In the Land of Milk and Honey

by Nell E S Douglas

  “Now this is how you should look when you see me, Ms. Valentine,” he said, sounding sincere, and his green eyes danced as he raised his hand and brushed my chin with his thumb. My mouth hung open a bit until he moved his hand.

  “You mean dry?” I retorted self-deprecatingly, gesturing down at my outfit, trying to stay focused on building friendly rapport.

  “Optional,” he replied, and the smile got a little devious before he became serious and looked at me with interest. “What brings you here tonight?”

  “I’m here with a friend,” I answered, wondering if I should be offended he didn’t assume I was an alumnus, and noticed two guys in nice suits walked up behind him looking like they wanted autographs. Or his personal number.

  “I think you’ve got some fans,” I said quietly and darted my eyes around his arm. As soon as he tilted his head enough to see them, the bored face returned.

  “You will be here a while?” he asked, but his eyes were asking me to stay. I nodded before he strode off.

  I bounced on my heels a little bit, really excited about my five seconds of progress. “Ian! Ian!” I called in a hushed voice as I flagged him down.

  He smiled and made his way over. “What’s gotten into you?” he asked.

  “Good stuff, Ian. This was a great idea. Thank you,” I gushed as I rose on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. He chuckled.

  “Glad to help. Now I need your help. Taste this,” he said, putting a strange hors d’oeuvre in my face.

  “It smells,” I replied and fanned the air.

  “Come on, Bree. It’s an Irish delicacy just like my Nan used to make. Now do that thing where you can taste something and know how to make it. I forgot what it’s called, but you should make this for Sundays,” he pleaded, eagerly shoving the slimy bite in my face. I told him I wouldn’t do this again after last time I made him Dublin Coddle. Yuk.

  “Fine,” I relented, taking a bite from the napkin he held out. Sausage, mushroom, parsley, liver?

  “Mr. Foley,” Daniel pronounced with an edge.

  I furrowed my brow up at him as I swallowed hard. Daniel had lost all the pleasantness from before. My eyes darted to Ian who was peering at Daniel curiously and then a smirk crossed his lips.

  “Baird. How are ya?” he asked nonchalantly as he popped in the rest of the hors d’oeuvre I’d taken a bite of and chewed it with a smile.

  “I see you’ve met Ms. Valentine,” he stated, his narrowed eyes stayed fixed on Ian.

  “Yeah, Bree and I go way back,” he grinned and patted my shoulder. Daniel was looking at the hand like if he stared hard enough, it might catch fire.

  “Bree,” he repeated to himself. His eyes flashed at Ian and his hands rolled into fists. “Yes, I saw your performance on television this week, Foley. Always the hothead.”

  “It can get hot,” Ian replied slyly with a smirk, and it came across a little like a warning. I didn’t like where we were headed.

  “Ian invited me to come. He said it would be a nice little get together, so I thought I’d check it out,” I interrupted. Daniel’s eyes met mine.

  “I see,” he said tightly. “And where is August tonight?” he asked with a cocked brow watching Ian’s reaction.

  “Oh, he’s babysitting,” Ian supplied with a wink, and I elbowed him. “Little mama here needs a night out every now and then.”

  “I see,” Daniel observed quietly as Kate came up by his side wearing a tight black skirt suit. She must be six feet and still shorter than Daniel. Her head came to his ear. I also noticed the five-eight brunette next to her holding an infant, and the slick-haired man in suspenders beside them. Ian stiffened beside me.

  “Daniel, you remember Nathan Hill. And this is his fiancée, Nadia,” Kate announced as she laid a hand on his shoulder, and I think Daniel gave the most subtle, droll eye roll I’d ever seen.

  Ian was practically blowing steam out of his ears. Nathan looked worried as he ran his fingers through his dull brown hair.

  “They wanted to come and say hello. They just had a baby, isn’t that wonderful?” Kate said cheerfully, but she seemed like she was up to something.

  Daniel just turned to face them and raised his brow before nodding his chin a millimeter. They both seemed very excited by the gesture.

