by Katie Dowe
He was thirty-four years old and had never given the idea of having a family any much thought, content to be there for his brothers’ children. Now she had him thinking about it!
******
He did not contact her. All through the rest of December and January, she did not hear from him. She only saw his pictures in the papers attending one function or the other. She told herself she did not care until she noticed that her period had not come for January and she had been turned off from her own fried chicken. Whenever she was asked by a reporter or a talk show host how she managed to stay so slim after eating her succulent chicken and potato salad, she had smiled and told them that she ate in moderation but that was not true. She had had to force herself to stay away from the stuff because when she had started achieving success with her restaurants she had used the friend chicken and potato salad as crutches. It had started when she was still living with her dad and being physically abused by him. He would slap her around and she would go into the tiny kitchen to whip something up and then she would sit there eating until her troubles were no longer bothering her. When Duncan had run off with her hard-earned money, she had done that again, eating until she was so full she would have to go to the bathroom to throw up! She had decided that she would never do that again. She was at the office and had just taken a whiff of the lunch her secretary had brought for her when her stomach revolted! She had thought nothing of it at first, not even remembering that she was on a mission to get pregnant until it had happened again the very next day. She had gone straight out to buy some home pregnancy tests and the results were positive.
Kelsey stared at herself in her bathroom mirror dazedly. She was going to have a baby! She was going to make sure before she started celebrating. First, she needed advice from someone. She went into her office and made a call. “Kane, hi.”
“Kelsey, how are you?”
“I am good. I saw where you guys cut the ribbons for yet another of your fantastic restaurants. Congratulations.”
“Thank you. Have you given any thought to packaging your chicken and displaying it in our supermarkets?”
“I have been thinking about it, but I will let you know. Is Kelly around?”
“She is in her office. I will connect you.”
“Are you finally taking up my offer to come and have lunch with us girls?” Kelly asked as soon as she came on the line.
“You know how I feel about too many women around,” Kelsey told her dryly. “I have something to ask you.”
“Go ahead, honey.”
“I think I am pregnant, but I want to make sure.”
There was silence on the other end for a moment. “Dennis?”
“I cannot tell you just yet. I am going to need to go to someone who is discreet.”
“Doctor Whittingham,” Kelly said immediately. “Want me to call him?”
“Would you?” Kelsey said gratefully. “I want to make sure before I inform the father.”
“Honey, do you know what you are doing?”
“I have no idea.” Kelsey laughed shakily. “But I want this child.”
Chapter 7
She was pregnant! Going on four weeks, the good doctor had told her. Now she had to tell Nicholas. Her baby would be born in the first week of September according to her examination. She was seeing the nursery design in her mind and could not stop the excitement from creeping into her. She reached for her phone to call him and stopped remembering that she did not have his mobile phone number. She sat there thinking a minute before she searched for the name of his company and found the number before dialing. “This is Kelsey Jordan. Could you put me through to Nicholas Peterson’s office?”
“Right away, Ms. Jordan,” the smooth professional voice said to her.
She waited, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel of her car while soft and relaxing music played in her ear. “Ms. Jordan, this is Nicholas’ secretary. My name is Sonia. I am afraid he is in a closed door meeting with the members of the board. Is there something I can help you with?”
“I am afraid not. Just ask him to call me, please. It is important.”
She put away the phone and pulled out of the driveway, a wide smile on her face!
*******
“You want to tell me why we have to call a board meeting to discuss spoilage?” Nicholas asked his brother coldly. He had dismissed the board as soon as he had heard what the problem was and sat there staring at both his brothers.
“They need to know!” Graham said tightly. “It is not just a matter of the fruits and vegetables going bad, but in every state it is being reported that we are becoming less than reliable.” He got to his feet and shoved his hands into his pockets. “The apples.” He started ticking them off on his fingers. “The pears, the strawberries, the blueberries, and the lettuce and avocado are being delivered short. It has to be one thing: we are being sabotaged.”
“By whom?” Nicholas looked at them both narrowly. He was aware that they refused to work alongside him. David was not bad, but he was weak and was being manipulated by Graham.
“Don’t look at us!” Graham said quickly. “As much as I think that Dad made a bad judgment call, I would not go as far as sabotaging the company.”
“What has your investigation turned up?” His gaze swung to David, who cringed a little as the attention was turned to him.
“We are still investigating,” he said quietly.
“In the meantime, we are losing money and if it continues, we are going to be losing clients,” Graham told him grimly.
“I don’t need to hear the obvious, Graham. I just need to find the source of all this,” Nicholas told him grimly. He reached for the button on the intercom. “Sonia, I need a list of our competitors pronto.”
“Already on your desk, Nicholas.”
Thanks.” He depressed the button. “That woman deserves a raise.”
