Delivering History (The Freehope Series Book 4)

by Jenni M. Rose

  “Currently? I have something better to do,” he answered, but checked his watch nonetheless. He had a conference call scheduled for nine. It was nearing eight-thirty. If he didn’t hustle, he’d miss it.

  “You’ll make it in for the Hartland conference.”

  It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.

  “Of course,” he said, distracted, looking into the shop and seeing no sign of Lexi coming out. He looked to her car and considered leaving a note.

  “Brady flew out to Osaka last night and won’t be back until next week. It’s just you, me, and Grant on this one. I think Hartland wanted to see Brady, so I want to make sure we’re all there so he sees a united front, even if his guy isn’t there.”

  “If he’s with us, he has to know that Brady won’t be there at every meeting. We work as a team.”

  He searched his pocket for a pen and came up empty, rolling his eyes as he looked around, as if one might suddenly appear. He was running out of time to wait for her. He had to get to the office.

  “He’ll figure it out, but you know how touchy the clients can get. We just want to make him comfortable.”

  “Comfortable enough to invest a couple million bucks,” Dylan agreed. “Or more.”

  “Let’s hope for or more. Heartland’s connected so it can only be to our advantage to put on the horse-and-pony show.”

  “So, what you’re saying is to get my ass into the office.”

  “Basically,” Lincoln agreed.

  Dylan looked back at the shop and took a few steps away. He’d text her, let her know that he couldn’t stay but that he wanted to see her again. Hopefully before next Friday.

  Alex lay back on the table, waiting for the OB to arrive.

  Beth and Logan sat by nervously, listening to her distractedly as they held hands. Today was heartbeat day. Everything looked good so far—twelve weeks of pregnancy flying by, and it was now time to listen in and see what was going on with the little alien living inside her.

  It was a strange thing to be pregnant with a baby you knew wasn’t yours. She loved the baby, would love it, and assumed they’d always have a special connection. She’d found herself talking to it once or twice, like a constant presence that never left her.

  It was comforting and disconcerting all at the same time.

  The doctor suggested a support group for her, for surrogates, to deal with giving up a baby. She liked to think she wouldn’t have that kind of emotional attachment to the baby, knowing it wasn’t hers. Actually, the egg that had been implanted was Andy’s, both of them wanting to contribute to Beth and Logan’s future happiness.

  Beth had gone through a hysterectomy when she was younger, opting to have that part of her body removed as she carried a gene that would increase her changes of developing ovarian cancer. That’s how their mother had died and Beth had taken it extremely hard.

  Hell, they’d all taken it hard but Beth had barely made it through.

  Then she found Logan and everything changed. She wanted to have kids with him but with no uterus, couldn’t. In a fit of emotional psychosis, Alex had offered to carry it for them.

  She’d meant it at the time. Now, she wasn’t so sure.

  After weeks of throwing up everything she ate and what felt like things she only considered eating, she was just about over the whole thing. While the nausea had gotten better, everything else was getting worse.

  Her boobs looked weird, she had constant headaches, and oh, yes, let’s not forget the new dizzy spells that plagued her.

  “You okay?” Logan asked, his voice sounding loud in the quiet of the room. Other than the ticking of the clock, his voice was the only sound in the room.

  She looked to them both, considering. “I’m fine. How are you guys?”

  “Nervous as hell,” Beth admitted. “If this lady doesn’t get in here in the next ten seconds, I’m going to go out there myself and drag her in here.”

  Alex looked to Logan. “Better keep her on a tight leash,” she joked. “I don’t think Dr. Bell is interested in being dragged around her own office.”

  Logan brought Beth’s hand to his lips where he pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. “Take it easy, Sugar. She’ll be along.”

  “How long can it possibly take?” Beth huffed, her hand still clenching Logan’s. “We’re here. She’s here.”

  Alex wanted to laugh at her sister’s impatience. Logan was the perfect complement to her, his easy and mellow temperament evening Beth’s out. He was a good-looking guy, tall and handsome in a rugged way that screamed military. He’d lost his leg a few years ago overseas, but he’d taken on that challenge just as he had taken on Beth: head on and ready for battle.

