Men Made in America Mega-Bundle

by Gayle Wilson, Marie Ferrarella, Jennifer Greene, Annette Broadrick, Judith Arnold, Rita Herron, Anne Stuart, Diana Palmer, Elizabeth Bevarly, Patricia Rosemoor, Emilie Richards

  “I think it was because I felt so ashamed. There was something wrong with me so that I couldn’t have children. My brothers all have children. My sister isn’t married so I don’t know if she has a similar problem or not. And I felt I was being punished for something.”

  “Oh, Lisa, I wish I had understood,” Drew murmured. He could relate to that feeling of being unworthy. Why else would his parents have abandoned him as a child?

  “It was such a relief to finally tell Drew, to be able to share with him what I’ve been living with for the past year.”

  The four people sat in silence for a moment, and Drew knew that for Lisa’s sake they needed to change the subject.

  “So how did getting Lisa and I to make this movie together bring you two together?”

  Morey and Adele exchanged glances. Morey explained.

  “When Adele first mentioned her idea to me, I told her I wouldn’t waste my time or yours in even asking you to do Sands of Sierra with Lisa.” He smiled at Adele. “Of course what Adele didn’t know at the time was that she could wrap me around her finger with very little effort, and when she continued to coax me I decided to make my efforts worthwhile. I made her promise me a weekend in Acapulco if I could convince you to take the part.”

  Drew just shook his head. Everyone had his price, it seemed.

  “Actually, I didn’t realize that I was part of the Acapulco package or I wouldn’t have been so willing to go along with his suggestion,” Adele admitted.

  “For some reason I don’t get the feeling you’re sorry,” Lisa pointed out.

  “Yes and no. I’m sorry I put you through so much additional anguish, Lisa. That was never my intention. I had no idea what I was asking of you and I certainly learned my lesson about interfering in other people’s lives.” She shook her head. “Never again.”

  “However,” Morey added, “I did manage to coax her away from her work long enough to get acquainted.” He wriggled his eyebrows reminiscent of that famous gesture by Groucho Marx and they all burst out laughing, successfully lightening the atmosphere.

  Morey and Adele planned to stay the night and were traveling by car the next day to Mexico City. “I thought we might as well make an authentic honeymoon out of this jaunt,” Morey explained.

  “Do you intend to combine your agencies as well as your personal lives?” Drew asked later over dinner.

  “The only decision we’ve made about our professional lives is that we don’t intend to make a decision. Not yet. We have enough adjusting to do without carrying it into the office as well.” Morey took Adele’s hand and placed it against his cheek. “I’ve respected this woman for years…loved her for almost as long, and I’m still not sure that I’m not dreaming the whole thing.”

  Lisa was amazed at the change in the hard-bitten tough-talking agent. Perhaps Drew was right. Love obviously could perform miracles. She was certainly witnessing one!

  Hours later Lisa came out of the bathroom and found Drew waiting for her. “I thought you’d be asleep by now,” she said, almost shyly. She had purposely stayed in the tub for a lengthy, restful hour, trying to come to grips with all she had learned that day.

  Drew hadn’t been expecting her to get the divorce. Once again she had read him wrong. What he’d been doing was trying to overcome his anger and hurt over her deception. But it didn’t mean that he loved her any less, or that out of anger and bitterness he intended to end the relationship.

  How ironic that she, who had been raised in a warm, loving family environment, with all the advantages of a give-and-take relationship, was learning how to make a relationship work from a man who had never known the warmth and security of family life.

  She felt humbled.

  “I was afraid to go to sleep,” Drew responded, stretching where he lay in the middle of the bed, “for fear you’d drown in there and I’d never know it.”

  “How did you know I hadn’t?”

  “Because I kept peeking in to see.”

  “Why didn’t you come in and talk to me?”

  “I decided you needed the quiet time. You seemed lost in your thoughts.”

  “I was.” She waited a moment, then said, “Drew?”

  “Yes, love.”

