him to miss mine. I don’t think he’ll want to wake up and realize he’d missed not just one but two of his children’s weddings. I don’t think that’s fair to him, do you? This new doctor is the best there is. Why don’t we wait and let him do his thing? Dad could come out of his coma by this time next week. Then we can carry on with our wedding plans. What do you say?” he cajoled lightly.
She turned away from him, looking off into the gardens the same way he had moments before. There was a displeased stubbornness to her profile that made his stomach clench in anticipation of a fight. And he probably would stand his ground, because now that he’d spoken the words out loud, he knew he wasn’t ready for a wedding. Not just yet. Not until he had his head on straight about a few things. Mainly Vanessa.
“You’re right. It would be great if Harrison woke up to the news of our engagement and another wedding in the works. It would make missing Elana’s a little easier to bear, right?”
Relief punched through him. “Exactly. Thank you, baby.”
She turned and slid her arms around his waist. “Of course. I won’t intrude on your time, but I hope you don’t mind if Mama and I keep working in the background. We don’t want to lose the momentum we’ve got going, and of course we’ll be in constant contact with your mother with all of the details. But in the meantime...” She let her voice trail off.
Relief turned to something else. Something not so pleasant. “Yeah?”
“We should get back home and think of other things that might please your father to know when he wakes up.”
Tension ramped up his spine. “Things like?”
She toyed with the collar of his T-shirt. “Oh, I don’t know. My birthday’s coming up. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a party? I know what I want. And what would possibly make everyone else happy.”
“What’s that?” he pressed reluctantly, knowing in his gut her answer wasn’t one he wanted to hear.
“Why, news of a baby on the way, of course, provided we get started right now. Wouldn’t that be the absolute best news ever for your father to wake up to?”
* * *
Nora grimaced at the unflattering hospital gown the technician had asked her to put on. Even before the material touched her skin, she knew the cotton would be scratchy and uncomfortable, nothing like the satin gown her doctor in Paris had provided before she’d been forced to switch practices.
In the not-too-distant past she would’ve gone to a much more exclusive practice than this one. But with her funds fast dwindling and the situation with Harrison still not resolved, she had to watch her spending. Much to her displeasure.
She wouldn’t have made an appointment with this ob-gyn at all. At least not here in Santa Barbara and this close to the Marshall family. While the word confidentiality was tossed about when reputations needed to be protected, she knew the chance to reap rewards from a scandal was never far away and more often than not trumped confidentiality.
She was probably being overly cautious, but after flinging herself into the Marshall family’s orbit twice in a few weeks, perhaps it was time to pull back a little. She couldn’t afford to let the cat out of the bag. Not just yet. Not when she hadn’t gotten to the bottom of where Harrison was hiding. Harrison had once told her she had an unforgettable face. Compliment or not, all it would take was some keen paparazzi to see pictures of her at the Marshall wedding for speculation to start. She couldn’t afford for her bargaining power to lose value before she had all the pertinent facts.
Anonymity was the reason she’d chosen a clinic on the outskirts of town.
She massaged the small of her back after she tugged off her Zac Posen sweater dress and draped it over a nearby chair in the sterile ultrasound room. Even that small effort was draining.
And that was the main reason she’d made an appointment with the specialist. The bone-deep tiredness had come out of nowhere. Despite her healthy diet and religious prenatal vitamin regimen, she couldn’t shake off the weariness.
For a couple of days, she’d tried to dismiss it. But now she was worried. This baby was her insurance and a passport to a far better life than she’d dreamed of. She couldn’t afford for either herself or the baby to be unhealthy. So although this was costing her a small fortune, she’d thought it best to get herself checked out before she boarded the plane back to Paris.
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