Читать книгу Christmas Babies - Ellen James - Страница 7

IT WAS GOING TO BE a long night at the offices of Nolan, Williams and Beck. A new account had just been dumped on Danni’s desk, deadline yesterday, and she was brainstorming with the two members of her team. At least, she was attempting to brainstorm while one half of her team sat slumped over a notepad, making non-sensical doodles, and the other half rambled on.

“Mr. Nolan told me personally this was a very important assignment,” said twenty-one-year-old Michelle in a reverent tone. Michelle was discoursing at length on her favorite subject: Mr. Nolan, chief partner in Nolan, Williams and Beck.

Larry, still doodling on his notepad, conveyed an air of world-weary cynicism. It didn’t fool Danni, though. She knew all about his long-term crush on Michelle. The wonder was that Michelle didn’t know.

“Mr. Nolan,” said Michelle, “is putting his full trust in us to do a first-rate job. That’s exactly what he told me. His full trust.”

Larry rolled his eyes. Michelle gave him a suspicious glance.

“Mr. Nolan,” she said, a bit more forcefully, “is the type of person who expects a person to rise to the occasion. I won’t let him down. He’s counting on me.”

Larry rolled his eyes even more expressively this time. He didn’t need to say anything, but Danni knew what he was thinking. It was the same thing she was thinking: the very rich and powerful, very good-looking Mr. Nolan probably didn’t even know Michelle’s name.

“Speaking of the job,” Danni said, “let’s get going. We need to come up with ideas fast.” She rubbed the crick in her neck, and frowned at the file on Hobbyhorse Toys. The company was a regional business, brand-new, rushing to launch its grand opening in time for Christmas. Apparently there had been “creative differences” with the previous advertising firm, and Danni was pinch-hitting late in the game. Make that very late. She needed some major inspiration.

A familiar tension coiled through her body. This was the nature of the business—always struggling for that one perfect idea that would excite the client and sell the product. After so many years, she ought to be used to the process by now…the endless late nights, the gallons of coffee, the deadlines threatening, the panic—followed by elation when the idea came. And then the whole cycle beginning again with another client.

Danni pulled a blank sheet of paper toward her and started doodling herself. Think, she commanded. What’s the angle on this one? What’s going to save us this time? She scarcely paid attention to what she was drawing until Michelle leaned over to peer.

“Designing a dream house?” she asked with interest.

Danni stared at her rough sketch. A porch with arches, a garden gate, a trellised passage-way…it looked very much like Bryan McKay’s house. Danni crumpled the sheet and lobbed it toward the trash can on the opposite side of the room. She kept it over there on purpose so she could practice her set shot. This time she missed. The crumpled sheet of paper landed at the feet of someone who had just appeared in the door-way—Bryan McKay. He picked it up and took his own aim. It landed neatly in the trash. Then he regarded Danni, his expression impassive.

Her heart pounded uncomfortably. She could think of only one reason he would be here. Kristine no doubt had spoken to him…and now he probably wanted Danni’s explanation as well.

“Larry,” she said. “Michelle. You can take a break.”

The two trooped out the door. Michelle, as she went, gave Bryan an interested glance—her devotion to Mr. Nolan notwithstanding. Of course, what woman could avoid looking at Bryan? Tonight he wore a charcoal suit of understated sophistication, his tie loosened just a bit. With his dark eyes and darker hair, he was far too handsome for anyone’s good.

When they were alone, Danni nodded toward the door. “You might as well close it,” she said. “And then we’ll get this over with.”

He gave her a quizzical glance. “It’s going to be that unpleasant?”

“After what Kris told you,” she muttered, “it’s bound to be.”

“Who’s Kris?”

She sank back in her chair. So he didn’t know…Kristine hadn’t talked to him yet. Danni felt the oddest mixture of despair and relief. The forty-eight hours she’d given her sister were only half over.

“Bryan, why are you here?” she asked, trying to sound as businesslike as possible.

He closed the door after all. Then he came to her desk and drew her up beside him. He put his arms around her and traced his lips across her cheek.

