Now she had a son to put to bed. Nothing else would ever be more important than that.
Humming, she picked up her briefcase and crossed to the door.
Wanda looked up as Marlene walked out of her office. “Going home?”
Marlene nodded. She knew exactly what was going on in Wanda’s mind. “There’s nothing going on here that everyone else can’t handle. Or that can’t keep until the morning.”
“Nothing at all,” Wanda agreed. “Go home, Ms. Bailey, and enjoy that son of yours while he’s still young.” She glanced at a framed picture of her own family. “God knows they grow up fast enough.”
“So they tell me.” She smiled warmly at the woman. “Good night, Wanda.”
As she turned to leave, Marlene barely missed colliding with Joe Stamos, an artist who had started with the company the same week she officially had. Over the years, she had found his judgment to be flawless. He had a happy aptitude for simplicity and taste. When her father had died and the reins had fallen into her hands, she promoted Joe to a junior partner. Her father had never had partners. He hadn’t believed in them. But she did. In more ways, she realized, than one.
Joe’s lips spread wide, giving her a slightly gap-toothed smile. “Hey, Marlene, Abernathy liked your ideas for that radio spot showcasing his dealership. It’s a go. The spot starts airing next Monday.”
“Was there ever any doubt?”
There was a time the news would have elated her. Now it just slid into perspective. Winning the high-profile account meant more clout for her company, which translated to more power in negotiating and more security for her and the people who worked for her.
More security for Robby—if he wanted the company some day. And if he didn’t, well, that was okay, too. She wanted him to be happy just being himself. A lesson, she thought, she’d learned from her father—in reverse.
Joe noticed her briefcase. “You leaving?” He raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“Yes.” She was in a hurry to get going. “Call me at home if there’s an emergency. Otherwise, I’ll see you in the morning.”
Joe nodded, closing his mouth.
“You know, Marlene, motherhood certainly agrees with you.”
Marlene turned around and saw her sister standing almost directly behind her. Nicole wore a light gray cape thrown over her shoulders in deference to the weather and a huge, satisfied smile on her lips. There was a very festive Christmas wreath slung over her forearm.
Homemade, Marlene guessed. The wreath had Nicole’s touch written all over it. She had an unerring eye for color and blending. Her sister had definitely shifted gears and changed direction. She was light-years away from that wild child she’d seemed so bent on becoming only a few short years ago.
“I think so.” Marlene eyed the wreath. “Taken to selling wreaths from door-to-door, have you?”
“Very funny. I brought you a gift for the holidays.” Nicole handed her sister the wreath. “Looks like I arrived just in time. Five minutes later and I would have missed you.” Her relief was sincere. Traveling anywhere these days was a challenge, and extra trips were as wanted as an extra ten pounds.
Marlene studied the wreath more closely. Nicole had dried and lacquered the tiny berries individually. She acted offhandedly about life in general, but Marlene knew that Nicole was a stickler for perfection.
“It’s beautiful, Nic.” Marlene leaned over and brushed her lips against Nicole’s cheek. “Thanks.” Marlene wore the wreath like an oversize bracelet as she picked up her briefcase again. “C’mon.” She hooked her elbow through Nicole’s. “I’ll walk you back to the elevator. I’m on my way home.”
“Home?” She’d thought that Marlene was on her way to an early dinner with a client. “You?” Nicole placed her hand to her chest and gasped dramatically. She would have stumbled backward if there had been twenty-five pounds less of her. “But it’s not even dark yet.”
“Wise guy. I know that. But I just don’t want to spend all my time here anymore.” Marlene led the way toward the elevator. “I’ve got more important things to do these days.”
Nicole fell into step beside her. She looked enviously at her sister. Marlene had already gotten her figure back. God, she hoped it would be that easy for her. “Like changing diapers?”
“Yes.” Even that didn’t bother her, now that she had gotten the hang of it. The first few attempts had resulted in Robby wiggling out of his diaper, or said diaper sliding off as soon as it was damp.
