by June Bowen
Table of Contents
Welcome to Barefoot Bay Kindle World
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Epilogue
Dear Reader,
Text copyright ©2016 by the Author.
This work was made possible by a special license through the Kindle Worlds publishing program and has not necessarily been reviewed by Roxanne St. Claire. All characters, scenes, events, plots and related elements appearing in the original Barefoot Bay remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Roxanne St. Claire, or their affiliates or licensors.
For more information on Kindle Worlds: http://www.amazon.com/kindleworlds
Be My Baby
Barefoot Bay Kindle World
June Bowen
Table of Contents
Welcome to Barefoot Bay Kindle World
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Epilogue
Dear Reader,
Welcome to Barefoot Bay Kindle World, a place for authors to write their own stories set in the tropical paradise that I created! For these books, I have only provided the setting of Mimosa Key and a cast of characters from my popular Barefoot Bay series. That’s it! I haven’t contributed to the plotting, writing, or editing of Be My Baby. This book is entirely the work of author June Bowen, a talented writer I handpicked to write in the world of Barefoot Bay.
A Florida-based writer like me, June has been a friend for many years. In fact, I read the concept for this story and the opening scenes years ago and never forgot the clever concept. I am overjoyed that June brought her cross between “You’ve Got Mail” and “Cinderella” to the shores of Barefoot Bay. Enjoy!
–Roxanne St. Claire
PS. If you’d like to read all of the Barefoot Bay Kindle World novels, or would like to explore the possibility of writing your own book set in my world, stop by www.roxannestclaire.com for details!
Chapter One
Mimosa Key, FL
It’s later than you think! The inscription on Kelly Edwards’ desk clock was the perfect commentary to match the late hour. Seeing the time, Kelly realized that she had once again worked away another Friday night.
“I’ve got to get a life.” Kelly looked back to the computer screen where she had been composing a note to her boss, Rafael Martinez.
“I’ll bet he’s not sitting home,” Kelly told her laptop, knowing that the CEO of Martinez Consulting was a frequent subject in Tampa’s society pages. He was usually pictured with an attractive member of the Bay area’s female A-list. Although she knew Rafe didn’t expect her to work at home, much less on a Friday night, Kelly didn’t feel like being charitable. She felt more comfortable blaming him than taking a look at exactly how shallow her life had become.
Besides, she was still mad at him. He’d made her fall in love with him. She didn’t know when, if ever, she could forgive him for that. Not only was he out of her league in looks, charm, and status, he was a confirmed bachelor. Instead of picking a nice seven plus, she had it in a bad way for a guy who broke the ten-point chart.
Needing to talk but knowing it was too late to call her sister, Kelly opened another email message and started composing a note.
Dear Janie,
I hate to admit it, but you were right. Moving back to Mimosa Key didn’t change anything. Although I’m telecommuting, I still work all the time and my feelings are the same. Don’t get me wrong, I love to be back so close to the beach we grew up with but I still feel stuck. My temporary move into Hibiscus Court apartments has turned into an extended stay.
It’s time to do something different in my life instead of just picking it up and moving it someplace else. For me personally, having a work family is no substitute for one at home.
I know I have you, Jake, and the kids, but you’re so far away. If I moved up there to be closer to you, Jake would likely be transferred again. What I really want is a family of my own. The only problem is that I haven’t had any takers. Men just don’t respond to me like they do to you. What’s more, I’m at a loss for even knowing how to try to make them do so.
Kelly paused. Maybe this wasn’t the best way to introduce this possibility to Janie. But was there a good way to broach this subject? Deciding not, she simply jumped right in.
Because of this, I’ve actually been thinking about having a baby on my own with a little help from a sperm bank.
When Kelly realized she was wincing as she typed the last bit, she laughed self-consciously. Well, at least her computer hadn’t blown up like she believed her sister would.
Now before you go getting riled up, I don’t plan to do anything without a lot more consideration. I know I can be determined and impatient when I get something in my mind, but I promise I realize what a life-altering action this would be. You’ll be glad to know I haven’t even contacted one of these biological-lending institutions. (Although, I guess they aren’t truly lending institutions because they don’t want you to pay back in kind. That’s a good thing!)
I know this isn’t what you would necessarily want for me, but please understand I have a heart full of love to give to someone on a daily basis. I know a two-parent household would be better, but a mother’s love has to count for something.
Well, I guess I had better sign off now so I can finish up my work and go to bed. Don’t worry. I won’t do anything until I’ve talked it over with you. Give the boys a kiss and a pinch!
Before she had a chance to consider deleting the message, Kelly clicked the send button. Finishing her note to Rafe, Kelly had a mental image of Janie reading her email. She smiled. I bet I get a call before she even finishes it.
