Her own feelings in turmoil, she remained there, trying to calm down. Then, knowing what she had to do, she shut the door to the study, closing herself inside, and went over to Dan’s desk.
There, front and center, was his address book, open to the page with the phone number for emergency contact.
She picked up the phone and began to dial.
She got patched through to Brenda’s voice mail, just as Dan had.
Her message to his ex was a lot different from what his had been.
Finished, she put the phone back down.
This was either going to help or make things a whole heck of a lot worse, she realized shakily. She could only hope it was the former.
Chapter Ten
Early the next morning Emily was just walking out the front door of her building, bag slung over her shoulder and pushcart in hand, when she saw Dan walking toward her. Sunglasses only partially concealing the grim expression on his face, he caught up with her on the sidewalk.
“We need to talk,” he said.
She’d been afraid of that. Reminding herself that she had done the right thing—even if it wasn’t what Dan wanted or expected—Emily gestured in the direction she intended to go. “I’m on the way to the farmers’ market on North Henderson.” Which luckily was within a few blocks of her loft. “One of my regular clients needs me to prepare a luncheon for her bridge club.”
“I’ll come with you.”
Emily picked up her pace and Dan matched her stride. “I got a very interesting e-mail this morning,” he began.
Emily swore silently. She had been hoping Brenda would do what she suggested when they talked. Obviously Dan’s ex had not. “Really?” Finding the temperature a little warmer than she’d expected, Emily used her free hand to unfasten the first two buttons on her wool jacket.
Anger flashed in his eyes. “It had Brenda’s flight information on it.”
Her heartbeat accelerating, Emily stopped at the corner and waited for the light to change. “That’s good, isn’t it?” Deliberately she ignored the mixture of disappointment and fatigue on his face.
His expression did not change.
“Walt and the kids got the same e-mail.”
A large man tried to squeeze in beside her at the crosswalk. Emily edged closer to Dan, taking in the soap and fresh-air scent clinging to his skin. “So?”
The light changed before Dan could answer her. Emily guided the wheels of her personal-shopping tote over the lip of the curb and onto the street. As she did so, one of the wheels got stuck in a crack in the asphalt.
Before she could even attempt to free it, Dan reached over and plucked the stainless-steel carryall from her grasp and switched it to his other hand. He slid a protective hand beneath her elbow and proceeded to escort her across the street before the light could change again. “So Brenda has apparently changed her mind again,” Dan said gruffly. “Now she is coming for Thanksgiving.”
Emily tried not to look too relieved. She hadn’t known how her meddling would work out. She swallowed and turned her gaze to Dan as they proceeded past the crush of morning traffic crowding the city streets. “I’m sure the kids will be happy about that.”
“I’m sure they will be—if it happens. If she isn’t jerking them around again.”
Wishing she could take Dan in her arms and comfort him physically without it leading to anything, Emily reassured softly, “I don’t think she is going to do that.”
“Really.”
“Really.” Her voice was as firm as his was skeptical.
They paused at another crosswalk. Silence fell.
The light changed.
They pushed through the last intersection before the market and into the throng of avid shoppers. One of the first booths contained a display of fresh-baked goods. The aroma of sweet rolls and coffee was incredibly tempting. Catching the look of longing on her face, Dan stopped in front of the display. “What would you like?”
Emily forced herself to be practical. “Maybe on the way out.” She needed her hands for shopping.
Dan told the clerk, “I’ll have a large coffee—black.”
He paid and they continued on with Dan wordlessly simmering at her side.
The pressure became too much. Emily didn’t want any tension between them, and she really didn’t want any secrets.
“Fine,” she said. She swung around to face him, prepared to go toe-to-toe, if need be. “I called Brenda.”
That he’d apparently already deduced on his own. His eyes narrowed. “How’d you get the number?”
Emily raised her shoulders in halfhearted defense. “From your desk.”
