Balancing Act (Silhouette Special Edition)

by Darcy, Lilian

  “Oh, I’m fi—” Libby stopped, and flashed a quick sideways glance at Brady. “I’m a little sore,” she said. “Mouth’s still dry. And I’m looking forward to tomorrow when I can eat some real food.”

  “Not big on the lime Jell-O, huh?” Anne Crichton picked up her chart out of the clear plastic rack at the foot of the bed, and studied it. “Lookin’ good,” she said. “I’ll stop by again in the morning, and if your chart still looks like this, you can leave.”

  “Will I need a prescription for some pain medication?”

  “We’ll give you one. A lot of women find they don’t need to take all of the tablets, as the pain tapers off pretty fast. You’ll get some instructions from the nurse about how to look after yourself at home, and you’ll get a couple of leaflets, as well. Just rest and take things easy, okay? Get everyone else to do the work!” She smiled at Brady, and Libby realized she hadn’t made introductions.

  “Yes, this is my—my husband, Brady,” she said quickly. She heard her own stumble over the words, and realized she didn’t yet know if all the things they’d talked about tonight were enough to save their marriage and set it onto a better track.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Brady,” Dr. Crichton said. “And it reminds me of something I meant to say before the surgery, Libby. You may want to review your method of contraception. I’m happy to talk about it with you. You may well achieve a pregnancy very easily, now, but you should let your body fully heal from the surgery first, so you should work out what you want to do about that.”

  Brady cleared his throat. “Uh, not wanting to jump the gun, or anything, but when would it be safe for us to start trying? That is, if we decided we wanted to.”

  He looked at Libby, and then quickly away. Her heart began to beat faster.

  “I’d advise waiting around three months.” The doctor smiled, stacked the chart back in its holder and said, “Hope that doesn’t sound too long for you, Mr. Buchanan!”

  “Not as long as we can practise our technique in the meantime.”

  Dr. Crichton laughed, then said, “Think about any other questions you might have, Libby, and I’ll answer them in the morning, okay? I have a delivery to get to, now, and if I don’t make tracks, the baby’s going to get there before I do.”

  She left the room, a cheerful whirlwind of warm energy.

  “She’s nice,” Brady said.

  “Forget that,” Libby said, feeling a little shaky. “Brady, you asked her about when it would be safe to try for a baby. You—”

  “Not if you don’t want,” he said slowly. “Maybe I shouldn’t have asked. I was getting too far ahead.”

  “Ahead of what? I didn’t even know if you still thought we had a marriage. And as for a baby—”

  “I love you, Lib,” he said. “I’d love to have a baby with you. Or a few babies. I love you. That’s all.”

  “That’s all?” She had tears in her eyes again. “That’s everything, Brady! That’s everything I need and want. I love you. I never thought I’d dare to love anyone like this.”

  “I’ve felt it for so long,” Brady said. “But I’ve been so angry, too. I couldn’t admit, even to myself, that I felt this way about you.”

  His voice was low and fast, some of his phrases a little clumsy. Libby was used to that. Loved it not only because it was part of who he was, but because it said so much about his honor and his honesty. He didn’t like putting his feelings into words, but he had learned to do it when it was important.

  “I couldn’t accept it,” he went on.

  She couldn’t see his face properly, because he was looking down to where their fingers tangled together. She leaned forward, hurting her stomach, and kissed him wherever her lips could reach—kisses that said, “Keep talking. I want to hear every word of this.”

  “There was so much in the way. Kept thinking it was going to be a saga of dishonesty and miscommunication like it was with Stacey. I didn’t want to go through that again. I told myself I’d cut my losses if things didn’t improve. I knew it would hurt, but I didn’t realize how much until I found out about the surgery, and that you hadn’t even told me. I knew right away that I had to come up here. And that I loved you with everything in me. I knew this was our last chance, and there were times when I thought it was a pretty slender one.”

  “Oh, Brady,” she whispered, and kissed him some more. He kissed her back, hot and hard.

  “But we can do this, now,” he said, holding her. “We can love each other, stay together, be together.”

  “Tell me again. Could you? Tell me. And kiss me…”

  “I love you, Lib. Give me forever.”

  “I’ll give you forever,” she answered. “The two of us. The four of us. The five or six of us, maybe someday. You and our children. Forever in my heart.”

  We hope you love

  BALANCING ACT

  so much that you share it with friends and family. If you do—or if you belong to a book club—there are questions on the next pages that are intended to help you start a book group discussion. We hope these questions inspire you and help you get even more out of the book.