  “Do you really want to adopt a child?”

  “Children,” he corrected. “Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

  “I don’t know, really. I guess I thought that having children of your own was what was important to you.”

  “They would be children of my own. Don’t you understand that?”

  She dropped her robe on the end of the bed and curled up beside him, her head on his chest. “I didn’t. But I think I do now.” She raised her head, her gaze resting on him. “I love you so much, Drew. No matter how selfish it makes me, I don’t want to give you up.”

  “You have my permission to be selfish like that anytime.”

  He pulled her on top of him so that her hair formed a veil around them. “You’re wearing too many clothes.”

  Since moving the sheet back to crawl into bed, Lisa had discovered that Drew wasn’t hampered by the same condition.

  She sat up where she was, her knees coming down on either side of him while she slowly pulled her nightgown over her head.

  “I don’t know why you bother putting those things on anyway. You never sleep in them,” he pointed out.

  “Habit, I suppose.”

  His hands found her warm breasts and gently caressed them. “Let’s form some new habits, then.”

  “Such as?” She leaned down and kissed the tip of his nose.

  “Umm, well…” He seemed distracted by the proximity of her breasts to his mouth. “We could…” He paused to taste, then seemed to lose all interest in the conversation. She wriggled slightly, finding her provocative position convenient to other parts of his anatomy.

  Lisa stroked his aroused manhood and he groaned. Shifting once again she found a comfortable position that definitely pleased both of them, and she felt his body shudder as she took him inside her. Drew’s arms went around her, and Lisa was suddenly transported to the world of sensation. Her mouth found his, and she could taste the minty flavor that would always remind her of him. She could smell the spicy scent of his after-shave, and she could feel him surrounding her as she in turn surrounded him.

  Their lovemaking seemed to be enhanced by the discoveries they had made that day about each other. They had seen each other’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities, their fears and perhaps unrealistic expectations from the other’s point of view, and they discovered how human, how imperfect, they were. And it no longer mattered.

  It was enough that they were together, that they loved each other and that they were willing to make their relationship work, despite the pain and anguish they had each suffered.

  All those myriad feelings went into the expression of their love for each other.

  And hours later, after having fallen into exhausted slumber, Drew reached for Lisa in his sleep, to hold her close to him once more.

  Eleven

  “Mom!” Seven-year-old Andy came tearing into the kitchen. “Come look what Dad and I made out of the sand.” His tawny blond hair fell across his forehead and he gazed up at Lisa with dark, almond-shaped eyes.

  Lisa smiled at her son, his dark tan setting his blond hair in bold relief. In a few short years he’d look like the typical California surfer. “Can it wait about another five minutes, Andy? Jennifer and I are making cookies and they’re almost ready to come out of the oven.”

  She glanced over at the chubby three-year-old waiting patiently on the bar stool. Her carrot-colored curls surrounded a cherubic face liberally sprinkled with freckles that Drew insisted were angels’ kisses.

  Andy took a moment to inhale, then he rolled his eyes. “Boy, those smell great. Can I have some?”

  “May you have some?”

  “Yes, I may?” he suggested hopefully.

  Lisa shook her head with mock disapproval. Then she grinned. �
�We’ll have some cookies and lemonade out on the deck in about fifteen minutes. Can you wait that long?”

  “Can I? That means, am I able?” He thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, I guess.” Then he remembered his original errand. “Then will you come down and see what we’ve built?”

  “You bet.” The oven timer went off and Lisa spun around, grabbed a hot pad and removed the cookies. Jennifer clapped her hands with delight, and Lisa discovered the sound of her child’s applause was every bit as heartwarming as the ovation of an audience.

  “Mom, is there anything to eat? I’m starved.” Fourteen-year-old Timothy stood in the doorway, his cut-offs hanging low on his hips, effectively exposing his lean, sun-darkened body.

  “Oh, hi, Tim. I didn’t know you were back.”

  “Yeah, Mike had to go to work, so he dropped me off.”

