Читать книгу Christmas Babies - Ellen James - Страница 8

THE THRILL of the hunt. That was the main thing Bryan liked about his work. It was his job to put money and people together for big projects, big dreams. In the process, he got called a lot of different names: venture capitalist, risk taker. Gambler. Damn fool, even, according to one client, until the client’s investment came back twentyfold.

And now Bryan was on the hunt for new game. It had taken him over three weeks to set up this appointment with the evasive C. J. Whit-field. At last the man had agreed to meet Bryan in this small restaurant in the heart of San Diego’s Old Town.

Bryan ordered a beer, sat back and listened to the haunting flute playing somewhere outside in the cool air. It was music that put him in mind of Danni Ferris. Of course, just about everything put him in mind of Danni lately. He was still thinking about her when someone slipped into the chair across the table.

“Mr. McKay.” It was a statement, not a question, spoken by a slender brunette in her thirties. She gazed at him appraisingly, almost challengingly. It only took him a second or two to figure out who she was.

“The C.J. is misleading,” he said.

She ordered a cappuccino. “For some reason, people just assume C.J. is going to belong to some stodgy good old boy. Beats me why they don’t figure it could stand for Candace Jennifer as well as anything else.”

She didn’t look like either a Candace or a Jennifer. She looked like…a C.J. Someone who enjoyed hiding behind an air of mystery and then taking others by surprise. Bryan wasn’t impressed. He considered all the delays he’d gone through to get this appointment—the cancellations, the rearrangements. It was too elaborate. Too devious, in the end.

“Well, Mr. McKay. Start convincing me why I should do business with you and your friends.”

Bryan tried to remind himself that this was the part he liked, working to match the money with the dream. And it was a very good dream this time, belonging to a group of local architects and artists who wanted to revitalize a section of the San Diego-Tijuana border zone. An ambitious building project was in the offing—an innovative cluster of apartment buildings, a commercial district, an artisans’ compound. Bryan explained it all to C. J. Whitfield over broiled bass and asparagus soup. The soup was a mistake. And so, too, it seemed, was C.J.

“Tell me, Bryan. Why did you come to me on this one?”

“You have a reputation for imaginative thinking.”

“I also have a reputation for being filthy rich,” she remarked.

“That, too,” he said easily.

She almost smiled. “Funny thing is, Bryan McKay, you have a reputation for picking winners. But this time…I just don’t see it. For one thing, it’s a lousy location. Nobody wants to go anywhere near that part of town anymore. Nothing you build there is going to change that.”

“This group is going to change a lot of things,” he argued. “They have a certain vision—”

“Oh, no. When people start getting visionary, it always means trouble. Bryan, I’m as idealistic as the next poor schmuck, but I also believe in confronting reality. From what I’ve heard, so do you. Why this fanciful turn of yours?”

She was getting on his nerves, but he didn’t actually have a good answer for her. This wasn’t the first time he’d gambled on an idea that seemed impractical or even impossible at first. But there was something special about this project, something that captured his excitement in a way few other ideas had.

C.J. thumbed through the prospectus he’d handed her. “Sure, all the figures look fine on paper,” she said disparagingly.

Bryan found himself comparing her to Danni, and couldn’t imagine two women more different from each other. Maybe Danni was elusive in her own way, but she was also completely…genuine. Bryan liked the sound of that word. It suited Danni. He couldn’t imagine her deliberately creating an aura of mystery, couldn’t picture her staging an entrance or an exit for effect. Which was what C.J. was doing at the moment—staging her exit. She flicked her hand in the air, and a younger woman who had remained unobtrusive until now materialized to stand a respectful distance away. Bryan wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d curtseyed to her boss.

C.J. tossed the prospectus toward her assistant; the woman turned out to be a good catch.

“I’ll look the figures over again as a personal favor. But I wouldn’t get my hopes up, Bryan, if I were you.”

“Message received,” he said. “I won’t hold my breath waiting for your call.”

She treated him to another of her challenging looks. “Oh, I will call you,” she said. Was she actually flirting with him? Then she rose from her chair and swirled out of the restaurant, assistant in her wake.

Bryan finished his beer, paid the tab and wandered outside. Old Town was best at night like this, the ancient adobe buildings mellow in the golden spill of lanterns. He paused at the tiled fountain in the plaza where passersby tossed their coins for wishes and good luck. The flute music still played from somewhere just out of sight…wistful, restless. Reminding Bryan of Danni Ferris all over again.

When he let himself into his apartment a short time later, the phone was ringing. He picked it up, said hello, and heard her voice. It was oddly subdued.

“Hello, Bryan. I…can’t make it tonight, after all. I’m sorry.”

“What gives, Danni?” He seemed to say that to her a lot.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. And then, all in a rush she continued, “I was supposed to tell you something tonight. But I chickened out. I know that as soon as I tell you…you’ll despise me. And I don’t think I can bear it.”

She had a habit of speaking in riddles. “Come over,” he said. “We’ll talk it out. Nothing can be as bad as you make it sound.”

She was quiet at that, so quiet he almost thought he’d lost the connection.

“Danni,” he asked, “still there?”

