The Billionaire's Heart: The Complete Series (Romance, Contemporary Romance, Billionaire Romance, The Billionaire's Heart Book 7)

by Nancy Adams

  “Well,” Katelynn said, “if it's a boy, I'm going for Nathanael, Junior, but Nate is resisting. If it's a girl, I like Destiny, because after all we've gone through just so she can come into this world, I figure there's destiny involved somewhere!”

  Everyone liked the name Destiny, and we talked about how it would get shortened to Des or Dessie or something like that. I thought it was beautiful, and said so, and everyone else agreed that it was fitting.

  Finally it was time for us to go home, and we dropped Corie off first. She had to report to her new office the next day, and was very excited, so she hugged KK and said goodnight. The rest of us went back to my home, and since the guys were not home yet, we had Armando make us dinner there.

  Norman and Nate and Jim came in around seven, loaded with paperwork and documents they had to prepare, so we sat with them while they had hamburgers and fries. They filled us in on all the things they'd learned about setting up a small community, and some of it was downright stupid.

  If we wanted to incorporate it as a town, we had to jump through a number of hoops for the state and county, which was fine, except that they required us to design the layout according to some guideline that made no sense at all. If we followed their plan, we would have the school and business district out on the edge of the town, while the rest would be taken up with residential areas. Jim was looking through it for loopholes he could use to put all the services into the center, rather than out in left field.

  “I'd like to see this town looking more like something from the early twentieth century,” he said, “than some mini-metropolis designed by a Japanese consulting firm. Something pleasant, where everyone can know everyone and get along.”

  “I agree,” said Nate. “We're not building a future city of industry, just a neighborhood where people can all live together comfortably.”

  With so many rules and regulations to get around, Jim felt it would be best to go ahead and move out to California, so that he could devote full time to the project, and Rebecca was delighted. She admitted that she'd been ready to leave North Platte for a long time, mostly because of the gossip mill there; since Jim's senatorial career, they'd been the object of a lot of attempts to get them into the “good ol' boy” network, as she called it, and when they didn’t' want to go along with that scheme, they'd been considered less than ideal citizens.

  “We joined the country club,” she said, “and that seemed to make us targets for every new wild hair idea someone came up with, always wanting Jim to throw his support to things that made no sense to us. When he didn't give it, we'd be bad-mouthed all over town, and I'd hear about it from someone at the PTA, or one of the charity groups I worked with. I got sick of it, but Jim always just shrugged it off and said to ignore it. Now we can leave it all behind us, at last!”

  “And it'll all start up here,” Jim said. “People are mostly the same, Honey, and always want what they want, whether it makes sense to anyone else or not. We just need to make this our focus, and not worry about other people's opinions or comments.”

  Rebecca rolled her eyes. “See what I mean?” she said, and we all got a laugh out of it.

  Norman agreed that the move should take place right away, and put the plane at their disposal. They decided to fly back home a few days later to get packed and shut down his office, and I was happy that I'd soon have Rebecca there to hang out with. Being the wife of one of the wealthiest men in the city can make you popular, but popularity and friendship don't always go hand in hand. Bec and I had hit it off, and I knew we were going to be close from then on

  Grizzly, California was going to be our new home town, and I was looking forward to seeing it grow up around us. If we could make it a place where people would want to live and raise families, then it would be like a slice of Heaven!

  Katelynn

  Chapter Four

  Baby's On The Way

  * * * * *

  Six weeks. That's how far along the doctor said I was when I went for my first appointment, and when she did the ultrasound, we even got to hear the baby's heartbeat. It was incredibly fast, and sounded like a little machine gun, to me, but the doctor said it was perfectly normal at that stage.

  We saw the baby; I guess I was expecting something that looked a bit more human, but this looked more like a tadpole. Again, I was assured that everything was normal, and we'd start to see arms and legs over the next couple of weeks, so I was willing to wait. The ultrasound tech printed out the picture so I could stick it in the baby book I'd bought.

  My baby's first photo looked like a blob from the black lagoon. Wow.

  Other things were normal, too. My breasts were tender, and I noticed my nipples were darker than they used to be. I was still sick as a dog every morning, but thankfully it didn't last long each day. A half hour or so, and after that I was fine as long as I ate something now and then.

  Oh, and I'd gained three pounds. Already. Not fair, kid, not fair! What else do you have in store for me, huh?

  I was sitting in my kitchen, watching as Pierre and his number one helper, a girl named Cassie, were making me breakfast. I'd already had my bout of morning sickness, and gone to pee at least three times, so I thought I would be okay for a bit. The coffee in front of me was helping me focus on the morning, and I was thinking about all I needed to get done.

  Nate and I had been back a week and a half, and were settling into our new lives as man and wife. He was gone to his office already, and I was missing him the way I always did when he was gone, but I had plenty to keep me busy. I was setting up the nursery, which had originally been one of two huge walk-in closets attached to the master bedroom; considering that it was bigger than the bedroom I'd grown up in, I felt it was ideal for Baby's first room, and we'd bought a bassinet and changing table and other things when Mom, Katherine, Corie and I had gone shopping the week before. The only thing I wasn't doing was the décor, since I didn't know what I was having yet.