  “Did you get his car running?”

  “Barely. There’s still something wrong with the carburetor.”

  Lisa tried to appear suitably knowledgeable and hoped he wouldn’t ask her if she knew what the carburetor on a car did. She had never lied to her children. But then, she didn’t like to appear ignorant either.

  “Where’s Dad?”

  Andy answered. “We’ve been down on the beach. Wanna see what we’ve made?” He gazed up at his older brother with hope.

  Tim dropped his hand on Andy’s shoulder. “Sure thing, sport. What have you two been up to?” The two boys left the room.

  Lisa quickly refilled the cookie sheet and once again put it in the oven.

  “Mommy?” Jennifer asked.

  Lisa went over and picked up her daughter. “Yes, love.”

  “Are you a movie star?”

  Lisa laughed. “What makes you ask that?”

  “Cause Molly said you and Daddy are movie stars. Are you?”

  “I suppose you could call us that.”

  “Mommy, what’s a movie star?”

  “Well, it’s a person who makes a living making movies.”

  “Oh. Do you glow like a star?” she asked with interest.

  “Not exactly.” I glow because I’m so happy, Lisa thought with a smile. “Why don’t you ask your daddy to explain it to you?” Lisa asked. Drew had a fount of stories for every occasion. She was sure he’d have one to explain being called a star!

  Jennifer scampered out of the room on her way to Drew. Lisa followed her to make sure she made it down the steps to the beach safely. She needn’t have worried. As soon as Drew saw Jennifer he went over to the bottom of the stairs and waited for her to carefully negotiate her way down.

  He saw Lisa and waved. “I understand we’re getting fresh out-of-the-oven, super-duper, Lisa-Jennifer homemade cookies in a few minutes.”

  “Did Andy say all that? I’ve never heard him string so many words together before.”

  Drew grinned. “So I added a little description.”

  “Good. You can add some more description to the answer I gave Jennifer.”

  “About what?”

  “What exactly is a movie star?”

  He laughed. “I’ll see what I can do.” He scooped Jennifer off the second step from the bottom and placed her on his shoulders, then jogged back to where the boys were admiring a sand sculpture. Lisa could hear Jennifer’s giggle being carried faintly on the breeze off the ocean.

  Lisa shook her head. Drew had a knack for making everything in life appear to be something special, something magical, and Lisa no longer had any doubts about miracles. They really do happen when you believe in them, and expect them.

  Had it been eight years ago since they’d finished filming Sands of Sierra? It didn’t seem possible. Tom had been right—the picture had been a blockbuster. She and Drew had been nominated for Academy Awards, and although neither had won, Tom had been named Best Director and the love theme from the movie had won Best Song of the year.

  What a year that had been. Lisa would never forget it….

  “What do you mean, she’s pregnant!” Drew exclaimed. “She can’t be!”

  Dr. Thompson sat across his spacious desk from Drew and Lisa. They had consulted him as soon as they’d returned from Mexico, explained the tests that had been made and had asked for his opinion. He had run interminable tests, many more than Lisa had been subjected to before, and now Lisa and Drew had returned to hear the results.

  Dr. Thompson’s opening statement was a bombshell.

  “I can understand your concern, Mr. Donovan, but I assure you that your wife is pregnant.”

  Lisa was also in shock. Although she had taken birth control pills for a time after she’d had her baby, she had realized once she’d left Drew that she didn’t need them, and since they made her nauseous anyway, had quit taking them.

  During their years of marriage, they had both hoped for children and were not in the habit of using birth control methods. How could she have gotten pregnant so easily?

  When she questioned the doctor, he smiled. “Abstinence is a great fertility method, but one that is generally ignored. You did say you had not been living with your husband for several months prior to your recent stay in Mexico, isn’t that correct?”

  Lisa nodded. She remembered their marathon bout after filming the nude love scene and could feel the heat suffuse her body.

  Drew leaned forward. “What are her chances of having a safe delivery?”