“Yes,” she said, her voice low. She paused again. “Bryan what made you show up at my office last night?”

“I wanted to see you.”

“And when you saw me,” she continued, “didn’t anything seem strange to you? Didn’t anything seem different?”

He couldn’t figure out where she was headed. “You seemed,” he said honestly, “more beautiful than ever.”

If he thought he was going to flatter her, he was wrong. The silence on the other end of the line was now potent.

“Danni—”

“Goodbye, Bryan. I can’t see you anymore.” She hung up abruptly, without another word.

He gazed thoughtfully at the phone and then he, too, hung up. “What the hell was that all about?” he muttered.

DANNI FOUND HER SISTER kneeling in the garden, digging up bulbs. Kristine wielded her spade with rather more force than necessary, the rich dark earth building up around her and the poor bulbs tossed aside unceremoniously.

“Didn’t you and Ted plant those together?” Danni asked. “The first year you were married.”

Kristine pushed aside a strand of hair, leaving a dirt smudge on her face. “I’m sick of these damn tulips,” she muttered.

“Kris, you always loved those flowers.”

“It’s time for a change.” Another bulb went flying. “Why, it’s almost Thanksgiving. And then Christmas…and then a brand-new year. A perfect time to completely overhaul my life.”

Danni knelt beside her sister. “Kris—talk to me.”

Kristine ducked her head, the blond hair falling forward again to obscure her face. “No doubt you want to know every little fact about last night. You want to know all about how I confessed to Bryan, and what he said in return, and…and every humiliating detail.”

Danni regarded her sister. “I would like to know that it’s taken care of at last.”

Kristine didn’t even seem to be listening. “Can you imagine what it’s like, Danni? To have a husband who no longer wants you.”

“From what I saw yesterday on the golf course,” she said, “you and Ted may still have a lot to work out. But he still cares about you a great deal. No one could get that angry, and not care.”

“You don’t know, Danni. You don’t know what a man can do to make you feel…completely undesirable. Completely unwanted. After that, there’s not much he can do to convince you otherwise.”

“Kris, what happened? What did Ted do to make you feel this way?”

“I can’t talk about it,” Kristine said, gripping her spade. “I just can’t. I can’t say it out loud…don’t ask me to, Danni.”

Danni had never seen her sister like this. Kristine had been many things in her life—impetuous, thoughtless, self-centered…extravagantly penitent when she realized she’d strained the limits of a friendship. But she had never been this way—so despairing, and so unsure of herself.

“Kris, if you’d only talk to me,” Danni said gently. “Maybe I can help—”

The spade was digging again. “Don’t even try, Danni. All you really want to know right now is what happened with Bryan. Well…I’ll tell you.” She sounded defiant, her words recklessly gathering speed. “I went to meet Bryan last night, and I told him the whole sorry situation. I told him how I’d pretended to be you, and how you hadn’t known anything about it until it was too late. I asked him not to blame you at least. But he wouldn’t listen. He told me…he told me he was disgusted with both of us, and he never wanted to see either one of us again!”

DANNI JUST KNEW it was going to be a lousy Thanksgiving. Of course, that was a safe bet—Thanksgiving at her parents’ house always turned out to be a dismal failure. Every year her mother and father tried a different combination of guests. And every year the result was the same: discreet yawns, embarrassed excuses for leaving early. Of course, Jay and Leah Ferris would never admit that their get-togethers were…well, boring.

Now Danni stood on her parents’ front porch, balancing her usual offerings of sweet-potato casserole and mushroom-sage stuffing. Her mother swung open the door and gave her a hug that almost upended the sweet potatoes. If nothing else, Danni could count on an enthusiastic greeting. She knew she was the success story of the family, the one who had fulfilled all her parents’ expectations. They didn’t even mind that she was thirty and still unmarried. Plenty of time for that later, they always told her. Solidify your career before slowing yourself down with a family.

Leah ushered Danni inside. “Thank goodness you’re finally here. When I found out Kristine and Ted couldn’t make it—”

“Kristine isn’t here?”

“Darling, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. Apparently they’ve had some sort of…altercation. Ted flew out to be with his family in Sacramento, and Kristine simply refused to say where she’d be.”

Danni felt a letdown. No matter how angry she got at her sister, she always counted on Kristine to be at family functions. It was the one thing that made these occasions bearable.

Now Danni went with her mother to the kitchen, and set down both casserole dishes.

“Are you all right?” her mother asked with a worried frown. “You don’t seem very chipper.”

At times her mother could be quite observant although her quaint terms often irritated Danni. This time, however, Danni had to admit she did not feel chipper. Ever since those few days ago, when she’d learned that Bryan never wanted to see her again…it had put a damper on her enthusiasm. Regret and sadness would wash over her at the most inconvenient times.

“I’m fine, Mom,” she said with an effort.

“Everything going okay at work?”

Danni had a wild urge to lie—to say that she’d walked out on her advertising job and that she’d decided to become a full-time carpenter. She didn’t say anything, though. She just busied herself at the sink, rinsing the lettuce for the salad. Her mother gave her a sharp look, but then hurried out to the living room to try entertaining her guests.