It was almost 10 p.m. when he stumbled into his apartment. It had been found out that their biggest competitor, Marley’s Fruits and Vegetables, had planted their workers inside to create havoc and give them leeway to take over from Peterson’s. Nicholas had spent the time along with his brothers dealing with the problem and sorting it out. For the first time, they had worked together in harmony to get the business sorted out! Nicholas had found out what it felt like to actually work with them and not having to fight, but it had been short lived as before Graham had left he had told Nicholas that he was lucky this time. “Next time it might be worse.”
He took off his jacket wearily and felt the paper inside the pocket. He took it out and stared at the number scribbled there and the name. Kelsey! His secretary had told him about her call, but he had been so caught up with the situation he had been distracted. He took his phone out and dialed the number.
“Hello?” Her voice was husky with sleep and the image of her in bed in some thin nightwear made him instantly hard.
“I had a crisis to deal with earlier so I did not get to return your call. It’s Nicholas.”
She was wide awake now! “No problem. I had something to deal with myself. It is a good thing it took only one try for us. I have not spoken to you since you stormed out of my apartment in December.”
“The conversation was a bit unsettling,” he told her dryly.
“I am pregnant.”
He was silent for so long that if Kelsey did not hear that the line was open she would have sworn that he had hung up on her. “You confirmed it?”
“Yep. You are going to be a daddy and I am going to be a mama,” she said flippantly.
“So, you got your wish.”
“Of course. My next appointment will be February third. You can show up if you want.”
“Are you sure you need me anymore?” he asked her heatedly, disgusted by the entire situation.
“Of course I do. I am still hoping that now that the pregnancy part has been dealt with, we could have some pleasure and then there will be our child to think about.”
“Wha
t do you expect me to tell the family, Kelsey? Hey guys, guess what? I had sex with Kelsey Jordan and we are now going to have a child. The press is going to have a field day with this,” he said grimly.
“It’s none of their business,” she said firmly. “We are two consenting adults who decided to have a child together and that’s it.”
“Just like that?”
“Exactly like that,” she told him. “Look, I am going to go and get some sleep. I had a bad moment today with nausea and a little dizziness and I have a very early meeting tomorrow. How about we meet for lunch and discuss this some more?”
“Okay.”
“Goodnight, Daddy,” she said softly and hung up.
******
He found an appropriate time to tell them. He still did not know how he felt about the whole situation, but the fact was that she was carrying his child and he was going to be a father! They had had lunch with both of their phones going off every few minutes making it impossible for them to carry out a full conversation. They had decided to have dinner at her apartment when she got back from her trip to Japan in a week.
He had not gone to a family dinner in some time, but he guessed now was the best time to go. It was nearing the end of January and the weather had dumped several inches of snow on them. He made his way on the wet road way slowly, his thoughts far away. He was caught in an unusual situation and it had him wondering. Ever since that night when he had stormed out as she put it, he had not been with her. He knew that having dinner at her apartment meant that they were going to be at each other before the evening was finished. That was the chemistry between them and it could not be ignored. He admired her grit and gut. It certainly took a very strong woman to stay in business the way she had. He had done nothing to earn the wealth he had become so accustomed to! He had started reading up on her again and had shaken his head at the enormous obstacles she had overcome. No wonder she was so aloof and detached. She had been beaten by a drunken father and robbed by the man she had been in love with! Was she still in love with him, he wondered idly as he pressed the remote in his car to open the gate. The snow had been cleaned away from the sweeping driveway but some was still settled on the slightly swaying palm trees and the fichus along the perimeter fencing. The manor stood stately and tall, stretching towards the sky. Nicholas wondered if it was prudent for his parents to keep the huge place considering that all three of their children had moved to their own places. He grew up here, he thought with a smile. He remembered days of running around in the wooded area behind the manor and playing hide and go seek with his brothers. Wading in the stream a few miles out and pretending to be pirates. The tree house that had been professionally built that his nephews still played inside whenever they came to visit and the basketball and tennis courts that he had trounced his brothers on so many times. No wonder they could not sell the place. Too many memories. And in years to come, it would be his son or daughter running across the manicured lawn and climbing the trees. A smile was on handsome face as he handed the keys to John, the butler. His brothers and their wives were already there along with Luke and Liam and Maurice. His parents had come back from the cruise refreshed and revitalized and looking relaxed.
“Hi, Uncle Nicholas,” Maurice said quietly from his position on one of the living room sofas. He looked like his father and was too serious for his age. He was a gifted child who was determined to go into medicine even though his father wanted him to follow the family tradition of going into business.
“Uncle Nicholas!” both Liam and Luke cried out, coming to launch themselves at him.
“You are getting too big for this now, guys,” he told them as he wrapped his hands around their necks in a playful chokehold. He greeted the other members, giving his sisters-in-law quick pecks on the cheeks while nodding to his brothers coolly.
“I heard about the crisis diverted recently,” his father said with a warm smile.
“We are not going to discuss business tonight,” his mother said firmly as she wrapped her arms around her youngest son. “We don’t get to meet together like this very often, so let us enjoy the time as a family.”
