by Robin Wells
She looked at her friends and drew a deep breath, her chest filling with resolve as it filled with air. “You know what I’m even more afraid of? I’m more afraid of looking back on my life when I’m old and gray, and regretting the things I was too scared to try.” Her mouth firmed into a determined line. “There’s a pool at my apartment complex. When I get home, I’m going to start in the shallow end and gradually work my way deeper. Before this day is over, I’m going to be swimming in the deep end.”
“Way to go!” Smiling broadly, Patricia patted her on the back. “Want some company? It’s a beautiful day for a swim.”
“I’d better come, too,” Sophia chimed in. “I know CPR.”
They all laughed. Rachel wrapped her arms companionably around both of her friends’ shoulders, a lump forming in her throat. “You guys are the best. I really appreciate the moral support.”
Patricia smiled at her fondly. “That’s what friends are for.”
“Rex really knows how to throw a party, doesn’t he?”
Nick looked up as a pot-bellied accountant named Henry strolled by his picnic blanket, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and baggy shorts.
“Sure does,” Nick agreed. “These company picnics get better every year.”
“No kidding,” Henry agreed. “Lake Pleasant is the best site yet. But the best part is the chow. I’m heading back to the main pavilion for more barbecue, then I intend to hit the dessert station.” Henry motioned to the covered shelter twenty feet behind him where the caterers were serving watermelon slices, giant cookies and other treats on tables covered with long red-and-white-checked tablecloths. “Want me to bring you anything?”
Nick shook his head. “No, thanks. I ate my fill. I’ll just kick back and watch the volleyball game while Jenny here sleeps.”
The man nodded and ambled off. Nick glanced down at the baby, who was peacefully napping beside him, then turned his attention back to the game.
But it wasn’t the game that held his interest. It was Rachel playing it.
Nick watched her spike the ball over the net and let out a whoop of victory. Something was different about her. He couldn’t exactly put his finger on it, but something about her had changed in the past two weeks.
Part of it was her appearance, he mused. She was doing something different with her hair. Instead of restraining it with barrettes, she’d started letting it float around her shoulders in a way that made it hard for him to take his eyes off her.
Her clothes seemed different, too. He’d never noticed before how her tailored business suits showed off her rounded calves and slender thighs. Whenever he looked at Rachel’s legs, he couldn’t help but remember how they’d felt wrapped around him that night in the kitchen. Just the thought was enough to send a surge of arousal pulsing through him.
It was happening right now. Of course, the way Rachel looked in those sexy red shorts wasn’t helping the situation. When had she started wearing such bright, eye-catching colors? Rachel used to always dress in understated tones.
But her clothing wasn’t the only thing that was brighter lately, he reflected. So was her personality. She’d become a lot more outgoing and sociable. Lately she’d been smiling and chatting with everyone she saw.
Especially with men. Nick’s mouth tightened into a scowl. Rachel had never been the flirtatious type, and he couldn’t exactly call her flirtatious now. After all, she seemed just as friendly and outgoing with women as with men. But her demeanor had changed, and all of a sudden, men were flocking around her like bees to a field of clover. She seemed more open, more confident, more accessible somehow.
More accessible to everyone except him, he thought with a scowl. Where he was concerned, she seemed to have grown oddly distant. She never had time for chitchat and friendly banter anymore. She was pleasant, but professional.
In fact, she was treating him exactly as he’d hoped to treat her. So why did it bother him so intensely? Probably because she was so dam good at it, he thought darkly. Try as he might, he couldn’t forget all that they’d been to each other.
Rachel, however, seemed to have put their romance completely behind her. Her only personal interest in him centered around Jenny.
When it came to the baby, she couldn’t get enough details. She wanted to know the results of Jenny’s follow-up visit with the pediatrician, how she was adjusting to Mrs. Evans, what foods she was eating and what new things she’d learned. Rachel’s face had lit up when he’d told her Jenny had begun to crawl. Seeing Rachel smile like that had made Nick feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and he’d longed to make her smile that way again.
