Nick of Time [Davis Hollow, Davis Ranch 4] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by JQ Jones

  “They are most assuredly boys,” the old man said. He and David laughed.

  David pointed out all of their features and explained where he and Manuela would be living. They were settling into a more in-depth conversation when they were interrupted by David’s father.

  “This is ridiculous. You’re talking about these children as if you know for a fact that they are yours. If I understand the situation right you met her one night, had sex with her, and now she claims she’s pregnant by you. The trollop saw an opportunity and took it. Are you this stupid?” Joseph said. His voice shook with suppressed anger.

  “These are my sons. Since you need it, I’ll make sure I send you the DNA results after they are born. In the meantime, I would like for you to either speak of Manuela with respect or don’t speak of her at all,” David said. He walked around the table to take his seat beside Barbara.

  “All right, son, assuming these are your children, what does that have to do with you marrying Barbara? You know your father and I think this is the best thing for the family. For both families. This was decided when you were children and I’m not going to allow you to throw away something we had planned for decades because you feel as if you should play daddy to some woman’s children,” his mother said.

  “Our marriage has been planned for decades, and for most of that time I’ve explained to you, Barbara’s parents and to Barbara that I was not comfortable with the thought of marrying her. Now I know I do not want to marry her. Since you decided not to hear me, I’ll live my life as if your opinions don’t matter. And they don’t. I love you both, however, if it’s a choice between me loving you and doing exactly what you or me loving you and living by myself I choose the latter,” David said.

  “I can write you out of my will,” Joseph said.

  “That’s up to you. I love my home in Essex. I love the people and it would be grand to have such a place for my sons but I’m not going to give up my life for it.”

  “Before anything rash is decided maybe we should just wait until David gets this out of his system,” Barbara said.

  “I think Barbara’s right,” Hortense said. “We should discuss this in a calmer tone and in a less public place. I’m sure that after David has his little peccadillo out of his system he’ll be able to come to an amicable resolution to this situation. This woman will probably see that it would be to her benefit to quietly go away.”

  “What about my sons? Are you saying I should make them ‘go away’ too?” David said. His voice was quiet and bitter. He looked at each of the people at the table.

  “I have no plans on leaving Manuela or my sons. Unless you have something else to discuss, I’ll excuse myself. Barbara, I’ve put the townhouse up for sale. If you haven’t already done so, you need to get all your things out. I’m sure you can move in with your assistant on a more permanent basis.” David rose from the table, walked over to his grandfather to kiss his pale, soft cheek and left the restaurant.

  * * * *

  Manny slipped more paper into her tote bag. She had written and rewritten the short note that she planned on leaving for David over twenty times. Each one of them had turned out to be melodramatic or corny or mean or senseless or just plain pitiful. She realized that her plan of leaving without him knowing was all of those things.

  It took thirty-seven drafts before she came up with a short direct friendly tone that stated the facts and told him that she’d be in touch soon. She waited until the moving van had begun its journey before she checked out of the hotel itself. She left the note at the front desk along with instructions for them to bill her credit card if Mr. Davis needed to stay longer. She sat in the hotel lobby for over an hour, thinking. As a new round of guest checked-in at 2:00 pm, she left the hotel and caught a cab at the closest Tube station.

  * * * *

  David passed the front desk twenty minutes later. As he walked in the room he knew that Manuela was gone. It wasn’t because she had taken anything that he would notice. Almost all of the things he had brought were still there. It was the lack of her atmosphere. She had taken a large stockpile of diapers, onesies and blankets but nothing else. It was if her presence had been sucked out of the room.

  He sat in the darkening room for two hours in stunned silence before he called down to the front desk. They were very helpful. They told him that Ms. Menendez had checked out, Mr. Davis was cleared to stay as long as he needed with the final bill already taken care of by Ms. Menendez. Mr. Davis had a note from Ms. Menendez at the front desk. Room service would be happy to deliver it along with the bottle of scotch and crushed ice.

  Chapter Eleven:

  Lose Sight of It All

  David stayed at the hotel for two days. He drank and worried about Manny. The hotel, as discreet as only a high-end hotel should be, complied with all his wishes. Scotch and ice were delivered at the requested times. The maids cleaned some of the more apparent messes he made in the sitting room and bedroom areas. But two days was enough for David. He was up the next morning and back working with his crew on the set design for play.

  What fascinated David, in a morbid kind of way, was the fact that no one noticed any difference in him. He felt as if all his nerves were exposed to the world. Constant pain radiated from everything he touched, smelled, saw or tasted. He still spoke civilly to people, had lunch with his friends, worked amicably with his crew and even laughed when someone made an outrageous comment or lame joke. His life was going on although inside he felt as if any second he would curl up into a tiny ball and moan and cry out his dissatisfaction with the world.

  Manny had been gone for a week before David called CJ. The two men caught up on the issues of their lives. CJ was busy trying to get Iona to commit to marrying him. As nonchalantly as possible David probed for hints that Manny had gone back to Oklahoma. None appeared.