  Cassie slid a plate in front of me, and I started wolfing down the pancakes and bacon. That was another thing that had changed; I had an appetite that would have served well for a football team, and it seemed like I was always hungry. It took all of my willpower not to eat ten meals a day, just so I wouldn't turn into the Goodyear blimp!

  Mom told me that she'd gained almost forty pounds when she was pregnant with me, and that thought was terrifying! I'd never had a lot of trouble staying slim, so the thought of gaining weight rapidly was daunting, to say the least. I made myself space out my eating, and insisted on smaller portions, but I'd still catch myself snacking on different things that got too close to me for their own safety. Like cookies, or chips—those were my personal nemeses!

  When I was done eating, I went upstairs and started putting the changing table together. Luckily for me, it came with instructions and the special little wrenches it needed, so I could do it all by myself. I had it up and looking good against the wall pretty quickly, and turned to the bassinet, but that's when the doorbell rang.

  I heard Charles answer it, and then the intercom sounded as he called me.

  “Mrs. Simmons,” he said, “there is a Miss Perkins here to see you.”

  Perkins? I didn't know any Perkins, so I said I'd be right down, then checked myself in the mirror in my bathroom. A quick touch up with a hair brush, and I was on the way down to meet my visitor.

  “Hi,” I said when I entered the living room. “I'm Katelynn Simmons, what can I do for you?”

  Miss Perkins was a small woman, about mid-twenties, with short blond hair that looked like a boy's haircut. She smiled and said, “Oh, it's so good to finally meet you! I've been hearing so much about you, and wanted to come by a little early, so hopefully we can get to know each other.”

  I think my eyebrows went up an inch. “Okay? I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage; who are you, exactly?”

  Her own eyes went wide. “Oh! No one told you? I'm from the company's personnel department, I was told to start looking for a nanny for
you. I wanted to talk to you and find out what kind of person you're looking for.”

  I was confused. I was just barely even pregnant, and someone wanted me to hire a nanny, already?

  “Well, I'm not sure who sent you,” I said, “but I think it's a little early to be thinking about nannies, isn't it?” I ran a hand over my belly. “I'm not even showing yet.”

  She nodded. “I understand. Actually, your husband said I should start compiling a list of candidates, and I just thought I should talk to you about it, rather than him. I'm a mother myself, and when my hubby tried to hire a nanny, the ones he thought were great were some I couldn't stand! And before you get the wrong idea, it wasn't because they were pretty; not all of them were, but Steve was more interested in their academic credentials than their personalities, you know? If someone is going to be a major influence in your baby's development, you want someone who at least shares your own views on the important matters, like discipline, early education, religion and such. Right?”

  I thought it over. Nate might think that someone's certificates were a good indicator of what she could do, I guess, while I'd be more concerned about whether she'd take care of my baby when I was away the way I would when I was there.

  I invited Miss Perkins to sit, and we started talking. I found that, despite my first impression, she was a pretty likeable sort, and before long we were chatting like old girlfriends. We talked about what the pregnancy was like, and she gave me pointers on what to expect that might have been a bit more realistic than the ones I was getting from my two Moms. She'd had her first child at my age, and had her second only a few months before we met. Her insights were a bit more recent.

  When it came to nannies, she said, it was most important to make sure that I could get along with her as a friend, before letting her near my child, and I could see the sense in that. If I didn't like someone, I'm sure the baby would sense it, so that would definitely be a priority. We discussed my own views on the things she'd mentioned, and I admitted that I preferred to handle any discipline personally.

  She frowned. “The problem with that is that children learn quickly whether they can expect discipline to be consistent, and if you don't allow the caregiver to use some forms of discipline, the child will discover that he or she can just ignore her. I can understand if you don't want the nanny to impose any serious disciplinary actions, but there should be a sense of authority that the child will recognize. Maybe the nanny could restrict privileges or put the child in time-outs, and let you determine the proper discipline when you return?”

  I nodded. “I can see that,” I said. “And it's not like I'm going to be away from my baby for days at a time, of course. I'm more the hands-on-mom type, I'd be there every day. Might be nice to have someone I can always count on when I need a break, though.”

  She smiled. “Of course it is! Me time is more necessary for a new mother than for anyone else on earth, I can promise you! You've got to have some time to just pamper yourself, or indulge in some hobby or pastime. That keeps your mind fresh, and your emotions in perspective, so you can stay calm and comforting to the baby.”

  We talked all morning, and when it came time for lunch, I invited her to stay and eat with me. Pierre made us tuna salad sandwiches, one of my favorite lunches, and Miss Perkins—okay, by this time we were on first name basis, and hers was Melinda—Melinda loved it, as well. We ate and talked about things like first aid, emergency medical treatment and how the nanny should address me and Nate.

  “It's important for the girl to always remember that she's a servant, and not a member of the family, even though you may come to think of her that way. I would recommend that she call you Mr. and Mrs' Simmons at all times, so that any familiarity will grow naturally over time, and not be rushed before you’re ready for it. I've seen some good nannies become real problems when they began to think themselves more important to the family than they were.”