At his glare, Emily propped her hands on her hips. “Well, someone had to do it!”
Storm clouds gathered in his eyes. “Now you sound like Walt.”
Emily got back to the business of shopping. “Walt’s right, in this instance.” She paused in front of the fishmonger. She studied the day’s catch, then placed an order for six pounds of fresh salmon.
While it was being wrapped up, she turned back to Dan. “I heard your message to Brenda. It wasn’t exactly friendly.”
Dan fumed while Emily paid. “I had every right to be angry with Brenda.” He pushed the cart to the next venue, a vegetable stand.
Emily gathered bunches of fresh asparagus and field greens, along with lemons and dill. “I am sure you know that sugar works better than vinegar every time.”
“Is that what you did? Sweet-talked her?” Dan demanded.
Emily felt herself flush. “Brenda called me back last night and we talked. I told her how much the kids miss her. How much they’d been looking forward to her visit and how devastated they were that she’d gone back to her original plan and wouldn’t be back in the States again until Christmas.”
“And?” His tone was brusque.
Emily took a deep breath and replied, “Brenda was torn. She wants to be here for both holidays, but she can’t be. She doesn’t have that much time off. But she wants to spend all the vacation time she does have with her kids.”
Dan was silent. The anger went out of him at last.
Emily explained the solution she had offered Brenda. “I suggested that you could put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving and the kids could have their own Christmas celebration a month early with Brenda. I even offered to supply the dinner for them. That way the kids can have two Christmases. One with you, and one with her.”
Dan pushed the cart to the next venue. “What did she say?”
Emily looked at Dan, unable to hide the traitorous emotion rising up within her. “Brenda wants Christmas with her kids.” Emily paused, unable to help the catch in her voice. “She said it had been too long. That she misses them, too.”
IT WAS OFFICIAL, DAN THOUGHT, as he watched Emily. He felt like the world’s biggest jerk. “So Brenda really is coming?” he said again for his kids’ sake, almost afraid to hope.
Emily walked toward the florist on the next aisle over. Her posture as self-confident as her voice, she looked at Dan and confirmed, “Brenda really is coming for the entire Thanksgiving week. But this time, she wants to grab a cab and go straight to her hotel when she arrives.”
Another problem loomed. Dan frowned. “Walt and the kids usually pick her up.”
“I know.” Emily’s voice was sympathetic. “Brenda told me. But she’s got a twenty-six-hour journey that crosses multiple time zones. She probably won’t have slept and definitely won’t have showered. She said, in the past it’s been a problem because the kids take her travel-dazed state personally—they think she’s not glad to see them and she is. Anyway, the plan is, she’ll get cleaned up and nap and then call Walt and the kids. And they can pick her up at the hotel.”
Dan hesitated. “Walt will probably be okay with that. He’s as independent in his own way as Brenda is in hers, but I’m not sure the kids will understand her wanting to do it this way.”
Emily stepped nearer. Her eyes were full of the strengt
h and compassion every parent needed. “It’s up to you to make them understand, Dan,” she told him, as fierce as any mama bear protecting her cubs. She moved even closer, the scent of her hair and skin inundating his senses. “Ava and Tommy are old enough to get what it is to be so physically exhausted you can barely stay on your feet, never mind make coherent conversation. And while Kayla might not be old enough, she can certainly understand that her mommy doesn’t want to feel all ‘travel-icky’ when they see each other. That her mommy wants a chance to take a bath and put on clean clothes first.”
Emily released a beleaguered sigh and stepped back again. “Not that the kids could have gone to the airport to greet her this time. If you took a good look at her flight itinerary, you’ll see that Brenda’s flying in Monday morning—the kids will all be in school.”
Dan exhaled thoughtfully. “Which makes them going a moot point.”
“Right.” Emily paused long enough to inhale the fragrance of the flowers in her arms. “Anyway, I told her I’d make a dinner in advance and leave it in the fridge so she and Walt and the kids could have their privacy.”