  Manny wasn’t there. David spoke to Iona as well as the new housekeeper Jody and neither had heard from Manny. That was clear within the first minutes of each conversation. He was able to answer all questions everyone had regarding Manny without ever letting on that he had absolutely no clue where she was.

  Evenings at home, David read, watched the telly and worked on his set but didn’t have a clue what he read, watched or worked on, nothing stayed in his mind as thoughts of Manny crowded everything else into a space too tiny for him to access. He dissected Manny’s note, analyzing each word until he had pondered each word to the point of ridiculousness. He put the note into a box after he found himself wondering why she used “a” instead of “the.” The realization that he wanted Manny back rather than the Beans was unsettling. He thought his feelings for her were clear cut, like with a dash of caring. When love with more than a little need had crept in he didn’t know.

  He called the real estate agent as he left the hotel to give the go ahead to finish the paperwork on a townhouse in Kensington. The house had not been listed yet but a friend of a friend of a friend was moving to Hong Kong and putting it on the market. It had several advantages. It had gone through a series of modifications to accommodate the family of three including a third-floor play area and a nursery suite on the second floor. It was a great location on an oversized lot that had been designed to give it a country feel and it came with staff.

  The Browns lived in a separate cottage that was tucked away against the back garden wall. Mrs. Brown was the cook and Mr. Brown butler and sometime chauffer. They were past retirement age but happy to continue to work for the new owner. They seemed cheerful and nice. They were kind to David when he moved in with just a few suitcases.

  If the Browns were curious they were too discreet to ask why the nursery was outfitted with two cribs and the other necessities of newborns. He explained to them that he was expecting twin boys due in March. They asked no questions as to who the mother was and why she was not moving in.

  With his housing situation sorted, David continued to make inquiries through different friends in the restaurant business to see if anyone had a cl
ue where Manny might be working. It took him three days to find out where she worked, where she lived and how she was doing. He didn’t contact her because it seemed impolite to try to force his feelings onto her. He wanted her to come back but he didn’t want to ask. He allowed himself to wallow in his loneliness because it felt like what she wanted.

  * * * *

  Within hours of leaving David she’d known that she had made a serious mistake. She wasn’t such a sissy about confronting difficult challenges. She wanted to stay with David and make him come to love her as much as she did him. He already liked her so love could come. Okay, maybe never, but why deprive the Beans of the love, attention, and affection of their father for whatever amount of time they could get?

  Her job at a small bistro was the exact amount of work that she needed to do at this point of her life. The menu was imaginative without being crazy and the tiny staff, a waitress, bartender and assistant cook, were eager and didn’t ask questions she didn’t want to answer. They worked around her lack of mobility, and she noticeably grew every single day. Her cooking skills were excellent and there was a noticeable increase in customers after four days. The only concession to her pregnancy was a backless stool that allowed her to sit down between orders.

  Manny spent her time cooking and thinking about David. She went to her appointment with Dr. Harlow without him. She was tearful on the Tube ride to work. David deserved to share in the process as much as she did. At work, she beat eggs and spices into a dill mayonnaise for chicken salad while she considered and rejected different ways to approach David.

  Alone in the tiny apartment already overcrowded with baby stuff, she lay awake talking to the Beans. Nothing about the place made her feel at home. It screamed temporary with furnishings that were bland, space that was too small and crowded covered an atmosphere of loneliness. It was not the home that she wanted for her Beans.

  It took Manny ten days to arrive at David’s new townhouse. London, one of the oldest cities is in the world, was a more like a collection of small towns. The restaurant town mixed and mingled with the theater town so she knew exactly where he lived. She walked past it a few times trying to get her nerve up to walk up to his door and maybe say she took everything back. She stood on the steps ringing the bell to David’s Kensington home.

  “May I help you, ma’am?” A very tall, thin older man opened the door to David’s house. An expression of mild curiosity was masked by a very luxurious mustache. His hazel eyes gave Manny a quick assessment from the top of her rain-hat-covered head to her rubber rain boots that encased her ever-swollen feet.

  “I’m looking for David Smythe Davis,” she said.

  “Mr. Davis is not at home. Would you care to leave a message?” the old man said.

  Manny felt the energy she stored up to face David drain out of her body. The adrenaline rush flushed away and left her bone tired.

  “There is no message. I’ll call later. I’m Manuela Menendez, a friend. I know you don’t know me but would it be okay if I came in and sat down for a while?” she said. Manny learned after falling asleep on the Tube and missing her stop more than once that whatever her body said she needed to obey. If she was tired, she rested. If she was hungry, she ate, and if she was sleepy, she slept.

  The man looked at her oversized belly and led her to a sitting room. He offered her tea and came back in minutes with tea and an assortment of biscuits and scones. When he got back he found her asleep on the couch with her arms curled around her stomach. He closed the door to the room as he left.

  * * * *

  Mr. Brown met David at the door and took his coat and briefcase before informing him that there was a guest waiting in the sitting room. David didn’t even ask who it was, he wasn’t used to having a butler in his everyday life but caught the subtle way Mr. Brown said guest. It carried curiosity and a hint of surprise.

