Protecting Her: A Billionaire Secret Baby Romance

by Kira Blakely

  I fell asleep before I could try again, but I knew she was safe. I’d called Neenah and asked her to look in on Elspeth. She had assured me she would take care of it, so I rested with considerably less stress than I’d had the night before.

  I was even busier the next day. There was considerable paperwork to be executed with the mergers and the workmen filled the floor, eradicating any signs of Jerry Hanson. I’d given my staff the rest of the week off—there was little they could do anyway, until the mergers were completed. It was, at that point, a waiting game – a new world being birthed.

  I tried reaching Elspeth all day, again without success. I finally became concerned and called Neenah. “I can’t reach Elspeth,” I told her.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t worry. She’s fine. I went over and had tea with her, and we had a very nice talk. She did look a little tired and maybe she was coming down with a cold. She might have the phone turned off so she can rest. If you like, I can look in on her again this evening,” she offered.

  “Would you? That would put my mind at ease. I’ve got a mess here at the office and can’t possibly get home until next week. She knows that, and maybe she’s angry and that’s why she’s not answering.”

  “She seemed fine to me, Finn. I’ll check on her. Now, you just take care of that empire and leave the home fires to me, okay?”

  “Thank you, Neenah,” I told her and disconnected.

  Only three seconds passed before the next call came in, and I was once again drowning in paperwork and appointments. I tried not to worry about Elspeth but knew Neenah would check into things.

  Chapter 28

  Elspeth

  I drove northward along the lakeshore. I’d done a little research on Finn’s computer and found the parking lot of the Lake Express ferry easily. It left Milwaukee daily, crossing Lake Michigan to Muskegon.

  I grabbed my backpack and small suitcase, stuffed the cash I’d extracted at the twenty-four-hour teller deeply into the pocket I’d quickly sewn into the lining of my jacket, locked the car, and left. Using the throw-away phone I’d purchased at Wal-Mart, I ordered an Uber ride to the bus station. I was headed south—out of the land of ice and snow.

  I stayed aboard as it pulled into Chicago, my eyes glued to the window as the skyline faded into the tenement buildings of east Chicago and eventually became southbound to Indianapolis. From there, I headed east.

  I knew he would look for me; Finn was that kind of man. He’d look northward in Michigan, figuring I’d go back to what I knew best. He was wrong. I had no home. I didn’t belong anywhere, least of all with him. So, I chose east.

  I’d ridden most of the day and finally crawled off in a sleepy little town in northern West Virginia. I couldn’t go back to southern Ohio—he’d find me there eventually. West Virginia was clannish, but that was because strangers had no business there. I knew I would stick out like a sore thumb, but sometimes people would leave you alone just for that reason.

  I did, however, do one thing that came naturally. I headed for the first café I came across, hoping to find a job that would pay in room and board. I had enough cash in my lining pocket to support myself in the meantime.

  Sadie’s Café was just that sort of place. Sadie was a heavyset black woman with a heart of gold and a steady business. She was getting on in years, though, and couldn’t be on her feet all day long. She had a small room overhead with a bath and said she’d pay me all I could eat and $50 a week for “pocket money.” It was perfect, and I started the moment I set my bag down.

  I knew how to cook; God knew for all the restaurants that Mother and I had lived over, I’d learned to cook almost every cuisine… except that eaten in the deep South. Under Sadie’s tutelage, I learned to bread and fry catfish, hush puppies, and to bake peanut butter pie. I mastered the art of buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy and eventually could flip a pair of eggs in a cast iron skillet by tossing them in mid-air. Sadie would sit on the stool at the counter and talk me through most of the preparation; her feet were swollen and painful to stand on.

  Sadie hung around to talk to her customers. Her charm was in her personality, and she knew everyone by name. Perhaps the best feature of that charm was she never asked questions or pried into your personal business when you didn’t offer anything up. She knew I was on the run, so to speak. She didn’t care, saying that I’d been a gift from God just as she was about run out of blessings. That gave us a sort of comradery, and we clicked immediately.