  “Is so nice to meet choo,” Nadia purred with a Russian accent—and if she wasn’t currently cuddling her ticket into the upper crust, she looked like she would probably be cuddling Daniel’s “ticket”. She bounced the baby, flipping her hair, and she noticed me. “Oh, hell-o Gabrielle.”

  “Hi, Nadia,” I replied and tried not to grimace because she’d actually done Jill a huge favor.

  Kate didn’t recognize me at first but when her nostrils flared, I knew she’d placed me; then promptly ignored me.

  “And who might this be?” Kate asked, batting fine lashes at Ian who grinned wide and held out his hand. She placed hers in it and smiled.

  “Ian. Ian Foley,” he said in his Casanova voice as he bent to kiss it. “It’s always nice to meet a beautiful lady,” he added with a wink, and Kate laid her hand on her chest, flattered. Daniel looked at his watch, and Nathan captured his attention with a question about bonds.

  “You’re just darling. I’m Kate,” she replied to Ian and then turned back to Nadia. “Nadia, how old is little Nathan?”

  “Oh, hees tree mounthes ohld,” she cooed and held him out to Kate. “Here, you can hoyld heem.”

  “Just precious,” Kate said as she reached across an irritated-looking Daniel and grabbed the baby. Only Nadia would bring a baby to cocktail party, fearing she’d be denied entry without her little Hill.

  “Isn’t he the handsomest?” Kate crooned, batting her lashes. She held the baby towards Ian and me who both widened our eyes. Kate had a smirk on her face, and I knew she was setting us up because, sadly, Violet was right. You could say the baby had not yet grown into its features. He looked like an eighty-year-old man. Ian cough-laughed and then started choking. I beat his back to get him to knock it off.

  “Yeah…he’s…uh…something else,” Ian said but his face was beet red. Nadia and Kate turned to me. I was such a terrible liar, and I was nervous so I blurted out the first thing that popped in my head.

  I told her Nathan Jr. looked like a boiled potato rolled in margarine.

  “Comme une pomme de terre bouillie roulé dans la margarine,” flowed out. I recoiled from my words, hoping my split-second switch kept me from getting jumped. I guess there was at least one other person in the group who spoke French because Nathan stopped dead in his tracks, whipping his head towards me with furious eyes, then sadly at his baby. And Daniel laughed.

  It was truly a great laugh, not too loud, not too rough. It was as smooth as his voice but honest, not sugarcoated. It was second only to the sound of my son’s. He quickly disguised it, coughing into his fist once, but Kate looked at him like he’d just laid a golden egg from his nostril.

  Even Ian looked surprised and he squeezed my shoulder. Then Daniel strode off, with Nathan trailing behind him.

  “Oh, is good to use foreign langweeg with baybees. I speak Russian to heem awl the time,” Nadia said as she smiled and cuddled the baby back from Kate. “What did you tell heem?”

  I looked into Nadia’s eyes and saw a proud mom. Ashamed of myself, I tried to grin genuinely. “He is a beautiful gift,” I lied reassuringly then looked over at a confused Ian. Even if she did crush Jill by confronting her with the affair, their baby wasn’t the backstabbing, woman-beating cheater.

  “Yes, hees very healthy, too,” Nadia cooed and patted his back. He was a little on the plump side. “When are you and Dahn-yall going to hafv cheeldrin?”

  My head snapped up. I exhaled when I saw she was talking to Kate.

  “Oh, no. Daniel and I aren’t going to have children,” she chided, like it was a cute novelty but the responsibility to carry on the human race should be left up to people who don’t own sailboats. “Now come, let’s go show your lov
ely boy to the Coopers. I know they’d enjoy that.”

  She spun around and sauntered off with Nadia without looking at me twice. I shivered as I realized this woman could be Tristan’s stepmother one day. Violet’s proposition was looking better all the time. I hung around the table while Ian made himself scarce, but I didn’t see Daniel for the rest of the night. On the ride home, I gave Ian an earful.

  “Ian, what the hell was that? I thought you said you guys were friends?” I asked incredulously.

  “Whoa, now. I said I knew him, not that we were friends.”

  “But that was barely civil and the whole point was to befriend him,” I reprimanded.

