AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The thought brought another flare of anger. Was she planning to move to Brussels and never eventell him?
How dare she try such a trick. She’d soon learn he hadn’t gotten where he was in the business world by being nice. She’d begin by making demands. This time, he knew how to counter. There’d be no repeat of the past.
He toweled off and donned dark slacks and a pullover top. Hesitating only a moment, he went to the bedroom closet and reached up into the back corner, taking down the small box. Trace sat on the edge of the bed and removed the lid. A handful of photographs and a few papers were all that were in the box.
He lifted the pictures. The top one was of Cynthia in the hospital with Zach. He was so tiny. The nurses had bundled him tightly in the blanket, only his little face and fat cheeks showed. He put it to the back of the pile and looked at the next one. Him holding Zach. For a moment Trace could feel the light weight of the infant, smell the baby scent of powder and milk. The next picture showed a chubby baby lying on a bed, kicking his feet in the air. Trace felt a clutch in his heart.
Slowly he reviewed the photos, staring for a long moment at the last one, showing the little boy standing. He’d taken his first steps right before this picture. Zach had been just over a year.
There were no more pictures.
Trace took a deep breath, feeling again the loss of the son he’d only known for a year. He gathered the pictures and put them back in the box. In only a moment, he’d returned the container to the closet and headed for his office.
He picked up his phone and called Cath.
Cath had prepared herself a cup of herbal tea and taken the first book to the sofa. She was reclining with the book in hand when the phone rang.
“What do you mean not risk-free?” Trace asked.
She gripped the receiver tightly.
“It means the scarring has not miraculously disappeared, It still poses problems as the fetus develops. I could spontaneously miscarry at any time. There could be other complications. I’m not exactly a young woman—not to be having a first baby.”
“So you may not deliver?” he asked gently.
“Exactly. On the other hand, my doctor is going to watch me carefully and do all he can to make sure I do have a healthy baby. And I was planning to tell you, I just hadn’t decided when, or how. I only found out myself on Tuesday.”
“You could have called me,” he said.
She could hear the control he held on his voice. She knew he was angry. But she was angry at him for his comments at the Pier.
“I’m not telling most people yet. The doctor said he’d have a better feeling for how it would go as time goes by.”
“I’m not most people.”
She took a breath. He was right, but still—she wanted to handle things her way.
There was a moment of silence, then Trace said, “How are you feeling?”
“Lousy. I have morning sickness, I feel achy and I have some discomfort in the abdomen area—probably because of the internal scarring and the growing baby. But I have some medication for the nausea and am nibbling something every couple of hours, so I should be fit for work on Monday.”
“So you really didn’t believe you could have a baby.”
“I truly did not,” she said solemnly. “I was not trying to trap you into anything—let alone marriage. For heaven’s sake, Trace, I’m going to Brussels in a few weeks. You live here. What kind of relationship would that be?”
For a second she imagined they were still involved. Would they have moved to a closeness she’d only felt with Jason? Or would the demands of work have proved too much and they would have drifted away.
“When do you see the doctor again?”
“Next Tuesday. And every Tuesday after that.”
“Keep me informed,” he said.
“If anything changes.”
“I want to know everything about the pregnancy.”
Cath bristled slightly. She didn’t like his tone, yet she couldn’t help feel slightly mollified that he was concerned for the baby. And her own health?