He’d asked her out to lunch. After all, he’d figured, just because they’d agreed to keep their relationship platonic didn’t mean they couldn’t still be friends. She’d turned him down, saying she had other plans. He’d countered by asking her to dinner. She’d smiled regretfully, telling him she was busy that evening, too.
Rachel never used to be too busy to go to dinner with him, he’d silently groused. “What’s got you so occupied lately?” he’d asked point-blank.
“Oh, lots of things,” she’d said vaguely. She’d glanced at her watch and made an excuse to hurry away.
Nick had felt a pang of something that felt suspiciously like jealousy. He’d called her house that evening to see if she were actually home, and hung up when he’d gotten her answering machine. Unable to contain his curiosity, he’d driven by Rachel’s apartment on his way home from an errand to see if her car was parked in her spot. It wasn’t. Only the fact that it was nearly Jenny’s bedtime and he hadn’t yet given her a bath kept him from sitting there and waiting to see what time Rachel came home.
Not that it really mattered, he told himself. He had no claim on Rachel. He was just curious, that was all. It wasn’t like her to be so secretive. As an old friend, it was only natural that he’d be concerned about her well-being.
Nick watched her score a point for her team. He’d assumed he’d finally get a chance to spend some time with her at the picnic, but when he and Jenny had arrived, she’d been surrounded by a group of athletic-looking junior executives from the marketing department. He’d breathed a sigh of relief when she’d immediately rushed over to him, but his relief was short-lived.
All of her attention had been focused on Jenny. The baby had squealed with delight as Rachel had lifted her from his arms. Rachel had toted the baby around to all her friends, letting them ooh and ahh over her, while Nick had tagged along like a third wheel.
Rachel had accompanied him through the buffet line and joined him on his picnic blanket, but only, he suspected, so she could feed Jenny lunch and admire the baby’s newly acquired crawling skills. Afterward, Rachel had rocked the baby to sleep. As soon as Jenny was settled for a nap, Rachel had sprung up and sprinted away to join the volleyball match.
He turned his attention back to the game, which was growing increasingly boisterous. A muscle-bound man with a thick shock of blond hair caught Rachel around the waist and picked her up to congratulate her for a particularly successful spike.
A nerve ticked in Nick’s jaw. He glanced over at Jenny. The baby was sound asleep. She usually took a two-hour midday nap. There was no reason he couldn’t join the game and keep an eye on her from a distance.
Doing his best to look casual, Nick sauntered over to the volleyball net.
“Who’s watching Jenny?” Rachel asked.
Dadblast it. Couldn’t Rachel think of him in any terms except as Jenny’s guardian? He was a man, for Pete’s sake—a man whom she’d kissed. And he intended to make sure she didn’t forget it.
“She’s asleep.” He pointed to the blanket in the shade, less than thirty feet away. “We can keep an eye on her from here.”
He turned to the muscle-bound creep who was lingering beside Rachel, his hand still on her waist. “Why don’t we organize a real game? The accounting department against all corners.”
He tossed a challenging look at the two men on the other side of
the net. Glancing at each other, the three men shrugged, then nodded. “Sure.”
Nick quickly gathered four more staff members, while the young men rounded up three more of their buddies.
When the teams were assembled, it was a far from even match. The players on the opposing team were all built like Olympic shot put contenders. Nick’s team consisted of two out-of-shape middle managers, a junior accountant with an arm in a sling, Rachel and himself.
Well, that was just fine, Nick thought hotly. If Rachel went for the brawny, athletic type, well, then, he’d show her brawny and athletic. He’d single-handedly carry his team to victory. He couldn’t wait to beat the barbecue sauce out of these biceps-bound Lotharios.
It was going pretty well, Nick thought smugly an hour later. Rachel had turned out to be a surprisingly adept player, and he’d managed to cover for the rest of his team. A large crowd, including Rex and his assistant, Mildred, had gathered to watch. They were halfway through the fifth game, the teams tied two and two. Nick crouched in anticipation of returning a serve when Rachel suddenly asked, “Where’s Jenny?”
