Summer Kisses (21 page)

She nodded. “It said to make sure the baby is not dressed too warm—not too many blankets or too many layers of clothing.”

“Is your computer still on?”

She nodded again.

“Mind if I use it to look up a few things?”

“It’s on the coffee table in the other room.”

Derrick headed that way and it wasn’t long before Jill walked into the room holding Ryan. “Any luck?”

“It says here that you get the best reading by taking the temperature rectally.”

“I used an ear thermometer.”

“They recommend waiting twenty minutes if the baby has had a bath.”

“Really? It says that?”

“Why, did you give him a bath?”

“Yes, and I don’t have a rectal thermometer.”

“I have one at my place.”

“You did think of everything, didn’t you?”

“The people at the store were really helpful.” He went to the door, telling her he would be right back, which he was in record time. He slid the thermometer from its plastic casing and held it upward in the air. “Have you done this before?”

“No,” Jill said. “The ear thermometer seemed like a better option at the time.”

“I can see your point, but we might as well cover all bases before we panic.” He gestured back toward Ryan’s room. “Shall we?”

She followed him into the baby’s room and placed Ryan on the changing table.

“We have to take off his diaper and then be careful to not insert the thermometer too far in.”

“You go ahead and do it,” Jill said. “I’ll keep him distracted.” Jill proceeded to kiss Ryan’s face and talk to him about all the wonderful things they were going to do together someday.

Derrick didn’t like the thought of not being a part of all that fun. He unfastened the diaper and examined the situation for a minute before he made any attempt to do anything with the thermometer.

“Are you finished?”

“I haven’t even started. Give me a minute.”

“Don’t be surprised if he—”

“Too late. Nasty.”

He ignored the smile on Jill’s face. The thermometer beeped and he quickly removed it. “It’s 99 degrees Fahrenheit, which is okay.”

“Isn’t it supposed to be 98.6?” She handed him a baby wipe.

“If the rectal temperature is 100.4 degrees or higher we have cause to worry. Why don’t we wait and see what the doctor has to say.”

The minutes ticked by as they sat quietly in the main room and waited for the phone to ring. Holding Ryan in his arms, he watched the little guy suck on a bottle of formula. Jill sat in the chair across from his. Her face was pale.

“Try not to worry,” he told her. “There’s nothing we can do until we know what’s wrong, if anything. I have an idea. Why don’t we do what my family does when we try not to get overly worked up about something?”

“What does your family do?”

“We talk about other things.” He watched her twiddle her thumbs in her lap and bite her bottom lip. “Tell me what it was like growing up in New York City.”

“I wouldn’t know where to start.”

“What were you like as a child?”

“I guess you could say I was a people pleaser.”

He arched a questioning brow.

“I would do anything and everything to try and make my parents proud. Not an easy thing to do. It was easier to get their attention by doing something wrong, like leaving fingerprints on the glass table.”

Derrick had wanted to get her mind off of Ryan, but he could see that she was agitated by the memories. His heart went out to her.

“Tell me more about your sister,” he said.

“My father used to call Laura his Mona Lisa, perfect in every way. She always managed to do everything right, which pleased my father to no end. The Laura you met last week was not the same sister I grew up with. She told me she’s joining a band and that she’s the singer.”

“Is she any good?”

“I have no idea. I’ve never heard my sister sing in my life. But I’ve never seen her look so happy either.” She looked thoughtful for a moment before she said, “Those parents of mine, though. The people you met were definitely the real deal.” She curled her feet beneath her.

“Do you think they will ever accept you and your sister for who you are?”

“In their own way, I think they’re trying.” Jill sighed. “In a nutshell, my parents are wealthy, sophisticated, powerful, and well-connected: the crème de la crème of New York society. My mother loves anything that glitters. She also loves money, expensive handbags, and financial scandals.”

“And your father?”

“As you probably noticed, he’s a very serious man who loves his law firm first and my sister second.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I love them and each one of them loves me in their own special way. If it wasn’t for my mother’s love of fabulous cuisine, I never would have developed a taste for Cara cara lacquered chicken breast with watermelon radishes or chilled carrot soup topped with olive oil.”