Two hours later, it was painfully clear that the guests refused to be entertained. Danni glanced around the dining room table. She sat among a few of her mother’s law partners, several more of her father’s management associates, two of the neighbors from down the street. It was not a congenial group. Conversations proceeded in fits and starts, then faded to nonexistence. The turkey was dry, the cranberry sauce tart, the pumpkin pie bland. Danni saw the look of chagrin on her mother’s face, but also knew that she would refuse to give up. Leah was no doubt already calculating a brand-new guest list for Christmas.

Danni picked at her mincemeat pie, only to set down her fork at last. She saw the elderly man on her left give a rather desperate peek at his watch. She knew she should be trying to liven the party; she owed her parents that much. But all she could think about was Bryan. She tried to remind herself that they’d only been casual acquaintances until Kristine had stepped in and distorted everything. But the sense of loss continued to assault her.

Fool, a voice mocked in her head. Maybe it’s true. Maybe you only care about men your sister wants.

She clenched her hands in her lap. She didn’t want to care about Bryan McKay. She scarcely knew him.

“Danni, are you sure you’re all right?” Leah asked. “You’ve hardly touched your food.”

“Yes…I’m fine.”

“She works too hard,” Leah confided to someone across the table. There was a note of pride in her voice. Leah herself had worked hard all her life, the first one in her family to get a college degree. No wonder she took her career so seriously, and expected Danni to do the same. If only Danni’s career could provide all the answers…if only it could make her stop thinking about a man she couldn’t have….

She stood abruptly. “Mom, Dad—I’m sorry, but I have to leave.”

The gentleman to her left stole another glance at his watch. “Sorry, but I have to be on my way, too,” he said. There were other relieved murmurs and rustlings around the table.

Danni knew she was responsible for breaking up the party even earlier than usual. Her mother sent her an accusing glare, and she felt guilty. But she just had to get out of here.

Somehow she had to outrun her thoughts of Bryan McKay.

IT HAD BEEN a bad day for Elizabeth. She’d insisted on trying to make Thanksgiving dinner—only to overexert herself, and ending up huddled on the sofa with her famous cornbread dressing and her pumpkin pies only half-done. Bryan had been grateful for the nursing service he’d hired against all her protests. This afternoon, the nurse on duty had come to the rescue—finishing up the dinner, making Elizabeth as comfortable as possible. But Bryan still blamed himself. He shouldn’t have let his mother do all that work. Never mind that she’d been looking forward to it for days. It was up to him to make certain she didn’t overdo it.

Night had fallen, and he’d finally left his mother asleep in her apartment, the nurse still in charge. Now he climbed out of his car and went up the walk to his own apartment. A shape emerged from the darkness next to his door. Danni. He couldn’t think of anyone he’d rather see. After the way she’d hung up the phone on him the other night, this was an unexpected pleasure. Before she could protest, he put his arms around her.

“You smell good,” he said. His hands moved over her back.

“Bryan, I shouldn’t be here,” she answered. “It’s a mistake. But somehow…somehow I can’t help myself.”

“I’ve missed you,” he said. He unlocked the door and drew her inside. When he turned on the hall lamp, light spilled over her blond hair. Her face had an unhappy look, but he intended to do something about that. He held her close again, kissing her, and he could sense the tension begin to leave her body.

“Bryan…I’ve wanted this….”

“Me, too,” he murmured against her throat. He was impeded by some long, silky scarf she had draped around her neck. She was all dressed up, but he liked her better when she wore jeans. Not to mention her tool belt. He went on holding her…he went on touching her.

She tensed all over again and pulled away.

“Bryan, this isn’t supposed to happen. I just thought if I could see you again…if only for a moment…if I could ask you…”

Clearly she was in turmoil, and Bryan tried to help her. “Ask me anything,” he said.

She took a deep breath. “Bryan, do you find me…desirable?”

“You know I do.”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t. Not really.”

“I’ll show you.” He brought her into his arms again. And he proceeded to show her. It was a very long while before she broke away again. Her face was flushed.

“No,” she whispered. “I can’t do this! It’s not right.”

He didn’t agree. As far as he was concerned, nothing had ever seemed more right.

“I want to make love to you, Danni,” he said. “I think it’s time.”

She took in a deep, quavering breath. “Oh, Bryan…”

It was several kisses later when he began un-buttoning her dress. Too bad they were very small buttons, and there were so many of them. Meanwhile, the scarf thing kept getting in his way.

“We have to stop,” she said, placing her hands over his. “This isn’t right.”

“It’s right,” he said. “Trust me.” He finally got rid of the scarf. It drifted to the floor, allowing him much better access. He kissed the places he’d managed to expose, and was rewarded with a sigh from Danni. She curled her fingers in his hair.

“Bryan, if you knew what it meant to me…to have a man want me…a man like you…”

“Yes,” he said. “I want you.”

Something sparked in her eyes, a flash of spirit. “It can’t really be wrong. Not when…It just can’t be wrong.”

She was talking in riddles again, but he figured the time for talking was past. He drew her toward the bedroom. She hesitated another second, but then she gave an almost imperceptible nod—as if she’d just won some argument with herself.

And then she came to him.