“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Maya said. “The last thing you needed at a time like that was someone—how do you say it?—barging in on you in your time of sorrow.” Her face bore the look of genuine sadness. Not the oops-I-did-a-bad-thing kind of sadness, but more of a genuine, from the heart, sorry-for-a-friend’s-troubles expression.
“I know. It was pretty awful. He was pointing a camcorder at me while he was quizzing me about how I felt after learning about Hugh’s accident.”
“For shame.” Maya sounded truly incensed.
“That’s not the worst part.” Bia paused to see if she could pick up on any perceptible change in Maya’s demeanor. But the woman held steady.
“What?” she asked. “What happened?”
“Somehow the guy knew I was pregnant.”
Maya gasped. “How? How did he know?”
“I...don’t know. The only two people I told were you and Aiden. I know Aiden didn’t tip him off. In fact, he almost punched the guy when he wouldn’t leave me alone. It will probably be on the next episode of XYZ.”
“What is this XYZ that you speak of?”
“It’s a tabloid television show. You’ve never heard of it?”
“No, I haven’t. It is not my kind of television program, you see.”
Again, Bia watched Maya closely. She simply frowned and resumed making the hot chocolate, but she didn’t act nervous or defensive.
“So, you didn’t see the show the first time the guy was harassing me? Back when Hugh was in town for the Doctor’s Ball?”
Maya shook her head and stirred, holding the copper pot by its handle. “I read about the accounts of you and the actor, but I didn’t see it on television.”
“Well, you didn’t miss anything important. The footage they shot today will probably air tomorrow night. I’m DVRing it because I don’t know if I can bring myself to watch. But what I want to talk to you about is who could’ve tipped off this guy? How did he know I’m pregnant?”
Maya frowned and tilted her head to one side, as if she was thinking, genuinely trying to solve the puzzle. “This Aiden you speak of, you are one hundred percent sure he is trustworthy?”
“I would trust him with my life.” Bia couldn’t blunt the edge in her tone.
Maya’s face softened. “You would? He is that good to you?”
Bia nodded.
“I would like to meet this Aiden who means so much to you.”
“Why?” Startled by this suggestion, Bia mentally backpedaled a little bit. Was this Maya’s way to distract her, to throw her off course? A sleight of hand to get her talking about Aiden or anything else to divert her attention?
“Why? I am just interested in this man who has captured your heart.”
“What? Wait. No! You have this all wrong. The relationship I have with Aiden isn’t like that, and that’s not what I came here to talk to you about. Maya, if you and Aiden are the only two who know about my pregnancy, and I know for a fact that Aiden didn’t tell anyone... Well, you do the math.”
Maya regarded Bia for a moment. Her expression was inscrutable. Then she turned and took two demitasse cups down from a cupboard and poured the chocolate.
“I can see how this might look to you, but I can assure you that I am not the one who alerted the press.”
“If not you, then who? I mean, how can I believe you didn’t?”
Maya carried the two cups on saucers and set them on the table. “Please have a seat, Bia. There is something I must tell you. I didn’t want it to come out like this, but, given the circumstances, you must know now.”
What? Was Maya going to confess?
Had she needed the money to finance her new location—not that two stories about an actor’s affair with an ordinary no-name would bring in the big bucks.
Bia remained standing. “Look, we don’t have to drag this out. If you tipped him off, just tell me. Fast and simple. I need to know.”
“Sit down, Bia.” Maya’s voice was calm. “This is not about the tabloid reporter. This is an entirely different matter.”
Something in Maya’s voice had Bia lowering herself onto the chair. If it wasn’t about XYZ...she was almost afraid to know.
“About a year and a half ago, your father contacted me.”
Bia did a double take. “My father? How did you and my father know each other?”
Maya looked away as she picked up her chocolate and sipped it. “Actually, we never met. Not in person. But when he was diagnosed with cancer, he contacted me to tell me. You see, he knew he was terminal and it was very important to your father that you not be alone in the world after he passed on.”
Suddenly, Bia felt as if she’d slipped and had fallen down a rabbit hole. She could see where this story might be headed, but she couldn’t let herself land there until Maya said the words.
“So...my dying father contacted you, this person he’d never met, and asked you to look out for my well-being? I’m a grown woman. I’ve been living on my own for years. Why would he do that?”
“Because, Bia, I am your birth mother.”
Now Bia was free-falling down the rabbit hole. She had never felt so out of control of her life. And it just kept getting worse. When was it going to stop? When was life going to quit punching her in the stomach long enough so that she could catch her breath and grasp all the changes that were happening? It was as if the universe had taken her life, turned it upside down and was continuing to shake her until everything that had ever made sense fell away from her world.
“I know this is a shock, but please say something,” Maya said.
What? What am I supposed to say? Why did you give me up? Why are you back now? Are we supposed to pick up and act as if we’ve always had a relationship?
“My father contacted you?”
“Yes. He told me of his condition but asked me not to contact you until after he was gone.”
