had a good job with excellent benefits; and, as a fantastic “aunt” to her friend Joann’s kids, Tori knew she could handle diapers and feedings. Besides, her whole family lived near Kansas City, where she had recently moved, giving her a great support system to draw on. And she knew that her best friends from college, the Roses, would agree with her and support her decision.
Still, the irony mocked. While she’d been trying to change her life by moving to Kansas City and breaking up with Jeff at the end of May, she certainly hadn’t intended this.
Tori blinked and shook her head. She’d recently shed her long, dark hair, chopping off six inches so that the locks now bobbed just below her chin. She wasn’t quite used to not having the weight and the strands tickled her chin.
She sighed. Taking the test was probably going to be the easiest part. Despite all her book smarts, she had little idea how to proceed. Did one just call up and announce, Guess what? I’m pregnant? Was there a chain-of-command of people you were supposed to tell first, such as your own parents or the father? Did it even matter?
Even the decision to accept the promotion and transfer to Kansas City had been easier to make than facing the situation now looming on the horizon.
She thought about her new job a moment. Her career had always been a top priority in her life, and relocating had let her leave Jeff behind. She hadn’t seen him since leaving St. Louis, and time had been a healing balm, giving her much-needed space and perspective. Oh, she still loved him—part of her always would—but she wasn’t moping anymore. She’d put the past behind her and was ready to start a new life. She’d joined some of the women in the office in their Internet dating adventures. While she hadn’t found anyone, at least she was back on the market.
Although not for long. She was going to have a baby.
How would Jeff take the news? Would he be excited? Or would he feel inconvenienced, trapped? She’d been on the Pill and they’d never discussed the possibility of kids.
Tori swallowed the hurt that often rose when she thought of both Jeff and her past failure in not accepting the hopelessness of her situation earlier. Deep down she knew that his first love was his job; he focused on work and the endless travel that came with it. He and his brothers, Jared and Justin, had founded Wright Solutions, a technology company that did everything from designing and installing high-end networks to selling software to hardware recycling and disposal. Jeff and his brothers had made Wright Solutions a one-stop shop for business computing needs.
Of the three brothers, Jeff was the problem solver, which was the trait that had first attracted Tori. He stopped hackers, recovered data, and strengthened firewalls. He was focused—like her.
When she’d first been hired, she’d worked in his division. Their paths had diverged when she’d been promoted, and now everything Wright Solutions touched west of Kansas City was handled through her office. The management position was a crowning achievement. Her salary and stock options let her live comfortably.
When she’d broken things off, she’d been determined not to let her personal life interfere with her career. She had no intention of changing companies and jeopardizing her future advancement. She and Jeff had been friends first; surely they could be friends post-breakup.
Now a wrench had been tossed into the machinery. She put her hand on her still-flat stomach. He’d make beautiful babies. He had the right to know. She winced. She had no desire to tell him. She would, of course, but only after she saw the doctor and made sure the tests were correct.
Tori backed away from the sink. Oftentimes, she’d wondered if she’d made life too easy for Jeff—maybe that’s why things had never progressed. Unlike most couples, they talked only in person, keeping in touch via short e-mails, Jeff’s preferred means of communication. He wasn’t a phone conversationalist and all their calls lasted less than five minutes, unless they were fighting.
Not that they fought often since, really, there wasn’t much to argue about. From the beginning, Jeff had been clear on how their relationship was going to be—monogamous, hot, passionate, no strings, easily ended whenever the other felt like it.
Never once had they discussed children, much less marriage. She’d told Jeff how she felt about him once, but he hadn’t replied in kind. He’d told her he liked things how they were. Instead of walking away as she should have done—and isn’t hindsight twenty-twenty?—Tori hadn’t pressed, accepting that something was better than nothing. She should have left him long before she had.
Now the writing was on the wall or, more aptly, the lines were on the stick. Tori Adams, who had graduated summa cum laude and who could solve complicated math problems in her head, had blown it. Just as she had been poised to start over, to find someone to spend her life with, the traditional life she wanted—find the guy, get married, have children—she was about to get exactly the opposite. She’d always be tied irrevocably to Jeff. They’d always share a child.
A knock sounded on her outside office door and Tori opened her bathroom door and called out, “Hold on.”
She made sure the remnants of her tests weren’t lying around, washed her hands and closed the door behind her. She gave her office one last glance to make sure nothing was amiss, then double-checked her Friday casual outfit for lint before she greeted her visitor.
Jeff Wright stood in front of her, a wide grin on his face. “Surprise.”
“JEFF,” TORI SAID, her equilibrium rattled. She suddenly felt like the neurotic, guilty man in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” She took a deep breath to calm her nerves; there was no way Jeff could know her secret and she refused to blurt out her news here. “Jeff, what are you doing here? Did we have an appointment?”
Jeff frowned, the grin slipping from his face. “No, we didn’t have an appointment. I didn’t know I needed one. In fact, I’m not really visiting, I just have a fast layover before flying back to St. Louis.”
He closed her office door behind him, the click audible. “I figured I’d pop by, check out the KC office. See how you were doing. We haven’t talked in a while.”
Tori stared at him. “Well, I haven’t seen you since I transferred and I report to Justin now,” Tori said, trying to get a sense of why he was here unexpectedly. This was out of character for him.
Jeff shifted his weight from one foot to the other as if the situation wasn’t going quite the way he’d envisioned. “Everything okay with the job? Still like it?”
Tori nodded, her hair dancing around her chin. “It’s been great. We’ve landed five new accounts and exceeded all of last quarter’s income projections.”
Jeff stuffed his hands into his pockets for a moment. Tori had never really liked wearing heels, and in her flats he was seven inches taller than she was. “I guess I should have asked if everything is okay with you?” he clarified.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Tori asked, forcing herself to relax. She’d tell him about the baby after visiting the doctor, when she would know things such as her due date. Now was not the time.
“No reason.” Jeff raked a hand through his strawberry-colored hair, a habit whenever he was nervous. “I guess I just miss talking to you. Maybe things aren’t okay with me.”
He missed her. She could see it reflected in his eyes. Maybe they had a chance. Maybe…
“I’ve really missed you,” he repeated.
