made his company run than he did. She was terrific. Her husband was a lucky man. He couldn’t help but wonder if she ran as tight a ship at home as she ran here. Did she keep her husband in line, too?
Odd that in almost two years of working together, he’d never met her husband. But that seemed to fit with the coolly detached way she handled things between the two of them. She never got personal, and neither did he. She was all business and she ran this place, to all intents and purposes.
And that was a good thing, too, especially right now, because his work was going to hell lately, and he knew it. He had his mind on only one thing and it was driving him nuts. If he didn’t find out soon just who in this company was carrying his baby, he was going to go crazy.
Closing his eyes, he swore softly. Crazy. That was a good word for this situation. It had started out in a relatively sane and sober way. When his good friend, Bill Jeffers, had had a cancer scare and had come to him about it, he’d been ready to do anything he could to help out. He’d taken Bill to see his cousin, a world-class oncologist, and then had gone with him to the various testing labs, including the clinic where Bill was encouraged to deposit sperm to be used in case his radiation treatments destroyed his chances of ever having children. Kane himself had been surprised when the technician suggested he deposit some as well, to put Bill, who was quite nervous, at ease. Of course, he’d been glad to do anything to help his friend at this tense time.
The radiation treatments were, thank God, successful, and Bill was fine today. Just a few months ago, Bill had called to let him know he and his new wife Tracy were going to have a baby.
“You didn’t have to make use of that little deposit you made at the clinic that day, did you?” Kane had asked him, jokingly.
Bill had assured him it hadn’t been necessary, but once Kane had hung up, he’d begun thinking about his own deposit. He hadn’t ever done anything about it. It really wasn’t one of those things you should leave hanging around. The next morning, he’d called the clinic to tell them to have it destroyed. And that was when this nightmare had begun.
When he’d found out that his sample had been mistakenly used just weeks before—and by someone who worked in his company—he’d been stunned. The clinic had adamantly refused to tell him the name of the woman, even though he’d threatened legal action. And he’d been trying ever since to figure out which of the many women who worked at Kane Haley, Inc., was walking around incubating his baby!
“Let it go,” his brother Mark had said just that morning when they were playing their usual Friday racquetball game at their health club. “Forget about it. It’s out of your hands. You really aren’t involved in any meaningful way. Get over it!”
“I can’t,” he replied glumly, giving the ball a vicious slash. “You don’t understand.”
Mark, with his bouncy redheaded wife and his two bright kids in his beautiful house in one of the nicest suburban villages in the Chicago area, really didn’t understand. How could he? His life had been smooth sailing from day one. Kane didn’t resent his happiness, but he was sharply aware of the differences in their experiences, despite having grown up more or less in the same family. Mark believed in happy marriages, for one thing. He had one. Kane knew from his own past—including a very miserable marriage—that they were few and far between.
“There’s just no way of finding this woman,” Mark went on. “And even if you found her, what could you do about it?” He dodged a ball that came ricocheting off the wall at him, batting it down to where he could handle it and toss it back to his brother. “Give it up.”
“I’ve got to find her.” Kane served an ace and felt a glow of triumph as Mark flailed at it and missed. “I can’t rest until I do.”
Mark winced, shaking his head as he looked back at his brother. “Why?” he asked simply.
In answer, Kane hit the ball just right again and practically laid Mark out against the wall. The sound the hard ball made against the wood echoed through the little enclosed court and he grinned and flexed his biceps. Served Mark right. It was high time he learned to treat his older brother with a little respect.
Unfortunately, respect didn’t seem to last the way it once had, and in minutes, Mark was in charge of the service, putting across his own winning aces. Kane’s attention evaporated along with his game. His mind was back on his problem, and his brother could tell.
Hitting another hard one, Mark asked again, insisting, “Why?”
“Because,” Kane said in exasperation, letting the ball go by and not even reacting to it. “Just because. I can’t help it.” He knew his voice was sounding choked, but he had to try to make his brother understand. “I’ve got to find my baby. Mark, it’s like a fire smoldering inside of me. The need to find him haunts me all the time.”
Mark stopped and turned toward him, frowning. He hesitated, then went ahead and spoke softly. “Kane, it isn’t your baby. You gave it away.”
Anger flared in his heart, but he managed to keep his voice low and steady as he dropped down to sit on the lowest step of the stairway out of the court. “That wasn’t my doing.” He was forcing himself to breathe evenly, to keep this under control.
“Maybe not, but it was done.” Mark slumped down beside him. “Hell, Kane, go out and find some woman and marry her and make your own baby. Forget about the sperm thing. It’s over.”
He looked at his brother and laughed softly. “Come on, man, do you think the old lord of the manor cared about the kids he fathered when he went out rolling in the haystack with the milkmaids? This is like a modern-day version. After all, you’re president of the company. Your employees are like the old-fashioned tenants on the land.” He frowned comically. “Same deal, except with these twenty-first-century methods, I think you’re getting rooked out of the fun part.”
Kane avoided his gaze, shaking his head. “This isn’t funny, Mark. I’m quite serious about it. I’m going to find my baby.”
Mark put a hand on his arm. “And do what once you do? Ruin things for some nice young couple who managed to get pregnant with your help? Don’t you think they would be much happier not knowing you’re involved?” He hesitated and his voice softened with sympathy. “Come on, Kane. Whoever she is isn’t going to want you in her life. Face facts. You’d be nothing but an intrusion.”
Kane looked Mark in the eye. “You may be right, but I have to know.” He tried to smile at his brother, but his emotions were running too close to the surface to risk it. “Anyway, I could be a help to them. I could be like an uncle. I could come at Christmas with gifts for everyone. I could make sure he had a college education….”
Mark groaned and rose, heading for the showers. “You’re hopeless,” he tossed back over his shoulder. “I give up.”
But Kane wouldn’t give up. He couldn’t give up. His baby was out there somewhere. It was just a matter of time before he would know where.
He had a thing about kids and their fathers, a special need that had a lot of history attached to it. Back in his office, pacing the beige carpet until a path was being worn in it, he knew one thing for sure. Somehow, he was going to find out where his child was.
But what could he do next? He’d already harassed four women who worked at Kane Haley, Inc., thinking each might be the one because of one thing or another. False leads each time, but he’d tried, damn it. And now, as far as he knew, there weren’t any pregnant