“If he wanted...this—” Bia gestured back and forth between them “—why wouldn’t he introduce us? Why wouldn’t he have been part of our reunion? I don’t understand.”
Maya’s expression was as gentle as a Madonna’s. “Probably for the same reason he couldn’t tell you himself that you were adopted. He told me about the letter he was leaving for you for after he’d passed. He’d arranged for his attorney to notify me once he’d passed on. I didn’t want to tell you this way, Bia. I wanted you to get to know me better before I told you. Especially given your pregnancy and Hugh’s death. It’s a lot to digest.”
“I just don’t understand why he had to do it that way,” Bia said. “Finding out that I’m adopted didn’t change the way I feel for him, but I was disappointed that he couldn’t tell me himself.”
“I wish I had the answers for you, but I hope this helps you believe that I would never betray your confidence. Especially not to the media.”
Bia had so many questions. Why did Maya give her up in the first place? What was she expecting now? But another more pressing question remained. “Then who did?”
“Perhaps I can help you get to the bottom of it?”
“How would you do that?”
“I don’t know, but I can think about it. I want to be a part of your life, Bia. I want to catch up on all I missed out on with you and to know my grandchild. Will you let me?”
It was too much, too fast, too soon.
“I need time to think, time to process everything.” Bia stood. “Please excuse me. I need to go now.”
Chapter Six
“How is it that you always seem to know when I need you?” Bia asked.
Aiden stood in the threshold of Bia’s house. She looked sexy in those jeans that hugged her in all the right places. He had an almost uncontrollable urge to lean in, draw those curves against him and kiss her. He reminded himself th
at even though he had made up his mind that she would be his, she wasn’t quite ready yet. If he rushed things, he might blow it. It was best to take things slowly.
That’s why he’d hesitated today when he’d found himself at the jewelry store looking at diamond rings. He’d walked away and come back three different times before he’d convinced himself that buying a ring was the right thing to do.
If he was going to make this happen, he needed to do it right. So he’d purchased the ring.
“Guess I’m just talented that way. So, you need me, huh? Was the jackass back?”
Bia shook her head. “Something different. Just when I think that all the crazy things in the world that can happen have laid themselves at my feet, bam!” She clapped her hands together. “Something else jumps out at me—like a scary clown in a jack-in-the-box.”
She stepped aside and motioned for him to come in.
“I met my birth mother.”
Aiden stopped and turned around. “What?”
“Yes. Well, actually, I’ve known her for a couple of months now. Only I had no idea until today. She wanted to wait until—” Bia made air quotes with her fingers “—the right time to tell me.”
“And she decided now is the right time?”
Bia nodded.
“Who is she?”
Bia closed her eyes and took a long, slow deep breath. The tension was evident on her face. Aiden wanted to pull her into his arms and assure her that everything would be okay. He’d make sure of it. Come hell or high water.
“It’s Maya.” Bia’s usually strong, confident voice was a whisper.
“Chocolate-maker Maya?”
Bia nodded, looking so fragile, as if she might break at any moment.
“You saw her today, and she thought now was the right time?”
Bia told Aiden about what had transpired with Maya after she’d left him. “She hadn’t planned on telling me today. But I went to see her and asked her if she was the press informant. That’s when she told me. She promised she would never betray me. Now that I’ve had a little bit of time to step back and think about it, I get it. Sort of. But I told her I need some time to process everything. In the meantime, that brings up an entirely new conundrum. If neither you nor she told the XYZ guy, who did? The only other people who know are Dr. Porter and your nurse girlfriend and the others in the office—they could’ve been talking among themselves.”
Aiden grimaced. “She’s not my girlfriend. Especially not if she spills secrets like that. You know, it’s against the law to leak medical information.”
“I know.” Bia smirked. “At first, I couldn’t put it together. It didn’t make sense. I’d never met anyone in Dr. Porter’s office. I figured it had to be the same person who tipped off the tabloid a couple of months ago. So, the likelihood of someone in that office being the XYZ connection seemed like a stretch.” She held up her index finger. “But then, I went to the XYZ website and found out there is a ‘hot tip’ number. They offer a reward for stories that end up on the air. Anyone can call in the scoop. So, the person who tipped them off about my doctor’s appointment didn’t necessarily have to be the original informant. Really, once a story like that is out, people are looking for the least little anything to call in a tip. Especially if there’s a chance of a financial reward.”
“If you really believe you can trust Maya, it almost has to be someone in Porter’s office. Seems like they’re the only suspects, doesn’t it? How do we prove it?”
“I have no idea. I thought about calling Dr. Porter and telling him what’s happened, suggesting that he have a talk with his staff, just in case, but then I thought better of it. I decided I don’t want to go there. It’s too big of an accusation without proof positive. Plus, it would only draw more attention to the situation. I’m just going to leave it alone, switch doctors and keep my head down.”
They looked at each other for a silent moment.