* * *
Kelly groaned at the persistent ringing that pulled her out of a lovely, deep sleep. She swatted in the general direction of her alarm clock. When the ringing didn’t stop, she came a little closer to consciousness. Why was her alarm going off on a Saturday?
When she realized it was the phone that had been ringing so long, she made a diving grab.
“’lo,” was all she managed to mutter.
“What’s up with this email?”
Kelly groaned. Janie hadn’t even waited until a decent hour before calling.
“Good morning to you, too.”
“Sorry, good morning. So what did you mean by this email?” Janie always did get right down to business.
Kelly fell back on the bed with the receiver clutched to her ear. “I knew you’d be upset when you read that note.”
“Upset? I’m not upset, just a little confused.”
“Confused enough to call at…” Kelly peered over the side of the bed to the clock she had knocked down, “almost 7 a.m. on a Saturday?”
“Oh. Sorry about that. The kids woke me up early. While they were watching cartoons, I thought I’d catch up on my email. So what did you mean by your note?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve not done anything yet. I’m just not happy with my life.”
“Not done what? Why aren’t you happy?”
Kelly frowned. Although she’d expected an inquisition from her sister, these weren’t the questions she’d anticipated.
“Well, I work all the time. I’m lonely. I haven’t had a date in forever. But most of all I want a family. That’s why I came up with the sperm bank idea.”
“WHAT?” Dead silence followed.
“Contact a sperm bank. Didn’t you read my note?” Kelly frowned in confusion.
“I read your note, but
it clearly didn’t say anything about a sperm bank.”
“Mommy, what’s a sperm bank? Do you have an account there?” Kelly heard her five-year-old nephew ask in the background. Great. Even her nephew would know.
“No, Jeremy.” Her sister was choking back laughter.
“Does Daddy?”
“No, honey. Mommy has all his assets tied up. Now go back and watch cartoons.” Her attention immediately returned to Kelly. “Now what is this about an S.B.?”
Frustrated at not seeming to get anywhere in the conversation, Kelly decided to start asking some questions of her own. “What do you think my note said?”
“It was about some employment figures.”
“WHAT?” It was Kelly’s turn to yell into the phone. Adrenaline started pumping into her system at full force.
“Yeah. You sent me a note with employment figures. Did you want me to proofread it for you?”
With a sweaty palm, Kelly clutched at the bottom sheet of the bedding to keep from sliding away with the sinking feeling in her stomach.
Taking a deep breath, sick inside, she grasped at her only hope. “Please tell me there was another note from me in your in basket.”
“That was the only one.”
“If you didn’t get the email in which I bared my soul, then my boss must have. I must have switched them somehow and sent your note to him and his to you. I’ve got to go.” Kelly jumped out of bed.
“But what about the sperm—” Kelly hung up the phone, cutting off the rest of what her sister was saying.
How could I have made such a mistake? She started pacing the room on trembling legs. Think. Think. There’s got to be a way to fix this. It’s the weekend. Maybe he hasn’t read it yet. Maybe I can retrieve it.
With that thought galvanizing her, Kelly powered up her laptop. It seemed to take an eternity. Didn’t it know her dignity was at risk here?
Once the familiar logon screen appeared, Kelly signed in and started her mail program. When she looked at her out basket, it was empty. I knew I should have attended that training class.
Grasping at her last hope, she called her good friend who happened to be the director of Martinez Consulting’s Information Technology department.
“Please be up.” As if someone heard her plea, the ringing stopped.
“Hello?”
“Carol? This is Kelly. I need your help.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I think I’ve sent an email with incredibly personal information to Rafe by mistake.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Well, my sister received an email that I meant to send to him. If he didn’t get the employment figures memo, there was only one other message that I sent out last night. Please, please tell me there is a way I can retrieve it.”
Kelly believed she could hear Carol’s wince over the phone. “The only way to delete it would be to access his in basket. The execs, however, store their email on a separate system that only another executive administrator can get to. Right now, Mike has that capability.”
At the mention of the junior executive’s name, Kelly groaned. There was something about that guy she didn’t trust. He always seemed overly interested in projects he wasn’t assigned to but never seemed to make progress with the ones he was. If she had to choose between Mike and Rafe, she’d choose Rafe. That was saying something!
“Look, Rafe will understand,” Carol consoled. “When he opens the email, he’ll see right away that you didn’t mean to send it to him.”
“You don’t understand. It was a very personal email.”
“Oh.”
“Oh is right.”
“Okay, so you’d have preferred to keep it private, but if you can trust anybody, you can trust Rafe. He would never repeat information like that to anyone.”
Kelly held the receiver away from her ear, looked at it incredulously, and put it back to speak.
“I’m so sure. Remember the typo I had in that presentation? He’s not let me live that down yet.”
Her former friend started laughing at the other end. “You have to admit that was funny. What a Freudian slip!”
