Be My Baby (24 page)

He said that he and Tonya would check his
calendar to see what could be rescheduled or offloaded. We targeted
the week after Thanksgiving. I was thrilled that we were finally
going to have a week together alone.

We discussed our Thanksgiving plans which
would take us to Bristol this year. I felt better knowing that Gina
would be coming with Tristan and Reese. We would get to see Tess
and Nigel's baby. They had named their son Royce Nigel Sinclair. It
sounded very British to me.

I brought the subject of Amber's jacket to
Trey. I saw his expression darken at the mention of her name.

"Oh yes," he said in a very irritated tone,
"She was right over in my office first thing this morning asking
about it. She made sure that Tonya heard her mention it being left
in my car. I do not understand why she is so conniving where I am
concerned."

"Maybe she has some sort of fatal
attraction, Trey."

"Oh come on, Tylar."

"I'm serious," I replied, "I think she
somehow thinks you're interested in her."

I could tell that Trey was concerned about
her prior to what I had just mentioned.

"What is it?"

He looked over at me trying to lose the
concerned expression but he didn't quite make it.

"It's nothing," he replied with a shrug.

"Trey it has to be something. I can read you
too, you know?"

"She made an off-handed comment today when
she came to get the jacket. It was something to the effect that I
might find it difficult for my partners to believe she hadn't been
sexually harassed."

"Oh God, Trey; she threatened you."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Well, what are you going to do about
it?"

"I haven't decided yet, Tylar. The bottom
line is that I should never have kissed her."

"She kissed you first. I am a witness to
that."

"Yes and had I left it at that this wouldn't
be an issue but I didn't, so it is. You were also a witness to
that."

He was angry with himself now I could tell.
He raked his hands through his hair in frustration.

"She doesn't have anything that she could
take to court though. I mean she hasn't suffered any damages,
right?"

"It wouldn't have to even go that far," he
replied, "The fact that I am a senior partner and she is the only
female partner on staff provides her with a 'hostile environment'
argument with the other partners. They may choose to see me as a
liability for the firm."

I could not believe what I was hearing. Trey
was genuinely concerned about being removed from his firm.

"Wait a minute Trey; they can't kick you out
of the firm can they? As a senior partner you hold part ownership
right?"

"They can certainly buy my share from me and
have me removed by a vote. Listen, I don't want you to worry about
that okay? It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for me
anyway."

I knew better. Practicing law in a
prestigious firm was Trey's dream. I couldn't imagine him doing
anything else.

"Well let's not worry about it now," I said,
"I think she will probably move on to someone else."

"We can only hope," he replied, pulling me
close.

Trey and I made love that night over and
over again. We fell asleep curled around each other. Our sleep was
interrupted around 2:30 in the morning when our landline in the
bedroom rang. I was closest to the phone so I jumped up in the dark
trying to grab it from my nightstand. My pulse was racing. Calls
during the night could only mean bad news.

"Hello?" I said into the phone. My voice had
a panicky edge to it. There was nothing on the other end.

"Hello?"

Just then I heard a female voice whisper
huskily, "Sorry - wrong number." It was followed by a click.

"Who is it?" Trey asked from beside me.

"Wrong number," I replied replacing the
phone on its charger on my nightstand.

I lay awake for awhile contemplating the
call. It was no wrong number. It was Amber trying to make trouble.
In the morning I checked the call i.d. log on the phone. The call
had come in from a 'Blocked' number. I had figured as much.

I decided it was a pretty lame attempt to
rattle me. I wondered what she would pull next. Perhaps she would
call and have a pizza sent to our home that we didn’t order? Her
actions were fairly sophomoric up to this point. I wasn't overly
concerned.

CHAPTER 18

Trey, Preston and I were all packed and
ready for our flight to Bristol for the Thanksgiving holidays with
the Sinclair extended family. We knew that we would see Landon and
Caroline since the Andrews family was part of the extended family.
They lived close now anyway.