Unfair…so unfair. To have a man touch her like this, hold her like this, and to know it was all a mistake. She felt herself tremble.

“Danni, what’s wrong?” he murmured against her ear.

She closed her eyes briefly. Then she lifted her head and gazed full at him. See me, she commanded silently. See who I am.

But he didn’t see. He just brought her close once more and kissed her.

It was a very long moment before she pulled shakily away from him. She’d never known a kiss like that, not even in her dreams. Tender, sensual…possessive. Claiming her, even when he didn’t know who she was.

Danni retreated to the other side of her desk. “We can’t do this,” she said.

“Why not?” he asked in a reasonable tone.

She folded her arms against her body, and gazed at him as steadily as possible. “By tomorrow night you’ll know the answer. I’d tell you myself, but…well, I made a promise. And I always do keep my promises.”

He gave her a long, considering look. “What gives, Danni?”

“I told you—you’ll find out soon enough. Twenty-four hours from now…it will all be too painfully clear.”

Bryan seemed about to argue, but then seemed to think better of it. He changed tack. “So we’ll talk about my house,” he said.

Danni took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Bryan, but I can’t do the remodeling for you.” She waved at the papers and folders strewn across her desk. “As you can see, my schedule is already overextended.” She was telling the truth. Her advertising job didn’t exactly leave a lot of time to spare. She had no business considering moonlighting as a carpenter. Much as she loved the idea.

“Yesterday you couldn’t wait to get to work on the place,” Bryan said. “I saw it in your eyes. So why are you backing off now?”

Danni gave what she hoped was a nonchalant shrug. “I can’t deny it’s a wonderful house. But you know that—you bought it.”

His face tightened. “I didn’t buy the place for its charm.”

Danni knew she was stalling for time, but she would probably never see him again after today. Could a few more moments really matter?

“Why did you buy the house, Bryan?” she asked.

He got a brooding look. “Let’s just say it was…a promise I made to myself. A promise fulfilled.”

It occurred to Danni that she wasn’t the only one with a secret at the moment. “Come to think of it,” she said, “I didn’t see much furniture around. No boxes to be unpacked…I thought you’d moved in. Unless you intend to wait until after the remodeling.”

He made an impatient gesture. “I’m not moving in. I bought the place as a sort of…investment.”

“If it were my house,” Danni said, “I’d move right in. I’d let the remodeling happen all around me. I know that would drive a lot of people crazy, but I’d want to be right in the thick of it, figuring out what the house needs as things go along.”

“I don’t exactly want to get personal with the place,” Bryan said dryly.

“You almost sound as if you don’t like the house.”

“Let’s just say it brings back memories,” Bryan said, almost as if to himself.

Danni was more puzzled than ever, but she knew she’d delayed long enough.

“Thanks for stopping by and all,” she said, “but I really do have to get back to work.”

“Let’s see. You ran out on me yesterday—and now you’re showing me the door.”

“That’s the basic idea,” she said. “Goodbye, Bryan.”

His eyebrows drew together. “You act like you’re not just refusing my house, you’re refusing…me.”

Suddenly Danni felt impatient to have it over with. “I don’t really see that we have much of a relationship,” she said coolly.

“That’s not what you told me a few days ago. You told me you thought this could be serious.” Bryan gazed at her so intently that she had to glance away.

Kristine. What else had Danni’s sister told Bryan? Told him while pretending to be Danni?

“You can’t run out on me now,” he said softly. “I’ve been advised to try something new in my life. No more corporate-type women. In fact…I’ve been told it’s good for me to be dating a carpenter.”

“Well, I am a corporate woman, aren’t I?” Her only claim to actual carpentry experience were those long-ago summers when she’d been in her teens, and she’d helped Grandpa Daniel build his house. The summers when she’d been truly, uncomplicatedly happy.

Bryan glanced around her office, then brought his gaze back to her. “I like you better in a tool belt.”

If she listened to him another second, she’d be lost. She’d find herself right back in his arms….

“Bryan, there’s so much you don’t know about me.”

“I’m listening.”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. You’ll find out soon enough. Right now there’s nothing more to say except goodbye.” Quickly she went to the door and opened it. Bryan gave her another long, thoughtful glance. And then he left.