Nick jerked his head toward the blanket, then froze. Dear God. The blanket was empty.
He felt the blood drain from his face. The volleyball sailed right by him unheeded. Nick turned to the crowd “Does anyone have my baby?”
The spectators looked at each other blankly. Nick pointed to the blanket “She was sleeping right there. She’s nearly eight months old. She has curly blond hair and she’s wearing a bright pink playsuit.”
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
Nick’s heart leapt to his throat. His stomach felt ill, his skin cold and clammy. If anything had happened to Jenny, he couldn’t live with himself.
“She probably woke up and crawled away,” Rachel said. “She’s just learned to crawl.”
Nick quickly surveyed the surroundings. The blanket was bounded by a stand of trees on one side, the volleyball court on another, the dessert picnic pavilion in front and a long slope of grass leading to the shore of Lake Pleasant behind.
“We’d better check the lake,” someone said.
The lake. Nick felt as if the bottom had just dropped out of his world. He gazed at Rachel and saw that she looked as horror-struck as he felt
“Oh, no. You know how she loves the water,” he muttered. “You don’t suppose...”
“It’s—it’s too far for her to have crawled,” Rachel reassured him. “It’s at least a hundred feet away.”
“How long has she been missing?” someone asked.
A fresh shot of guilt stabbed through Nick. He’d gotten so absorbed in showing off for Rachel that time had gotten away from him. “I don’t know. Five—ten—maybe even fifteen minutes.”
“Come on, everybody,” Rex called. “Let’s start looking for her.”
“I’m going to start at the shore,” Nick said grimly.
“I’ll come with you.” Rex turned to his assistant. “Mildred, organize a group to search the trees and behind the pavilion.”
“I think we should call the police first,” Mildred said softly. “Just in case.”
Nick’s heart seemed to stop in his chest. “Just in case of what?”
The older woman placed a reassuring hand on Nick’s arm. “I just think we should notify the authorities so they can help us look, that’s all.”
But Nick knew what she was thinking. In case the baby was injured. Or kidnapped. Or drowned.
Dear Lord, how could he have let this happen? He’d gotten all caught up in impressing Rachel, that was how. Guilt, hot and anguished, poured through him.
“Use the phone in my car, Mildred,” Rex said.
Nick turned to the crowd of employees. “Half of you come with me. We’ll divide up once we get to the shore so we can cover more ground.”
Rachel placed a hand on his arm. “I’ll search around here. I’m certain she’s nearby.”
Nick nodded. Rachel could tell by his tense expression that he feared the worst. She’d never seen his face so ashen or his eyes so grim. Her heart turned over as she watched him stride off toward the lakefront, followed by Rex, Mike the mailman, Sophia, Olivia and her husband, and half a dozen other employees.
“Come on, Rachel,” Patricia urged gently. “Let’s start looking. If she crawled away, she couldn’t have gone far.”
“Jenny! Jenny!”
Rachel stopped under a mesquite tree, her chest filling with despair. The entire staff of Barrington’s corporate headquarters had been searching for the child for ten full minutes. With each passing second, the likelihood of finding the baby unharmed decreased. Most of the searchers were now focusing on the waterfront, but Rachel and Patricia continued to scour the area closest to where the baby had last been seen.
“We’ve been over this ground before,” Patricia said. “Don’t you think we should look someplace else?”
“She’s got to be around here somewhere,” Rachel said firmly. “A baby that size can’t crawl very far.”
Patricia’s brow creased with worry. “Maybe she didn’t crawl away, Rachel,” she said softly. “Maybe somebody took her.”
Rachel’s heart lurched in her chest. She wasn’t ready to face that possibility. Not yet. She refused to give up hope.
“Let’s give it one more try. Maybe we’ve just overlooked her.” Rachel dropped to her knees in the grass near the picnic pavilion where the caterers had set out the desserts. “I’m going to go over the ground the way Jenny would. It’s the method Nick and I used when we baby-proofed his house.”
“Jenny! Jenny!” she called. She suddenly stopped and glanced up at Patricia. “Did you hear something?”
