“Nothing’s more important than the baby.” She smiled. “I can’t wait for him to get here.”
“Me, too,” he replied, returning her smile.
She grew serious. “Chase, we need to promise each other something. Right now.”
“What?”
“If we have a dilemma, if one of us is upset, we have to talk. No hiding anything. Tell each other what we’re feeling.”
Chase frowned. “Laura, that’s such a girlie-girl thing,” he moaned, then a tiny grin pulled at his lips.
She knew he was teasing. “Chase!”
He chuckled. “Okay. Okay, we talk about everything.”
“No hiding anything. Everything out on the table. It’s the only way we’re going to work.”
“You want us to work?”
“We’re having a baby, aren’t we?
“Yes, we are.” He smiled. “May I kiss the baby goodnight?”
“He’s your baby, too,” she said, her voice low and tender.
Chase leaned over and his lips brushed her belly through her nightshirt. An indescribable emotion enveloped her, his gesture just so sweet. She recalled the first time he had kissed her there, the first time they had made love.
“What’s that, fella?” He pressed an ear to her stomach.
Chase looked so comical with an ear pressed to her body. Laura couldn’t help but laugh.
“Say that again,” he said to the curved belly. “I didn’t hear you. Your mother’s laughing at me.”
“Sorry,” Laura whispered.
Chase remained with his ear against her, an intense expression covering his handsome face.
“Thanks, pal. Goodnight.” He kissed her belly again.
“What did he say?” she asked as Chase lifted his head.
“Never you mind. That was a man-to-man conversation with my son.”
Chapter Nineteen
Chase smiled whenever he thought of Laura’s words. Those days were the best in my life, she had said regarding their time on Madre. That was how he had wanted her to feel because he felt exactly the same way. With a little work and a lot of effort, they could get to where they were before Special Asshole Saunders had resurfaced in their lives. The fact that Laura hadn’t kicked Chase out on his ass when she found him in her hospital room gave him courage. That they were talking and enjoying this time together inspired him. He had hope for their future.
So what if they were an unconventional couple? Most people dated, married, and then got pregnant. Chase and Laura got pregnant, married, and now dated.
He continued sleeping in Lonnie’s spare room. He had hurt Laura with his words, broken his promise to keep her safe, and walked out on her and their baby. He didn’t want to insinuate himself too quickly into her life. Chase needed to work to win his wife back. His plan was to take it slow and woo her.
Last night he had taken her to dinner at the Seafood Shack; the night before, they had enjoyed a picnic concert in the park. Although this afternoon, pulling Lonnie’s Toyota into Dr. Silver’s parking lot, Chase and Laura had planned a rather atypical activity for a dating couple. Laura was scheduled for a follow-up ultrasound.
She flipped through the pages of a magazine in the white-painted waiting room. Chase sat in the chair beside her, nervously tapping a sneakered foot. When the technician called Laura’s name, she tossed the periodical aside and stood. Chase remained seated.
“Aren’t you coming?” she asked.
“Fathers allowed?”
“If they want. Please come.” She held out her hand.
Chase wanted immensely. Laura went into a side room and changed into a white hospital gown. He waited in the examining room, investigating all the technological thingamajigs. When she joined him, he lifted her onto the table. Chase loved looking at his wife. Her hips curvier, her belly rounder, she carried their child inside her, and that was oh, so sexy. His hands lingered on her waist longer than necessary.
Her eyes twinkled, her grin enhancing her usual radiance. “We’re about to see our baby,” she whispered.
What an awesome experience!
“You want to put your ear to my stomach and talk to the baby, now?” Laura laughed, flat on her back, as the technician spread the sticky substance over a bulging belly.
She was still teasing Chase when Dr. Silver came in. In her late fifties, tall with salt-and-pepper hair knotted on the top of her head, she made a few pleasantries before passing the magic wand over her patient’s saturated abdomen. Laura grabbed Chase’s hand as the parents-to-be watched their baby on the gray monitor, rocking back and forth.
