Gladys jumped up from her chair and rushed toward the kitchen door.
“Diane! How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. And I appreciate your letting me rest here without—without John coming in.”
“Of course, if that’s what you needed. Come, let me fix you some lunch. You need something in your stomach.” She urged Diane into the kitchen.
Diane was surprised to see Elizabeth. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I’m enjoying my free day. How are you feeling?”
“I feel fine. I just needed a little sleep.”
“And some food,” Gladys interjected. She and Mildred turned to heat her up a sandwich.
“Lunch was wonderful. You’ll love it,” Elizabeth told Diane.
“I’m not sure—”
But Gladys cut her off. “You have to eat something, Diane.” She shot a quick, daring look at the others, then added, “For the baby.”
Chapter Sixteen
Diane gasped and her cheeks betrayed her, reddening instantly. Still she feigned ignorance. “What baby?”
“We’ve all figured it out, honey,” Gladys said. “And we don’t want you to go away. We can help you.”
Diane looked from one woman to the next, meeting their eyes. It was no use. She’d never been a good liar. “You can’t help me,” she finally admitted. “If I stay here, John will ask me to get rid of the baby, and I can’t do that!”
“Of course you can’t,” Mildred agreed, coming over to hug her. “And we won’t let him suggest such a thing.”
“You can’t stop him, Mildred. He’s always said no children, no marriage. Those were his conditions. I thought I was protected because I take birth control pills for my skin. At least I did. But my doctor said they probably weren’t strong enough.” She sighed, trying to maintain her control. “I have to leave if I’m keeping the baby. John mustn’t know.”
“But I think he should know,” Elizabeth said.
“No, I can’t tell him. Once he knows, he’ll always feel badly about our—our time together.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “I think you’re underestimating John.”
Mildred frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You’re all assuming John wouldn’t want her to have the baby. But given the choice of having Diane or not having Diane, I think he’d marry her in a minute.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Diane asked, her voice wobbly.
“Then you’d be no worse off than you are now, but you’d have three friends willing to help you.” Elizabeth gave her a warm smile.
“You mean I should stay here?”
“Why not?”
“But I couldn’t involve the three of you in my baby’s life.”
“I don’t know why not,” Gladys assured her. “I work for John but he doesn’t own me!”
“I don’t even work for him,” Mildred said. “I could live with you and take care of the baby while you go to work.”
“That would be wonderful, Mildred, but I don’t have a job or a place to live!” Diane covered her face with her hands. “I’ve messed everything up!”
“You were just trying to protect your child, Diane. That’s never wrong,” Elizabeth said softly.
“If I could get my job back, I could buy a house and Mildred and I could move in. That would be terrific.” For the first time in a long time, Diane smiled.
“Call the bank at once,” Elizabeth recommended.
“Mr. Harvey’s not going to like it,” she said, wiping the smile off her face.
“If he hasn’t found anyone yet, I bet he’ll be relieved.”
Diane made the phone call. Mr. Harvey was hesitant at first, but when she revealed that she was pregnant, he took her back at once. His own wife had become irrational during her pregnancies, he explained, so he understood.
Diane hung up the phone, after asking to have the rest of the week off, and grinned at her coconspirators. “Okay, I have my job back. Won’t Wendy be surprised!”
“So will John,” Elizabeth said. “But I think he’ll like it.”
Mildred beamed at her. “And I have a house for you to look at. I’ve been kind of waiting to see how much money I’d have, but you might want to buy this house yourself. Why don’t you go look at it? It’s empty.”
“Where is it?”
“Just a couple of blocks away.”
Eager to start her new life, Diane asked, “Can we go now?”
“Let me call the Realtor.”
Within minutes, the four of them got in Elizabeth’s car and drove the two blocks to a neat, two-story house set back from the road.
“It’s not as big as Doug’s or John’s place, but it’s got four bedrooms, three baths.”
“It sounds perfect,” Diane said.
When the Realtor arrived, he showed them through the house. When he’d finished the tour, he asked if there were any questions. Diane had a lot, which proved she knew what she was doing.
“Are you some kind of economist?” he asked.
“No, I’m a banker.”
“Oh. What bank?”
“Guaranty National.”
“Hey, this house went in bankruptcy. I think it’s your bank that owns it.”
“Perfect,” Diane said with a smile. Maybe it was meant to be.
After they got back to John’s house, Diane called the man in charge of real estate at the bank to talk about the house. When she got off the phone, she said, “I’ve bought it.”
“Just like that?” Elizabeth asked in astonishment.
“Yes. They know my credit rating and all the financials. They offered it to me below market price, and I accepted.”
“When do you get the keys?” Gladys asked.
“Whenever I want them. I need to call the mover and give him the new address.”
When they all offered to help move her things in tomorrow, she grinned at the women. “You’ve each been so helpful.”
“That’s what friends are for,” Gladys said. “And I’m so happy that Mildred will be close to me. She’s my best friend. And we’ll both take good care of you, Diane.”