“Just the other searchers on the other side of the picnic shelter.”
“I thought I heard a rustling sound.” Still on her knees, Rachel turned to the right and spotted a watermelon-pink object on the ground, half-hidden by a red-and-white-checked tablecloth. She was ready to discount it as a slice of melon when, suddenly, it moved.
“Jenny!” She jumped to her feet, her heart flooding with joy. Sure enough, there was the baby, calmly munching on an abandoned slice of watermelon.
Rachel swooped her into her arms. The baby grinned broadly, tightly clutching the watermelon slice.
“Oh, Jenny, I’m so glad to find you!” Rachel cradled the child against her chest. “I’m so glad, so glad!”
Patricia cupped her hands around her mouth. “We found her! We found her!” she yelled.
Within seconds, a crowd had materialized. But out of the sea of faces, Rachel saw only one.
Nick—plowing his way through the throng, his mouth taut and hard, his eyes dark and undershadowed with worry. Oh, dear heavens—he didn’t yet know that Jenny was all right.
Rachel lifted the baby high. “Nick! She’s fine!”
His face was transfigured the moment he caught sight of Jenny. The hard furrow in his brow dissolved, his eyes lit with joy and his lips curved into an enormous smile.
The crowd cleared a path to let him through. And the next thing Rachel knew, he was embracing both her and Jenny in an enormous bear hug.
Rachel was vaguely aware that tears were coursing down her cheeks. Jenny laughed. And Nick clung to them both as if he’d never let them go.
He finally relaxed his hold enough for Rachel to shift the baby into his arms. He crushed the child to his chest, as if he were afraid she’d vaporize before his very eyes. “You’re all right, Jenny. You’re really all right.” He gazed at Rachel gratefully. “Where did you find her?”
“In a place so obvious we all overlooked it—under a table.” Rachel smiled. “She seems to have developed a taste for watermelon.”
Grinning, Nick glanced down at Jenny, who was busily smearing watermelon all over his white polo shirt. He looked back at Rachel, his heart in his eyes. “I don’t know how to thank you. I was so afraid—”
His words broke off, but he didn’t need to continue. “I know,” Rachel whispered.
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br /> And she did. In his eyes she could see all the words he couldn’t say. At that moment, their minds seemed in perfect sync. She knew exactly what he was thinking, exactly what he was feeling. Their hearts seemed to beat as one.
The spell was abruptly shattered by Rex, who pounded Nick on the back. “Looks like this little lady really likes to mess up your clothes. Both times I’ve seen her, she’s managed to cover you with some kind of food.” Rex shook a playful finger at the baby. “Don’t you know your dad is mighty particular about his clothes?”
“I don’t care if she ruins everything I own,” Nick said. “She’s okay, and that’s all that matters.”
Grinning, Rex nodded companionably. “My son pulled a similar disappearing act when he was a year old. I know what you must be feeling. It’s something every parent seems to go through at least once.”
“Well, I guarantee it won’t happen again. I don’t intend to let my daughter out of my sight until she’s at least eighteen.”
Rex laughed again. “That’s when she’ll need watching the most, son.” He slapped Nick’s back again, then turned to the crowd. “Okay, everybody—thanks for your help. The baby’s just fine, so let’s get on with the party!”
Rachel gazed at Nick as the crowd dispersed, her throat thick with emotion. “You called her your daughter,” she finally said.
“Well, I reckon that’s what she is.”
The lump in Rachel’s throat made it hard to speak. “So, are you going to let her call you Daddy?”
“If that’s what she decides to call me, I’ll be more than honored.”
For a man who didn’t think he was capable of loving anyone, Nick had become awfully attached to Jenny, Rachel mused. Her heard swelled with hope.
He might not call it love, but Rachel knew love when she saw it. If Nick could open his heart to a child, maybe, just maybe, he could open his heart to her, as well.
Chapter Eight
The following Friday, Nick sat at his desk staring at the report in front of him. It was hard to focus on its contents because he couldn’t get his mind off the woman who had prepared it.
