by Lisa Dyson
“How do you know that?” Bree asked.
“Because she would send money orders home to my parents, anywhere from five hundred to a thousand or more a week.”
Nick wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly. “A week? That’s a lot of money.”
“Didn’t anyone question how a girl in her early twenties came to have that much disposable income?” Bree asked.
“She refused to say much about it on the few occasions that my parents spoke with her,” Karen said. “And after she died, a few people came around inquiring about her, which we found odd.”
Nick’s first thought was that Bree’s mother had been prostituting herself, but then reality set in. She’d met Cal Tucker, not yet a billionaire, but well on his way. “What year was this?”
Karen pursed her lips as she calculated the answer. “It must have been eighty-three or eighty-four.” She looked at Bree. “When were you born?”
“Eighty-four.”
Karen nodded. “So she was pregnant with you, and that’s why she wouldn’t come home or answer my parents’ questions about where she was.”
“That sounds like a logical assumption,” Nick said.
Karen narrowed her eyes. “So who raised you? My sister must have been twenty-two or twenty-three when you were born, and she died by the time you were only a few years old.”
Bree didn’t answer at first. Nick reached under the table to take her hand, and she turned to look at him. He had the feeling she was about to reveal who her father was.
“I was raised by my father.” She paused, blinking slowly. “He told me he paid off my mother to not contact me until I was twenty-one.” She sipped from her glass of water. “When she never showed up, I figured she was unable to visit for some reason.” Bree left unsaid that she had considered her mother might not want to see her.
Nick squeezed her hand again and she squeezed back.
Bree continued. “You should probably know that my father is Cal Tucker.”
Karen’s eyes widened. “The Cal Tucker?”
Bree nodded. “I think that explains where she got the money to send home to your parents. I know he gave her a lot of money when she gave up custody of me.”
Relief showed on Karen’s face. “This is such good news. You can’t imagine the thoughts that have been tossed around about how she came to have that money. As well as the amount she had in the bank when she died.”
“She had a lot?” Bree asked.
“Over half a million dollars.”
“Whoa!” Nick said automatically.
“What happened to it?” Bree asked.
“She left it to my parents in her will.”
“That seems pretty young to have a will,” Nick said, “but I guess with all that money she felt it was necessary.”
“She also probably knew she was dying and had to get her affairs in order,” Karen said sadly. “She died of ovarian cancer.” She cleared her throat. “We didn’t know until near the end. She called my parents, telling them that she’d tried the best treatments available but she wasn’t going to survive. She also said that she wanted to tell them something in person before she died. They immediately traveled to where she was living in upstate New York, but she was already gone.”
“She never told them or you about me?” Bree asked.
Karen shook her head. “If we’d had any idea, we would have come for you. I’m sure now that that’s what she’d wanted to tell my parents.”
Bree shook her head. “I’m afraid that wouldn’t have worked with my dad. After kicking my mother out of my life, he certainly wouldn’t have let you near me.”
“You’re probably right,” Karen said. “But still we would have tried.”
Bree smiled a little. “Thank you. I believe you would have.” She turned to Nick. “I wonder if my father knew that she’d died.” She looked at Karen then. “You said people inquired about her?”
Karen nodded. “Yes. I’d have to check with my parents, but I’m pretty sure they told me the men said they were private investigators. They were supposedly looking into a check-fraud case, but the whole thing seemed odd. Once they found out that Marianne was dead, they seemed satisfied and left. But that wasn’t the last time anyone came around asking about her. That’s why I’m so careful about who can visit my parents. My dad has a heart condition, and he wouldn’t be able to take the stress if anyone came asking about Marianne now. My parents took her death very hard, blaming themselves.”
“The men definitely could have worked for my father,” Bree confirmed. “He was probably keeping an eye on my mother to make sure she never made contact with me. He tends to be paranoid about such things.”
“Now that I know about you and who your father is, I completely agree.”
“Do you think I could see them while I’m here? My grandparents, I mean.”
Karen reached out to take Bree’s hand. “Of course you can. Come on, I can’t wait to introduce you.”
They both rose from their seats and hugged for a long time. Nick couldn’t see Karen’s face, but Bree’s eyes were definitely bloodshot, with tears running down her cheeks.
* * *
NICK INSISTED ON not going to Bree’s grandparent’s apartment with her, saying he’d be fine in the lobby. Bree ultimately let him win the argument and was amazed when she finally met her grandparents. They were in better physical shape than she’d expected given that they resided in an assisted-living facility. She imagined her grandfather’s heart condition was the reason they had decided to move here.
Her grandmother took her hands in hers, looking closely at Bree’s face. “You are definitely my granddaughter. You have your mother’s beautiful eyes and hair color.”
Bree smiled. “Thank you.”
Her grandmother smiled in return. “And that dimple in your cheek.”
