Close to Her Heart (18 page)

Eight days into the holiday the weather went from pleasant and mostly sunny to hot. Eliot’s body was dry almost immediately after his morning swim. He came up from the beach to find Dani at the outdoor table, where a thermos of coffee and stack of toast was waiting for him.

“You shouldn’t have gone to all this trouble.”

“Toast and coffee isn’t trouble. Your swim must have been nice. It’s already so hot out.” She lifted her hair off her neck, then fasted a band around it to make a ponytail. He hadn’t seen her wear make-up once this trip, but she had the sort of creamy skin that didn’t need it. A few freckles had popped up along the bridge of her nose.

Cute.

They took turns sharing bits of morning news from their iPads as they munched their way through the plate of toast. He noticed she ate hers with the sour cherry jam they’d purchased at the local Farmer’s Market.

At quarter to ten, she shut down the iPad. “I’m done. It’s too hot here, even under the umbrella. I’m going to take my book to the porch and read for a while.”

“You could go for a swim to cool down.” He hadn’t seen her in a bathing suit yet, and had to admit he was curious.

“Maybe later.”

Though he was making an effort to unplug from the office for the two weeks, Eliot decided to check in with Paige and see how things were going. He went into the house to make the call, planting himself in front of the windows overlooking the ocean. Hell of a view. He ought to get out here more often.

“Morning Eliot. How’s the holiday going?”

He thought of the ugly first day, having to turn Miriam down when she’d come on to him on the beach. Then later, when she’d tried to slip naked into his bed, he’d had to physically push her away, at which point she’d stolen his keys and told him to go to hell.

“Rocky start, but it’s good now. How are things there?”

She gave him a quick update on his files, sounding as organized as if she’d been expecting him to call. And probably she had, he realized.

“That sounds fine. I won’t check in again until I’m back at work next Monday. Call me if something urgent comes up.”

“Will do. Oh—I almost forgot. We did get a call from Lizbeth Greenway yesterday. She wants to proceed with her divorce.”

He wasn’t surprised, but he couldn’t help also feeling a little sad. “Set her up in a meeting with Katherine or Gerald. Whoever has time. Did she mention how she’s doing with the new baby?”

“They’re both fine. She’s still living with her sister. Or is it cousin? Apparently Nick has only seen the baby once.”

“Well. That says everything, I guess.”

“It was sweet of you to try to help them.”

“Obviously I should stick to the law from now on.”

Paige just laughed. She knew him too well.

Eliot went for another swim after that. He thought he knew why the Greenway case got to him so much. Every time he thought of Lizbeth, he couldn’t help being reminded of Dani. She was being so brave about this whole pregnancy and single motherhood thing. But sometimes she had to be scared. He sure as hell would be.

Eliot dove into the water, then flipped over to float on his back. The buoyant ocean water soothed his over-heated skin and he stayed out for at least twenty minutes enjoying the moment, the blue of the sky above, his body moving with the gentle waves. When he flipped over to swim to shore, he noticed Dani on the deck, pulling her oversized T-shirt over her head.

Underneath she was wearing a tiny bikini that showed off her long-legged, pregnant body to perfection. As she started toward the water, he couldn’t help noticing that the triangle patches of her top barely covered a third of her generous breasts. And her belly—the size of a basketball, he’d guess—sat nicely above the small swath of her bikini bottoms.

He stood up in water that hit him at the waist, thinking it would be good to keep the lower half of his body cool.

He’d never expected to get turned on by the sight of a pregnant woman in a bathing suit. But Dani—she looked fabulous.

“It got too hot, even on the porch,” she explained as she began to wade into the water. “Oh, man, this feels good.”

“That it does.” He waited for her to reach him, then suggested they swim out to the buoy marking the far end of the cove, keeping boaters from venturing too near the rocky shore. It wasn’t far, just about thirty yards. Last summer, he and Dani had swum the distance many times.

“Sure,” she agreed, striking out with her crawl and leaving him to follow.

After the swim, they headed into shore together.

“That was just what I needed.” Dani paused to shake water out of her ear. “My body feels so weightless in the ocean. I love it.”

She was within arm’s reach and Eliot had to make an effort not to reach out and touch her. Better yet, kiss her. Water glistened on the ends of her eyelashes, her cheeks, her lips. He wanted to taste—knew she’d be cool and sweet—

But instead, he turned and focused on the shore.

He’d lost one friend this trip already. He wouldn’t be a fool and lose the one who really mattered.

*

Dani was having such a nice time that she agreed when Eliot suggested extending their holiday a few days. The weather had remained hot and she had no urge to do anything but read on the porch, float in the ocean, and enjoy the cooler evenings out on the deck with Eliot.

But the morning of their fifteenth day, she woke with a dull pain in her lower back that worried her. She went on line to confirm that this could be a sign that she was going into labor, two weeks early.

She waited until Eliot had finished his morning swim and breakfast before admitting what was happening “Would you mind driving me back to the city?”

“Of course, not. But are you sure you’ll be okay for the drive? Maybe I should call an ambulance?”

“Oh, no. I’ll be fine. To be on the safe side though, I’d like to see my doctor.”

“I’m on it.” Eliot couldn’t have been more concerned if he was the father of the baby. Quickly he threw his things together, then helped her pack, too.