  To say I stuck out in town was an understatement. First, most of the community was African-American and I was a petite brunette with waist-length hair and an innocent look that screamed of anxiety. As far as they knew, I had no family, no man in my life, and very, very little money.

  I’d told Sadie I wrote blogs for a living and while she wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, she knew it was a time when I needed to concentrate, and she left me alone. I carried a spiral notebook and made notes from time to time to keep up the pretense.

  I had a twin-sized bed and one of Sadie’s quilts to cover up with at night. I hung what clothes I’d brought on hooks along one wall and alternated between two bath towels. I’d bought a small fan for the window and other than that, had nothing. There was no lake house, no Escalade, and most of all, no Finn. To say I was miserable was an understatement, but then I was used to misery and welcomed it like a black-sheep family member who was worthlessly predictable.

  To be on the safe side, however, I gave Sadie Mother’s phone number and address and asked that if anything ever happened to me, that she contact her. Sadie didn’t ask any questions and knew better than to send out any inquiries at the moment or that her star employee would walk. She needed me as much as I needed her.

  Summer was fully underway and the heat in my little apartment and hanging over the grill was hell itself. I could barely breathe, and my stomach was constantly in turmoil. I felt horrible and twice had to run for the bathroom in the middle of making someone’s lunch. Sadie watched me and finally confronted me.

  “You’s gonna have a babe,” she said simply.

  I whirled around. “What?” I shrieked in a mock, horrified voice.

  “I seen it afore and I knows what I lookin’ at. Girl, don’ you know nothin’?” Her eyes were knowing and she was wagging her head, clicking her tongue in a manner that made me feel ridiculously afraid. Had I managed to fool her?

  “You going to fire me?” I asked her the next morning.

  “Why would I do a fool thing like that?” Sadie was wise and had seen many things over the years. An unwed mother ranked pretty low on her scale of life’s tragedies.

  I shrugged.

  “I takes it you don’ want da daddy to know?”

  I shook my head vociferously. “No!”

  She didn’t ask the details, and I didn’t offer. “Don’ you worry none. I raised my share of babes, and we’ll raise this one, too. At least as long as I’m ‘round to help ya.”

  “I can’t ask that of you, Sadie,” I told her, ashamed at the predicament I’d gotten into. I was having flashbacks of my mother and realized I wasn’t any better than she was.

  “Don’t wanna hear that, now. Not like you come in here ‘spectin’ the help – you didn’ know. Anyhow, I got myself in a fix coupla times and we all help one ‘nother.”

  I hugged Sadie, and she patted my arm. “Now get in there and cook!” She shooed me away.

  Chapter 29

  Finn

  I still couldn’t reach Elspeth and I was in full alarm mode. I felt guilty—so involved in my company fiasco that I’d ignored my responsibilities to her. In my defense, I told myself that she was being looked after in my absence in a place where she wanted for nothing, was secure and could recover from her incident without anyone demanding anything of her.

  Am I being too soft on myself?

  I called Neenah. “Hello?” She sounded normal, which was a good sign.

  “Neenah, it’s Finn. I can’t get Elspeth to answer the phon
e.”

  “Oh, really? There were lights on when I drove by,” she said casually.

  “Did you stop in or get her on the phone?”

  “No, didn’t get a chance, Finn. Is anything wrong?”

  I sighed with exasperation. For whatever reason, Neenah was being obtuse, and I didn’t appreciate it. She knew very well that I was in town and unable to look in on Elspeth. She knew there were reasons for this, even if she didn’t specifically know what those were.

  “Neenah, would you do me a favor, please, and go over to the house right now? I need to somehow verify she’s okay. If you can’t do it, I’ll call the emergency number.”

  “Oh, no, no, don’t do that!” Her voice perked up at my veiled threat. She didn’t want her name bandied about town that she’d neglected her promise and something bad had happened due to her negligence. “I’m getting my shoes on right now. I’ll be over there in two clicks and call you as soon as I’ve talked to her.”