Susan and I had chatted on the phone several
days previously. She had insisted that I call my father and invite
him to Bristol as well. She said she wouldn't hear of Preston's
other granddaddy not being able to spend the holidays with her. She
mentioned that her niece Brenda Brooks from Birmingham, Alabama was
coming up to spend a couple of weeks with them before and after
Thanksgiving. She said poor Brenda had been widowed nearly a year
ago. Brenda was her sister's only daughter and her sister and
brother-in-law were traveling for the holiday season. She hadn't
wanted Brenda to be alone.

"So Mom," I had asked tentatively, "Tell me
about Royce."

"Oh," she had gushed, "He is such a
beautiful baby boy. I can't decide who is prettier, Reese or Royce
so I am going to settle for them being equally beautiful."

She had successfully managed to side-step
the obvious issue at hand. I had recalled Susan telling me once
that a mother never forgets what each of her babies look like when
they are born. She had also admitted that when Trey had been born
he had reminded her of Tristan. I was hoping that she might provide
some insight having seen Royce right after his birth as to whom he
favored between her two sons.

"Well, who does he favor?" I had
pressed.

"Honey," she had sighed into the phone, "I
know what you're asking but it is just difficult to tell because he
has Tess's brown hair which is nearly as dark as the boys' hair.
The baby has blue eyes which is typical of all babies at this
point. I just can't tell. Wasn’t that the whole point of this?"

"I suppose so," I had replied,
disappointed.

"How have you been, Tylar?" she had
asked.

"I am doing better. Trey and I are doing
better," I had admitted.

"I am so very happy to hear that. Now you
call your father and invite him. Promise?"

"I promise," I had replied laughing.

I was surprised when my father had
graciously accepted the invitation to fly to Bristol for
Thanksgiving. I was glad that he was doing so. He was scheduled to
arrive late afternoon on Wednesday. He had booked a room at the
Marriott despite the fact that Susan had said there was plenty of
room for him at their estate.

There was a limo waiting to take us to
Bristol once our flight had landed at Tri-Cities Regional Airport.
The weather in Bristol was a bit chillier than what we had left in
Atlanta.

Preston had been a great traveler so far.
She had used the potty on the airplane, to my surprise. I had
always been a bit terrified of airplane toilets myself.

Once we were settled in the limo she curled
up and fell asleep in Trey's lap. She had her thumb in her mouth.
She did that a lot when she slept; not so much during her waking
hours unless she was upset by something. She hadn't done that
lately. She sensed that the previous stress and tension between
Trey and I had dissipated.

I had met with Karla the prior week for my
counseling session. The next appointment was scheduled for the
Monday after we returned from our cruise. It would be both Trey and
me at that appointment.

"Are you okay, Tylar?" Trey asked studying
me while he stroked Preston's hair gently.

"Yes," I smiled at him, "I'm just looking
forward to next week when we leave for our cruise."

"Me too, baby. Tonya spent the better part
of the week rearranging my schedule where possible; getting other
attorneys in the firm to handle some of the depositions and court
appearances where schedules couldn't be changed."

"Trey, it will be so good for you and I to
have this time for each other with no interruptions or
distractions."

"I can hardly wait to get you alone in our
cabin on that cruise ship, Mrs. Sinclair."

He gave me one of his devilish grins.

"Trey, you know that there are a lot of
activities on that ship. We can do what you have in mind in our own
room at home," I said laughing, shaking my head.

When the limo pulled up in front of the
manor, Susan and Clive were immediately out the door waiting for us
on the front porch. Susan squealed with delight as Trey handed
Preston over to her. The baby was just awakening from her nap but
recognized her grandma right away.

"She has grown leaps and bounds since
Grandma last saw her," Susan wailed, holding her out so that she
could have a full view.

"Mom, it's only been several weeks," Trey
responded, giving her a hug and then moving over to give Clive a
pat on the back.

"Gamma," Preston said presenting Susan with
her dimpled smile.