  They made a good team, Beth and Logan. He was working hard soothing her frayed nerves, his green eyes almost caressing Beth as they waited for the doctor.

  Alex thought she should do her part and went straight for distraction.

  “So, I met a guy.”

  Beth’s head snapped around. “Really?”

  “Well, you don’t have to sound so surprised,” Alex complained. “It’s not like I’m Typhoid Mary or anything.”

  Logan chuckled but Beth scowled. “I didn’t say that.”

  “Well, you looked it,” Alex said. “I was just trying to change the subject. Take your mind off the whole doctor thing for a few minutes.”

  “Let’s hear about this guy,” Logan urged, waving her on with his hand.

  “His name is Dylan and he loves chocolate croissants.”

  “That’s a start,” her brother-in-law agreed.

  “He’d be stupid not to,” Beth said. “Where did we meet this Dylan character?”

  We, her sister said, like they were a team. Alex went with it.

  “We met him at Boston Beans. He says he goes in Thursdays and Fridays to get his sweet-tooth fix.”

  “And…” Beth said, eyes fixed on her sister.

  Alex shrugged. “There’s no more. He gave me his card and told me to call his office sometime.”

  Beth’s lip curled in distaste and Logan leaned back in his chair, a scoff falling from his mouth.

  “His office?” Beth asked. “How pretentious.”

  Logan nodded his agreement. “Any man worth his salt, knows a Walker woman isn’t going to be calling his office, begging for a date.”

  Alex agreed. “I threw the card in my purse.”

  “And haven’t seen it since,” Beth concluded to which Alex nodded. “That’s a shame.”

  “I haven’t counted him out just yet, but I won’t be calling his office either. He has my card. I figured I’d wait to see if he texts.”

  Not that she hadn’t been counting the days since she’d seen him on Friday.

  Five days. It had been five days with no word.

  She’d been working hard to distract herself from the fact that Dylan hadn’t texted or called. He was busy…doing whatever it was that he did wearing his suit. Something with numbers.

  “Stay strong, Lex,” Logan told her, holding out his fist for a bump. “No calling the office. You make that man chase you good and proper.”

  “Me and the bambino?” she asked with a wink.

  “Could be a bambina,” he corrected, a small smile gracing his lips, his eyes flicking to Beth.

  “You should be so lucky,” Alex told him. “We make good girls, our side of the family.”

  He wrapped an arm around Beth and smiled. “This I know.”

  There was a small tap at the door and the doctor poked her head in, a smile on her face. She was a nice woman and she’d been with them every step of the way. Alex had worked hard, trying to almost take herself out of the baby equation. Yes, she was a big part of it, but she wanted to make sure that Beth and Logan asked the questions they needed to ask and that the doctor spent her time focusing on them and the baby, but not her.

  Dr. Bell understood her concerns; Alex had told her early on how she felt. Once in a while, the doctor stayed after Beth and Logan
left, while Alex dressed to make sure things with her were okay, but Alex kept that separate from Beth.

  “Knock knock,” Dr. Bell said, her brown bob swaying as she stepped in.

  Alex liked her; she made sure to address all of them, taking her time to check in with them all.

  “How we doing?” she asked, setting her things on the counter.

  “Nervous,” Beth admitted right away.

  Dr. Bell glances at Alex. “No problems? Still feeling okay?”

  “You mean, am I throwing up my intestines every day?”

  “Normal,” the doctor confirmed. “But otherwise? No cramping or any pain?”

  Alex shook her head. “No.”

  “We have some things to discuss, but let’s take a listen for that heartbeat. I know your first ultrasound looked good a couple weeks ago, but let’s just hear it.”

  Beth sighed in relief.

  Within seconds the doctor had the wand on Alex’s stomach, feeling around, trying to find the little bugger.

  “Ah, there we go.”

