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From where she wasstanding, she could see the old industrial warehouse that had oncebeen a thriving apple farm. The sad and dilapidated structure stoodout against the sunlight.
She and Lydia hadbeen coming here since they were children and had found the place asource of fascination. They’d been allowed to pick apples andwatch as the men and women went about their daily business.
At one point growingup, she’d thought about becoming a farmer, but that had beenquickly replaced by her fascination for clothes and the making ofthem.
She’d starteddesigning when she was ten. Her mother had been horrified when shetook scissors to her denim jacket and redesigned it, but that hadbeen the beginning of a very lucrative career for her.
She’d gone frommaking over her own clothes to do so for her friends at school. Shewent to design school to become certified and from there to Horton'sDepartment store where she started to sell her ideas.
Now, she was workingon her own and her designs had taken off. She was proud of what she’daccomplished, her only regret was that her mother wasn’t aroundto see it.
She’d alreadywasted two years on a man who had just wanted her to take care of himand it upset her that she hadn’t seen him for the loser he was.
"That companyisn’t for me, darling. They don’t appreciate myexpertise. I want to be somewhere I’m wanted."
She’d supportedhis lazy ass when he decided that, at the age of thirty, he wanted togo back to school to study software. It was only after paying outthousands she realized he wasn’t attending classes. When sheconfronted him about it, he said he’d lost interest.
"What happenedto the money?"
"I had somedebts to pay and I used it to do that."
She’d kickedhim out after that and blocked his number from her phone. The sex hadbeen mediocre at best and she was ashamed that she’d been withhim because she thought having a man was the thing. Now, she wasconcentrating on her career and men be damned. She wasn’t goingto jump into anything again.
Lifting her hands inthe air, she stretched and felt the satisfying pull of muscles. Shewas grateful she hadn’t given into his pleas for them to have achild. That would have been a disaster.
Now, however, she wasfaced with another dilemma, the real reason she’d come out hereto think in the first place. Dion had asked a favor and she wasthinking about it. Turning around, she headed back to the house, hersteps slower this time. Squirrels scampered across her path and shecould see one rabbit chasing another.
He’d asked herto be a surrogate. It wasn’t about the money for her, ofcourse, it was helping out a friend. Shaking her head, she chuckledsoftly. What a favor! He'd said the same thing. "I know it's alot to ask."
"The mother lodeof favors." She agreed.
"If you say no,I’ll understand."
She’d told himshe’d think it over and that was what she was doing, but shealready knew what the answer was going to be. Dion had helped her outin those early days, pushing to have her designs showcased in theillustrious department stores even when his haughty and arrogantmother had been against it from the very beginning.
Ilene Horton was thematriarch of the company and ruled everything with an iron fist, buther Achilles heel was her only son and heir. He’d been able toconvince her to give the designs a chance. Not only had he insistedon them not being shoved into some corner, he’d suggested shebe given a window for her display.
That had been thestart of her career and she owed it to him. He’d be waiting forher response and she wasn’t going to draw it out. It feltstrange for her to be agreeing to carry a baby for him. He wasn’ta normal guy; he was the heir to a multi-billion-dollar fortune andthe baby would be his heir.
She hadn’t toldher sister yet and she wasn’t certain she would, at least notyet. Lydia would have a lot to say about her decision. She was goingto discuss it with Dion at length. She’d been reading up on thesubject to familiarize herself with the process.
She didn’t wantto think about the ramifications just now. She realized it wassomething she was going to have to do. She owed him that much.
*****
Ilene Horton pursedher lips as she watched her son pacing the length of the carpetedfloor. A frown crossed his forehead and there was an anxious lookabout him she didn’t like. He was thirty-two years old and wasan impressively lean and handsome man with thick brown hair and greeneyes, both of which he’d inherited from her.
His regular check atthe doctors had confirmed what he suspected and she hated that thiswas yet another disaster he was going through. She would havepreferred he go through another channel, but she understood thatafter what that homicidal bitch had done to him, he was staying clearof relationships.
“She hasn’tcalled.’ He finally broke the silence as he stopped hiswandering to stand in front of her desk.
“She said shewould.” She wasn’t exactly in approval of her, but if thewoman was going to do this for him, she was definitely going in hergood books. “And she’s usually a woman of her word. Youknow her far better than I do.” She added.
An amused smiletouched Dion’s lips as he stared at her. Ilene Horton was aforce to be reckoned with and a dynamic and influential leader of thefashion industry. But to him, she was simply his mother, a woman heloved and respected. “She’s not that bad.”
“She’srude and abrupt.”
“She can beforthright, something I thought would appeal to you. She reminds meof you.”
