by Tina Cambria
“That might not be such a bad idea,” he conceded. “Do you want to me to ask around at the resort? Someone there might know about a part-time opening in town. With ski season approaching, businesses will be hiring.”
Her eyes lit up. “That would be great. And I’ll check around too. I like our team approach to job hunting.”
Did she consider them to be a team? But what kind of team? Sure, it would be great to work together toward a common goal. But students or co-workers could do that kind of thing.
He wanted to be on a different kind of team with her. A two-person team that could accomplish all sorts of great things. But they’d celebrate their victories in a more intimate way.
Danielle had enjoyed their lovemaking on Saturday morning. He was certain of it. But something held her back from fully accepting him as her husband. It might be that she still needed to get to know him better.
Maybe if he finally introduced her to his family, it would show her that he was serious about their relationship. This wasn’t a temporary fling for him. He had no devious plan to have as much casual sex with her as possible until the baby was born and then decide he’d rather be an absentee dad.
“Okay, we’ll put our heads together and see which employer in this town is going to be lucky enough to hire you.” Kyle smiled, and then his face turned reflective. “Did something happen today that made you decide you needed to ratchet up your activity level?”
The change of expression on her face told him that something had indeed happened that day.
When she told him about the call from her agent, a sickening sensation crept into his gut. She wasn’t thinking about running back to Hollywood, was she? He couldn’t bear it if she was using him as a stopgap until she landed that elusive movie part she’d been searching for.
And when she explained that she wouldn’t be able to take the part anyway because of her expanding tummy, Kyle’s sickening sensation morphed into outright piercing pain. Could she be using him as a makeshift husband until the baby was delivered and she got her pre-pregnancy figure back again? Then she’d rev up again for a second try at her big dream?
But as she got further into the story of the call from her agent, Kyle’s aching slowly eased.
Her mouth twisted, and she shook her head in disgust as she related Mark Zanderman’s reaction when she told him about her car accident. “Can you believe the first thing he asked was whether I’d gotten any scars from the crash? Not a word about how I was feeling or if there were any lingering after-effects.”
“Like amnesia?”
“I didn’t even tell him about that. Why give him more ammunition to label me as damaged goods?”
“What about being pregnant?”
She quickly glanced sideways and then met Kyle’s gaze. “I didn’t tell him about the baby.”
“The baby is a pretty big deal.”
“It’s not that I’m ashamed or anything like that.” Danielle waved a hand. “But I didn’t think it was his business.”
“The way you were talking about him a minute ago, I thought you were going to tell me you declined the callback.” His throat tightened as he imagined her telling him something that would up-end their fledgling marriage. “How did you finish the conversation with him?”
He waited for her to tell him that she’d let her agent know that she wouldn’t reconsider her decision to give up on trying to make it big in Hollywood. That she’d found something a whole lot better on her way home. Except she didn’t exactly remember what she’d found, but she was oh-so-close to discovering it again. If only she’d let Kyle in—into her heart, her mind, her body.
But she tossed her hair and took a long sip of ice water. “Oh, I turned down the callback audition. It kind of broke my heart. Death of a dream and all that.”
“But you have something good now, right?” All he wanted was to hear her tell him that she was happy to be his wife, happy to be having his baby, happy to be living with him in a nice town at the base of picturesque mountains. He didn’t want to feel like the leftovers that were grudgingly eaten when nothing better was available.
Beaming, she placed a hand on her belly. “I have something that’s more than good. But there’s nothing wrong with keeping the door open for future opportunities.”
“What do you mean?”
“I told Mark Zanderman that I’m fine, but my doctor doesn’t want me to take on anything new for a while. So, I couldn’t even think about changing my mind about being an actress until sometime in the second part of next year.”
“After the baby’s born?”
“Exactly.”
Now, he wasn’t sure how he should feel. Because it sure sounded like Danielle might be intending to dump him for one more chance at stardom. Was she only interested in him as a source of child support for their baby?
* * *
Danielle had hoped Kyle would be excited to hear of her plans to search for a part-time job in town for the next few months. But he sat across from her looking downright glum.
Was he upset because she hadn’t flat out told her agent that she’d never even so much as consider an acting part again? No matter how lucrative it might be.
What was wrong about keeping her options open? Plenty of actresses juggled career, kids, husbands, and even side businesses. Maybe she could do it too. Why would she slam the door on the potential of a big opportunity down the road?
Trying to keep her tone light, she decided to switch gears and broach the subject of Kyle’s family. “Did you get the chance to call your parents today?”
“I did.”
“And how did it go?”
“Pretty much as expected.” His jaw tightened, but then he smiled. “I was able to conference them both in, so they could hear the news at the same time. I think they were shocked that I’ve been married for a couple of months, disappointed that they weren’t at the ceremony, but happy to hear that they’re going to be grandparents for the first time.”
“They were genuinely happy? Even though they don’t know anything about me.”
“Well, they know something about you now.”