Yes, it was going to be a long night.

KRISTINE WAS FLOORING IT—and Danni hung on as the golf cart went thumping up a rise of the Sugar Beach Country Club. As it reached the crest, the view was admittedly magnificent—the green sweep of the golf course merging into white-gold sand, the Pacific shimmering pure blue to the horizon. But then the cart went charging downward again, and Danni berated her sister.

“Stop. Enough already. You’ve made your point.”

“And what point would that be?” Kristine asked, paying no attention to the golf clubs rattling in the back.

“That you’re nothing at all like the other society wives at Sugar Beach. You don’t play it safe. You live dangerously.”

Kristine stopped the cart so abruptly that Danni almost tumbled out the front. Kristine just sat there, hands clenched in her lap, staring at the ocean. Her oversize sunglasses made it impossible to read her expression.

“Kris,” Danni said at last, breaking the unnatural silence. “You haven’t answered my first question yet.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You know exactly what I mean. When do you plan to tell Bryan the truth?”

Kristine went on staring straight ahead. “You said you’d give me two days. My time’s not up yet—”

“It’s four o’clock in the afternoon. Your time’s running out fast. And after the things he said last night—I want to make damn sure he learns the truth as soon as possible.”

Now Kristine turned to look at Danni, her mouth narrowing. “You saw Bryan last night?” she asked a moment later.

“He showed up at my office. Said he thought things were getting serious between us.”

“Just how serious did things get last night?” Kristine asked in a tight voice.

“I wish you’d listen to yourself,” Danni burst out in exasperation. “You try to have an affair, pretending to be me, and then you act jealous because…I can’t even go on. It’s too ridiculous, and too awful at the same time.”

“Just say it. I’m awful.” Kristine was suddenly all motion. She clambered out of the cart, grabbed a golf club seemingly at random, and started off across the fairway. Danni had to hurry to catch up to her.

“Kris—”

“I don’t blame you for hating me. Sometimes I hate myself. But I got so crazy when Ted…when Ted…” She couldn’t seem to finish. Instead she found her golf ball and took a forceful whack at it.

“If Ted’s the problem,” Danni said, “Bryan McKay isn’t the solution.”

Kristine marched away again, club in hand. She was wearing a very fashionable ensemble—cream-colored slacks, matching cashmere sweater, perfectly coordinated spiked shoes. You didn’t live in exclusive Sugar Beach, just north of San Diego, without exhibiting the proper fashion sense. The town wasn’t quite Beverly Hills in status, but it was close enough. Danni didn’t much care for the Sugar Beach crowd, herself. She suspected her sister didn’t either, but that was something else Kristine wouldn’t confess.

Now Danni trailed after her sister. “Okay, so you won’t talk about your husband. Just let me know when you plan to talk to Bryan.”

“I already arranged to see him, all right?”

“Make sure you tell him everything—”

“I’m fulfilling my part of the bargain. So why are you hounding me, Danni?”

“I want…” Danni struggled with frustration. “I want to put this whole mess behind me. The mess you made, by the way.”

Kristine stared at her from behind the protective barrier of her sunglasses. “I wish I could go back in time,” she said in a low voice. “All the way back to Peter. If I’d stayed with him—if you hadn’t ended up with him instead—everything would be different. Everything would be better.”

Danni told herself to remain rational and objective. “Kris, why are you bringing up old history again? After you met Ted, you told me how glad you were that you hadn’t ended up with Peter…that you’d broken off with him before it was too late.”

Kristine went back to the cart, climbed in and sped off before Danni could catch up. Then she chugged along at a most annoying pace—just fast enough that Danni had to jog in pursuit. At last Kristine glanced over her shoulder at Danni.

“I’ll tell you why I’m bringing up old stories. I think there’s a pattern here. I think whenever I find a man who could actually mean something to me, you decide he has to be yours. Call it sibling rivalry, call it whatever you want—but I’m surprised you never went after Ted. Or maybe you did, behind my back.”