Bree laughed, putting a hand to her cheek. “I never realized that was hereditary.”
“Oh, yes!” She pointed to Bree’s grandfather. “See, your grandpa has it, too.”
“So you like to be called Grandpa?” Bree hadn’t thought about what to call her grandparents. Her father’s parents had died when she was too young to remember them.
“If you’re comfortable with that,” he said with a warm smile, “then Grandpa it is.”
“My other grandkids call me Grammy, but I’ll answer to anything,” her grandmother said as she laughed nervously.
Bree felt completely comfortable with them. She’d never imagined that she’d find more family than her mother on her quest to discover her medical background.
“Do you have any family pictures you can show me?” Bree pulled her worn picture of her mother from her purse. “This is the only picture I have of my mother.”
Grammy—she forced herself to think of her by that name—took the photo, and she put a hand to her mouth, shaking her head back and forth. “Some days I still can’t believe she’s gone. I keep expecting her to call.” She looked at Bree. “Do you remember her at all?”
Bree shook her head. “No. My father got sole custody of me shortly after I was born. Their agreement was that she wasn’t allowed to see me until I turned twenty-one.”
Grandpa shook his head. “I can’t believe he’d take you away from your mother. What kind of person does that?”
Her aunt Karen—another title Bree was getting used to—spoke up then. “Bree’s father is Cal Tucker.”
That caught her grandparents’ attention. “Cal Tucker?” Grammy repeated. “The billionaire?”
Bree nodded. “The one and only.” She swallowed before continuing. “I feel like I should apologize for him and his behavior.”
“Oh, no, no, dear,” Grammy said. “You mustn’t feel that way. We don’t know exactly what happened between him and our Marianne, b
ut look at you. He took real good care of you.”
Bree cringed internally. Her father had had very little to do with her upbringing. Basically, all he did was hire the nannies who’d raised her.
“Let me get you some pictures,” Grammy said as she went back down the hallway in their small apartment.
Bree remained seated with her grandpa and Karen, who asked, “How long have you been looking for your mother?”
“It’s been a few weeks,” she replied.
Karen’s eyebrows rose. “That’s all? You never came looking for her before?”
Bree shook her head slightly and decided to be candid. “No, I always assumed that she didn’t want anything to do with me when she didn’t show up when I turned twenty-one. I’m easy to find through my father.”
Karen nodded. “So why did you change your mind and begin the search now?”
Before Bree could answer, Grammy returned with several photo albums that she placed on the dining room table. “Come over here, Bree. The light is better.”
Bree did as Grammy suggested, and she was amazed to see the pictures of her mother. “That looks just like me,” she said of one of her mother sitting at a picnic table. She’d probably been six or seven at the time.
“That was at a family reunion in Maryland,” Grammy told her, and then went through the pictures one by one, relating the stories behind them.
“I’d love to meet your children,” Bree said to Karen when they had finished looking at pictures.
“I’m sure they’d love that, too.” She proceeded to tell Bree about her two sons and daughter, all in their twenties.
Bree looked up at the time on the clock over the dining room table and suddenly realized how long she’d been there. “I should go.” It wasn’t fair of her to leave Nick on his own for so long.
They said their goodbyes, and Grammy gave her a long hug, then pulled back to look into Bree’s eyes. “Please come back to see us soon. We’d really like to get to know you.”
“I feel the same way,” Bree said. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep in touch.” They’d already exchanged phone numbers and email addresses.
“I’ll walk you out,” Karen said. They headed down the hallway to the lobby and Karen stopped suddenly. “You never answered my question about why now?”
“Why now?”
“Why did you suddenly come looking for your mother now?”
Bree swallowed the thick lump in her throat. She hadn’t shared her pregnancy with anyone except her girlfriends and Nick and his mom. “It’s because I found out I’m pregnant.”
Karen’s eyes lit up and she quietly clapped her hands. “How wonderful! I’m so happy for you. I know my parents will be thrilled to have a great-grandchild.”
“It’s not that simple.”
Karen tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve decided not to raise it.”
“Not raise it? Are you putting the baby up for adoption?”
“That was my original plan, but the father won’t agree.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“The father’s going to raise it.”
“Is it Nick? The man with you?” Karen asked.
Bree nodded. “Yes.”
“Is this definite? No chance you’ll change your mind?”
“There’s no way I can raise a child,” Bree explained with care. “I have a company to run, and I don’t have enough time to give to a baby. Besides, I know nothing about being a mother.”
“But you could learn.”
“I don’t think so. I just don’t have the maternal instinct. Probably because I never had a mother to emulate.”
Karen gave her a quick hug, and Bree gave a little wave as she walked the rest of the way to the lobby.