“Sounds delicious.”

She smiled at his sarcasm.

“For someone who talks about their love of food the way you do,” he added, “you sure don’t eat much.”

“I’ve had the best. I’m picky.”

Ryan stopped sucking on the bottle, prompting Derrick to lift him to his shoulder where he’d already placed a clean towel. He patted Ryan on the back.

“You’re getting good at that.”

“I’m trying.”

“Thanks for helping me out tonight, especially after the way I’ve treated you.”

“I understand why you’d be upset. Maggie never should have brought those papers to the party.”

“Speaking of which…what is the deal with you and Maggie?”

“Like I said before, we’ve been friends for a long time.”

“I can’t be friends with someone who can’t be honest with me.”

“It’s the truth,” he said.

She angled her head. “Are you in denial when it comes to your feelings for Maggie, or do you think everyone around you is blind?”

“What do you mean?”

“Aaron gave you a black eye—obviously it had to do with Maggie. Twice now I’ve seen you look at her with longing and desire. Your feelings for Maggie also explain why a friendly, good-looking guy like yourself is still single.”

“So, you think I’m friendly and good-looking?”

He was definitely in denial, she decided. “I think you have an ego the size of Mount Everest. That’s what I think.”

~~~

Maggie followed Aaron to the closet in the spare bedroom and watched him dig through sleeping bags, extra pillows, and a pile of pending Goodwill donations until he found the duffel bag he was looking for.

She plunked her hands on her hips. “I cannot believe you’re walking out on me.”

“I cannot believe you helped Derrick decorate and then went to Mom’s house knowing Derrick would be there.”

She followed him down the hall and into their bedroom, where he tossed the duffel bag onto their bed. “I helped your brother Garrett decorate, too, when Bailey was born. I told you from the beginning that I was going to help Derrick and that’s what I was doing. That letter from CryoCorp is going to give your brother a chance to have a relationship with his son. That should mean something to you.”

Aaron’s face turned beet red as he stabbed a finger through the air. “This is exactly why I didn’t want to move back to Los Angeles. But you insisted. Because I trusted you and loved you, I went along with it.”

He laughed. “The funniest part of this whole sordid affair is that Derrick’s stupid little vow is beginning to make sense after all. Derrick, the football player who cared more about a stupid ball than homework or grades, turns out to be smarter than all of us. Who woulda thunk?”

Maggie sighed. “What are you talking about?”

“The vow I told you about. Derrick made us all poke our finger with a needle and let a drop of blood fall to the paper where he’d written the vow that we each had to repeat. ‘I will never, under any circumstance, kiss Maggie Monroe, go on a date with Maggie Monroe, or have a relationship with Maggie Monroe for as long as I live because the brotherhood always comes first.’” He held up his pointy finger and said, “‘I, Aaron William Baylor, will never allow a female, more specifically, Maggie Monroe, to come between us and break the bond I have with my brothers.’”

Nervous laughter escaped her, mostly because she couldn’t believe what she was hearing or that Aaron would even bother bringing up the absurd vow at such a horrible time.

“Go ahead and laugh, Maggie. But it’s true. Derrick has loved you since the beginning of time, and he must have known you loved him, too, but he wasn’t willing to jeopardize his relationship with me, so he never went after you. It’s clear to me now. He knew all along what would happen if one of us broke the vow.”

“And what exactly would happen, Aaron?”

“Whoever broke the vow would ultimately have to give up one for the other.”

“Funny,” she said, “the only person I can see choosing one over the other is you.”

Aaron went back to shoving clothes into the duffel bag.

“I don’t love Derrick,” she said as she touched his shoulder and felt his muscles tighten. “I never have. I only love you. I’ve never loved anyone but you. I always thought you knew that.”

He pulled away and disappeared inside the bathroom to collect his toiletries. When he came back, he tossed his things inside the duffel bag with everything else. Then he turned to her and said, “You’re the one who made me choose, Maggie. I asked you not to take on Derrick’s problems, but you insisted.” He tied the bag. “Because of our busy lives, we haven’t had time to go to a movie or dinner, but as soon as Derrick has a problem, you’re suddenly as free as a bird—nothing but time on your hands to meet with him in court and discuss his problems over the phone. You couldn’t say no to him. Even after he kissed you in the courtroom, proving my point, you still couldn’t say no.”