The baby’s upper body was in full view. The head, mouth, eye sockets, the right shoulder leaning toward them, all perfectly formed. Chase laughed, unable to resist pointing out that the baby curled on its side, positioned just like Laura when she slept. Although undetectable on the screen, Laura was positive the baby had Chase’s blue eyes.
“This is one healthy baby we’re looking at,” Dr. Silver said. “Heartbeat is strong.”
“Thank God,” Laura whispered.
Yes, siree, thank you, God, Chase silently echoed Laura’s gratitude. No lingering effects from Laura’s panic attack or a night spent in the hospital.
“Do you want to know the baby’s sex?” Dr. Silver asked.
Laura spoke up. “We already know. We’re having a boy,” she said without a doubt.
Chase was quiet. Laura’s heart had been set on a boy, and he had gone along. He hoped she wouldn’t be too disappointed if the baby turned out a girl.
“Chase?” Dr. Silver asked, soliciting an opinion.
For the time being, a boy made Laura happy. “We’re having a boy,” he agreed.
Dr. Silver grinned. “If you two have a secret for predicting the sex of a baby, patent it,” she advised. “You’ll make a fortune. You’re having a boy.” She pointed to the monitor, emphasizing what made the child a boy.
Laura’s head spun around to Chase, her expression smug. “See, I told you.”
“You did.” What had she said? Mothers know these things.
Laura smiled and returned her attention to the monitor.
Chase did his best to contain the excitement spreading through him. In front of his eyes, swaying with ease, was their fit and looking very happy — or so Chase was convinced — baby boy. He was mesmerized with the tiny being he had created with Laura.
Finished with Dr. Silver, Laura craved ice cream. Not just ice cream, she insisted as they walked into the diner.
“I’ll have a hot fudge sundae with chocolate ice cream, extra hot fudge, and a double order of nuts,” she told the youth in a white waiter’s uniform. “Extra hot fudge,” she repeated as he wrote down the order.
“I’ll have a cup of coffee. Black, no sugar,” Chase said.
She dug in deep. The huge sundae was drenched with an abundance of dark sauce. Chase had trouble seeing the ice cream.
“A tiny bite.” She held the spoon out to him.
“No, thanks,” he said, wincing at so much sugar. “Enjoy.” She couldn’t possibly finish it.
She did, savoring each mouthful. Chase tolerated his queasy stomach, the least he could do for the woman who carried his baby.
Dr. Silver had given Laura pictures from the ultrasound. Chatting animatedly about the experience during the ride home, she couldn’t tear her eyes from the photos.
Chase pulled the Toyota into the driveway.
“I can’t wait to show Aunt Lonnie,” she said excitedly. “Who do you think the baby looks like?”
He switched off the ignition. “In those pictures? A little space alien.”
Her eyes widened and she broke into a huge grin. “Did you ever notice how cute space aliens are in movies? Not the big, lurking ones. But the li
ttle ones that waddle. I always want to take them all home!”
“It figures,” he said with a laugh.
After walking around to her side, Chase opened the door. Caressing her hand, he helped her slide out of the car.
She swayed, grabbing the door handle. “I’m tired,” she stated as if her exhaustion wasn’t commonplace nowadays.
Chase closed the door. Without warning, he slipped his arm under her knees, scooping her up. Her arms encircled his neck.
“You don’t have to carry me,” she said, her resistance a weak one.
Chase valued any excuse. He relished having her in his arms. “Take advantage while you can. Keep it up with those sundaes, by next month I won’t be able to lift you.” He started up the walkway.
At the reference to ice cream, she licked her lips. “Chase, you should’ve eaten some. The fudge sauce was the sweetest I’ve ever tasted. It was the best!”
“I appreciated your offered spoonful, but I wouldn’t dare take one tiny bite from you.”
“Oh, I meant you should have gotten your own.”
They laughed, reaching the porch. Laura pressed her head to his shoulder. She fit perfectly in his arms, and in his heart.
