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Instead he pulled back and walked away. Looping around the long cherry-wood table, he headed for the door at the opposite end of the room and without a backward glance left her alone in the dining room.
Her gaze fell to the pajamas. Acknowledgment rose inside her. He knew her. He saw the playful side most people didn’t see. He understood her practical side. He wanted to whisk her away. But she didn’t want to be whisked, and he respected her wishes.
He might be a player, but he was nothing like David.
The door from the kitchen opened and her mother strode in. “Dominic gone?”
Audra returned to her place at the table and lifted her fork. Though she had no appetite, if she didn’t eat, her mother would ask why, and then she’d be forced to explain that she had made some terrible judgments about her boss.
“He said he’d waited long enough for me.”
Mary glanced at the pajamas. “What’s this?”
“Seems your boss doesn’t like my sleepwear.”
Mary laughed. “You do bear some resemblance to a ragamuffin.”
Audra huffed out a breath. “I’m not exactly sure what difference it makes. These work.”
“Yes, but they aren’t fun.” Audra’s mom picked up the navy-blue polka dot set and laughed. “These are cute.”
“Yeah, a regular laugh riot.”
“Come on. He’s only trying to lighten things up a bit. And he may not even be doing it for you. He’s been horribly down since his brother died. Maybe he did this more for himself. To give himself a laugh.”
Audra nearly groaned. All this time she’d been worried about protecting herself from him, when he’d been struggling with grief over his brother. And she’d been critical, insensitive. She fought not to squeeze her eyes shut in misery.
“Honey, I’m not blind. In the past year, you’ve sunk into the doldrums. It’s time to come back to the land of the living. Have some fun.”
She took a breath, let it out slowly. Was she so sad-looking that even a man who was grieving felt sorry for her?
Great. That made her feel just peachy.
“Once Dominic has a nanny, I’ll take a long, hard look at my life.”
“Okay.” Audra’s mom reached into her dress pocket and pulled out an envelope. “I’m not just here to harass you,” she said as she handed the envelope to Audra. “From Dominic.”
Audra’s voice dropped an octave. “Oh.”
“I’m guessing this is your way to get the Wedding Belles out of trouble.”
She caught her mother’s gaze. “But he already gave me the check.”
“He told me to tell you that he’s giving you the second installment early.”
Audra stared at the check. “He doesn’t want me to back out.”
“Why would you?”
“He hasn’t exactly been there for Joshua. And I sort of push him. I have to remind him to even pop into the nursery to say hello. Forget about helping with bath time or bedtime. Once or twice he’s come in, but as a general rule, he forgets.”
“Because he’s busy, but also that’s what he knows. Dominic and Peter were both raised by nannies. It’s what people with money frequently do. You shouldn’t interfere. Especially not if it makes him feel even worse than he already does over the loss of his brother.”
“I get it.”
“Okay. So no more pushing. Go put your check in the bank, save the Belles and be happy.”
Audra laughed. There was that word. Happy. She rose from the seat and walked around the table to kiss her cheek. “Thanks, Mom.”
But she seriously wondered if she would ever be happy again. She seriously wondered if she was even meant to be.
CHAPTER SEVEN
IN SPITE of the mother’s suggestion that Audra needed to be kinder to Dominic, when he went out with his friends that night, she was so angry with him that she could have spit nails. How had this run-around fooled everybody into thinking he was a sad, lonely guy? Especially her astute mother? He might be grieving the loss of his brother. He might even be overwhelmed with work. But he always seemed to have time for fun. And as for needing to whisk her away? Huh! He seemed to be able to work entertainment into his life just fine without her. And his “whisk her away” line was exactly that. A line. A come-on.
She fell into a fitful sleep and awakened at two o’clock, thinking Joshua had cried for his middle-of-the-night feeding. When she walked to the crib, she found the baby sound asleep. Realizing her body was so attuned to the wake-up call that now she was getting up before Joshua cried, she waited a few minutes for him to stir. When he didn’t, her heart swelled with hope. Maybe the baby was finally adjusting to the strange house, strange crib and strange people now caring for him.