“What did you tell them?” She wondered what kind of spin Kyle had put on the story about the car breakdown in Barstow, the fake marriage that resulted in pregnancy, and her partial amnesia. “The story’s so wild that you couldn’t even make it up if you tried.”
“Let’s just say that I didn’t elaborate on every detail of the first week that we met. I was a little vague about how and when we first connected, simply saying that you’re from Colorado but had been working in L.A. We decided to elope in Vegas, but then we weren’t sure if we’d done the right thing. Which is why I hadn’t told them about us right away.”
“And they were okay with that?”
“Uh, there’s nothing they can do about it now. And they got pretty excited when I let them know about the baby.”
“Even though we’re not sure if we did the right thing?”
“I said that when we found out that you were pregnant, we realized we wanted to be a couple and a family. And everything’s great.”
“I’m sorry if I caused you to have to lie to your parents.”
“Which part of it are you considering to be a lie? Because I’m thinking it’s more of embroidering the truth a little. Or maybe leaving out a small detail here and there.”
Had she heard something wrong, or had he said that he’d told his parents that she and Kyle wanted to be a couple and a family? And that everything was great. And that none of it was a lie.
Because she had been thinking that they were on more of the trial marriage option. But maybe he thought their overall relationship was, in fact, great. Even she had to admit she felt much better about it than when they’d first moved in together.
Then again, whose life was changing more as a result of what had happened in Vegas? He’d probably be at this new job in Cottonwood Ridge no matter what. The only difference was that he was here with a wife who mad
e sure he had a nice dinner every evening. And had let him make love to her that one amazing time since they’d arrived in town.
But she was the one whose body was changing. Changing in ways that wouldn’t allow her to audition for that movie role even if she’d wanted to. And she didn’t like not being able to make her own decisions.
No matter what happened between Kyle and her, she was the one who would be primarily responsible for caring for their baby. Her life was never going to be the same. And she might have somehow managed to arrange for it to be as much of a struggle as her mother had dealt with.
Broken marriage and single motherhood.
Why didn’t Kyle realize that she had more at stake in this situation than he did?
But she wasn’t ready to do any soul searching with him right now. “You’re right,” she finally replied. “Simply embroidering the truth.”
And she left it at that.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Danielle had thought finding a part-time job would be a shoo-in, but it turned out to be anything but.
Over the next few days, she checked out the various shops, restaurants, and other businesses in the main part of town. While many of them were hiring extra help for the winter season, none of the openings seemed right.
Either a decent amount of moderately heavy lifting was included with the regular duties, or there wouldn’t be enough flexibility in scheduling to permit Danielle to go to her prenatal doctor visits or occasionally visit Nana Rose back in New Loudon.
By mid-day the following Monday, it seemed she’d exhausted every potential temporary opportunity in town, and a cloud of defeat appeared to be hovering above her head. The only really positive thing that had happened in the past few days was using her car insurance check for a down payment on a new vehicle, an SUV crossover that could handle Colorado snow with a baby safely strapped into a car seat in the back.
Longing for someone or something that smacked of optimism, she called Kyle’s cell. A dose of his ever-present upbeat attitude was exactly what she needed to lift her out of the doldrums.
He answered on the second ring. “Is everything okay?”
“Hello to you too.”
“Sorry for being abrupt. I can’t help worrying about you and the baby.”
“I think you worry too much.”
“You’re both important to me,” he said. “That’s why my nerves jumped when I saw an unexpected call from you.”
“Everything’s fine.” She cleared her throat. “At least health-wise. It’s trying to find a part-time job that’s getting me down.”
“It’s almost time for my lunch break. Can you stop by the resort? I have a big pair of shoulders you can cry on.”
He probably did have the broadest shoulders she’d ever seen. Then she reminded herself not to focus on his sex appeal, but to think of him as a supportive mate in an unfamiliar town.
Pulling up to the resort a few minutes later, she took in the impressive main building, a stone and stucco structure reminiscent of a European ski lodge. When she entered the lobby, she was struck by its old-world charm. Everything about the space, from the deep burgundy and cream color palette, to the rough-hewn ceiling beams and Aubusson rugs covering the tumbled marbled floor, evoked a sense of luxury steeped in comfort.
What a nice place for Kyle to come to work every day. How did he spend the best part of his waking hours in this stylish environment and then manage to enjoy coming home to their modest apartment?
Maybe he didn’t enjoy coming home.
And it probably didn’t help that his wife wasn’t sure if she wanted to remain married to him. Definitely didn’t help that his wife wouldn’t let him make love to her on a regular basis.
Well, she’d let him that one time after he’d rubbed the shea butter over her belly and made it next to impossible for her to resist him. But it wasn’t totally accurate to say that she’d let him make love to her that Saturday morning. Because she’d wanted it every bit as much as he had.
And she wanted them to do the same thing again.