Nicole pressed the down button. She gave Marlene a knowing look. “Anything else?”
She could never keep anything from Nicole. Somehow, she always seemed to know. A smile played on her lips. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Nicole laughed as the elevator doors opened. “Sure you do. In my experience, that sort of contented look comes along only when there’s a man involved.”
Marlene got on the elevator. Nicole followed, treading heavily. She was beginning to feel as if she were leaving dents in the floor with every step she took.
“Your experience is…” Marlene paused. What was the sense of pretending? She felt too happy to lie, and she wanted to share this feeling with someone. Who better than Nicole? “Absolutely right.”
Satisfaction was stamped all over Nicole’s small features. “Thought so.” She’d never seen Marlene as happy as she was right now. Whoever Marlene was involved with, the man certainly had her approval, sight unseen. “Is it anyone I know?”
Marlene was about to say no, then remembered that they had met in her hospital room. “Only by sight.”
That took in a lot of men. Then it came to her. The elevator stopped, but Nicole remained where she was, stunned. “You don’t mean…” Her voice trailed off as her eyes grew larger.
Marlene lifted her shoulders and let them drop nonchalantly. Because Sullivan was uppermost in her mind, she assumed he was in Nicole’s, too. “Maybe.”
Nicole’s mouth dropped open. “Sullivan?” she whispered in disbelief. The man was utterly drop-dead gorgeous.
Marlene’s grin gave Nicole her answer before she said a word. “Yes.”
Nicole couldn’t bring herself to believe it. She followed Marlene from the elevator down the hall, hardly aware of her surroundings. “You and he…?”
Marlene nodded. She pushed open the glass door and held it with her back while Nicole walked out. The early evening air was chilly. Marlene hunched her shoulders slightly. “He and I.”
There was a huge ache traveling up the length of Nicole’s spine. She pressed her hand to the small of her back to ease it as she studied her sister’s face. Marlene really did look happy enough to burst. She thought of their last conversation regarding the senior Travis.
“Then everything’s okay?”
Marlene turned to look at her. “In what way?”
“About his father?” Nicole looked at her hopefully. “He’s backing off?”
Marlene raised her chin unconsciously. “That still remains to be seen.”
But Marlene didn’t sound as beleaguered as she’d once been. Things seemed to be under control. Nicole grasped the handrail as she went down the six steps to the parking lot. “Well, at least with Sullivan in your corner, you have an ace up your sleeve.”
He was hardly that. She hadn’t worked any of this out satisfactorily for herself yet. Seeing her sister’s car, Marlene shook her head as she began walking in that direction. “Does being pregnant make you talk in clichés?”
Nicole laughed, not taking offense. “No, but being pregnant makes me very, very hungry.”
Marlene looked at her, puzzled as to where that had come from.
She’d forgotten, Nicole thought. Typical. “Dr. Pollack’s party tomorrow, remember?” Nicole could feel her appetite springing to life just at the thought of it. “Rumor has it that the restaurant where she’s holding it has a cook who performs miracles in the kitchen daily.”
Marlene stopped at the white T-bird she’d forced on Nicole a
s a birthday present the year before. “I’ll be there,” she promised.
Nicole unlocked the door and turned to look at Marlene before beginning the arduous task of getting in. “Significant others are invited, too. Why don’t you bring Sullivan along?”
She didn’t want to jeopardize anything by placing too much emphasis on it. “He’s not a ‘significant other,’ yet.”
Who did Marlene think she was fooling? “Isn’t he? From that look on your face, I’d say that he seems pretty significant to you.”
She shrugged, her shoulders moving beneath the red wool winter jacket. “Maybe, but I don’t push.”
“Yeah, right.” Nicole laughed. “Who are you, and what have you done with my sister, the overachiever?”
“Very funny.” She nodded toward the car. “Drive carefully, Nic.”
