy, her stepdaughter.
She’d taken pains to take care of herself over the years by meticulously watching her diet and exercising. Yoga was her saving grace these days, not only building her muscles, but also soothing her grief and pain and giving her a simple peace.
She couldn’t change the past. But she wasn’t done living. She still craved Frank’s attention and affection. Loved him even if he wasn’t lovable these days. When she met with Levi and Grace at the local park, her love and allegiance to Frank would cause her to do everything in her power to heal this situation. Levi, who seemed a reasonable—if rather cold—man, would listen to her words. And Frank would be overjoyed that she’d taken this step for him and see how much she loved him. Understand he still had so much to live for.
With that in mind, Irene dressed in a classy black one-piece swimsuit. It emphasized the fact that she’d been gifted with good genes and maintained an impressive yoga regimen. She walked out of the bathroom and stood by the TV screen in the muted light. Arnold Schwarzenegger had just indicated that he’d be back.
“I saw that there’s a hot tub downstairs. That will be so good for your aching back and tired muscles. Want to join me?” She gave him a wink and a wiggle.
He barely looked at her. “Nah, I just need to rest my back by being horizontal.”
And don’t forget sleeping all day.
“Well...that works for me, too, you know.” Funny, they used to spend much of their time horizontal and together.
He seemed to ignore that. “Have fun.”
Apparently the cheerful and optimistic message of The Terminator was more appealing to Frank than his own wife.
* * *
ON THURSDAY MORNING, Carly checked email on her laptop. She’d fallen into a pattern of getting up earlier and taking care of most of her work before Levi and Grace arrived. She filtered through all the emails from readers—more and more each day—and found a message from one of her old classmates at the Fashion Institute, Jenny Martinez, asking for a good time to call. The message was short and sweet.
I’ve been following your career at RockYourBaby, and I’m interested in what you’re doing. Let’s catch up. Send me some good times to call you.
Carly wondered if the Cutting Edge, a design company always at the forefront of all new fashion and product trends, might possibly be interested in a baby blog. But her career at RockYourBaby? More than likely, Jenny had heard about the viral post, because she was a lot of things, and one of them was a social media guru. Jenny had been on the fast track at the FIT, so it didn’t surprise Carly that she was emailing from the headquarters of the Cutting Edge in New York City. It had been three years now since those in her class would have graduated and gone on to internships and jobs. Three years since Carly had come home. And she couldn’t blame it all on Alec. The pressure, all the competition, had gotten to her, but her thing with Alec hadn’t helped.
Smart and gorgeous Alec Higgins, who thought she was beautiful and unique. Who told her that dyslexia would never stop her from achieving her dreams. He’d been the first teacher to believe in her. The first person other than family and friends to give her encouragement.
Carly rubbed her lucky ring and wrote back with her cell phone number and good times to reach her. She spell-checked three times before hitting Send.
Imagine that. She’d been working at this for months, but one little viral blog post and suddenly she’d arrived. If Jenny had been following RockYourBaby and was interested in what Carly had been doing, maybe there was a way she could pitch the website to Jenny. The Cutting Edge had the kind of powerful presence that would keep RockYourBaby relevant, continuing to help and inspire new mothers everywhere, as Mom would have wanted. Dad could have money for his PT. Carly could move on, back to New York City. Win-win-win.
If the Cutting Edge was interested.
But if they were, this could be all she needed to sell RockYourBaby. Even a small amount of interest from the Cutting Edge, announced in a thinly veiled press release, might mean other companies would sit up and take notice. Nothing could go wrong now. They were so close she could taste her looming freedom.
Later, Carly fed Grace lunch. Peas, which Grace chewed, spit out, then found were much more fun to throw at Carly. After cleaning up the mess, Carly decided that stay-at-home mothers deserved gold medals. Maybe she’d write a blog post about that. “Ode to the Unsung Heroes.” She bathed Grace close to the time Levi would pick her up so she’d be exceptionally clean for the meeting with her grandmother. Dressed her in a pair of cute blue baby leggings and a matching top she’d sewn one night when she couldn’t sleep. This cute outfit should impress the grandmother if nothing else. If only all fashion could be as simple as sewing cute baby clothes. With her own clothes and style, Carly knew what she liked, but it was hard to re-create it in a new and unique way.
For once, Levi was late to pick up Grace. If there was one thing you could say about Levi Lambert, it was that he was always on time unless he was early. She texted him.