  “I know,” he exhaled a long breath, “but he just brings it out of me. I’d almost forgotten what a prick he can be! Calling me Mr. Foley, like he didn’t see my balls in the locker room every day for two years. That was just his way of telling me I can’t call him by his name. That we’re not cool anymore,” Ian explained and rolled his eyes.

  “Well, you went overboard. I know what you’re like when I’m not around, but you put it on thick intentionally,” I said, bypassing the locker room statement.

  “I know. I let him get the best of me. It’s just that he used to get any girl he wanted. He would take a girl from another guy if he felt like it, and he took one of my girls once. She was cute, too. You’re not supposed to do that to teammates; it’s an unspoken rule. So when I saw him getting all froggy over you, I couldn’t help but push his buttons,” he said with a smirk. “Then he made that underhanded hothead comment he’d used after he pulled from a title game once. The fucker.”

  “Ian, this is not a game or some college girl grudge. He is the father of Tristan,” I explained, trying to keep myself calm.

  “I know,” Ian said, stunned, staring out the windshield. “It’s crazy. But anyways, I guess you must have been pretty decent in the sack. I should have taken my chance when I had one,” he said eying me and wagging his brows.

  “Remind me again when you had a chance?” I retorted sarcastically. “And don’t talk about me and you having sex. That’s like incest.”

  “Yeah, I guess it is kind of gross, but we’ll never know unless we try,” he kidded before he burst out laughing.

  “It is pretty sad that I can’t remember the only time I know I’ve ever had sex in my life,” I said lamely as I drew squiggles with my finger on the inside of the fogged up Escalade window as the rain trickled down outside.

  “Nah, Bree, you’re lucky,” he sighed heavily. “You get to do it right next time. Most people would kill for a do-over in that department. I know my first girlfriend would. You’re like a born-again virgin or some shit.”

  “Or some shit,” I breathed out weakly, fogging over the old squiggles on the glass.

  When Ian dropped me off around eight thirty, Tristan was already out for the night. August left shortly thereafter. I told him how it went, and he didn’t seem as disappointed as I was.

  Jill had made a very good point; the last thing I wanted was to be some society victim accusing a wealthy man of fathering a child out of wedlock. Luckily, Daniel had already seen I was a business owner and not in need financially.

  He clearly didn’t like children, and tonight I’d learned he didn’t want them either. That was probably the worst news I could have gotten, but if there was any child that could change someone’s mind about that, it was Tristan. Maybe Daniel didn’t want them because he thought they’d hinder their busy travel schedules, but with Tristan that wouldn’t be a problem. Then I started wondering what kind of visitation he’d want if he chose to be involved at all. Although I think I’m pretty great, his family will likely see Tristan as not one of them, which I considered a good thing.

  I was thinking all these things as I sat at my dining table, snipping photos for Tristan’s newest scrapbook when I started to get an ache in my hand from the scissors. I peeked up at the clock and saw it was almost midnight and decided to pack it in for the night.

  I was double checking to see if it was locked and when I swung the door open, there was Daniel Baird standing at my doorstep. I was even more surprised because he was wearing dark wash jeans and a white shirt under a zipped leather jacket with upturned collar. Dressed like that, he looked more like a handsome graduate student or clothing model than a CEO.

  “Hi,” I greeted him confusedly in a breath, and he took one long step past me into my home.

  “Where’s August?” he asked directly as he paused a step past me and scanned the space ahead.

  “Oh, uh, not here,” I answered, shaking my head, sounding stupefied as I noticed tiny raindrops glistening in his hair like little twinkle lights. “What are you doing?” I managed out, stunned as I watched him take long strides deeper in to my abode. He angled his head towards a door and raised a brow inquiringly.

  “Your room?” he asked, as if it wasn’t the most bizarre thing in the world for Daniel Baird to be standing in my living room at midnight.

  “Uh…yeah, it is but what are you—” I stumbled dumbfounded, but I stopped mid-sentence when I watched him head straight in. After a few confused moments I followed.

  “Daniel what are you doing?” I asked, concerned as I watched him carry my suitcase out of my closet, tossing it on the bed purposefully. He didn’t answer, and I had to ask again.

