“I didn’t ask your opinion, I asked you to make the reservation.”
“But this is the first time your family’s been together in months. I don’t want to intrude on your time with your kids.”
He eyed me for a long moment then grumbled, “Make the reservation, Meyers.”
After I finished up my tasks for the day, I took a walk down the beach to Hale’s. It had been days and he’d done nothing as far as baby preparations. This wasn’t my problem, but some deep-seated responsible side of my personality insisted I light a fuse under his ass.
As I climbed the steps to his back deck, my phone buzzed with a text from him asking what I was doing. I texted back.
I’m stalking you.
Standing at the back window, I watched him check his phone, and I tapped on the glass. He looked up and laughed.
Opening the door, he greeted me with a kiss. “Stalker.”
“It’s what I do.” I glanced around to make sure he was alone. “Are you doing anything?”
“I’m done for the day. Did you want to grab dinner?”
“I actually did want to go out. I need to go to the store. Will you take me?”
“Sure. Let me grab my keys.”
I’d Googled a small baby boutique about ten miles away and gave Hale directions as he drove. When we arrived at our destination, he gripped the wheel and stared at the sign.
“What is this place?”
“This is a baby store. You need to start preparing, Hale.”
He glanced at me, as if I were suggesting he drive off a cliff. “You’re okay with this?”
“Shopping? Sure. Come on.” It wasn’t my baby. For some reason, I kept repeating that in my head.
When we approached the store, I could swear Hale’s pace slowed by half. I had to literally take his hand and pull him inside.
Everything was soft shades of pastel and smelled like love. My uterus might have sighed.
“Oh my God.” I moved to the display of plush stuffed animals. “Look at this sheep. You need this sheep.”
Hale approached slowly as if I held a live tarantula. He frowned at the little plush toy. “It’s a sheep.”
“The baby needs this sheep, Hale.”
He nodded and took the stuffed animal from me, holding it like a hot casserole. I moved toward the showroom where multiple cribs were dressed in ruffled sets with lavish mobiles suspended overhead.
“Do you have a nursery theme in mind?”
He trailed along, sheep in hand, a pallid expression on his face. “A theme?”
“Like an idea how you want to decorate the baby’s room.”
“It’s a girl,” he said as if this were all the necessary information needed.
I laughed. “I know it’s a girl, but what sort of girl do you think she’ll be? Will she be a princess?” I moved to the canopy crib that looked like Cinderella’s carriage. “Or maybe she’ll be adventurous like her dad.” I pointed to a Swiss Family Robinson sort of set.
Hale hooked a finger in his collar and gave it a tug. “Maybe something neutral.”
“Okay.” There was a simple white crib in the corner. “How about this?”
“That won’t fit in my car.”
“They have delivery.” I frowned at him. “Do you need to sit down?”
He glanced at the row of upholstered rocking chairs and shuffled toward them, dropping into the first of the line.
I crouched in front of him and whispered, “Hey. I’m sorry for springing this on you. I was just trying to help.”
He caught my hand and squeezed so tight, it startled me. His silver eyes were stark against his pale coloring and he hadn’t blinked in a while.
I cupped his cheek with my free hand. “We can go if this is too much.”
He swallowed, his Adams apple shifting under the shadow of his throat. “No. You’re right. I need this stuff. I just…” He exhaled and shook his head slowly. “I don’t like being unprepared.”
That was a step in the right direction—not that I was an expert on preparedness. My methods would get me killed in the wilderness because I never had a plan, but Hale was different. He was capable of anything. It was just his personality. I didn’t see why this should be an exception.
This whole baby thing was likely his first experience with procrastination, going by his usual behavior. Everyone had a right to stage fright once in a while, but if he prepped a little, he might feel more in control. It was my guess that his lack of control was the true stressor here.
I smiled. This could actually be fun. “Do you want me to help you do this?”
His hand tightened around mine. “Yes.”
“Okay. You wait here. I’ll be right back.”
Reluctantly, he let go of my fingers, and I went to the front of the store where a young woman stood. She wore an apron with a giraffe on the front.
“Do you work here?” I didn’t think anyone else would rock a giraffe apron in public, but you never knew.
“Yes. Can I help you?”
“Is there some sort of baby checklist to help new parents?”
The woman nodded and produced a slip of paper from her apron pocket. “The list is organized by department and there’s a map of the store on the back to help you find everything.”
“Perfect. Thanks.”
“Do you need a cart?”
I eyed the carts and wondered if two would be enough. This was a long ass list for a person the size of a pineapple. “Thanks.”
I found Hale exactly where I left him, sitting on the rocking chair holding his sheep. “I got a list.”
He stared at me like I was a stranger, then asked the question of all questions, “Am I making a mistake?”
My smile faltered. Abandoning the cart, I sat on the chair next to his. This was a serious question and it deserved all of my attention. “I can’t answer that, Hale.”
His brow creased as he looked down at the sheep in his hands. “Usually, I have a sense when I’m making the right decision. I don’t feel that now and it’s scaring the shit out of me, Rayne.”
“Maybe that’s just parenting.”