  READERS’ RING DISCUSSION GROUP QUESTIONS:

  1. Libby and Brady are brought together by what seems like an amazing stroke of fate. Now that adoption records are opening up, there have been lots of similar stories of miraculous coincidences in the lives of adopted children and their birth parents, or siblings and half siblings separated by adoption—a brother and sister living two blocks from each other for years without knowing of their relationship, or a birth mother admiring the achievements of a local celebrity and then discovering that he was her grownup son.

  Do you know of any inspiring stories like these?

  And what would you do if you were Brady and Libby?

  2. Brady and Libby attempt to create a blended family—a task that a lot of couples face today. For a long time, it doesn’t quite work but they resolve their problems in the end.

  Have you had any experience of blended families? Do you have any insights into how to make them work?

  3. What’s going on with Libby and the housework? In much of the book, she’s using it at least in part as a way to hide from some deeper issues and avoid a confrontation with Brady. She feels that if she does her part in that area, she’ll deflect a challenge from him over the things that aren’t working.

  Once their problems are resolved, do you think Libby’s going to relax a little? Or is her energy around the house a positive and ingrained part of her nature? Is Brady flexible on the issue?

  True confession time now, ladies. Is your house

  a) immaculate and sparkling? You’re a total clean freak and proud of it.

  b) semi-immaculate and semi-sparkling? You kind of wish you were an (a) but just can’t quite get there because of the kids/the dog/your job.

  c) clean enough to be healthy? In the bits that show, anyhow.

  d) Um, lets just say you have other priorities. Your mantra is “Dull women have immaculate houses,” and people had better get in the habit of chanting it when they come to your place.

  4. Brady and Libby are poles apart in some areas, and this is shown very early on in the scene where he’s clumsy with her little soap arrangement. Is it a case of “opposites attract” or are Libby and Brady drawn together through similarities and differences that make for the most lasting happiness in a marriage? Is it different for every couple, or are there some universal rules?

  In a good romance novel, we get a unique insight into what attracts two people to each other, both physically and emotionally. That’s one of the reasons that romance is so rewarding to read. In life, sometimes it’s harder to understand what two people see in each other. Do you know any couples like that? “I mean, him? With her? Who’d have thought of that, in a million years!” In answering this question, names can be changed to protect true identities.

  And which celebrity couple do you think is

  a) most likely to split up in the
next six months?

  b) most likely to stay the full distance?

  c) most jaw-droppingly unsuited to each other?

  d) next on the list to announce that she’s pregnant?

  e) only faking an involvement to publicize their latest movie?

  5. From the first moment of their physical connection to each other, Libby and Brady’s relationship is a success in bed, offering both them and the reader a powerful hope that they’ll be able to solve the problems that drive them apart in other areas.

  Do you think good sex is always a positive element in a relationship? A place where honesty always comes through? Or can it, as Brady sometimes fears, be used as “wallpapering”—a way to cover up or hide from underlying problems? What has been your experience?

  6. Balancing Act is a very emotional book, yet there are moments of humor and lightness that come through. Did these moments strengthen the book? Or did they distract from the serious issues that Brady and Libby were facing?

  What is your own attitude toward humor at dark times in your life? Are you always able to find something to laugh about? Or is it sometimes just too hard? Is it true that laughter can heal?

  7. Balancing Act contains several complex emotional threads. Other subjects for discussion:

  a) The issue of Vietnam. How important do you think it is for Libby and Brady to keep the Vietnamese connection in their daughters’ lives?

  b) The question of past relationships. Libby has been more deeply scarred than Brady by her past relationships, both with her father and with her first husband, Glenn. Why do you think this is so?

  c) Libby’s need for secrecy. She’s aware that it’s potentially destructive and struggles to overcome her blocks, but takes a long time to succeed. What’s your attitude to honesty in a relationship? Does everything need to be laid out on the table? Or can silence sometimes work better?

  d) The settings and seasons used in the story. How are these used to reflect the emotions Libby and Brady are feeling?

  e) The writing style. How would you describe this author’s work to someone who hadn’t read her before? Where are her greatest strengths? What didn’t work for you?

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-3290-7

  BALANCING ACT

  Copyright © 2003 by Melissa Benyon

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and TM are trademarks of Harlequin Books S.A., used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

  Visit Silhouette at www.eHarlequin.com

  * The Cinderella Conspiracy