“Laura,” he said softly.
Her eyes were closed, her body relaxed against him. A slight smile curled her lips. “Umm.”
“Honey, look at me,” he said, his voice gentle. He loved her. She and the baby were his world.
Opening her eyes, she lifted her head from his shoulder.
“I like when you call me ‘honey’,” she whispered.
Chase couldn’t help himself. His mouth covered hers in a deep kiss. Laura’s arms tightened around his neck, and she returned his kiss fervently.
When he drew away, she smiled and laid a hand against his cheek. “I like when you do that, too.”
Chase didn’t have a chance to respond. The door flung open. Laura securely in his arms, both their attention swung to the person in the doorway.
“I was beginning to worry about you. Laura, you need to be carried? Are you ill?”
The person speaking was Dick Donovan.
Chapter Twenty
“I’m fine,” Laura said, as Chase lowered her to the floor.
Dressed in an untarnished, well-tailored tan suit, Dick looked as if he had stopped in Sea Tower on his way to the office. His eyes appraised his daughter-in-law, then his lips distorted in a daunting smile. “I’m excited about my first grandchild.”
His hand reached out to pat Laura’s abdomen, and Chase grabbed his father’s wrist. “Don’t,” he warned, his voice hard. After the hell this man had put Laura through, he wasn’t touching her or their child.
A piqued expression passed over Dick’s face, and he eased his limb from Chase’s grip.
“Chase, I’m sorry,” Aunt Lonnie said, stepping into the foyer. “This man’s not welcome in my home.” She sneered at her brother-in-law. “I asked him to leave several times, but he refused. I didn’t want to call the police and have a scene.”
Undoubtedly, Lonnie was adverse to making such a move where Dick was concerned. She had considered how the police showing up at her door would affect Laura. A slow simmer crawled through Chase for the uncomfortable position his father had imposed upon his aunt.
“Don’t worry, Aunt Lonnie,” he said. “My father and I do need to talk.”
“Your father needs to learn some manners and not barge into homes where he’s not welcome,” Lonnie said, her sarcasm hard.
Chase slipped his arm around Laura. “Honey, would you join Aunt Lonnie in the kitchen? Leave me to talk with my father?”
Laura smiled adoringly at Chase. “If that’s what you want.”
“Thanks.” He bent his head and kissed her.
Laura returned Chase’s kiss, caressing his cheek.
As she moved from Chase, Laura’s eyes burrowed into the older man. “Good day, Mr. Donovan.” She started after Lonnie.
“Laura, there’s no need for formality,” Dick called over his shoulder. “You’re my daughter-in-law. You’re carrying my grandchild. Won’t you call me ‘Dad’?”
Laura halted. Turning to face Dick, her features taut. “My father died when I was a little girl,” she said. “He’s the only man I would ever honor with ‘Dad’. If you don’t want me to address you as ‘Mr. Donovan,’ I’ll just call you — ” she paused for the appropriate affect — “‘Dick’.”
Lonnie gave in to the impulse and laughed. Chase managed to stifle his grin. If his father was offended by Laura’s acidic remark, he concealed the insult well.
Dick waited until the women were in the kitchen. “Laura got pregnant, what? February, beginning of March,” he pointed out. “We’re in July. She should be bigger.”
Chase arched an eyebrow. His wife had been correct in speculating her father-in-law was counting months.
“Laura’s doctor emphasizes healthy eating and exercise. Laura does both.” Chase pondered Dr. Silver’s opinion regarding the massive sundae his wife had packed away earlier.
“Are you sure the child is yours?”
“That doesn’t even dignify an answer,” Chase replied, growing impatient. “Why are you in Sea Tower?”
The lines around Dick’s lips twitched. “It should have dawned on me sooner. You seeking refuge with your aunt.” His voice tightened. “You always ran to Lonnie when in one of your sulking moods.”