She followed Aaron through the house and to the front door. “He’s your brother. Did you ever stop to think that the Baylor family was my family, too? Did you ever wonder how that made me feel, knowing that all of you signed some silly piece of paper to keep me out of your silly little club? Made a stupid vow to keep me out of your lives?”

Aaron walked out the door.

She followed him to the car. “After your mother left you and your father, who do you think your father was telling all his sorrows to?”

He didn’t look interested as he threw his bag into the trunk of his car.

“It was my mother whose creamy white breasts your father buried his head between and told his woes to.”

Aaron didn’t say a word.

“Once my father learned of the affair and finally had enough, he left without saying good-bye to
me
. I haven’t seen him since. And I wasn’t even the one who betrayed him.”

Aaron finally looked at her, his eyes filled with shock.

“Did any of your brotherhood ever bother to check up on
me
and see that my life was turning to shit while you all bonded together and made blood vows?”

“I didn’t know.”

“Because none of you cared about anyone but yourselves. And through it all, before and after I left for college, I always knew that
you
were the one for me and that you would come for me. And that made everything bad in my life bearable. Because I knew you were the one who knew me best and loved me most.” She crossed her arms. “But you’re right. We never should have moved back to Los Angeles. It’s turned out to be some sort of crazy, stupid test. A test we couldn’t pass. But don’t you worry about me because I don’t need you, Aaron. I’ve been alone for most of my life. I don’t need anyone.”

Jill stepped inside Sandy’s apartment and looked around, stunned by the decorative changes her friend had made in the past few months. Sandy was usually the one coming to her place to cook and do business, especially since she liked to take Lexi to the park afterward. But now that Jill had caught a glimpse of handmade curtains and travertine floors, giving the place a light and airy feel, Jill knew it had been way too long since she’d visited. “I love what you’ve done to the place.”

“Thanks.” Sandy took the diaper bag out of her hands and set it to the side while Jill unbuckled Ryan from his carrier and lifted him into her arms.

“I’m having fun decorating.”

Ryan let out a small cry and Sandy came up close and took a good long look at him. “He looks perfectly fine to me.”

“He is fine. According to Nate it’s normal for babies to get a little warm once in a while. If Ryan’s temperature had gone over 100 degrees then he said I would have needed to bring him in for a closer look.”

“That makes sense.”

“You should have seen Derrick last night. He pretended to be calm as we waited for Nate to return my phone call, but any time Ryan so much as sneezed, the big tough quarterback was overcome with anxiety: pacing the floor and twiddling his fingers.”

“So how did Derrick get involved last night?” Sandy asked. “I thought you were finished with him?”

“I panicked. After Nate failed to return my call, I ran to Derrick’s place to get a second opinion.”

“Who’s Nate?”

“Ryan’s pediatrician, the guy I told you about when we were in the barn.”

“Let me get this straight,” Sandy said. “You ran to Derrick because Ryan had a slight fever?”

“It wasn’t just the fever,” Jill said. “Ryan wasn’t crying as much as he usually does and he slept through his feeding.”

Sandy headed for the kitchen. “I see.”

“According to Nate, he gets calls like mine all of the time.”

Sandy stopped what she was doing and looked Jill square in the eyes. “It sounds to me like you were looking for an excuse to run to Derrick’s place.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Come on, Jill. I saw you and Derrick wrapped in each other’s arms when your parents came to visit and then again when the two of you were doing the do-si-do in the barn. I could have fried an egg on the heat sizzling between the two of you.”

Jill readjusted Ryan onto her shoulder and gently patted his back. “I thought there might be something sizzling between us, too, but after I kissed him in his apartment he backed off and even went so far as to apologize and then seal our friendship with a handshake.”