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Lesley managed a smile.
“What can I bring you for breakfast?”
Lesley shook her head. She had no appetite. “Not a thing. I think I’ll just have coffee and be on my way.”
“I won’t hear of it. Mr. Zane personally asked me to look after you. Now, I want you to make an appointment with your doctor and I want you to do it today.”
Lesley agreed, simply because it was less trouble to give in than to argue. By the time she arrived at her Chicago office, she felt even worse. The glass of orange juice Mrs. Applegate insisted she drink hadn’t sat well.
Her secretary, Alice Unger, followed her to her desk. “Are you feeling all right, Lesley?”
“I don’t know. My stomach seems to be a little queasy this morning. Would you see if you could get me an appointment with Dr. Wilson this afternoon?”
“Sure thing.”
A half hour later, her secretary informed her that there was an opening with the physician for three that same afternoon.
“I just don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she mumbled when Alice delivered a fax later that morning.
At three-fifteen that same afternoon, Dr. Wilson told her. “You’re pregnant.”
“Pregnant,” she repeated as if the prospect were highly unlikely.
“You were recently married.”
“Yes, but…”
“As I recall, you didn’t want any form of birth control.”
How a highly intelligent woman could overlook what must have been obvious was beyond Lesley. “I’m pregnant,” she repeated, her happiness spilling over. “You’re certain, aren’t you? There’s no mistake?”
“Not according to these results.”
She hugged the physician and laughed, her joy bubbling inside her.
“I take it you’re pleased with the news.”
“Ecstatic.” The only damper was that she’d have to wait to tell Zane.
Lesley drove home, singing to herself. She walked in the door, wearing a silly, happy smile and, found Mrs. Applegate dusting.
The housekeeper looked up, wearing a worried frown. “Did you see the doctor the way I asked?”
“I did,” Lesley said, hugging the older woman as she waltzed up the stairs.
“And?” The housekeeper braced her fist against her hip and stared at Lesley, silently demanding an explanation.
Lesley paused halfway up the staircase. “Zane and I are going to have a baby.”
“A baby?” The housekeeper, who’d been so astute about Carl and Candy, looked shocked with the news. “A baby,” she repeated. “Why, that’s wonderful news. I know Mr. Zane is going to be as pleased as punch.”
“I think he will be, too.”
“A baby is just what this house needs.”
Lesley couldn’t agree with her more.
That night, as she readied for bed, Lesley stood naked in front of the full-length mirror. She was going to have a baby. She pressed her palm against her flat stomach and sighed with a happiness too deep to express with words.