She’s ready to go. Are you on your way?
No response, but there wouldn’t be one if he was in a plane. Of course, he shouldn’t be in a plane. He should be on his way home now so he could get to the meeting at the park on time. Unless his flight was delayed and he had no control over it. She thought of dialing the airport but didn’t want to overreact. Zoey and Jill were forever telling her that she got too emotional too fast. Time to stop that.
Levi would get here any minute. Sure he would.
And a
few minutes later, Levi was officially late. This had never happened in the nearly two weeks since she’d known him. A text message buzzed.
Just landed. Flight delayed. On my way. Meet me at the park?
She texted that of course she would. Carly changed from her casual leggings and top and searched for the most conservative outfit she could find in her closet. She settled on a black peplum skirt and high-necked sheer blue blouse and was out the door with Grace within minutes.
Carly pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later. The park was mostly deserted other than a middle-aged woman sitting at a picnic table a few feet away. She had shoulder-length dark hair, carried a cute Coach bag—looked like a knockoff from here—and wore beige slacks and a scoop-neck T-shirt. It was possible she wasn’t Grace’s grandmother, because she looked young to be a grandmother.
Sitting in her car, Carly tried to relax, knowing she was on borrowed time with Grace. The baby had been lulled to sleep by the car ride, but as soon as she caught wind of the fact that she was no longer moving, she’d start fussing. The fussing would become crying, and then she might not look as adorable as she had a few minutes ago.
Grace fussed. Carly leaned back to check, and yes, she was now officially awake.
Grace’s grandmother scanned the park twice and glanced at her watch.
“Executive decision time.” Carly hopped out of her car and went to get Grace out of her car seat.
She hadn’t started crying yet and stopped completely when Carly pulled her out of the car and she got a look at a tree. Possibly one of her favorite things in the world. Grace cooed and held her little arms out as if she had a prayer of reaching the limbs. Then she turned her head in the direction of children kicking a ball nearby.
“You’re about to see Grandma, little one.”
Carly would just calmly explain that Levi had sent her over because of a flight delay. She had plenty to talk about. As the nanny, she could tell her exactly how healthy Grace seemed to be. Mom’s baby bible implied Grace had hit every one of those so-called baby milestones on time or early. Carly would talk about what a great dad Levi was. She’d explain he just couldn’t be without his little girl.
It would be okay.
Carrying Grace in her arms, Carly approached the woman, who smiled when she saw Grace.
“It’s you,” the woman said.
But something about the way her gaze stayed on Carly while talking to Grace was a little strange. “Hi, I’m Carly, the na—”
“Yes, I know exactly who you are!” She was staring from Grace to Carly with wide eyes.
Carly had no idea why she looked so thrilled and surprised, but she wasn’t going to argue. She smiled. “Do I know you?”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” She stood. “I’m Irene Lane. Sandy’s stepmother. Grace’s grandmother.”
“I know.”
She covered her mouth with one hand, then lowered it. She shook both hands, fanning herself. “Forgive me. I’m just so surprised to see you here, with my granddaughter.”
And she’d been worried that the grandmother might be judgmental! She seemed like a perfectly delightful woman. “Well, it’s no problem.”
“I’m a huge fan of RockYourBaby. So are my daughters, and Sandy was, too. When she signed up for her baby shower, she chose every one of the brands you recommended.”
That certainly explained how Levi had all the brands.
“We loved your mother so much. I was very sorry to hear about her passing.”
“Thank you.”
“Honestly, I thought that was Grace in the photos on the website, but I kept telling myself I had to be wrong. But it is her, isn’t it?”
Carly swallowed hard. This felt suddenly so awkward. She hadn’t expected to meet a fan today. “Um...”
“She’s a beauty, isn’t she? So much like her mother.”
Actually, Carly thought Grace favored Levi, but she kept her mouth shut, simply nodding.
“Can I hold her?” Irene moved closer.
Carly handed Grace over, who took her attention away from the children playing and the trees long enough to glance at her grandmother with muted interest. She wasn’t green, after all. But Irene didn’t seem to mind the lack of recognition as she cuddled Grace close. She squirmed and tried to turn back to the children.
“She loves being outside,” Carly said, trying to explain.
“You must be so busy with all that you do for mothers and their babies. How did you meet Levi and Grace?”