Dan caught her arm and held it gently. “Thanks for calling her.”
Emily leaned into his touch for a moment, before extricating herself and gracefully stepping away. She dipped her head in a nod, then handed money to the cashier, collected her change and moved on once again. “Consider it my gift to you, too.”
She bent to settle the flowers among the other packages in her cart. Then, finished shopping, she turned her cart toward the exit.
Once again Dan fell into step beside her and took over pushing the cart. “I owe you.”
Emily shook her head. “No, you don’t. This was something I wanted to do. It kind of makes up for—” Abruptly her voice caught and she was unable to go on.
Catching the telltale glint of moisture in her eyes, Dan wrapped his arm about her waist. He knew she was emotional these days, but this seemed deeper than mere pregnancy hormones. “What?” he asked gently as they stepped off to the side.
Emily shook her head as if the action would help ward off the tears. “It kind of makes up for the years I spent estranged from my own mother,” she finished in a low, rusty-sounding voice. “Your kids need Brenda in their lives, Dan. Whenever, however, they can get her.”
Dan shrugged, his long-held resentment resurfacing. “Which is exactly why Brenda shouldn’t have left them in the first place.”
Suddenly furious, Emily threw up her arms in exasperation. “Coulda, woulda, shoulda! We all have stuff in our lives we wish was different, Dan. Stuff that should have happened and didn’t. And we can spend our lives lamenting those things, or just deal with what is. I choose to do the latter.” She shot him a withering gaze. “Your kids are never going to be happy unless they stop resenting the choices your ex-wife made and start embracing them. It sounds like Brenda’s doing tremendous things for children all over the world—children who are in trouble, who have medical needs that aren’t being met. You should be tremendously proud of that. So should your kids.”
Her words were right on target and they stung.
Emily beseeched him with a tender touch. “Look, I know the kids feel deserted by Brenda. I see that.” Her lower lip quivered. “I feel their pain. And I can only imagine how hard it is for you, as their father, to stand by helplessly as they’ve been hurt not just once but over and over again.” She let out a long, tremulous breath. “But you can’t change any of that, and you’re going to have to find a way to make peace with the choices Brenda has made if you want your children to accept them, too.”
DAN SPENT THE REST OF THE DAY thinking about what Emily had said to him. She had braved his wrath to do what was in the best interest of his kids, helped him come around to a more objective way of thinking about this situation. Whether she realized it or not, he owed her for that…and so much more. In an effort to demonstrate his gratitude, he left work early, stopped by the florist and headed home, in advance of both Walt and the kids.
To his disappointment, Emily wasn’t there when he arrived. When another hour had passed, the girls and Walt were all home and there was still no word from her, he tried to reach her on her cell and then at home. There was no answer at either number.
When another hour passed, and he still hadn’t heard from her, he began to get worried. So he drove over to her place and rang the bell. Once. Twice. Finally, on the third try, the lock clicked.
Emily opened the door. She was wearing an autumn-yellow chef’s smock and tan cords. Brightly colored wool socks adorned her feet. Her hair was tousled and her eyes sleepy. She yawned and blinked hard, as if trying to make sense of what he was doing there. Never mind with a vase of pink lilies in one hand.
“What’s going on?” she asked, smothering another yawn with the back of her hand.
Dan leaned against the doorjamb, thinking how beautiful she was at this very moment and how he would give anything to find a way to keep her in his life. Not just for his children’s sake, but for his own. Because she was, undoubtedly, the best thing that had ever happened to him.
He smiled. “I was about to ask you the same question. You didn’t show up for work.”
Emily glanced at her watch, then at the darkening sky outside the windows. “Omigosh!”
Dan cupped a hand over her shoulder, stopping her before she could rush off in a tizzy. “Relax. Tommy has a wrestling meet this evening—it doesn’t start until seven and he’s having dinner with the team. Walt is taking the girls out for pizza.”
