saying…actually…” She was rambling like an idiot, all because of him. “Don’t you have something to fix? Maybe a broken leg or two or three?”
He dropped his hand from the door and checked his watch. “Yeah. As a matter of fact, I’m late for my next surgery.”
“Don’t let me keep you from your work.”
His smoldering smile returned. “You already have, but it was well worth the lost time.” He bent closer and whispered, “That’s the kind of satisfaction I’ve learned to appreciate.”
Michelle stared at the ringing telephone sitting on the end table next to her favorite lounge chair. She needed to answer but hesitated. For some reason she worried that maybe Nick Kempner was calling. If so, she worried more that she might find herself agreeing to something she had no business agreeing to, namely going with him to the gala. He had shaken her up today like an out-of-control blender. She’d barely been able to concentrate on her work.
Why couldn’t she get him off her mind? Because he had more magnetism than a televangelist, that’s why. But it wasn’t just his charisma. Beneath that magnetic facade, she sensed true caring. She’d seen it at Brooke’s when he’d offered her consolation and again another glimpse of it in her office today when he’d voiced his concern about her health. And he was so gentle with his daughter. But that wasn’t quite enough to persuade her to give in to his charms. She had done that once with another charmer; she didn’t intend to do it again.
On the fourth ring she finally answered.
“Hey, sis, where’d you go yesterday in such a hurry?”
The call Michelle would have made herself had it not been for Nick Kempner’s untimely appearance.
Michelle gripped the phone with all the hurt she had felt since the backyard barbecue. “I needed to get out of there.”
“Was it that bad?”
Not all of it. Nick crept into her thoughts like some panther on the prowl. She willed him to disappear, at least for the time being. “Actually, it was okay. I just had some work to do at home.”
“You’re mad at me for not telling you about the baby, aren’t you?”
The remorse in Brooke’s tone helped to ease Michelle’s hurt, but it didn’t completely go away.
“I’m disappointed, Brooke. I hated learning about the baby as if I’m some casual acquaintance. Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“I tried to tell you last Friday evening, but you were still at work. I even left a message on your cell phone voice mail for you to call. I never heard from you. And then you came late to the party and there just wasn’t enough time or the opportunity.”
All valid reasons, Michelle decided. Valid reasons for Brooke not telling her this past weekend. “True, I haven’t checked my private voice mail in a couple of days. But why didn’t you tell me after you found out?”
“Because I knew you’d be worried about me. You know how you get when it comes to my health, especially with the asthma. I wanted to make sure enough time had passed so you’d know that everything’s fine.”
Michelle couldn’t deny that she was concerned. More than concerned. “Of course I’m going to worry. You’re my baby sister. But you have to know how happy I am for you and Jared.”
“I do know that, and please understand I never meant to hurt you, Shelly. This was just something Jared and I agreed upon, waiting until I was at least in my second trimester.”
Second trimester? “When is this baby due?”
“October twenty-ninth.”
Michelle did a mental countdown. “You’re beginning your third trimester, Brooke. How is that possible? You’re barely showing.”
“Mom told me she didn’t show until the later months so I guess I’ve inherited that from her. But I really can’t believe you didn’t notice my, shall we say, blossoming figure.”
With Michelle’s recent work schedule and her visits with her parents, she hadn’t been around Brooke all that much in recent months to notice. Besides, Michelle had a knack for being oblivious to certain things. “Well, I did notice you’re looking a bit more healthy than normal, and that you’re wearing baggier clothes, but I thought that went along with being happily married.”
Brooke laughed. “Heavens, I hope not. I hope it’s the pregnancy that’s necessitated a Wide Load sign across my butt, not my marriage.”
Michelle joined in the laughter for a few moments before her concern for Brooke’s health again kicked in. “What about the asthma?”
“I’m doing fine with that. My doctor’s watching it closely. I’m getting by without much medication. We’ll just hope for the best.”
Brooke, always the optimist. Michelle wished she could be as sanguine, but she had witnessed Brooke’s asthma when it had been at its worst. So many times Michelle had wished she could take it all away from her sister. She still did, but that wasn’t possible, then or now. She would simply offer all her support to Brooke and pray everything turned out okay.
“Okay, Brookie, I guess you and Jared know what you’re doing. Obviously you do, or you wouldn’t be pregnant.”
“Cut it out, Shelly. You’re making me blush.”
“Yeah, right. What would make you blush would blister a metal wash pot.”
“True. After living with Jared, I think I’m about all blushed out.”
Michelle experienced a tug of envy. What would it be like to have a man love you as completely as Jared loved Brooke? What would it be like to have a child with that man?
Nick Kempner hopped into Michelle’s brain once again like an annoying grasshopper. Or a frog. Why did she keep thinking about him? Men like Nick and commitment were not necessarily synonymous. Not that she wanted a commitment anytime soon. Or at least that wasn’t what she’d planned—
“Are you still there, Shelly?”
“Yeah, still here.”
“Mom said you were talking to Nick at the party.”
Michelle cringed, thinking she had somehow blurted out his name unconsciously. “Why on earth did you bring that up?”
“Jared told me he’s really interested in you.”
Interested in rattling her proverbial chain, Michelle thought. She had definitely been prisoner to his espresso eyes and high-voltage grin that afternoon. But only for a moment. Okay, a few moments. “Is there a point to this, Brooke?”
“Nick’s a decent guy, Shelly. A great dad, too. You might want to give him a chance.”
“I’ve got enough going on with mom and dad, my job—”
“Admit it. You’re afraid to get too close to anyone.”
And