“Will do.”
Nicole attempted to hug Marlene, but it wasn’t easy. Nothing was easy these days. Her bulk got in the way of everything, throwing her off. She backed away, relieved that she hadn’t squashed the wreath.
Nicole looked down at her stomach. “I can’t wait until I don’t feel as if I’m carrying around the entire Raiders football team inside of me.”
How well she knew the feeling. Marlene patted her sister’s stomach. “Less than a month to go, Nic.”
Nicole sighed loudly. “Not soon enough for me.”
Bracing herself, Nicole angled in behind the steering wheel. She had the seat back as far as she could and still be able to reach the pedals. But the wheel still managed to rub against her abdomen. It felt as if she had always been pregnant. And would always be doomed to remain that way.
Marlene nodded knowingly. “I know that tune.” She closed the door for Nicole, then stepped away from the car. Her own was parked near the building. “Hang in there, Nicole.”
What choice did she have in the matter? “Yeah.” This too shall pass, Nicole told herself, as she pulled out of the slot marked Guest Parking Only.
Marlene hurried off to her car.
Sullivan sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. It fell into his eyes, obstructing his vision. Just like Marlene obstructed the clarity of his thinking, he thought, leaving his office.
Taking out his car keys, Sullivan got in behind the wheel of his car. He felt unusually agitated. He’d been trying to rid his mind of Marlene all morning. It only seemed to make matters worse.
He started his car, then paused, thinking. Maybe he would take a drive over to Vesuvio’s. The ambiance in the small, intimate restaurant might help to soothe him. It had been a hell of a day, and he could do with a glass of wine and a good meal in a place where there were no demands on him, no decisions to make beyond which entrée to select.
A man could be alone there with his thoughts without really being lonely.
“Vesuvio’s it is,” he murmured to himself, pulling out of the lot.
The Italian restaurant was his intended destination as he threaded his car onto the road. Vesuvio’s, then home. Just how he wound up going south on Pacific Coast Highway rather than north he wasn’t quite sure. But it was as if his car were in direct confrontation with his mind. And the car wanted to head south.
To Spyglass Hill.
To Marlene.
Though they had talked several times and he had sent over more gifts for the baby, he hadn’t seen her since the night he had made love with her. His schedule, mercifully, had gotten even more demanding. Everyone seemed to want to finish up before Christmas. So he allowed himself to be taken with the tide. All but his mind, where Marlene was firmly entrenched.
He thought of her every night. And every morning. It was getting so that there was little room for anything else.
Sullivan surrendered to his instincts. He drove the winding path up to her house and hoped she would understand. He sure as hell didn’t.
He knew he shouldn’t do this. Whatever existed between them wasn’t going to lead anywhere. There were just too many complicating factors in the way. His father expected him to obtain custody, and he was still hopeful that it could be done without the publicity of a trial. But in order to do that, what there was between Marlene and him would be destroyed.
What was there between him and Marlene? he questioned silently, resisting the larger picture. Only a few moments…
And a hell of a lot of emotion.
He would work on that tomorrow, too, he thought, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. Right now, he just wanted to see her.
He’d left the window on the driver’s side open. The cold air whipped along his face as his mind wandered. Christmas was coming soon, and he thought of Marlene. She was probably the kind of person who made a big deal out of the holidays. So had he before he’d grown up and taken on responsibilities.
A bittersweet sadness seeped in, making him long for the boy he had been. Before he’d become his brother’s keeper. And his father’s right-hand man.
Damn, what was the matter with him? He’d never felt this way before. He’d just taken life in stride and did the best that he could. He’d never chafed against his role in the scheme of things. It was all the fault of a small, wide-eyed woman and her carefully planned offspring. She was to blame. She had all but uprooted his life.
Hell, she had uprooted it.
He didn’t want to think about that. Didn’t want to think about anything. He felt too tired to think. There was nothing good to fix his thoughts on.
