by Pamela Bauer
“But what about your work?”
She sighed. “Lately I’ve discovered I don’t have the same enthusiasm for the business I’ve had in the past. The huge auditions, the long hours...maybe I’m just tired, but I honestly believe it may be time for a change.”
“Could you do freelance work here?”
“There is that possibility. Being we’re not far from Chicago, I might be able to switch to the agenting end of the business and represent some local talents.” She cuddled closer to him. “I’ve always been career oriented, but now I want to focus on learning a new job—how to be a mother.”
He smiled and brushed a kiss across her lips. “Are you sure you don’t mind moving away from your family?”
“We’re not that far,” she reminded him. “Besides, I will have family here. Not only will I have Fancy’s Baby, I’ll have her brother Zach and her brother Patrick, and best of all—” she slipped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled his head close to hers “—I’ll have her father.”
EPILOGUE
“GRANDMA, LOOK WHAT Kika brought!” Zachary waved a videocassette in his hands as he rushed into Annabelle’s kitchen. Following close behind him was Patrick, cheeks flushed, eyes wide. “It’s Melody’s commercial!”
Both boys disappeared into the living room. Annabelle wiped her hands on her apron, calling out to them, “Wait for Grandma to turn on the TV.”
“Knock, knock,” Nick called out through the screen door.
“Come on in.” Annabelle hurried over to the door, smiling at Kika and Nick as they entered the house. “So here’s my fancy little baby!” she crooned, taking Melody from Kika’s arms. “Let’s go into Grandma’s living room so we can see you on TV,” she said to her granddaughter. She gestured for Nick and Kika to follow them.
“Does this mean what I hope it means?” Kika asked Nick in a whisper.
Nick squeezed her arm reassuringly. “She’s the proudest grandmother in Tyler. Cece says she’s passing out publicity photos to everyone who walks in the front door of the post office.”
Kika saw what Nick was talking about. On Annabelle’s coffee table was a stack of photos of her granddaughter.
“Nick, put the tape in for the boys,” Annabelle barked in her usual manner as she sank down onto the sofa with Melody on her lap. When Kika would have taken a chair across the room, Annabelle stopped her. “Don’t sit there. You won’t be able to see.” She patted the cushion next to her. “Come sit by us.”
All eyes were on the TV as the sixty-second commercial filled the screen. The cheers that filled the room when Melody made her debut told Kika Fancy’s Baby was a hit.
“I have to confess, she’s perfect for the part,” Annabelle declared proudly. To Kika, she said, “You do nice work, Ms. Mancini.”
“Please. Call me Kika. And thank you for the compliment. I appreciate it.” Kika smiled warmly at the older woman.
“It’s a shame you have to quit work to move here,” Annabelle commented.
“I’m not exactly quitting. In fact, after Nick and I are married, I’m going to open an office on Main Street...do some freelance agenting. Try to help those local people who want to get into commercials.”
“You mean kids, right?”
“No. Talent of all ages. Even senior citizens.”
Annabelle laughed. “What would they call me? Fancy’s Grandma?”
Kika snapped her fingers. “That’s not a bad idea...maybe I should give Mr. Fancy a call....”
Annabelle rolled her eyes, Nick smiled and the boys giggled.
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781460328200
FANCY’S BABY
Copyright © 1996 by Harlequin Books S.A.
Pamela Muelhbauer is acknowledged as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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