His eyes turned pleading as he glanced at me. “She’s going to change everything.”
“Yes.” There was no point in lying to him.
He swallowed again and brushed a hand over the sheep. “I’ve never even changed a diaper.”
“You’ll learn.”
He sighed. “Thank you for taking this so well.”
And now came the FBI warning that flashed before every good story. “It’s not happening to me. This is your decision, your responsibility, Hale. I’m just lost somewhere in the background watching it happen. But it’s happening to you, not me.”
“But you won’t leave?”
I frowned. “I don’t plan to walk away just because your life gets a little complicated, but…” Why was this so hard to say? “She is going to complicate your life. You might not have time for me. You’re going to be in love with someone else.”
His head lifted. “What do you mean?”
I laughed softly and smiled. “Hale, she’s going to be the most important girl in your world.”
He seemed to truly concentrate on every word I said as if I were speaking a new language to him. “How do you know that?”
My heart pinched. “Because that’s what daughters are to their dads.”
At least that was the way it was supposed to be.
“You’re going to be everything to her, and when she cries, it’ll rip out your heart. When she laughs, it’ll be the best sound in the world. And when she sets her mind to something, I have no doubt you’ll do everything in your power to make her dreams come true, because you’re Hale Davenport, and you don’t do anything half ass.”
His chest moved as he breathed a little faster and studied me. “Do you really believe that?”
“Yes.” My smile turned sad, but I was still happy for him. “So when the time comes that I want to be with you, but
she has a dance recital or wants you to take her to the park, I wouldn’t want you to put anyone in front of her. Not even me. Your life is about to get very busy for the next twenty years, but that’s okay because it’s going to be great. You’re going to be great.”
Dear God, was I about to cry? Where the ever-loving hell was this gushy feeling coming from?
I scowled at the pink and blue ruffles surrounding me. Were they pumping tear gas through the air ducts? We needed to get the shopping done and go do something normal. This place was infectious and I was coming down with baby fever.
I stood and held out a hand. “What do you say we shop for your daughter?”
He smiled, something alive in his gaze for the first time since we entered this fertile petri dish of a store. I seriously wanted a lead bib to protect my ovaries from implantation, because this stuff was enchanting enough to make me impulse buy a human. I couldn’t keep fish alive, so I should never own a human.
Once Hale accepted the task, he took over. By the time we filled the second cart, he seemed like a true authority on all things baby.
He wanted only the best for his daughter. The crib was ordered along with a luxurious dresser and daybed. Everything he chose was in shades of ivory, cream, and delicate pink. He even shopped from the store’s catalogue and ordered chandeliers, sconces, and accent rugs. With unlimited funds, nothing was out of the question.
The clothing section of the store did me in. While Hale read diaper packages, comparing one brand to the other, I held a teeny-tiny set of baby work boots and started to cry.
“Hey,” he said, glancing up from the diapers. “Are you okay?”
I presented the baby work boots like two fragile eggs resting in my palms and whimpered, “I don’t know why.”
He laughed as my face crumpled and a tear slipped from my eye.
“Aw. They’re cute, but I think they’re for boys.”
I sniffled and gave him a stern look. “You are buying these booties, Hale. She might have to build something.”
“What’s she going to build?”
“She needs them, Hale. She might have to hammer something. The other babies won’t take her seriously if she doesn’t dress like a hard ass.”
He kissed me and chuckled. “Okay. Put them in the cart.”
I seriously had to get out of this place. I wasn’t sure what these feelings were, but at one point I found a miniature bug catching set, and I insisted he buy that too. The kid might not even like bugs. I did, but I was weird.
The total bill hurt my brain, but Hale didn’t flinch. He decided to have everything delivered together, but he held onto the stuffed sheep, wedging it in the corner of the dashboard of his Rolls Royce.
As we drove home, he held my hand the entire way and smiled. “I can’t thank you enough for making me do that.”
“It’s no problem.”
Hale was happy. I should have been happy too. But all I felt was sad like I left something behind in that store. My ovaries were depressed.
Wanting to take my mind off babies for a while, I threw out a sigh. I needed some adult time.
Hale, in tune with my signals, glanced at me. He gave my hand another squeeze. Oh yeah, he knew. Someone cover the sheep’s eyes because the next hour was going to be rated R.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Well, Fuck.
The Davenports—the other ones—arrived the following afternoon. Hale was busy painting the room he deemed would be the nursery and Miles was taking the brunt of Remington’s moods, having to help him in the bathroom and do all the personal things I was exempt from. I took pity on him, so I brought him a cookie.
Seraphina was difficult to look at because she was utterly perfect. Her dark hair was thick and shiny, her teeth were white as paper, her eyes were the same exotic gray as her brothers’ and father’s, and she had a body that should have been airbrushed, but it wasn’t. It was totally real.
The Hot One—who I really didn’t think deserved that title anymore because Hale was so much more than The Other One—made me nervous. Barrett was easy going and laidback and had a way about him that made me turn into a puddle of pre-teen hormones whenever he addressed me directly.