Chase stood firm, ignoring the comment, but grateful that a visit with Lonnie hadn’t crossed Dick’s mind earlier. For instance, when Chase hadn’t been in Sea Tower.
Dick continued. “You haven’t returned my phone calls.”
Chase shrugged. “Maybe I don’t want to talk to you.”
Leaning against the doorjamb, Dick folded his arms across his chest. “Your wife’s orders? Avoid me? Your own father?”
“Laura and I don’t discuss you. Your name reminds her you arranged to have her kidnapped, raped, and murdered,” Chase said, his tone hard.
“Chase, I’m sorry you found out.”
Chase lifted an eyebrow. “Oh, but you’re not sorry you attempted murder?”
“I’m involved in something you can’t possibly understand.”
“I’ll tell you what you were involved in.” In vivid detail, he described the horrific scene he had witnessed on his boat. “Dad, I want to believe it’s all crap. Tell me Ron was lying when he said you gave permission to hurt Laura.”
There was a long silence before Dick exhaled a long breath. “You won’t understand.”
“Ah, Dad,” Chase groaned. “I want to know everything. From the start. What’s the game? Why Laura?”
“She happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Wrong place, wrong time. For that she deserved to die?”
“There was nothing I could do. I had no say.”
“But you felt free to offer my boat.” Chase’s voice dripped with bitterness. A conjecture had nagged him. “That’s why you wanted us to have dinner that night. To keep me from the boat.”
“Chase, you don’t understand.” Dick implored for forgiveness without offering an explanation.
“Then tell me, Dad.” Chase wanted to understand his father’s foray into unimaginable violence.
“It’s not so simple.”
Chase still held onto hope. Yes, his father was selfish, brash, obsessed with status and money, but Chase still had difficulty accepting the man was a killer. Perhaps he was being coerced into this sick scheme.
He took a deep breath. “Dad, come on. Let’s you and me go someplace where we can be alone and talk. Tell me what you’re involved in.” Chase’s request was almost a plea. “I’m a lawyer. We can come up with a way to get you out. We’ll talk to this special agent.
It’ll be okay.”
“There’s your mother’s idealism showing,” Dick scoffed.
Chase persisted. “Dad, there’s a baby coming. A boy. How long have you wanted a grandson? We need to put this mess behind us and bring the baby into a happy, safe environment.”
“Grandson?” A gleam entered Dick’s eyes. “I want to be in my grandson’s life.”
Chase put a hand on each hip. “Not if you’re a criminal,” he said, his tone adamant. “You think I’m taking my son to see grandpa in the federal pen every third Sunday?”
Dick hung his head, his shoulders slumping. For a big man, well over six feet, he suddenly looked very small. “Chase, I wish it were that easy.”
Chase despised the uselessness enveloping him. “I want to help.”
Dick straightened. His old confidence, defiance, and insolence returned. “I covered for you. When you forced me to tell my partners you had thrown Ron and Lou off the boat.” His face twisted and his voice hardened. “I covered for you when I said Laura was pregnant and you married her. I insisted you deserved the right to have your child.”
“Dad … ”
“I don’t want your help,” Dick snapped. “I don’t want you caught up. The less you know, the better.”
“I am caught up. Whoever the hell these partners are, they tried to kill my wife,” Chase spat, frustration nearly choking him. His father just wasn’t getting it.
“She wasn’t your wife at the time.”
“Small point,” Chase said with a huff. “What are you doing, Dad? Scamming the customers? Jacking prices? You and Oliver Daniels? What the hell are you doing?”
Dick ignored the inquiries, facing his son head-on. “My partners want Laura. I maintained we could count on you. Promised you would keep her from those agents, but that’s only stalling. I was very convincing. Said she’s so taken with you, she can be led like the proverbial lamb to slaughter. Once the baby’s born, you need to face the inevitable.”
The inevitable? At the inkling of more harm to his wife, Chase’s consideration for his father disintegrated. “I don’t know whether you’re sick … or just plain nuts.”
Magic Moment Page 18