“Okay. So I frequently hit the C instead of the S key. If you hadn’t made me do the presentation on the equipment I need, I would never have had to use the term ‘hard disk.’ Besides, if you had made that mistake in front of Ben, you wouldn’t have thought it funny either.” Just as Carol was one of the few people who knew her true feelings for Rafe, Kelly knew about the broken engagement between Carol and the company’s vice president.
“True. But reading someone else’s email is different than a typo. I don’t see why you are so mad at him. He can’t help it that he’s such a hottie.”
“He could try to contain it more.” Kelly knew she was being petty, but it was the only defense she had. “Anyway, back to the problem at hand; you’re sure there’s nothing you can do?”
“Positive. Chin up kid. It won’t be as bad as you think. Trust me.”
“I hope so.”
Kelly hung up, breaking her one and only line of hope. She shuffled back to her bed and fell face first on it. Maybe if she stayed in this position she’d suffocate before Monday.
No, not with my luck, she thought. I’ll probably just end up with permanent sheet creases on my face.
* * *
By 5 p.m. on Monday, Kelly released the proverbial breath she’d been holding. Maybe Carol was right. Maybe when he read her salutation, he’d known it wasn’t meant for him. But it did seem like he’d have sent it back to her to let her know about the mix-up. She’d sent him the employment figures note on Sunday after realizing she had forgotten it in all the anxiety. The chimes of an incoming video call interrupted her thoughts. It was Rafe.
Kelly didn’t accept the call immediately. Maybe she could put him off for, oh, sixty years. Surely by the time she was ninety she wouldn’t care what he thought, even if she were still alive. She quickly rejected the idea. Even at ninety, she’d still care.
She couldn’t imagine spending another night worrying about this. She was going to get this over with and get it over with now. She rubbed her sweaty palms on her pants and clicked to accept the call.
Even the dread of facing Rafe couldn’t stop her from appreciating the sight of him when his image appeared. The office light danced off his dark hair. Its short cut couldn’t stop the natural wave. Without his jacket, she could see his broad shoulders. Well, she had to admit that she couldn’t have picked a better specimen to have an ongoing, unrequited love affair with.
Taking a deep breath, Kelly stopped the circus going on in her head and answered his greeting. “I’m doing well. What can I help you with?”
“Well, I’ve got some bad news.” Kelly stopped breathing as Rafe continued. “It seems we’ve infected your laptop with a virus that has made its way into our network.”
“A virus?”
“Fortunately, it’s not a destructive one, just a nuisance. When you send an email, instead of mailing it to the person you’ve indicated, it selects another email address from your electronic address book.”
“So that’s what happened! I knew I couldn’t have been so careless.” Kelly immediately felt a wave of relief. Over the weekend, she also realized that it might appear that she was careless with company information. Now that she knew she wasn’t at fault, she felt quite a bit more comfortable.
“You must have picked up the virus from a file here. Please accept my apologies for any damage. Carol will be sending you an application to install and instructions on cleaning up your system.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it. If that’s all…” Kelly tried to end the conversation.
“No, it’s not. I also owe you another apology.”
Kelly’s heart stopped. This was it. “Why?”
“I read a very personal note even after I realized it wasn’t for me.”
Chapter Two
Kelly thought she would surely die. But when a long tunnel with a
brilliant white light at the end didn’t appear, beckoning her to the other side, she knew she was going to have to face this.
“Why?” The simple question was all she could manage.
“When I saw the note from you, I assumed it contained the employment figures I’d been expecting. I even read past the greeting to the first sentence before I realized what I was reading.”
“Why didn’t you stop then?”
“It first caught my attention because I was afraid that you were thinking of leaving the company. I’d hate to lose you.”
“So did you stop when you realized that I was talking about a more personal change?”
“I’d like to say yes, but I don’t want to lie to you. When you started talking about having a child on your own, I was…”
When Rafe paused, Kelly couldn’t help guessing at his next words. Cracked up. Doubled over with laughter.
“…well, I was intrigued.”
“Intrigued?” She never would have guessed that one in a million years.
“Yeah. You’ve always struck me as rather conservative. I found your willingness to look into alternatives rather intriguing. I know that’s not an excuse, but I couldn’t seem to help myself.”
Rafe gave her that “golly-gee-ma’am” look he used when he wanted to charm a woman. Even though she knew what was coming, the look was having its intended results. Jeesh, she had to toughen up when it came to this man.
Well, the worst had happened but it hadn’t been that bad. Kelly, however, wasn’t ready to let him off the hook. No. It was payback time.
“Nothing funny?”
“No,” he replied, looking shocked.
“Intrigued, huh? Nice try. What did you do? Did you post it on the men’s room wall?”
“No.”
“Company’s intranet site?”
“No.”
“Email loop?”
“Of course not. Don’t be—”
“Share it with your buddies?”
“No.”