Danielle forced herself to stop thinking about that feeling when Kyle made love to her. Yes, it was nice, it was delightful, it was amazing. But a lot of it was a physiological reaction. True, Kyle was probably a lot better than most men at setting off and sustaining that kind of reaction. But no matter how astounding his lovemaking talents were, that wasn’t enough to ensure the long-term success of their marriage.
They needed to keep working on their relationship. She had to be sure that during the week they’d spent together in Vegas, she liked Kyle as a person and figured out they had a lot in common. It would be devastating if she realized that whole experience had only been about making money.
When he suddenly appeared in a doorway off the hotel lobby, she felt almost embarrassed by some of the thoughts she’d been having about him. But she couldn’t stop the fluttering in her stomach when Kyle got as near to her as he was now, saying something about getting lunch in the resort’s casual restaurant that faced the mountain.
The man certainly had some kind of effect on her. She was losing track of everything but his closeness.
“Whatever they’re cooking smells tempting,” she said, trying to reconnect herself to her surroundings as Kyle ushered her into the restaurant, where several guests were seated. Floor to ceiling windows provided a spectacular vista, with the mountain dominating the view.
“I’m working with the executive chef to tweak the menus, but there’s certainly no need for a major overhaul.” Kyle’s face showed a touch of pride. “It’s rare that we receive a complaint about the food here.”
She could see that making the resort a success was important to him. And as the hostess seated them at a table next to the windows, Danielle felt a tiny sliver of ice breaking away from that frozen area of her brain. Something about making it on his own and being a success in his own right. Kyle had said something like that to her—but where and when?
An image of Kyle sitting across from her at a table in front of a window glided past her vision. The window was huge, similar to the one beside their table now, but the view was completely different. Instead of the hill dotted with spruces that was in front of them now, she could see Kyle seated at a table, a glass of red wine in his hand, with a manicured garden visible through the glass behind him.
It must have been during their honeymoon. Having dinner at that resort where they’d stayed. And he was saying something about disappointing his parents.
“Would you like iced tea? Or is a glass of ice water okay?” Kyle’s voice cut into the vision trying to break through her scrambled memory, and she looked up to see a young man at their table, apparently trying to take their beverage order.
“Ice water will be fine,” she said, wondering what else she’d missed while she’d been trying to recall that earlier conversation with Kyle. It was so close to the surface, nearly ready to emerge into a place where she could easily retrieve it whenever she wanted. But it had submerged itself again.
“So, listen,” Kyle said, after the server reviewed the lunch specials and then disappeared into the kitchen to get their drinks. “I know you’re kind of down because you haven’t been able to line up a part-time job as easily as you’d hoped. But please don’t feel that you have to get a job for financial reasons. My job here at the resort will cover our bills.”
“I appreciate your generosity.” She smiled, and then her expression became serious. “But I need something to occupy my time. To keep me intellectually challenged too. I can’t see myself spending the next few months straightening up our apartment.”
“Understood.” He nodded. “Don’t give up your job search. Even if you can’t find a paying job, maybe there’s an opportunity for some volunteer work. An extra paycheck is really not an issue right now.”
“I hadn’t thought of volunteer work. I guess I feel weird not bringing home a paycheck.”
How could she ask for a husband to be more supportive? She wasn
’t sure if she imagined it, but she swore she felt the slightest tingle when he touched her hand. Static electricity? Or was she falling in love with him again?
How had it happened in Las Vegas? Would she ever remember what she’d felt, sensed, tasted when she’d fallen in love with Kyle during that lost week? She must have fallen in love with him. And he must have fallen in love with her too. Otherwise, when they’d found out she was pregnant, wouldn’t he have told her that he’d ante up the child support but wasn’t in for the living together and bringing up baby deal?
She wasn’t even sure what falling in love was supposed to feel like. It had definitely never happened to her before that week in Vegas. Maybe it had happened that week with Kyle. Whether it had or not, it was happening to her now.
Stealing a glance at him as he studied the menu, she wondered how he really felt about her.
He glanced up and met her gaze. “Everything okay? You look deep in thought.”
Uncomfortable that she’d been thinking about his true feelings for her, she mumbled, “I was just thinking about what kind of volunteer opportunities might be available.”
Trying to set aside her tangle of thoughts, she focused on the menu and then on her grilled chicken sandwich. It was nice sitting with her husband, enjoying a meal, talking about everyday things. It would be even nicer if they were also anticipating making sweet love later that night. She forced herself to stop letting her thoughts drift that way.
Focus on our emotional connection. Can I be sure he’s in love with me too? Then the sexual relationship will be the natural result.
So, she complimented the restaurant food and atmosphere. She asked if it looked like business would be good at the resort during the upcoming winter season. She told Kyle she’d heard some women at the grocery store talking about the spa at the resort, so it must be popular with locals as well as out-of-town guests.
“Would you like to go to a movie one night this week?” Kyle asked when they were almost finished with their meal. “There’s a new thriller out, and I know how much you like them.”
