Happy Birthday: A Novel

by Danielle Steel

  They stood for the national anthem, performed by Stevie Wonder, and two minutes later the game was off and running. There was a wild cheer from the crowd when one of the star quarterbacks made a touchdown in the first ten minutes. Janice explained the plays to Valerie, and she had no trouble understanding what was going on. The other team scored a touchdown in the second quarter. The score was even at halftime, and a blimp hung over the stadium with cameras shooting the scene and the huge halftime extravaganza, complete with dancers and sparking rockets, several acts from Cirque du Soleil, and a brief performance by Prince.

  Valerie watched Jack do an interview with Joe Montana and Jerry Rice after her own interview during halftime, and then the game was back on. The action was fast and furious, and the score kept bouncing back and forth between the two teams. The crowd was going wild. There were shouts of agony or glee even from the VIP box and Jack was busy commentating for the crowd at home, as Valerie watched him on the screen as often as possible, without missing the action on the field. And finally a field goal won it, as the favored team came in with the expected victory Jack had predicted to her that morning. But it had been close. There were tears of joy on the field, and probably many of disappointment too. And Valerie was smiling as she turned to watch Jack wrap up. He was waiting for some of the players to come and talk to him, and he was killing time till then by commenting on details and surprises of the game. Valerie was one of the last to leave the VIP box as she watched him on the screen.

  She rode back to her hotel, after saying goodbye to the people she had met in the VIP box, and thanked Bob Lattimer for the trip and his wife for all her explanations, and wished her well with her daughter’s wedding in June. As far as Valerie was concerned, it had been a fantastic night. She got back to the hotel at nine-thirty, and flipped on the TV to watch Jack do the last of his interviews. He finally went off the air at ten, and half an hour later he was back in her suite. He was still on a high from the game as he walked into her room. He looked happy but beat. She congratulated him on his accurate prediction, and said he had done a great job commentating the game. And as always, he looked terrific on air.

  He helped himself to a beer and sat down, talking about the game with her, and twenty minutes later he called the bellman to get their bags. He hadn’t stopped for three days. And she noticed that he was limping slightly again. He had worked nonstop since they arrived, and she had enormous respect for what he did. She had had no idea how demanding it was, just as he hadn’t understood that about her career before they met.

  They were still talking about the game and the players in the limousine. At eleven-thirty they were at the airport, and the plane was waiting for them. It was going to come back to Miami the next day for Bob and Janice, but Jack wanted to get back. He was exhausted, and Valerie had to go to work.

  They walked up the stairs to the plane, and Jack didn’t begin to unwind until he sat down. The flight attendant had sandwiches waiting for them, and a bottle of chilled champagne. She poured them each a glass, and Valerie toasted him with a warm smile.

  “To the real hero of the Super Bowl! You did a terrific job!” He was touched by her praise, and pleased with how the broadcast had gone too, and he was happy to hear that she thought his interviews were good. He always put a lot of thought into them and had been well prepared, and she said it showed. She was truly impressed by how hard he worked, and how conscientious he was about his broadcasts. For Valerie, the weekend had been perfect from beginning to end.

  The plane took off ten minutes after they’d gotten on board, and Valerie remarked how much easier it was than commercial travel. Jack looked over at her, smiled, and took her hand in his own.

  “Thank you for being so wonderful all weekend.” She had been lively, enthusiastic, interested in everything, great to be with, loving, supportive, everything he could have wanted.

  “Sorry I didn’t manage to come up with a rhinestone bra. Next year,” she promised, and he laughed.

  “You get my vote for MVP,” he said, and then leaned over and kissed her, as passionately as he had that morning and the night before. They seemed to be growing closer every day. They had been seeing each other as friends for a month, since the terrorist attack. And they’d spent a lot of time together, and were coming to know each other well. And they had fun together.

  They talked for a few more minutes, and then he fell asleep until they landed. They touched down in New York at three in the morning, after taking off at midnight from Miami. There was a limousine waiting next to the runway to take them home. And an hour later, they got to her apartment, and he was about to drop her off, and then said he’d go upstairs with her, and make sure she got in safely. She laughed at the additional attention. She was in no danger in her own building, but he insisted. What he really wanted was to kiss her away from prying eyes.

  The doorman set down her luggage in the front hall of her apartment and went back down in the elevator, as Valerie took her coat off, and Jack then took her in his arms. He was hungry for her, and a minute later, they were kissing passionately again. She could hardly catch her breath when they stopped.

  “I have a question to ask you,” he said softly, as he nuzzled her neck with his lips and held her close. “Can I spend the night?” She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. “I won’t if you’re not ready … we have time …” But he wanted her more than he had any woman in his life. She was worth waiting for, but he had been burning for her all weekend, more than any twenty-two-year-old in a miniskirt and rhinestone bra.

  “Is this crazy?” she whispered back between kisses. It didn’t feel like it to her, it felt right, but she wanted to be sure it did to him too.