He waited until they had finished dinner and the boys had gone upstairs in the theatre room to watch a movie before he brought up the subject. “I have news,” he began.
They turned their heads to stare at him and he continued. “I have been kind of seeing someone.”
“Darling, that’s great!” his mother exclaimed. “Who is she?”
“Kelsey Jordan. And she is pregnant.”
Nicholas shifted uncomfortably as they stared at him. It was his father who broke the silence. “We had no idea you were in a relationship, son, let alone getting her pregnant.”
“It just happened,” he lied smoothly, lifting his glass of wine to his lips.
“So, when are you getting married?” Linda asked him.
He drank down the wine before answering. “There is not going to be a wedding,” he said abruptly.
“Nicholas Antoine Peterson, you got her pregnant and are refusing to marry her?” His mother stared at him sternly. One look from her had always caused him to squirm, and even though he was almost thirty-five years old, it did not make a difference!
“She does not want to get married, Mother!” he bit out, his hand gripping the wine glass as he realized how true that was!
“Nonsense!” she retorted. “What woman wants to have the task of dealing with a child all by herself?”
“I will be there for her every step of the way.”
“Is this something you wanted?” Graham asked him with a slight curl to his lips. Trust his brother to always come up with ways of bringing attention to himself.
“What the hell does that have to do with anything?” he asked irritably. “She is carrying my child and I am going to do the right thing.”
“A Peterson heir with an unmarried woman,” Graham said scornfully.
“Oh, be quiet, Graham!” Maisie said sharply, turning to look at her handsome brother-in-law and wondering not for the first time why she had not seen him first. “Congratulations, darling,” she said, touching his arm briefly, causing her husband to look at them sharply.
“Are we going to get to meet her officially?” his father enquired.
“She is in Japan for a week so maybe after that.”
“Isn’t she from some poor neighborhood with a drunken father who physically abused her?” Graham asked contemptuously, picking up his glass and swirling the liquid around.
Nicholas stared at him in fury for a moment and then smiled. “Yes, and it takes an incredible woman to rise above the odds and become one of the richest women in the country. We were born in wealth, Graham, and never had to work as hard to achieve anything. Even you have to respect that.”
“I am just saying-”
“Enough!” Sarah said firmly, looking from one to another. “We did not raise you to think that one person is better than the other. Nicholas is right. I admire her for her determination to make something of herself.”
“So do I,” David said quietly, causing his brothers to look at him.
“Thanks, David. Now, how about we enjoy the strawberry soufflé before I take my leave?”
*******
Kelsey had to cut her trip short. After three days of meetings and functions, she knew she had to get back home as soon as possible. So, she came home on the fourth day and spent the night and the next morning in bed. She called him that afternoon as soon as she got up and made herself some soup.
“You are back?”
“Last night. I got as sick as a dog and could not manage anything more. Can you come over later?” She stirred the noodles in her soup and sniffed as the steam came up. Thank goodness it was not turning her stomach!
“Of course,” he said casually. Absurdly happy she had called to invite him over. “Want me to bring anything?”
“Some chocolate chip ice cream. I have a craving.”
******
�
�He is a damned disgrace to the family and you and the others are so smitten by his blonde good looks that you cannot see that!” Graham slammed the glass down on the side board and went towards the mantel to stare down into the blazing fire. “She is an African American from an uncertain background, but my dear brother does not care where he points his penis.”
“Do you hear yourself?” Maisie asked him contemptuously, never really seeing this side of him before. “You are a small-minded bigot and I am ashamed to call you my husband. You are hung up on the color of her skin and where she came from. She is a powerful businesswoman who makes contributions to a lot of charities in and around the country and is lauded as one of the smartest women in business. It is very sad that all you can think of are the two details that do not mean a damn.”
“You are always taking his side!” H sneered as he turned to look at her. He was still remembering the touch of her hand on his brother’s arm and the look she had given him. “Doesn’t it bother you, darling, that he has found his pleasure between the legs of a black woman instead of your milky white ones?”
Fury propelled her forward, and before she could stop herself, she swung her arm and it connected with is jaw causing his head to snap back. Maisie cried out sharply as he slapped her back hard causing her to stumble backwards. “Don’t you ever try that again!” he told her, his eyes glittering savagely. She looked at him in shock, one hand going to her reddened cheek, her body rigid and her cheek stinging. She blinked the tears away, and without a word, she left him and went straight up to one of the empty bedrooms, locking the door behind her. This was the last straw, and he was going to pay for it!
********
He brought her a gallon of chocolate chip cookie ice cream and another of dark chocolate.
“I was not sure if your cravings went to both,” he said with a slight smile as he dumped them onto the marble counter. She had on a short burgundy robe that she belted at the waist and her curls were loose around her face. She looked exquisitely beautiful and he wanted to scoop her up into his arms.