“Have you thought about what we are going to say when people ask when we’re getting married?” Aiden asked. “We should probably talk about this so we have our stories straight.”
“All we have to tell them is we haven’t set a date yet.”
“So, you’re saying you want to move forward with Plan Engagement?” Aiden asked.
Bia’s throat worked, and then she raised her chin and gave a single resolute nod. “I think so. I mean, I don’t see any other way around it. Since it’s likely that the reporter is still on high alert.”
“Then I need to ask a favor,” Aiden said.
“Sure,” Bia said. “Anything. God knows you’re making a huge sacrifice for me by going through with this charade. I can’t imagine what this is going to do to your love life.”
His gaze fell to her lips and then found her eyes again. You have no idea. Not yet, anyway.
“Before the show airs tonight,” Aiden said. “I want to tell my mother. I don’t want her to hear it on television. And what about Maya? Did you say anything to her?”
Bia shook her head.
“You don’t want to tell her before she hears about it through the mass media?”
“Aiden, I don’t know what I want to do about her yet. I need time to think. I mean, you haven’t even met her yet. She knows about you, but—”
“You told her about me?”
“I told her you were my best friend.”
There was something in her expression, something in her eyes, that made him believe best friend was a good thing. It wasn’t friend zone best friend. It was best friend with a whole lot more potential.
“You do need to tell your mom.” Bia sighed audibly. “I just can’t quite make peace with telling her we’re engaged when we really aren’t. I know I said I wanted to go through with it, but I’ve met your mother. I just have a bad feeling that she’s going to see right through this scheme. I wish there was some way around that.”
“That really bothers you, doesn’t it?”
“Well, yes. It should bother you, too. Unless you make a habit of lying to your mother?”
“That’s a low blow,” he said. “You know I don’t.”
“I know,” she said. “I’m sorry. It’s just...one more thing that feels as if it’s spinning out of control.”
“Okay. I know how to fix this,” he said.
“Do tell.”
He walked across the room and pulled Bia to her feet.
“What are you doing?” she protested.
He dropped down on one knee and took her hands in his. “Bia Anderson, will you marry me?”
“Aiden, stop it.”
He knew her so well that he’d anticipated that she would balk at the suggestion...at first. “Bia, I am proposing to you. If you don’t want to lie to my mother, I would suggest that you accept my proposal. It’s as simple as that. Say, ‘Yes, Aiden, I’ll marry you,’ and then we will be engaged. There you go. No lying to anyone.”
“But we’re lying to ourselves.”
“Only if you believe that’s what we’re doing.”
“What? Are you saying this is real?”
He didn’t answer her.
“What about the tiny little detail of the wedding that will never happen?” she asked.
“We will just have to cross that bridge when we come to it. Come on, B. Live for the moment.”
She frowned. “I know that’s your philosophy, Aiden, but I have to start thinking about the future.”
“The immediate future is that reporter who is still lurking out there. Do you want to deal with him? Do you want me to explain to him that I was just protecting you when I said we were engaged? Because he’s not going to go away unless he thinks he doesn’t have a story. If word gets around that we told him we’re engaged and we’re not, then he’s going to be on you like white on rice, until he
proves that his initial hunch was right. So, I’ll ask you one more time. Bia, will you marry me?”
She opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out. She clamped her lips shut, a perplexed look on her face.
“It’s a simple yes or no question, Princess,” Aiden said. His knee was starting to ache, the remnants of an old college football injury. “This offer is only on the table as long as my knee can stand this cruel and unusual punishment. So what’s it going to be, yes or no?”
She blinked at him, looking a little stunned.
“Aiden, if we do this, we have to do it right.”
“Isn’t that what we’re doing?”
“Well, yes. Sort of. But what I mean is if we do this...this...” She gestured between them with her hand. “You have to play the part.”
“Right. And that means?”
“I mean, you can’t be engaged to me and be seen around town with a bunch of different women. Even if this isn’t real, I don’t want a replay of what happened with Duane. Everybody was talking about it, and I looked like a fool. I don’t want to go through that again.”
“I understand. I promise you’re the only woman I will be seen with, Bia. Now, for the sake of my knee, can we please get on with this?”
She nodded. “But wait. We need a ring.”
“If we had a ring, would you say yes?” he asked.
“I don’t want you to go out and buy one. Wait, hold on a second. I have an idea.” She left the room and returned a moment later with a small white box.
“This is a birthstone ring that my mother—er...my adopted mother wore.” Bia opened the box and showed Aiden the thin gold band with a small purple stone.
“My father gave it to me a long time ago, but it’s a little bit too big. I never wore it because I was afraid it would slip off my finger. I didn’t want to lose it.”
Bia gazed at the ring. “After she died, there wasn’t another woman in the world for my father. That’s why he never remarried.”
Aiden knew the feeling. There was only one woman in the world for him. No matter how he’d tried to get over her, his heart had always belonged to Bia. Always had, always would.
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