  “This makes more sense than anything I’ve ever done,” he said, and she nodded. She thought so too.

  “Yes,” she said simply in answer to his spending the night, and he called the driver of the limo and told him to send up his bag and then he could go home. It arrived five minutes later, and Jack carried it to her room and set it down. She was sitting on her bed, smiling at him. The room looked immaculately neat, and hadn’t seen a man in years. There was one lamp lit on the bed table, and the light in the room was soft. He gently took her clothes off and lay down with her, as they looked at each other in her enormous bed. She felt like she had been waiting just for him, for a long time.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” she said gently. “Is your leg okay?” He nodded and then laughed.

  “I’ve got a bullet wound in my leg, a bad back, football injuries to my knees. Baby, you are getting yourself one very banged-up old man.” But he looked and felt like a boy in her arms, and then she turned off the light. She had worked hard with her trainer, and looked great for her age. But she didn’t want him comparing her body to a twenty-two-year-old’s. He kissed her, and all the passion that had been waiting in both of them exploded. They both forgot about his leg and his back, they were so hungry for each other that they couldn’t get enough of each other, and made love for hours. He’d never had a night like that before, and the difference, he realized, as he drifted off to sleep holding her, was that this time, for the first time, he was in love, and so was she.

  Chapter 15

  April called her mother the next morning as Valerie stood naked in the kitchen, making scrambled eggs for Jack. She had burned the first batch, and was now diligently scrambling the second, while he read the sports page of the paper. He had made her so comfortable and happy that she didn’t mind standing there nude with him.

  “How was it?” April asked her.

  “Incredible,” Valerie said dreamily, no longer thinking of the game, and then rapidly rescued the eggs before she burned them again, and told April she’d have to call her back. She said she was on the other line.

  Jack kissed her as she set the eggs down in front of him, and he ran a hand slowly down her body. He was an extraordinary lover, and had been exquisitely happy with her too, and he insisted that neither his leg nor his bac
k had gotten hurt. He had been afraid to have sex for months, and suddenly it seemed as though he could do anything he wanted. But their lovemaking hadn’t been acrobatic, it had been tender and so powerful it was overwhelming. He had never felt that way before.

  He looked happy as he ate the eggs.

  “I’m better with French toast,” Valerie apologized, and he laughed.

  “Yeah, I’ll bet. I’m just teasing you. The eggs are great, and so are you. What are you doing today?” He had taken the day off, to bask in the glory of the Super Bowl. He didn’t have to be on air again for two days, so he decided to give himself a well-deserved break. He had left a message on his assistant’s voicemail before breakfast.

  “I have to work.” And Dawn was expecting her.

  “I think you should call in sick,” he suggested, and she laughed.

  “I never do that. What if I lose my job?” She knew that wouldn’t happen. And she had no tapings until Thursday, but she had a lot of work to do. She had taken Friday off to go to the game, which was something she never did.

  “If you get fired, I’ll support you. Maybe I’ll quit mine.” He was kidding. They both laughed. After their night of passion, neither of them was in the mood for work. This had never happened to Valerie before.

  “Great. We’ve been lovers for …”—she looked at the kitchen clock—“five hours, and we’re already both headed for unemployment.”

  “Sounds good to me,” he said happily. “We can stay in bed all day and make love.” She had to admit it sounded appealing to her too.

  “Maybe I could,” she said dreamily. “I haven’t taken a sick day in a year, come to think of it, maybe two.”

  “I think it’s an excellent idea,” he said, putting his arms around her, and getting instantly aroused.

  She reached for her cell phone on the table, between kisses, and left a voicemail for Dawn, telling her she had come back from Miami with a terrible sore throat and was taking the day off to stay in bed. It was half true anyway, about staying in bed, as he took her by the hand and led her back to her bedroom. They were passionately making love again five minutes later, and lay spent in each other’s arms when it was over.

  “You’re too young for me,” she panted, totally out of breath. “You’re going to kill me.”

  He was just as breathless as she was. “You make me feel like a kid again,” he said, holding her close, and stroking her hair, and a few minutes later, they fell asleep in each other’s arms and woke up again at noon.

  They got into the shower together and wound up making love again, and after that they went back to the kitchen and Jack made lunch. He made them both club sandwiches, while Valerie commented that she was relieved that the woman who did her cleaning didn’t come in on Mondays. And exceptionally, she had taken the following day off too. The coast was clear for their wild, abandoned lovemaking. And after lunch they went back and watched old movies in bed. Valerie had never spent a day like this in her life. She felt totally self-indulgent and lazy, and in love, as she nestled in his arms.

  April called her late that afternoon and sounded worried when her mother answered. “Are you okay? I called you at the office, and they said you were sick. You didn’t sound sick this morning. What’s wrong? And you never called me back.”

  “I’m sorry, darling. I have a terrible sore throat. I think it might be strep.”

  “Did you see the doctor?”