As soon as she was close to where Nick was sitting, she turned to see if Karen was gone. Seeing that she was, Bree faced Nick as he stood up, and she fell into his arms with a sob.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“ARE YOU OKAY?” Nick whispered into her hair. He had never seen her like this in the short time they’d known each other and was worried that something terrible had happened during the meeting with her grandparents.
“Uh-huh,” she moaned into his chest, and then sobbed again. She reached up to wipe at her face.
“Here,” he said as he guided her to the sofa. “Let me find some tissues.” He saw them on the end table and brought the box closer. He pulled one out and handed it to her.
“Th-thank you,” she said, wiping her cheeks and nose. “I guess this was more emotional than I’d expected.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him.
She shook her head. “Not here. Wait till we’re in the car.”
“Sure.”
“Let me visit the ladies’ room first and get myself put back together.”
She began to move and he held on to her. “Don’t go yet,” he said. “Just sit here a minute with me.”
She took his advice and leaned her head on his shoulder. “You do realize that you being nice to me is going to make me cry again,” she warned. “Stupid pregnancy hormones.”
He chuckled. “If you run out of tissues, I’ll find more.” He squeezed her shoulders and felt her relax against him.
They were silent for a while before she finally got up and faced him. She patted under her eyes with a tissue and said, “I’ll be right back.”
He put out his hand. “Give me the keys and I’ll bring the car to the front door.”
She hesitated a second, then dug into her purse.
He took the keys and squeezed her hand in the process. “Don’t worry,” he said with a wink. “I won’t leave without you.”
Her lips twitched, but it was far from a smile.
They each went their own way, and he didn’t have long to wait for her after pulling the car to the entrance. He’d decided the moment she’d fallen into his arms on a sob that he’d drive them home because she wasn’t in any mental condition to do so.
She came around to the driver-side door appearing extremely weary.
“I’m driving,” he said. “Get into the passenger seat.”
She glared at him for a few seconds and then did as he’d requested. They both seemed surprised at her lack of confrontation.
The first few minutes of the drive passed in silence, and then Bree began to fill him in on her visit with her grandparents. “They’re both very nice and want to see me again.”
“I’m glad you made the connection,” he said. “Did you make any definite plans?”
“Not yet. It was a little overwhelming for all of us, I think.” She had a balled-up tissue in her hand, and she dabbed at her nose. “I don’t think Karen—Aunt Karen—was too happy to find out that I’m not going to raise this baby.”
“You told her I’m raising it?” He was surprised the subject had come up at all on their first meeting.
“I did. Her reaction was the same as everyone else who knows about our situation. She doesn’t get that I have no maternal instincts.”
“I think you have them and don’t realize it, but I don’t want to fight about that right now.”
She turned her head in his direction. “Thank you. I appreciate that. I’m not sure I have any fight in me at the moment.”
“So how did the pregnancy come up in the first place? I can’t imagine you just blurting out, ‘Hey, I’m pregnant with Nick’s kid, and he’s going to raise it.’”
She made a sound that was half cough and half chuckle. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound like me at all. Actually, Aunt Karen asked me why I began my search now and not years ago. I felt backed into a corner and had no other explanation.”
Nick no
dded. “I’m not sure what other reason you could have come up with either except maybe that you were dying and needed an organ or bone marrow.”
“And she would have seen through those reasons pretty quickly when I kept living and my pregnancy began to show.” She chuckled lowly at her dark joke.
They chatted amiably on the rest of the drive and before Nick knew it, they were at his building.
“Would you like to come in?” he asked as he pulled around to a parking spot before she even answered. “I could make us some dinner. You’re probably getting hungry.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
He looked into her eyes. “Maybe I want to.”
“Why?”
He narrowed his eyes. “You’re asking me why I want to make you dinner?”
She nodded. “Yes. Why do you want to have anything to do with me? All I’ve done is turn your world upside down. You should be enjoying this time before you have all the responsibilities of fatherhood.”
He hadn’t thought about it that way, and he didn’t want to. “I’m just as responsible for this situation as you are.” He turned off the engine and opened the car door. “Now, come on. Let’s go see what’s in my fridge to eat.”
He came around to her side of the car and opened her door. He reached in to give her a hand as she got out and then, as if completely natural, she leaned into him and their lips met in a hot and passionate kiss.
A kiss filled with the promise of things to come.
* * *
NICK’S ARMS AROUND Bree felt like a cocoon of warmth and comfort. She was so intent on his mouth and body that she didn’t realize at first that a light rain was landing on them.
Not until Nick pulled back to tell her exactly that. “Come on,” he urged, closing the car door and locking it. He passed her the keys and put a hand to the small of her back to guide her into his building.
The first time she’d come here weeks ago, she hadn’t known what to expect when she’d stepped through two sets of doors and into the lobby. From the outside, it was a brick high-rise from an earlier decade, but the inside public areas had been redone with neutral colors and contemporary furniture.