  The line went dead, and I felt like a neutered dog. My presence in Chicago was critical at this point—it wouldn’t be flexible until at least four more days when the legal transitions had gone through. If I left now, I stood to lose my entire enterprise to the mob who backed Jerry Hanson.

  I looked at the silent phone in my hand and made a decision. I phoned Pam, Leigh’s temporary replacement, and told her to order the company helicopter immediately. There was a helipad on the building’s roof, and I could make the lake house in forty-five minutes by air.

  As soon as I knew, personally, that everything was okay with Elspeth, I could come back. Two hours, tops. I hoped this was an unnecessary trip—that it was just my imagination that had me so jumpy. Maybe Neenah would call back before I boarded, or had traveled the entire distance. We could always turn around.

  I grabbed my laptop and headed for the roof. The phone had remained silent. I boarded the helicopter, put on my headphones, and we’d lifted off and begun heading northwest when my phone finally rang. Neenah’s name showed on the caller I.D.

  “Finn, I don’t know where she is,” Neenah whined. “Everything is locked up and I can’t get in. She isn’t answering the door or her phone. But, Finn… I peeked through one of the sidelights of the front door and I can see a phone on the foyer side table. I think it’s hers. When I call her number, I can see its face blinking from here.”

  I disconnected and motioned to the pilot to speed it up. Fury and fear fought for possession of my stomach.

  We landed in my backyard, and Neenah was sitting in her car in the drive. I went in through the back door and called Elspeth’s name. There was no answer, nor any sound to indicate that someone was in the house. I bounded up the stairs to my bedroom and then to hers. Her closet was standing open, and I could tell by several empty hangers that she’d removed some clothes—more than one day’s outfit and less than moving out.

  I sat down on the edge of her bed, my heart hammering as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing.

  Neenah was ringing the doorbell. I didn’t want her involved—she was a consummate gossip. I casually went downstairs and opened it. “Hi, Neenah. Nothing to worry about. She left me a note. She’s just gone up north for a day drive and probably forgot her phone. I’m guessing she laid it down as she was putting on her shoes and walked out without it. Thanks for checking. Tell James hello for me, would you?”

  As I spoke, I was slowly closing the door, forcing her to back up. I slid the chain in place and knew she heard the sound of it. She stood on the porch for a handful of seconds, her hands on her hips as she looked around. I could tell she was upset and calculating her next move. She finally moved off the porch, slid on her sunglasses, got into her car, and left.

  Immediately, I went to the lower level, into the small room where our surveillance system was located. I fast-rewound the digital recording until I saw movement in the house. It was Elspeth, a backpack on her back and what appeared to be a suitcase in her hand. She wasn’t carrying a purse, and she laid the phone on the side table, staring at it momentarily, before she opened the door and left.

  No one coerced her. She wasn’t disoriented, which was what I had feared. No, it was much worse than that. She’d left me on purpose. I switched to the feed from the garage at the same time and saw her get into the convertible and leave. Oddly, she turned right out of the drive, instead of left toward town.

  I felt faintly woozy from the shock of it and my mind reeled at the overwhelming emotions I was feeling. I had to decide what to do next. The helicopter was standing by in the backyard. She’d taken her car and my Escalade was in the city, so either I had to order a loaner or get back in the copter.

  I walked into the kitchen to grab something to eat, thinking the last few days were catching up with me and I needed some nourishment. That was when I saw the note on the counter.

  Finn ~ I’m sorry, but I can’t lean on you any longer. The memories came back; we both knew they would. This is your world and I don’t belong here – it just took me a while to remember that. Thank you for everything. ~ Elspeth Alexander

  P.S. I borrowed some money from the account, took the laptop and a few clothes you bought me. I didn’t have anything of my own. I will pay you back as soon as I can. Don’t look for me, please. It will hurt too much to leave a second time.