Looking around, she felt guilty about the mess they were leaving behind. “Shouldn’t we put away the umbrella and the outdoor cushions, at least?”

“It’s just not that important. You can call the property management company for me once we’re on the road. They’ll take care of everything.”

When Eliot said things like that, Dani became aware of the gulf between the worlds they’d been born to. His father was a successful businessman, with family money, well-placed socially. While Dani’s mother had been considered high society in Marietta, Montana, Dani didn’t think too many people from Seattle would be impressed with the Bramble name or legacy. As for her father, Hawksley Carrigan was a simple, hard-working ranching man. He didn’t hire people to solve his problems. He fixed them himself.

But Dani had to admit she was relieved Eliot rushed her back to the city so quickly. The drive didn’t help her back pains and by the time he dropped her off at the front door of the clinic, she was positive that even though her due date was two weeks away, the baby was coming that night.

It didn’t though.

After a though exam, Gwen sent her home with instructions to take things easy, eat frequent, healthy snacks rather than large meals, and get lots of sleep. Eliot had stayed with her throughout the two-hours at the clinic and insisted on carrying her suitcase and book bag, not only to her condo door, but right into her bedroom. He even checked her fridge and after pronouncing it pathetic, left and then returned an hour later with three bags of healthy groceries.

“You going to be okay, now?”

“I’ll be great. Thanks so much. For everything.”

“Sure.” He lingered at the door. “Turned out okay in the end, didn’t it?”

She nodded slowly. More than okay. In fact, it felt odd to say goodbye to him when they’d spent so much time together over the past while. When Eliot leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, she had a strong urge to put her arms around him and pull him close.

Ridiculous. Thank God Eliot couldn’t read her mind.

When he was gone, Dani checked her plants, relieved to see that they hadn’t suffered any setbacks while she was away. She dropped over to thank Mr. Boswell, giving him a package of maple walnut fudge she’d purchased at the Farmer’s Market.

A few phone messages had accumulated during the twelve days she’d been away. One from Mattie, the other from Sage. Dutifully Dani returned them both, secretly relieved when she had to leave messages for both of them.

Soon the fall session would start at the University and Portia would be back in Seattle. Dani wondered if her niece had been able to keep her secret. Perhaps she hadn’t—and that was why Mattie had tried to call her?

But no. An hour later, after Dani had eaten a bowl of the lentil soup Eliot had bought for her, Mattie called back. She was full of news about Bishop Stables and the termination of her marriage to Wes. On the plus side, she’d enjoyed having the twins home from college for the summer, and there was a vague mention of a new man in her life. She didn’t grill Dani at all. So Portia must have kept her word.

For her part Dani shared news of her vacation, but felt guiltily aware of all that was going unsaid on her part. She hoped her sisters would understand once they found out about the baby. Surely they’d be too happy to hold any grudges. Everything would be fine—as long as her baby was okay.

Sage called next. Dani might have found it harder to keep her secret from the sister she felt closest to, only Sage was full of details about her upcoming wedding. “I’m nervous about Dawson’s mother coming.” Patricia Dawson had been married either six or eight times—Dani couldn’t remember which—and had dragged poor Dawson all over the country when he was growing up.

“Hopefully, she won’t stay long. When is the wedding, again?”

“Second Saturday in October. Right after Homecoming. You don’t have your ticket booked yet?”

Her baby would be about a month by then. Would they be ready to travel? They’d have to be, Dani realized. “I’ll book today.”

*

Dani decided she needed a good night’s sleep before talking to Miriam. But early the next morning her conscience insisted that she head over to her friend’s place right after breakfast. Though she knocked several times, Miriam never answered.

She tried calling next, then texting, and finally sent a message via Facebook.

Finally, around noon, she received a terse response from Miriam.

“In Vancouver visiting my parents. Not sure when I’ll be back. May put condo up for sale. Good luck with baby.”

Wow.

Was that it? Did Miriam intend to end their two-year friendship with a terse three sentences on Facebook?

“Want to talk?” she messaged back.

Miriam’s “No,” hit the screen less than five seconds later.

Dani knew she couldn’t leave things there. But she’d give Miriam a few more days to cool down before trying to contact her again. It was now time to deal with Adrian.

She hadn’t thought of him as much on her holiday as she’d expected to. But now as she contemplated seeing him again her stomach felt fizzy with nerves and anticipation.

She warned herself not to get her hopes up. And she wouldn’t let him control the situation, either. If he wanted to see her, this time it would be on her terms.

Just before dinner seemed like the safest time to pay him a visit. She couldn’t do much about her clothes—she only had the two sundresses that fit her now—but she did take the time to wash and style her hair, and put on eye-liner, mascara and lip-gloss.

While she’d been to his house before, she took the precaution of checking Google maps before driving to his address. The house was charming, English Tudor with ivy growing attractively around the solid wood front door. She dried her damp-with-sweat left hand on the side of her dress before pressing the doorbell.

Expecting Adrian—or possibly his daughter—she was taken aback when a beautiful blonde woman with startling blue eyes opened the door.

“Yes?” The hint of a Swedish accent in the woman’s voice helped Dani fill in the blanks.

“You’re Olga? The nanny?”