“He’s my neighbor. And Levi wanted me to tell you that he is running late because his flight was delayed.”
Irene shook her head, clucking over Grace. “A pilot. I can’t imagine a much more dangerous profession. But look who I’m talking to. You believe in putting babies first. Always.”
“Yes, over at RockYourBaby, we definitely do.”
Why did she sound like a commercial?
“Levi will be here any minute now.” Carly glanced at the parking lot. Still no Levi.
Irene sat on the bench and, as Carly had suspected she would, began to inspect Grace from head to toe. She seemed satisfied and looked up to Carly. “I didn’t know what to think about Levi. I had hoped that he’d be a good father, but this is unacceptable. Not that it’s your fault, mind you. But his letting you use her as a model for your website. A baby shouldn’t have a job.”
“Oh, no! You’ve misunderstood.”
I’m the nanny, and I take photos of her for my website because I can’t afford a model. Also, she’s my guinea...research baby. None of it sounded right. She didn’t want one of her mom’s fans to know that it had come to this—Carly working as a nanny.
I can’t afford for anything to go wrong. Not now. We’re so close.
She didn’t want Irene to know that RockYourBaby hung by the thinnest of threads. Irene stared at her expectantly.
“See, Levi and I...”
What to do? What to say?
“We, um...” Carly stared at her fingernails.
I’ve been following your career.
Irene was waiting. “You what?”
I’m really interested in what you’re doing.
“We’re...together.” Oh, boy. She rubbed her ring. Open mouth, tell a lie. It had become like breathing. “So that’s why I post photos of her on the blog. I...obviously spend a lot of time with her.”
Irene stared at Carly’s ring and gave such a huge smile she looked happy enough to levitate. Carly sucked in a breath. Oh, god. No. She rubbed the ring harder, like maybe it could stop this from happening.
“You and Levi are engaged? Oh my goodness! This is incredible news. And I thought my little granddaughter was being raised by a playboy pilot. Sandy never talked about him to us, you know. I kind of think he was a—” she lowered her voice to a whisper “—one-night stand.”
Carly didn’t speak, since she’d done enough damage the last time she opened her mouth. But Irene seemed so pleased with the misunderstanding that suddenly Carly began to think maybe this wasn’t such a horrible idea. She’d just take what she had and use it. To help Levi and Grace, too. And really, was there any harm in it? Irene would go back home and never be the wiser.
A little white lie that made them all look good.
But Levi, on the other hand... Most men would probably want to be given a heads-up on their impending marriage. Fake or otherwise. Just a guess.
Irene bounced a standing Grace on her lap. “I can’t tell you what a relief this is. I won’t worry anymore, knowing you’re going to be her stepmother. You’re Pearl Gilmore’s daughter. The baby whisperer. Oh, baby girl, it’s going to be all right. I couldn’t have picked anyone better myself. Wait until I tell my husband. He keeps saying we have to move here.”
“M-move here?” This could put a bit
of a crimp in her plan. “Why?”
“He thinks if we’re closer, then we can better know whether Levi is raising her properly. Maybe even get some visitation rights. That’s what this visit is about. But we have other children and grandchildren, and I hate to be so far away.”
“Oh, well, you can just rest assured that I will take good care of Grace. No worries there. You can go back home and know all is well.”
Please. Please go back home. Now would be good.
“It’s far too expensive to live here.” Irene shook her head.
“Yes, yes. Last week someone sold a shack in Palo Alto for a million dollars.” Okay, another lie. But hey, it wasn’t far from the truth.
Irene’s lip curled in disgust.
Just then Levi’s green truck pulled into the parking lot. He climbed out and rushed toward them, a man on a mission. A man about to find out he’d become engaged in the past five minutes.
The question remained: Would he kill her now, or wait until he got home?
CHAPTER NINE
IT HAD BEEN a long time since Levi had been fifteen minutes late to anything, and he couldn’t even remember a time when it had mattered this much. Certainly not as much as it did today.
His morning began with two flight lessons, one with a sixtysomething-year-old former AF man who’d never been a pilot but still thought he could tell Levi how he should fly a plane. Then he’d had three flight hops, two of them delayed because his passengers weren’t ready. Chartered flights didn’t run on a tight schedule because the customers with deep pockets paid for the delays. He wanted to talk to Stone about better scheduling—higher fees for this kind of shit, or some way to discourage it from happening.
Now this, to top off his craptastic day.
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