  “Packing,” he declared as he turned back to the closet completely undeterred.

  “Daniel. I’m not sure what’s going on but…” I trailed off with my palms held out in surrender as I watched him appear from my closet with a thick stack of clothes on hangers cradled in his strong arms. He threw them into the open case. “Daniel, you need to stop,” I ordered in a shaky voice as I followed him to the closet door and panic set in.

  “I’ll buy you new things, then,” he agreed with a slight nod as he stepped closer to me with a tightened jaw and his green eyes were glowing with intensity. He fully expected me to go with him.

  “I’m not going anywhere. I have a little boy asleep in the other room, and I think you need to leave,” I informed him in my calmest voice.

  “You’re coming. Have August pick up his son,” he ordered harshly, folding his long arms across his chest in resolve as if he was waiting for me to make the call. This was spiraling downward quickly.

  “Listen to me. I’m not leaving and neither is my child. You’re the one who needs to leave,” I said firmly as I quickly made my way out to the living room and pointed a shaky finger towards the front door and his eyes narrowed at me.

  “Ian Foley was the worst of them all. What do you think he wants from you?” he hissed venomously, crowding close.

  “Ian is a friend,” I defended, but he didn’t seem to be hearing one word I said.

  “And August? You said he’s a good man, yet you’re out on the town with another,” he accused and raised one brow, eying me disdainfully.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said vehemently.

  “Are you in love with them?” he asked harshly as he glowered down at me and his eyes searched mine. “Do you care for anyone that deeply?” he interrogated as his nostrils flared slightly, and his eyes were boring so deeply in to mine I couldn’t look away.

  My breath caught in my throat and then I shook my head. “I don’t appreciate being interrogated by you in my home,” I replied angrily as I turned away from his intense gaze. On the inside I was shaking.

  “Have there been so many you have forgotten?” he accused angrily, but his eyes were searching as he stepped forward to tower over me.

  “Daniel, please leave,” I begged pointing to the door because I wasn’t sure if there were others and if maybe that’s what drove me to the edge.

  “This is your revenge,” he accused, but his eyes just wanted answers. “Or am I so forgettable to you?” he asked with pride and raised a brow.

  “I really don’t remember,” I pleaded with him to understand, and he seemed to shake himself back to the present when his eyes
flickered and went hard again.

  “It doesn’t matter. You’re coming tonight,” he said and his face was stone while it seemed like every muscle in his body went tight, like he was going to take me whether I liked it or not.

  “Daniel, I’m not going anywhere with you. I hardly even know you!” I exclaimed as my eyes searched for my cell phone, but they landed on the door. “No. Look, I think you need to go home. We can talk again tomorrow when you’ve calmed down.” I turned quickly to show him the door.

  Before I knew what was happening, his arms wrapped around me and I was pinned against the wall and he was kissing me. Hard. Daniel’s lips pressed firm and moist, trapping my own, but before I could think to respond, he pulled away, breathing heavily.

  “Fuck,” he whispered, his frenzied eyes probing me. “It’s you. It’s really you.”

  My heart pounded and his sudden change in demeanor stunned me to silence. My mouth hung open, but I was too confused to speak.

  “I can’t allow myself to believe it sometimes. It’s you,” his rough whisper trailed off, while he rubbed his hands up and down my arms like he’d drawn me up through cracked ice in a frozen lake. “I cannot let this go again.”

  “Daniel, I…”

  “No,” he interrupted his voice harsh but the hand caressing my hair was anything but. “This is the only way. Tonight.”

  “Mommy?” a small scared voice called, and I gasped at the sight of Tristan in his light blue PJs walking toward us, dragging his blanket behind him.

  I pressed my hands against Daniel’s chest until finally he relented and stepped back, but his eyes never left mine.

  “Everything’s fine, honey, go back to bed. Mommy’s okay,” I explained quickly, grasping for reigns.

  “Who are you?” Tristan interrogated, his nostrils flared slightly revealing how upset he was by the scene he’d just witnessed.

  Daniel, who was clearly on a mission tonight, still hadn’t taken his attention away from me, but upon the inquisition his face relaxed into the charming measured man I’d seen on TV.