  And there it was, filling the room around them. She’d seen the little bean on the ultrasound, but the experience had been commentated by an ultrasound tech, mostly informational and meant for Beth and Logan. Alex couldn’t unhear the sound of the baby’s heartbeat as it filled the room, blanketing them all in a sort of wonder Alex hadn’t experienced in a long time.

  She’d been by Andy’s side when it was time to check Jenna out in utero, but that had been years ago and she’d been so young. It hadn’t really penetrated, hadn’t made such an impact.

  Suddenly, she had to fight the urge to suck in a breath and fill her lungs with the sound of the baby growing inside of her body. Her head fell to the table; her eyes filled with tears as she stared at the ceiling, willing them away.

  It was really in there.

  “Sounds great,” Dr. Bell commented. “Strong.”

  “Strong is good,” Logan said, his voice choked with emotion.

  “Strong is wonderful,” the doctor confirmed.

  It was still there, even after the doctor took the Doppler away from her stomach. The tiny thumps rang in her ears and drummed in her blood, surging through her veins.

  Alex didn’t look away from the ceiling, just couldn’t let anyone in on the moment she was having.

  She’d thought she’d be untouchable in this, do a big old selfless favor for her sister and walk away unscathed.

  She suddenly got the feeling that wasn’t going to happen.

  Alex got home that afternoon, waving off Beth and Logan’s offers to come inside with her. They’d been concerned at her stunned silence, wondering what was bothering her.

  Honestly, she wasn’t sure she was bothered. Maybe that wasn’t right word. No, she was shaken. Moved to the very foundation of her soul.

  There was an actual life inside of her.

  Not a favor for her sister. Not some arbitrary or abstract idea.

  But an actual human being was forming inside of her, as real as the heartbeat she’d heard today that had just knocked the wind out of her.

  She wasn’t sure how Beth and Logan felt. If they felt the same gravity that had suddenly pulled her to the ground when she’d heard that little sound. They must have because Beth had looked shell-shocked and Logan didn’t look much better, their eyes wide and stunned.

  Their ride home from the OB’s office had been silent, all of them contemplating what they’d just heard.

  At least, Alex had been.

  When she got home she headed straight for the kitchen, needing to get her hands dirty.

  She took out everything she’d need to make a few different things. She even took out the deep fryer, planning to make some bomboloni for Boston Beans. Doughnuts weren’t usually her specialty but they would take a while and be something she could play around with.

  So, she mixed her dough and set to work, all the while contemplating the life that was living inside her.

  Crap, she wasn’t meant to get attached like that, to be so moved.

  She didn’t want to keep the baby for herself; that wasn’t an issue. She was firm in her knowledge that the baby was Beth and Logan’s, and she’d never do anything to get in the way of that.

  Come hell or high water, she was going to give them a baby.

  She just hadn’t expected to feel that maternal magic, knowing it wasn’t for her. Something about just being the vessel, made her think that she could separate herself from the act of carrying the child.

  That, she’d learned, was not the case.

  Damn.

  She threw the dough together and set it aside, giving it plenty of time to rise. Then she got to work making puff-pastry cinnamon rolls—a cute little recipe she’d been perfecting, and a cherry pastry that was her version of a Pop-Tart, with a creamy, sugar topping, and everything.

  For hours, she baked, losing herself in the routine of it and letting the work soothe her frayed senses.

  She’d gone to her father’s house for dinner a few weeks ago and had nearly vomited at the sight of raw chicken. She thanked her lucky stars that none of her own ingredients bothered her the way other food seemed to.

  “Auntie Alex?”

  Jenna’s voice was a welcome distraction, one that Alex so desperately needed.

  “In the kitchen.”

  “As if I didn’t know that.” Jenna laughed as she came in. She stopped short, surveying the mess in the kitchen. “What’re you working on?”

  “Bomboloni.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Italian doughnuts.”

  Jenna sat at the little island, eyes locked on Alex.

  “Everything go okay today?”

  Alex nodded, the mention of the doctor’s appointment conjuring up a lump the size of a fist in her throat. “Great,” she choked.