“Kris!” Danni exclaimed, stung—and furious. She stood still. Kristine bounced along in the cart for another few yards, but then circled back. Danni glared at her. “How could you even imagine something like that? You know me, and you ought to know how much I care about you. That’s why I’m going to forget you ever said that. You’re terribly unhappy, and you’re taking it out on me.”

Kristine maintained her bravado for another few seconds, but then her face crumpled. She took off the sunglasses, and Danni saw her reddened eyes. She looked as if she’d been crying for hours.

“Oh, Kris—”

“Danni, if you ask me what’s wrong, I swear I’ll hit you with a three wood.” Tears spilled down Kristine’s cheeks, and she swiped at them. “I can’t have anyone here see me like this,” she mumbled. “You don’t know what they’re like, Danni. They’re always watching, waiting for one little misstep, one little show of vulnerability they can use against me. And all the while they’re pretending to be my devoted friends. I never feel safe anymore.”

“So much for high society. Come on,” Danni said, climbing into the cart beside her sister. “Put the sunglasses on, and no one will be able to tell.”

Kristine replaced the protective barrier, but her mouth had a pinched look. “I’m sorry for what I said, Danni. You’re the only real friend I do have left.”

Danni sighed. “That doesn’t change the fact that I’m ticked at you, big time. It’s bad enough that you pretended to be me. But letting Bryan believe things could be serious—”

“All right, all right, I know it’s impossible.” Now Kristine sounded miserable again. “I don’t want to hurt Bryan.” And then, in a low voice, she added, “There’s been enough hurting already.”

“Kristine—”

“No more questions, Danni. I told you I’d come clean with Bryan, and I will. Tonight, in my own way.” The cart took off again at a good clip. Kristine gripped the wheel, staring straight ahead, and Danni no longer had the heart to chastise her. Besides, she had a niggling feeling inside, a fear that there might be a grain of truth to what Kristine had said. Was it possible that Danni did have some destructive need to compete with her sister when it came to men? And, if it was true, how could she ever have a sound relationship with a man…an enduring relationship…

“Oh, no,” Kristine said. “It’s him. He’s coming right toward us.”

For a wild moment, Danni thought Kristine was talking about Bryan McKay. But no…Bryan wasn’t in the golf cart approaching them. Instead her sister’s husband was at the wheel.

Kristine floored their own cart all over again—speeding away from Ted.

“Kris, this is ridiculous,” Danni said, hanging on for dear life. “At least, think of what your Sugar Beach friends will have to say about this.”

After a moment, the cart came to a jolting stop. Ted rode up beside them.

“Hello, Danni,” he said. And then, after an awkward pause, “Hello, Kris.”

At forty-one, Ted was still an extremely handsome man—tall, well-constructed, solidly built. Even if he was starting to gray a bit around the edges, settle a bit, the look suited him. However, right now his face was strained in a way Danni had never seen before.

“Kris, I don’t know what the hell you think you’re doing,” he told his wife. “But you’ve got to stop.”

“I asked you to leave me alone.” Kristine’s voice wobbled. “Can’t you do that much for me?”

“No. Why should I? You’re mad at me, but you don’t even know what’s going on. You won’t even listen—”

“I don’t want to hear! Can’t you understand? That will only make it worse. Listening to all the reasons. The explanations, the excuses…”

“No excuses,” Ted muttered. “When you’re ready to hear me out, you let me know. When you’re ready to stop thinking about yourself, you let me know. I’ll be waiting…for a little while.”

“A little while?” Kristine’s voice was clogged with tears. She and her husband stared at each other, locked in their own private torment. Danni felt like an intruder, but there was nowhere to retreat. The golf course spread out all around them in its lovely emerald green…offering no reprieve anywhere. Nonetheless, she started to climb out of the cart. Kristine reached out a hand to her.

“No, Danni—please,” she implored. “Don’t leave me.”

Ted looked from one sister to the other. “Oh, hell,” he said heavily. Then he turned his cart around, and drove back the way he had come. Kristine waited until he had left before she broke down. Danni put an arm around her sister, and tried to comfort her.

The twin who infuriated her…the twin whom she loved.