  Melinda was giving me some good advice, I felt. “How did you get involved in the nanny business?” I asked. “Does that normally fall under your job description?”

  She laughed, then. “Actually, no, but a couple of years ago, when Mrs. Newsome was promoted to personnel manager, she needed a new nanny, and happened to ask if I knew of any. I started talking to her about what I'd been through when I needed one, and that led to her hiring me to find hers. When I did a good job, she talked to Mr. Simmons—your father-in-law, not your husband—and got him to set up this section, so that other executives could come to me when they needed child care. I also run the day care in the corporate office, for the record.” She grinned impishly. “I love kids! I was originally planning to be a teacher, but I got the job in personnel and liked it, so I stayed. When it evolved into this, I loved it even more.”

  I wondered how many companies had a “nanny search service” for their employees, and almost laughed. I was sure that Nate's was an innovator in many ways, and this would only be one of them.

  Melinda took a lot of notes, and said that she would start sending applicants to us sometime around the sixth month. I thanked her profusely, and we said goodbye, but not before planning to get together on a personal level that weekend. I felt like I might have met a new friend, and told her that I'd be inviting Corie along, as well, and that I thought the two of them would hit it off.

  I went back up to the nursery, and began setting it up again, humming to myself as I did so.

  Rebecca

  Chapter Five

  I'm Gonna Be A Grandma!

  * * * * *

  My only daughter was about to be a mother, herself, and while I was thrilled at the prospect of grandchildren, another part of me was scared to death! I was about to be a grandma, for goodness' sake, and I wasn't even forty three, yet!

  Jim told me to relax, that I should be happy that I'd still be young enough to enjoy being a grandparent. He was almost fifteen years older than me, and worried a bit about his age, but he was in good shape, and had regular checkups. His doctors always asked if they could trade hearts with him, so I didn't think he was in much danger of suffering from old age anytime soon.

  Me, though? I was worried that I was too far out of practice at handling babies, or that I'd be overly protective or something, and become a nuisance. I had seen that in my own mother-in-law when Katelynn was born, and it had driven a wedge between us; I didn't want to be like that.

  There are so many things that come to mind when I think of being a grandmother, like how often I'll be able to see the baby, and whether I'll wear out my welcome with the kids. I wonder if my choices in gifts for the baby will be acceptable, and what to do if they're not, and a thousand other things that never occurred to me before I was faced with the inevitability of it.

  Oh, well, no sense worrying about it until it happens, right? Besides there were so many other things going on.

  Jim and I flew home to take care of closing out our lives in Nebraska, and I was suddenly far too busy to worry about much of anything other than where to put one more box! We had a week to get everything packed up before the movers came, and I was wishing we'd allowed two weeks, instead. Jim was closing down his office, selling his practice to a young attorney who'd recently come to town and worked with him. That young man felt like he was getting a boon from on high, and I'd have to agree; not too many young lawyers get the chance to buy out a thriving practice, and step right into dozens of good clients. Those clients would stay with him, because they knew Jim well enough to know he'd never sell to someone he didn't have full confidence in.

  That also meant that his secretary, Sonia, would still have her job, and we were both glad of that. She'd been with him for almost ten years, and we'd have hated to leave her unemployed. Now it wasn't a worry, since the new owner found her experience and skills as invaluable as Jim had.

  It took Jim all week to get everything done there, and in the evenings he was working with a realtor to get our house on the market. We were packing and taking down furniture as we went alon
g, getting it all ready to ship out to storage in California. Since we were using one of Nate's father's guest houses until we could get our own built in Grizzly, we didn't need anything but our clothes and personal items, so all of our furniture and everything else would be put away until then.

  The movers arrived on schedule, and Jim was getting in their way by trying to help and supervise, so the guy in charge was relieved when our realtor showed up. She said she'd gotten an offer on the house from a developer in Omaha, and it was for our full asking price, so we left the movers to do their jobs while we went to her office to sign everything. The money was already in an escrow account, so all we had to do was take the paperwork in to the escrow company the next morning, and pick up a check!

  I couldn't believe the house had sold so fast, and neither could Jim. “That son-in-law of ours is in this deal somewhere,” he said. “I'd bet on it!”

  I shushed him. “If he is, then he's trying to do us a favor, so don't ask! Just accept the sale graciously and don't let on that you even think so!”

  He grinned at me. “Oh, I won't! This is the best game he's run on us yet, other than marrying our daughter! I love that boy!”

  Twenty-five years of our history was gone, just like that, except for photographs and memories. It was time to start on a new life, and from the way things were looking, it was going to be an exciting one.

  “Jim,” I asked as the last items were loaded into the moving vans. “Are we doing the right thing? Uprooting ourselves to move to California, I mean, following Katelynn out there? What if we just end up in the way?”

  He stopped watching the movers and turned to me, pulling me into his arms. He smiled into my eyes for a moment, and the kissed me tenderly.