Diane’s eyes filled with tears. “I’ve always taken care of myself, but I’ll admit that I feel a little better now. I don’t know what it’s like being pregnant.”
“And that’s where I come in,” Elizabeth said. “You can call me and ask questions about anything. I’ll be able to tell you whether you need to call the doctor.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Diane sank back in her chair. “The only problem will be John.”
“He won’t be a problem. He’ll be on his knees, begging you to accept him. I’m sure of that. He’s always a bear when he hasn’t seen you for a while,” Gladys told her.
“That doesn’t mean he loves me.”
Gladys had started to reply when they heard the front door open.
Elizabeth reached out and squeezed Diane’s hand in a show of support, but still Diane tensed, waiting to see John.
“Gladys?” he called.
“We’re in the kitchen,” she replied.
“Has Diane woken up yet?” John asked as he came through the doorway, and then came to an abrupt halt when he saw her sitting at the table. Behind him, Mark nearly ran into his back.
John was silent for an awkward moment before he asked, “How are you feeling, Diane?”
“Fine. Thank you for bringing me here. The rest helped.” She affected a casual tone, but that couldn’t be further from what she was feeling.
“I’m glad. Uh, we called your doctor’s office to see if you were all right or needed to be checked out, but the nurse said you were okay.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Then, as if he couldn’t hold his feelings in any longer, he erupted in exasperation. “What the hell is going on with you? Why are you leaving?”
“I’m not. Not anymore.”
He took a deep breath. “Well, that’s good. Why were you leaving?”
“I don’t think you want to know.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, so we just go on as we have been?”
“No, that’s not possible.”
“You’re not making sense, Diane. If you’re not leaving, there’s no reason we can’t go on as before. Unless you’re making demands on me.”
“No, John. I’m not making demands on you.” She kept her gaze down on the table. She didn’t want him to see the tears that glistened in her eyes.
“Why aren’t you?” he asked.
She gathered her emotions and looked him right in the eyes, her straight posture echoing the staunch words. “You told me you didn’t want any demands made on you. That you didn’t allow that. You said I had to play by your rules. I’m doing that, John.”
As if finally realizing they were having this intimate discussion in the middle of a crowd of people, John barked, “Why are you all here listening? Don’t you have something to do?”
Gladys spoke for all of them. “Diane is our friend and we’ve offered to help her work out her problems.”
John stood there, his hands on his hips, scowling at all of them. “That’s what I’ve been offering to do, but she won’t tell me the problem.” He turned to Diane, clearly frustrated. “Why do they all get to know and I don’t?”
Diane raised her chin. “Because they aren’t going to be mad at me. You are.”
“No, I won’t!” John roared.
Want to make a bet? an inner voice mocked. What she was about to tell him would rock him.
She drew a deep breath and gave him what he wanted—the truth.
“Fine, I’ll tell you. I went to the doctor yesterday to find out why I was throwing up so often and losing weight.” She swallowed past the knot in her throat. “And he told me I was pregnant.”
HE MUST BE HALLUCINATING. He could’ve sworn he heard her say she was pregnant. His eyes searched hers, begging her to set him straight. “You’re what?”
“I’m pregnant, John.”
How could she be so calm, so matter-of-fact? He wondered. His own heart threatened to explode in his chest as one word kept pounding in it. Pregnant.
Diane spoke when he couldn’t find the words. “I know you don’t want children, but I’m going to have the baby. So I thought it would be better for me to leave and move to a town where I didn’t know anyone. But my friends have convinced me to stay here and have my child.”
“Here? In this house?” John stared at her.
“No, John, not in your house,” she said softly. “Never in your house.” She stood and looked at Gladys. “Thank you for the shelter and the encouragement. Mildred, come when you’re ready. Elizabeth, thanks for being there for me.”
“Wait, where are you going?” John demanded. Surely she didn’t think she could drop a bomb like this and just walk away.
But Diane didn’t even hesitate. She started to walk out, then stopped suddenly. “I don’t have my car here. Elizabeth, would you and Mark mind dropping me off?”
“Of course we will.” Elizabeth didn’t give her husband time to say anything. She put her arm around Diane and led her out of the house.
Left standing there, helpless, with Gladys and Mildred, John could only ask, “What just happened here?”
Gladys gave him an exasperated look. “She told you the truth and you behaved just as she predicted. I’m very disappointed in you, John.” She began clearing the table, turning her back on him.
“Hey! She broke one of my rules! I told her I didn’t want to have babies.”
“You need to think about someone other than yourself, boy,” Mildred said. “She was alone and scared. Willing to move a long way away and start over again to protect her child. That wasn’t an easy choice.”
“Why is everyone mad at me? I didn’t mislead her. I told her before we started our affair exactly how I felt.” He looked to the two women, but Gladys didn’t answer him and Mildred left the room.
Great, he thought. He’d lost not only Diane, but the only other women in his life.
John dropped into a chair and leaned his elbows on the table in front of him. He put his head in his hands and moaned, “What do I do now?”