  Since moving in, David had adjusted to the way the Browns ran the house. Mr. Brown turned on the wall sconces so dim ambient light shone throughout the downstairs rooms. It cut the early fall gloom that settled into the large unused rooms. At his first sight of Manny, David was surprised by the quick flood of tears that overwhelmed him. She lay on the couch on her side breathing softly. There were dark purple stains under her eyes and someone, probably Mr. Brown, had covered her with a wool blanket. He was so relieved to see her. And so very, very angry.

  He watched her sleep for another forty-five minutes before she began to wake up. A general tension started to seep into different regions of her body as she was returned to consciousness. She blinked open her eyes and pushed herself to sitting position. There was no reaction once she noticed him sitting in one of the chairs that flanked the fireplace.

  A soft smile began to spread as he left the chair in the surge of energy. His fingers laced through her hair as he kissed her with open mouth fiery passion. He kissed her entire face from temples and chin before returning to her mouth to reclaim it as his own.

  His kisses peppered out as he calmed down. He placed both hands on her huge stomach gently caressing the Beans before he bent down and placed kisses on the top of her stomach.

  “I’m sorry, David.”

  “As well you should be. I’m very cross with you. You’ve let yourself get tired to the bone. I’ve been so worried about you but I took your note to heart and I allowed you to decide if you wanted to be with me. But, if you ever do something like this again, I will track you down and make you suffer.”

  “I don’t think I’ll do this again. I don’t sleep as it is without you around. Okay except for the little nap I just took on your couch. It’s just the idea that you will be there and be my backrest for the next few months is enough for me right now. I have very strong feelings for you but I don’t expect you to say you feel the same way. I do want to be with you as long as you can handle the chaos,” she said. Whatever else she was going to say was interrupted by her heavy sigh. “The Beans are extremely active right now. That’s a great thing but it’s playing major havoc on most everything I do.”

  “We’ll talk about this in depth another day. For right now let’s get you fed with some of Mrs. Brown’s excellent food, let you soak in a hot tub and then go to bed,” David said. He used an intercom system to inform Mrs. Brown that Manuela would be staying for dinner and staying for the foreseeable future.

  David introduced Manny to the Browns. The older couple was now able to put the need for all of the baby items in the nursery together with the sight of her swollen stomach. Mrs. Brown served a special onion soup she said was good for pregnant women. In addition to the soup, Manny and David ate a very simple British meal with no mention of the time she was away. She brought him up to date on the progress of the Beans.

  After dinner, he showed her the house, helping her up the steps to view the babies’ room. It was a beautifully laid out and functional a testament to David’s skill as a designer. Soft greens and purples were painted in broad stripes, burlap canvas covered the bow windows, a comfortable deep chair sat between them while a double changing table divided the cribs from one another.

  “You put a lot of work into this. I’m glad I wasn’t here, we’d have fought over every little thing and you did a wonderful job by yourself. The stripes are awesome,” Manny said. She lowered herself into the chair, letting out an audible sigh of relief. She didn’t move as he showed her more and more of the little additions he had put into the room.

  As he described the beauty of the diaper bin, he looked over to find that she was asleep once again. David woke her up and, using a two-handed tug, helped her out of the chair. Their room, two doors down from the nursery, faced the back garden and was full of decorations from several of the shows that he’d worked on. Manny spent what she considered the exact amount of time telling him how great his house looked (it did look wonderful) before she accepted an oversized shirt from David and crawled into his bed.

  As if they had not had a break, they fell into the position that was most comfortable fo
r Manny, her back to his front with now his knees raised to press right above her butt. Manny slept well for the first time in a long time, waking refreshed and hungry before dawn.

  * * * *

  The pre-dawn light bounced off David’s face. He looked younger than his thirty-eight years, with an innocence that made her want to protect him from the harsh realities of life. It made her want him. She wanted to jump his bones of course, much more she wanted to be that person in his life that he could come home to. But she had decided in her time in the tiny apartment that if she couldn’t have that forever at least she could have it for as long they could stand it.

  She leaned over and outlined his lips with her tongue. His quick inhale of breath sucked her in closer. She mimicked him from last night and threaded her fingers through his soft brown hair and kissed him all over his face. He kept his eyes closed and smiled as she kissed him on the lips.

  She shuddered as his hands outlined her growing body with a gentle pressure that had her longing for more. Manny was uneasy with the daily changes to her body, uncomfortable with him touching her. Raging hormones made her horny every time she thought about him and how much she desired him. She went over and over the weekend in Houston and each time they had been lucky enough to make love while in London. This morning as she felt moisture slide onto her thighs she knew she had to have him.

  She licked his sparsely hair-covered chest until she located his nipple. Once found, she tasted it with the appreciation of a connoisseur. The flavor of his body was uniquely David. She outlined the pebbled flesh that circled his erect nipples.

  David released a long drawn-out sigh. He was instantly hard and desperately trying not to show it. He wanted her so much but he was slightly scared for the health of the Beans. He was contemplating slipping into her from the side when she took the decision away from him. She pushed her ass back with her legs parted. His dick sank into wetness.