“I can’t believe I fell asleep!” Emily ushered Dan in and switched on lights as she went. “I only meant to lie down for a second.” She shoved her hands through her hair, still looking a little disoriented. She focused on the vase. “And you brought me flowers?”
Her stunned, slightly bemused expression made him think he should have chosen something a little less romantic than pink lilies. “I wanted to say thank-you for talking to Brenda and getting her to change her mind about coming home for Thanksgiving.”
“Oh.” Emily’s expression went flat. “No problem,” she murmured. “I was happy to help.” She carried the vase to the breakfast bar and set it down.
Dan followed. “So.” He cleared his throat. “How’d your luncheon go?”
“Great. I got several more requests for holiday gigs from some of the guests in attendance. Another couple on my machine. I guess word is beginning to spread that I haven’t left Fort Worth yet.”
And if he was very lucky, Dan thought, she might decide to stay a good while longer. Long enough for the two of them to make what had started out as an impulsive fling turn into something more serious and longer lasting.
He paused deliberately, then met her eyes. “Are you going to take the gigs?” As expected, his question made her tense.
Emily bit into her lower lip. “I haven’t quite decided.”
Just as she hadn’t quite decided if she was going to go into partnership with Tex Ostrander, Dan thought, comforted to realize that Emily was still contemplating all her options.
He could only hope that when the time came, she would make the decision that would pave the way for them to be together, instead of ensure they would not be.
In the meantime, they had this rare moment without kids, work or distraction of any kind. Dan looked around curiously. Filled moving boxes were stacked everywhere.
Emily strode over to the living-room area of the loft.
Dan watched, taking in her soft curves, and knew if he didn’t keep the conversation going, they’d end up doing something completely insensible again.
Emily scooped a stack of brochures off the sofa, where, apparently, she’d been sleeping. “I try and pack a little every chance I get.” She piled the velour throw and pillow in the center and sat down on one end. “Have a seat.” She gestured to the other.
Dan settled opposite her, aware the linens formed a barrier every bit as effective as an old-fashioned bundling bed.
&nb
sp; Acknowledging that wasn’t such a bad move on her part—given that he’d like nothing more than to haul her onto his lap and kiss her right now—he looked at the papers spread across the coffee table instead.
Friends. They were trying to be just friends….
“What’s all this?” he asked.
Emily tucked her legs beneath her and sat, cross-legged, against the arm of the sofa. She grabbed the pillow and held it to her chest, snug against her breasts. “It’s information from the hospital in Fredericksburg. I have to register there for the birth if I plan to have the baby there. And select a doctor.” Emily inhaled, looking overwhelmed. “Currently there are seven doctors delivering babies at the women’s pavilion there. And my obstetrician here wants me to pick one before I move. We’re supposed to talk about it when I go in to have my ultrasound the day after Thanksgiving. I’ve looked at all their profiles and talked to two so far on the phone.”
Dan leaned toward her. “And?”
“They were nice…but I really like Dr. Markham, my doctor here. She saw me through the whole getting-pregnant process.”
He watched Emily run her fingers through her hair, absently restoring order to the silky, sleep-mussed strands. “So you don’t want to switch?”
Emily shook her head. “It’s silly, I know.”
“You could have the baby here,” Dan suggested. “Move to Fredericksburg after you delivered, when things are more settled.”
For a moment she looked tempted. Dan’s hopes rose. Then she sighed and shook her head. “I really need to be at the farm to oversee the construction of the orchard’s retail store. Speaking of which…”
Dan knew where this was going. Tex had e-mailed him something earlier in the day, and copied her on it. “I’m looking for local subcontractors now. I should have a written bid ready to present to you and Tex by the end of the week.”
Emily smiled. “Great.”
Dan slipped back into business mode. “Want to set something up for Friday at my office?”
“Absolutely. Just call and let me know what time.”
A Baby for Mommy Page 12