AFTER TALKING TO the movers at the fourplex, Diane pulled out of Yellow Rose Lane for the last time. She drove to a nice hotel and got a room. She’d promised to have the key for the movers by ten o’clock the next morning.
Then she drew a rough version of the floor plan of her new house and worked out where the furniture would fit. She wasn’t sure about some of it, but she’d need more furniture, anyway. She couldn’t ask Mildred to sleep on a sofabed. And, of course, she’d need to set up the nursery.
How soon would she know the sex of the child? She took out the brochures and learned it’d be a while yet. She had time to prepare the nursery. After all, when she got home from work now, she wouldn’t have John in her life. Her time would be all her own again.
It’ll be peaceful, she told herself.
It’ll be lonely, replied her heart.
Once again tears welled in her eyes, and as much as she willed them back, they flowed freely down her cheeks.
She had to stop thinking about John. All the pregnancy brochures told her she needed to keep a positive attitude. And she would. For her baby.
And John’s.
JOHN DIDN’T KNOW where Diane went for the night. He would’ve gladly put her up, but he wasn’t given a choice. She simply walked out of his life.
He tossed and turned all night, picturing her pregnant, unprotected, with men hitting on her. She wouldn’t know how to handle them. She didn’t know much about men.
Where would she find a place to live? She might pick a place in a bad neighborhood. After all, now she had to be doubly careful.
Then he remembered he was talking about Diane. Intelligent, savvy, levelheaded Diane. She’d done fine on her own, had been on her own all her life.
Until he stepped into it.
He was the one who’d messed things up for her, threw a curve into the straight-arrow life she led. But he couldn’t help it. Something about her drew him. He knew what it was. Her independence, her intelligence. They were what he loved about her.
Loved?
Yeah, loved, he admitted to himself. He loved Diane Black and it scared the hell out of him.
Now he didn’t even know where to reach her, where to call. She wasn’t at the fourplex anymore, but where had she gone? Damn it, he intended to get her a cell phone, but then his father had died and…
And he’d gotten cold feet.
Why had that happened? he asked himself. Then he remembered. He’d needed her too much. He’d thought if he spent some time away, he might get control of his need for her. Instead, he’d lost her completely.
Thinking over the day, he suddenly remembered Diane telling Mildred to come when she was ready. To come where? And what did she need to be ready for?
He was up early, dressed in jeans and a polo shirt, and ran down the stairs.
Only Gladys was in the kitchen.
“Good morning, Gladys. Uh, where is Mildred?”
“She’s busy.”
“Isn’t she going to eat breakfast?”
“She ate earlier.”
“She’s sure up early. She must have a lot planned for today,” he said, baiting his housekeeper.
“Yep.”
“Gladys, what are you not telling me?”
She stopped stirring his scrambled eggs. “Mildred is moving out.”
John frowned. “Why?”
“Because she’s found something she likes better.”
He folded his arms over his chest and asked, “What did she find?”
“You’ll have to ask her,” Gladys said.
John planned to do exactly that. He got up and went to the stairs to call her down.
“Yesterday, when Diane left, she told you to come when you were ready. What did she mean?” he asked when she appeared.
“Exactly what she s
aid,” Mildred replied.
John looked at her. “Mildred, I don’t want to beg, but I need to know where to find Diane. I want a chance to talk to her.”
“I’m moving in with Diane to help her with her pregnancy. The first three months are difficult because she will be nauseous and exhausted. The middle three months aren’t too bad. We can fix up the house during that time. And the last three, she’ll be so big it won’t be any fun to move around.”
“Damn! Why do women want to get pregnant if that’s true?”
“Because they get the sweetest gift God can give. A baby.”
John stared at Mildred’s gentle smile. “You’re going to help Diane?”
“Yes. She’s never had anyone to rely on. I think that’s wrong. I’m glad to take the place of her mother. I would be proud to have a daughter like her.”
John put his arm around the woman. “Thank you, Mildred. That’s a gift I couldn’t give Diane. But I’m glad you can.”
“But there is something you can do,” Gladys called out.
John looked at her. “What?”
“You can tell her you’ll love her son or daughter, because it will be yours, too.” Gladys stared at him, waiting.
John didn’t bother denying his love for Diane. He sank down at the table again. “I’m afraid, Gladys. If I let her know that I love her, that I’ll love my child, she could demand anything of me. I’m not sure I can do that.”
“John, think about Diane. Has she ever demanded anything of you?”
John sat there thinking for a minute. Then he looked up. “No, she hasn’t. But she’s never said she loved me, either.”
“Did you tell her you loved her?”
“No, Gladys, I didn’t because…because I was afraid.”
“I think your father would tell you to trust your instincts. Diane is a good woman—and the mother of your child.”
John stared first at Gladys and then at Mildred. “Do you think she loves me?”
“You need to muster your courage and ask her that,” Gladys said.
As always, the woman was right. “I will. But where is she?”
“At the house she bought yesterday,” Mildred replied.
“She bought a house yesterday?” John asked, astonished.
The Marrying Kind Page 15