Clive came over and hugged me as Susan was
chatting away with Preston, telling her about her new cousin,
Royce. She handed the baby over to Clive so that she could greet
me. She put her arms around me hugging me tightly.

"I'm so glad you are here, my darling
Tylar," she said.

"Me too, Mom."

We got settled into our suite. I noticed
that Preston's bed was back in our suite. I tiptoed down the
hallway to the other wing and peered inside of Clive and Susan's
suite. Another baby crib was located there. The suite next to ours
had yet another crib. Evidently, that was the suite where Tristan,
Gina and Reese would be staying. Apparently Susan wanted Royce in
with them. I tried not to feel jealous about it; after all, both
Reese and Preston were just a little bit more than an hour's flight
away. Royce was clear across the country.

Trey was hauling our luggage into our suite
when I came back in.

"Where were you?" he asked.

"Just looking around," I replied.

"What time are Tristan and Gina getting
in?"

"They're driving - it will be later this
evening. Nigel and Tess are already here I guess. They took Royce
over to spend the day with Tess's family. Royce is their first
grandchild since Landon and Caroline haven't blessed them just
yet."

I stretched out across the bed pulling a
pillow to me.

"I can certainly see that this Thanksgiving
is going to be all about Royce," I commented resting my face on the
pillow.

"Come on Tylar. You know Mom and Dad are
crazy about all of their grandchildren. Preston is still their only
grand-daughter, and the first to boot. If anything, it will be
Reese and Royce that have to compete for attention."

"Doubtful," I replied, shrugging.

Trey sat down next to me on the bed. He was
studying me carefully.

"Are you seriously thinking my parents would
play favorites?"

"I guess not," I sighed. "I don't know why
I'm so out of sorts about this. I'd say it was sibling rivalry
except I don't have any siblings so there is no point of
reference."

"Sweetie," he said stretching out next to
me, "I think it is exactly one of those things you mentioned when
we discussed our loss. It is a family gathering for the holidays. A
family member is missing."

I looked over at Trey. He was right, of
course. I was feeling the loss right now. He pulled me close to
him. He stroked my hair gently.

"We'll get through it, Tylar. It won't
always hurt this much."

"I know, Trey."

Trey's Blackberry chimed in his pocket.

"It's your dad," he said answering it.

Dad was at his hotel and wondered what plans
Trey and I had for this evening. We invited him to eat with us at
Morelli's. Tristan and Gina arrived by four o'clock that afternoon.
They were going to join us at Morelli's. Gina was dying to meet my
father. Nigel and Tess wouldn't be back until later in the evening.
Clive had driven to the airport to pick up Susan's niece Brenda.
Susan had insisted she would watch Preston and Reese while we
joined my father for dinner.

Gina came to our suite as I was getting
dressed for dinner. Trey and Tristan were downstairs.

"So Ty, have you seen Royce yet?"

"No. Nigel, Tess and the baby have been over
at her parent's house all day. I tried to get Susan to open up when
I talked to her on the phone last week as to what her thoughts were
on the subject."

"And?"

"And she says she doesn't have a clue. She
said she absolutely cannot tell if he is Tristan's or Trey's and
that was the whole point of this anyway."

"Yeah, Tristan has already warned me to let
it go. It just is weird, you know?"

"Uhh … Yeah," I said. "But hey, let's not
let it ruin the holiday okay? I've already kind of got the
blues."

"I know, girlfriend," Gina said. "I kind of
thought that you would."

"Hey listen," she said, lowering her voice
as if someone might be eavesdropping, "I did kind of find out a
juicy tidbit from Tristan."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah - it seems that this cousin of Tristan
and Trey's - what the hell is her name?"

"Brenda?"

"Yeah, Brenda - it seems that Susan is doing
a little matchmaking. She is just a few years younger than your dad
and is a widow. From what Tristan said, she is quite an attractive
widow."

"What?"

"Yep. I think Susan is trying to hook your
dad up. Kinda cute, isn't it?"