  Alexander. That clinched it – the fear of all fears. She had remembered and now she’d gone. Why? Was she married? Wanted by the law? I would do a background check immediately, but had to clear my head and absorb what had happened.

  I went back upstairs to her room. I tried to absorb her energy into my mind, grabbing her pillow to smell her scent and embed it into my memory. I couldn’t let her go. Not like this. Something was very wrong with this picture.

  I stopped breathing then. A new line of thinking suddenly hit me. Is she somehow involved in this whole takeover scheme by Jerry and his friends? Has she been a plant all along, but in a very different sort of game than I remember from that movie? Or… worse yet… have they gotten to her? I just saw her leave alone and calm. Maybe they called and threatened her… maybe they knew something about her or threatened to harm me if she didn’t leave. What the fuck was going on?

  That was when lightning struck. As if drawn like a magnet, my eyes went to the small white trash can next to her vanity. I stood up and headed for it, drawn by a force I couldn’t explain. There was a plastic object, about the length of a pencil lying on top. Bending to pick it out, I recognized the object to be a home pregnancy test. I turned it over, and my heart stopped. It was showing a pink plus sign. Elspeth was pregnant!

  Then came the thought that threatened to split me in two.

  Who was the father?

  I began my strategy on the ride back to the city. I was not without contacts. The first lead came when they found her car at the ferry port. She must have crossed the lake and headed north. After all, that was where I found her. She must have had somewhere to go there, someone who knew her.

  I thought about finding her in the shack, and I knew that someone had hit her at some point. How else could she have been unconscious? I just wasn’t sure whether the footprints had been someone carrying her into the shack, before they set it afire and left by a back route, or whether she’d wandered in there, confused by a fresh injury and collapsed. That didn’t explain the fire, though.

  Had Marty uncovered something before he died. Was it even remotely possible that she was somehow connected to the whole mob thing and Jerry or one of his people were involved? How big could a game like this be?

  I didn’t know what to think, but I knew that I wasn’t thinking clearly. I tried to process the facts, but a pair of huge blue eyes and waist-length curls kept confusing my thoughts.

  Chapter 30

  Elspeth

  Thus, began my new “norm.” By day, I was a cook and a growing part of the community. My appearance had been enough to warrant attention, and once the word got around that I was with child, I somehow qualified to become th
eir darling. It was the general assumption that the father of my child was “no account.” If it meant keeping my privacy, I was content to let that viewpoint exist.

  By night I tried to become a blogger, writing home-grown advice columns peppered with comfort food recipes. I began to seek more and more freelance writing positions so I could augment my income. I’d brought along the laptop Finn had given me. I had to pay for this baby and then there was the question of insurance. I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to handle it all, but I knew I could do it. I was grateful I’d chosen to get off the bus where I did. It could have all been so much worse.

  I was on the Internet constantly, and it was my primary source of contact with the world. Rural West Virginia was quiet and disconnected from the rest of the world so I wasn’t subjected to business or news blaring from a screen on the café wall. I had no idea what was going on in Finn’s world.

  A storm came in one evening, and I’d always loved violent weather. I huddled over my computer, composing a post about hair care products when his dark eyes and dark brown hair invaded my mind and eyes. I wanted so badly to look him up, but wouldn’t allow myself to do it. I knew I was weak, and in this time of trouble, I knew I could reach out to him and he’d rescue me. I knew this without a doubt. It was that very reason I had to keep my distance.

  I would ruin his name, his career, and everything he stood for if I came in dragging a bastard’s reputation with another one in my arms. My pride had a price, after all.

  As I grew in girth, there was general speculation about how I would “get along.” The ladies from the Baptist Church held an impromptu shower for me, and I suddenly had a baby’s wardrobe. Women began dropping off care packages for me; a few articles of clothing with elastic waists, an old crib that had been repainted, a bag of used, but sparkling clean diapers, their patches neatly fixed. It was probably the greatest sense of family I’d ever known in my life. I would never forget the people in this community and their help.