  “Mom’s worried about you. Said you sounded funny when you talked this afternoon.”

  Alex shrugged a shoulder, turning her pastry-puff dough out and into rolls. “Weird day,” was all she said.

  “Want to talk about Dylan James, notorious Boston playboy and billionaire investment banker extraordinaire, instead?”

  Alex dropped the roll she’d been dipping in the frosting, scrambling when it began sinking into the bowl. “What?” she hissed.

  “Dylan James. Of Charles, Greene, James, and Harrison?” Jenna pulled up her phone. “Only child of Martin and Lavinia James, born and bred in Boston, Harvard educated, heir to a fortune and a fortune-maker in his own business. See? Says right here.” Jenna held up her phone for Alex.

  Sure enough. It said that.

  “He and his partners, Brady Charles, Lincoln Greene, and Grant Harrison, are commonly referred to as the Boston Billionaires Club.” Jenna’s eyes lit up.

  Alex knew he looked good but billionaire good?

  “How billionaire are we talking here?” Alex asked, not that it mattered. She was barely a thousandaire, so billions, whether one or ten, seemed ludicrous. “Are we talking Julia Hawkins billionaire or more?”

  Julia Hawkins was a super-cool chick who was engaged to one of Logan’s cousins. They’d met her at Beth and Logan’s wedding a few years ago and they’d all kept in touch. Well, as in touch as anyone could keep with Julia. She was a bit of a homebody, her social skills a little tough to navigate. They’d managed though, and Alex liked to think they were friends.

  They texted a few times a week and Julia said she’d come to the baby shower when it came time. That had to mean something, anyway.

  “Not as much as Julia,” Jenna admitted.

  Somehow, that made him seem a bit more approachable. Not that she was approaching him. He hadn’t called or texted all week.

  Her annoyance flared again and she scowled at her niece.

  “Still no word?” Jenna asked before Alex could utter a word about it.

  “No,” she groused. “And now I’m annoyed. This is why I’m single. It’s because I hate people.”

  “You do
not,” Jenna said on a laugh.

  “Do too. And I hate Dylan James, even if he looks like he just stepped off a magazine cover and smells like…like…I don’t know what. A man. Whatever,” she huffed. “What the hell would a man like that want with me anyway?”

  Jenna’s eyes widened. “Alex,” she scolded.

  “What? Middle-aged pregnant lady,” Alex muttered. “I’d rather be single and pregnant with someone else’s baby than beg some hotshot Richie Rich for a date.”

  Jenna outright laughed. “Are you okay? You’re acting like a lunatic.”

  Alex tossed a doughnut in the frosting and let it sink. “I am a lunatic,” she growled. “A middle-aged, pregnant lunatic that can’t get a date.”

  “Well, you need to make up your mind. You either want the date or you don’t,” Jenna pointed out. “And you do. So, he didn’t call. My dad’s been telling me for years that boys are stupid and screw everything up. Just because he’s a Richie Rich, doesn’t make Dylan James any different.”

  “Well, he’ll have to get his running shoes on because I’m not chasing him.”

  Jenna looked her aunt up and down. “And you’re going to make him chase you?”

  Alex dipped her finger in the chocolate frosting and flicked it at her niece. “I seem to recall a time or two that I outran you.”

  “Not since I was ten,” Jenna pointed out. “But okay. You make him chase you. I like that idea. Can I come tomorrow when you make your delivery? I want to see this guy in person. He’s got some great headshots”—she pulled up her phone to look at them—“but he probably looks better in person.”

  Unable to help herself, Alex made a grab for the phone.

  “Let me see those.”

  Jenna held the phone away, just a few inches out of Alex’s reach.

  “First admit it. Date or no date?”

  Alex narrowed her eyes.

  Jenna just raised a brow, looking so much like her father it was scary. Her dark eyes danced with laughter as she held the phone away from Alex.

  “Come on. Admit it. Date?”

  “Depends how well he grovels,” Alex said quickly, holding her hand out for the phone.