Except for Marlene.
It was as if he were a ship, lost at sea in a fog that insisted on clinging to the waters, and she was the beacon, her light slicing through the murky cotton, guiding him to shore.
He had to be tired, he thought, bringing the car to a stop in front of Marlene’s house. He was waxing poetic. He never waxed poetic.
He noted the lively colored Christmas wreath on her front door. The door itself was gift wrapped. He shook his head. He’d been right, she was the type to make a big deal out of Christmas. Sullivan found that rather charming.
“He sent over another gift today,” Sally told Marlene. She stood with her arms crossed before her small chest, her face puckered into a frown. She watched as Marlene made strange noises at her son.
Marlene turned her head to look at Sally. She’d already noticed the new package under the tree and read the tag. “By ‘he’ I take it you mean Sullivan.”
Sally nodded her head. “That’s the one. If you ask me, he’s trying to buy you.”
The baby looked as if he were ready to fall asleep already. She’d only had an hour with him. With a sigh, Marlene began to rock the boy. “I wasn’t asking.”
Sally snorted. “That’s why I volunteered the information.”
Marlene rose, the baby nestled against her. The doorbell rang. “You should know me better than to think I could be bought that way.”
Sally shrugged. “All right, not bought. Rented, maybe.”
The bell rang again. “The door, Sally. Get the door.”
“I hear it, I hear it.” Sally muttered something unintelligible under her breath as she crossed to the door and opened it. “Well, speak of the devil.” Sally stepped back, holding the door open, though it was obvious that she would have rather slammed it. “Now he’s here in the flesh.”
Marlene strode over quickly, gently elbowing the smaller woman out of the way. She smiled at him. An adolescent flutter began in her stomach. “Hi.”
Sullivan felt as if he had swallowed his tongue. Marlene was standing there, barefoot and in jeans, wearing a baggy fishnet sweater that was quickly acquiring a small glob of recycled formula on one shoulder courtesy of the infant she held there.
She looked absolutely radiant.
He tried to tell himself that seeing her this way didn’t excite him, but he had never learned to be an accomplished liar. Not like Derek.
He could feel Sally’s glare penetrating his skin. Not, he supposed, that he really blamed her. “I was just in the neighborhood…”
Liar, Marlene thou
ght. She began to relax. He wasn’t here as an emissary. One look at his face told her that. He was here because he wanted to be. Or didn’t, as the case might be. She could relate to that emotional ambivalence very well. He had her feeling as if she didn’t know if she was coming or going.
“Come on in,” Marlene urged, stepping back. She effectively blocked Sally with her body, forcing the woman into the background. Marlene patted Robby’s back as the baby hiccuped.
The baby was trying to eat her sweater, Sullivan noticed. Reaching over, he tugged the wool out of the infant’s mouth. His fingers brushed against Marlene’s breast. Instantly, their eyes met and held as electricity snapped through the air between them.
He dropped his hand to his side and cleared his throat. “You’re beginning to look natural that way, with a baby attached to you.”
Marlene grinned as she pushed a wayward strand of hair behind one ear. “More importantly, I’m becoming very good at doing things with one hand.” She gestured toward the silver-and-blue garland that wound along the staircase banister. “I did part of that with one hand.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sally roll her eyes. Sally was standing to one side, staring at Sullivan like a watchful guard dog, waiting for him to make one wrong move, to say one wrong thing.
The garland sagged in places and was hardly the work of someone who’d had the time to fuss. Decorating, Sullivan thought, as it should be, reflecting love rather than expertise.
Slowly, the awkwardness slipped from him like a cloak dropping to the floor and he laughed. “It shows.”
Marlene took a step back and appraised the banister critically. A frown played on her lips. He was right. “It does.”
Very carefully, he smoothed out the tiny furrow between her brows with the tip of his finger. “Christmas decorating isn’t supposed to look professional. That’s for department stores, not families.”
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