  “Excellent. However, I’m not going to try to guess what the baby’s chances are. I do have a suggestion.” He studied the couple before him for several minutes. “I would like to closely monitor this pregnancy and study the stages of development, in hopes of discovering where the trouble begins in the cycle. If the problem is caught soon enough, there are certain treatments that have been developed that might save the fetus. Would you be willing to cooperate with us?”

  Lisa still couldn’t believe it. She was pregnant. She was going to have a baby. There was a chance, a slight chance, that she was going to give Drew a child. The constricted feelings around her lungs eased somewhat. “I’d be willing to do anything possible to be able to have this baby.”

  “I don’t want you to get your hopes up. But there is considerable research being done in this area even though we seldom find a pregnancy in its earliest stages, such as yours, that we can study. We make no guarantees, but rest assured we will do everything we can to help you get through the next few months.”

  Lisa was so excited on the way home, she was nearly incoherent, while Drew was unusually silent. Finally she could ignore his silence no longer.

  “Drew, what’s wrong?”

  “I’m worried.”

  “About the pregnancy?”

  “About you.”

  “I’m fine. The doctor told us there would be no danger to me, not any more than any pregnancy.”

  “And how are you going to accept the very real possibility that they won’t be able to save this one either?”

  “Drew! This doesn’t sound like you at all. You’re beginning to sound like a chronic worrier.”

  “I’m beginning to believe it may be contagious. Lisa, I just don’t want you going off the deep end again. Let’s face what is happening realistically and honestly. Even if we can’t have children of our own, let’s plan to adopt.”

  “You mean now?”

  “That all depends on how you feel about it. Are you up to it emotionally? Physically?”

  She thought about it for a few minutes. “Yes, at least I think so. Are you thinking about adopting a baby?”

  “No. I’d like to adopt a child that needs a home. So many parents want a brand-new baby. I would like to provide a family for a child who may not be able to find a home anywhere else.”

  Lisa felt the tug at her heart. Of course. “When can we go?” she asked quietly, and he recognized that she understood what he was saying.

  “It may take several months. I don’t really know the procedure,” he cautioned.

  “I think it’s a good idea, Drew, I really do. It will kee
p me from sitting around for the next seven months thinking about all the possibilities.” She leaned over and kissed him. “Let’s get started on that family.”

  When she saw seven-year-old Timothy, she knew right away that he belonged to them. He seemed to know it as well.

  Tim’s father had been killed before he was born and his mother couldn’t cope with the loss. Tim was less than three months old when his mother took her own life. Neighbors who knew the circumstances had given the authorities his background, and he was placed in the orphanage, too young to know what he’d lost.

  As the time grew closer, Lisa was more and more thankful that Drew had had the foresight to bring Tim into their lives. Whatever happened, they were a family unit.

  When Andrew Donovan II arrived in the world, hale and hearty, Drew and Lisa decided not to take another chance. They had enough love and more to share with children, and there were many children who needed that love.

  Once again they had applied for another child, but when Beth Stratton called to say they had a newborn she thought they should see, Drew and Lisa went to San Luis immediately—and met Jennifer for the first time.

  Because Timothy was dark, like her, and Andy and Jennifer resembled Drew, few people realized that any of their children were adopted. Lisa knew that each of them had been born in her heart—hers and Drew’s—and had only been waiting to be found.

  “Would you like some help in here?” Drew walked in, holding Jennifer’s tiny hand in his large one.

  “You could get the lemonade out, if you’d like.” Lisa turned off the oven and whisked the last batch of cookies out.

  “They smell delicious.” Drew picked up the tiny girl beside him. “Did you help make the cookies, honey?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Which ones are yours?”

  “Oh, Drew, quit teasing her.”

  Jennifer pointed to the ones on the plate. “Those ones.”

  “See, she knows.” He pulled Lisa into the circle of his arm and whispered in her ear. “How about a date tonight, babe? Just you and me skinny-dipping in the surf. There’s supposed to be a full moon.”