Barrett didn’t have the Davenport edge, that air of sophistication that smelled of wealth and authority. He had something else—utter confidence—but I wasn’t sure which was more potent.
Every time he looked at me I giggled, because men like that shouldn’t look at me. It filled me with butterflies and made me feel special, but in a totally ridiculous way. He was woman kryptonite, and I needed to stay away from him, because he was aware of his powers and unapologetically abused them.
I was totally unprepared to see Hale’s brother in his underwear, but I didn’t have much choice or warning. Apparently, at his sister’s insistence, he’d volunteered to help get her men’s clothing line off the ground by posing for a few pictures. I had no idea he was a model, but it made perfect sense.
“What do you think, Rayne?” Seraphina asked, shoving the proofs across the table.
Penis! I immediately looked away. Everything was covered, but there was a definite bulge under those briefs. “Um…”
“Come on. I need an outsider’s opinion. He’s my brother so I can only go by what other women see. Do they look okay?”
Not since Marky Mark left the Funky Bunch had a man worn underwear so well. Sweet Hades, Barrett looked good in color, but in black and white he looked even better.
I swallowed thickly, my voice off its usual pitch. “Oh, I’d say these are good.”
Barrett’s deep voice whispered over my shoulder, “Like what you see, Meyers?”
“Jesus!” Face burning, I edged away from the pictures and scowled at Hale’s brother.
He laughed and bit into a pear. “I like the one where my butt cheek’s exposed. Show her that one, Phina.”
“I’ll pass.” Needing air, I escaped to my room to change for dinner.
Remington was happy to see his children in his own Remington way. He was hard on Seraphina, but in a manner I admired. Sometimes he bullied her into conversations about investments and critiqued the way she ran her clothing company, but Seraphina was no joke. She had young values and stuck to them with a spirit I could almost remember possessing myself.
When I looked at her, I saw youth, promise, and beauty. With Barrett, I saw trouble, sex appeal, and cockiness. It seemed interesting they were all alike, but so different and unique in their own way. But Hale was my favorite, all quiet sophistication, authority, and honor. What amazed me most, was that each one of these characteristics stemmed from the one common denominator—Remington.
Remington, though older and cynical, once possessed all the ambition of his daughter. There was no debate where his second son inherited his boyish charms. And that intimidating control that defined Hale, that came from Remington too. I wondered what his wives could claim because he was definitely the dominant gene carrier.
There was a knock on my bedroom door and I turned to find Hale standing in a suit. I sighed because he just had that effect on me. “You look nice.”
“So do you.” He approached and brushed a kiss on my cheek.
“Did you get the nursery done?”
He nodded. “Will you come see it after dinner?”
“Of course.” I actually couldn’t wait to see all the things we bought, out of their packages and put together.
“Ready to go? I figured we’d drive separate, let them have the limo.”
“Okay, but stay close. Your father will need help getting in and out.”
“Barrett’s with him.”
The restaurant was perhaps the fanciest place I’d ever eaten. They had little dishes with warm wet cloths for people to wash their fingers mid-meal, and about seventy-two pieces of silverware on the table.
“So, Rayne, how do you like working for my dad?” Barrett asked, and I giggled once again picturing him in his underwear.
Bad Rayne.
/> My cheeks got hot whenever he asked me a direct question. It was sort of annoying, because, despite his indisputable good looks, I wasn’t interested in him that way and I was definitely sleeping with his brother. So not a good thing.
“It’s not my least favorite job. I’ve had worse.”
Barrett smirked. “Well, that’s honest.”
“I think you have the magic touch, Rayne. I’ve never seen Daddy so laid back around his employees,” Seraphina commented.
“It’s probably the drugs,” I remarked, then wondered if that was wrong to say.
Barrett laughed. “How long until you get the cast off, Dad?”
The conversation flowed in an intimate volley of current events, but no one brought up the biggest news of the soon to arrive baby Davenport. By the dessert course, I wondered if Phina and Barrett even knew they were getting a niece in a few weeks. Hale didn’t mention a single thing relating to his renovations. It was weird.
This wasn’t some rich person thing. This was a weird person thing. Was a baby just going to show up and everyone would wonder where it came from?
Every once in a while on the news, there was a story about a girl suddenly giving birth in a bathroom because she didn’t realize she was pregnant. Was this going to be like that? I mean, come on. How does someone overlook missing nine periods?
I wiped my mouth and stilled. Oh God. It was July eleventh.
I started working for Remington last month. I bought tampons, but… I hadn’t used them. No, wait…we used condoms. Everything was fine. Everything was fine!
I couldn’t breathe. Everything was not fine.
I had no idea what anyone said during the last portion of the meal because every minion in my head was running around on high alert. All systems were go, sirens were blaring, arms were waving, parachutes were getting strapped on, and my mind minions were crashing into walls like crazy kamikaze underlings terrified of implantation.
I could not be pregnant.
Hardly feeling my feet move, we walked to the car, and Hale opened my door. I was sweating. I was definitely sweating.
The second his door closed I blurted, “We need to go to a pharmacy!”
Calamity Rayne: Gets A Life Page 28