  “No, not yet,” she said guiltily, smiling at Jack, as he ran a lazy finger around her breast, and she responded instantly to his touch. “I will. I promise.”

  “If it’s strep, you need antibiotics,” April said firmly.

  “I’ll call immediately. I just stayed in bed all day.”

  “That’s good. Stay warm,” she advised her. “I’ll call you later and see how you feel.”

  “Don’t worry if I don’t answer. I’ll just be asleep,” Valerie said, not wanting to be interrupted if they were making love.

  “How was the Super Bowl, by the way? You said this morning it was incredible.”

  “It was.” She had been referring to Jack, not the game, as she burned the eggs. But the game had been great too.

  “I watched the game in the kitchen. I thought Jack’s commentating was very good, and his interviews. Was he nice to you?”

  “Very,” her mother assured her, smiling at him as he lay in bed next to her. “How are you feeling?”

  “Fine. Fat. I think it’s going to show pretty soon. I hate having to explain it to everyone. I’d like to keep it under wraps as long as I can.” She was a week shy of five months pregnant, and she felt huge, after being thin all her life.

  “I don’t think you can do that for much longer,” Valerie said. “It’s no one’s business. You don’t have to explain anything.”

  “I think some of my staff have already figured it out.” Jean-Pierre certainly had, and he was being exceptionally attentive and helpful, and carrying anything heavy for her. She appreciated his help, but his obvious attentions were making her increasingly uncomfortable. No matter how cool and professional she was with him, he refused to back off.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow, sweetheart,” Valerie said in a gentle tone.

  “Take care of your throat. Tea and honey. And call the doctor.”

  “I will. Thanks for calling back.”

  Valerie hung up and turned to Jack. And he kissed her again. He spent the night with her again that night, and totally out of character, she took the day off the next day, and told her office she had strep.

  “I can’t keep doing this,” she said, looking embarrassed, as they ate dinner out of her fridge. “I have to go to work tomorrow. I have a mountain of stuff on my desk.”

  “I think we should both quit,” he teased, but he had to go to work the next day too. It had been nice to take two days off and spend them with each other, talking, sleeping, making love, and watching TV. It was a first for Valerie, and she hadn’t looked or felt this relaxed in years, or as happy. She hoped it wasn’t just a passing fancy for him, but it didn’t feel that way. This felt serious to both of them. “Why don’t we go to my place tonight?” he suggested. “My maid doesn’t come in on Wednesdays.” They were trying to keep this quiet for as long as they could. Valerie didn’t want to tell April yet, or anyone. This was their secret for now, and she was still somewhat uncomfortable about the difference in their ages. And he had been such a womanizer that whoever he went out with was bound to cause comment, particularly if it was she. But she didn’t feel any older than he. She felt protected by him, and safe in his arms. And the years between them vanished in bed.

  Around ten o’clock that night she packed a small bag to go to his apartment, and put her clothes for the office on a hanger, and they took a cab to his place. He had his suitcase from Miami with them. Hers were still unpacked in her bedroom. All she had taken from them were her makeup and her toothbrush. She set them down in his bathroom and hung her clothes in the closet. She felt very much at home. And they took a bath in his enormous marble tub.

  “What are we going to tell people?” Valerie asked, looking pensive, as they ate ice cream in his kitchen after their bath. “Or should we just lie low for a while until we figure this out?”

  “I already have figured it out,” he said calmly, as he smiled at her. “I’m in love with you. Do you think sky-writing over Manhattan would be too showy? Maybe just an announcement to Page Six,” he said, referring to the gossip column in the New York Post.

  “Don’t worry. They’ll guess soon enough,” Valerie assured him. “I’ve always liked the old expression ‘Discretion is the better part of valor.’ But I’m not sure how discreet it’s going to be when people figure this out. We’re both pretty visible people.”

  “I suggest we just suck it up and enjoy it. We don’t have anything to hide. We’re both single. Do you think April will mind?”

  “I don’t think so,” Valerie said thoughtfully. “I don’t see why she would, and she l
ikes you. What about Greg?” Jack’s son was younger and might be upset, Valerie thought.

  “He said he liked you when he met you,” Jack said simply. “So we’re covered. Our kids are the only ones who matter. To hell with everyone else.” He meant it. Other than that, all he cared about was her. It all seemed very simple. So much simpler than she had ever hoped for. She thought of Alan Starr then and his prediction on her birthday. He had finally been right.

  They went to bed then, and got up early the next morning. Jack made breakfast. He made eggs and bacon worthy of April’s restaurant. They were delicious, and after debating about it for a minute, they decided to share a cab to work. They walked into the building together, and no one seemed to notice or care. The building was teeming with people as always, and he kissed her lightly when he got off the elevator. No one fainted or screamed or pointed. He smiled at her and said, “Call you later,” and got off.

  When she got to her office, Dawn looked concerned. “How’s your throat?” Although she was young, she was very maternal with Valerie at times. She liked her a lot, and loved her job. And Valerie was equally happy with her.