Читать книгу Babies By The Busload - Raye Morgan - Страница 7

This is your last chance, J.J.

Mike’s voice echoed in her mind again and again until she was sick to death of it.

This is your last chance, J. J.

Closing her eyes, she lay back in the water of the outdoor deck hot tub and tried to block the voice out of her head. Remembering it certainly wasn’t doing anything for her self-esteem and she was going to need all her confidence if she was going to parlay this temporary job at a local television station into a step up that slippery ladder she’d been trying to climb for the past ten years.

Today had been a pretty pathetic attempt. Despite everything, she had to laugh when she thought about it. During the course of the morning, she’d spilled coffee down the front of her only good suit, eaten the last doughnut just before the station manager came looking for it, and called the mayor of the city by his rival’s name on camera.

She had to go back tonight for the evening news, and she wasn’t looking forward to it. Maybe, she thought ruefully, she should fill up on food before she went. If she could just stay away from snacks this evening, maybe things would go better.

“No,” she said sadly, shaking her head at a bird who was hovering close and considering her with a glint in its eyes. “The station manager hates me. The next three weeks are going to be murder, whether I eat or not.”

The bird flew off and she laughed softly, enjoying this outdoor retreat, enjoying the clouds scudding past, the wind in the pines over her head, glad she was going to get to stay here for the next five weeks.

Five weeks. That was what they’d said when they asked her to come in as a replacement anchor for a local woman who was going to be out with surgery. She’d jumped at the chance for a change. Her contract was up at the station in Sacramento, where she’d been for four years, and she knew the only way she was going to get back on track toward New York and the networks was to move around, get noticed. So here she was in St. Johns, Utah, staying in a condo the station had obtained for her, and hoping for great things.

Closing her eyes again, she turned on the jets with her toes and let herself drift in the lovely bubbles, trying to forget her agent’s voice, trying to relax. The jets made just enough noise so that she didn’t hear her visitor until he was standing at the edge of her deck, clearing his throat.

Her eyes flew open and so did her mouth. “Aaaah!” she shrieked, and she lost her bearings in the spa, slipping off the seat and down under the water with a thunk.

She’d barely had time to register the fact that there was a man in her yard. Fighting her way back to the surface of the water, she hoped against hope it had been a mirage.

But no. The man still stood there, smiling casually, his hands in his pockets. He was tall, his rakishly combed dark hair touched with silver at the temples, and he was wearing an Irish fisherman’s sweater and slacks with wet spots on the legs. It seemed she’d created something of a splash going down.

“Sorry to startle you,” he said mildly, amusement glinting in his blue eyes. “I brought you your mail.”

J.J. stared out through a curtain of wet hair, blowing bubbles off her lips so that she could speak.

“Who are you?” she croaked, thanking her lucky stars that she’d had the presence of mind to put on a swimsuit instead of bathing in the buff, as had been her first inclination.

“Oh, that’s right. We haven’t met.” He stepped up onto the redwood deck, leaned toward her and stuck his hand out quite pleasantly. “I’m Jack. I live next door.”

She was beet red and she knew it. Ignoring his offered hand, she glared at him. “You shouldn’t creep up on people like that,” she protested.

Withdrawing his hand, he smiled as though to reassure her that there would be no hard feelings over her rudeness. “I didn’t creep, exactly. There’s a well-used gate between our yards. And I thought I heard voices, so I came on over.”

He shook his head as though it were just the most natural thing in the world.

“The previous tenant and I had. a sort of arrangement,” he explained carelessly, glancing toward the sliding glass doors that led into the house. “I guess I got used to being a little too free with her living space. Sorry.” He glanced at her again and gave her another utterly charming smile.

“So you’re the latest,” he said softly, looking her over.

She blinked at him. “The latest what?”

He shrugged. “The latest neighbor,” he said smoothly, but she knew very well that wasn’t what he’d begun to say. What was special about her staying in this condo? She frowned. She was going to have to look into that.

“Lovely view, isn’t it?” he added, making a sweeping motion with his arm.

She nodded, glancing at the stately pines and the vista of the red rock mountains behind the condos. The afternoon air was cool at this time of year in southern Utah, but the sun was shining and the water was scalding, and she could make believe she was in a mountain spring, absorbing nature with every pore. She loved it. But she hadn’t counted on visitors sharing the experience with her.

And there was something else. She stared up at him. That voice. There was something about this man.

“Anyway, as I said, I brought your mail.” He pulled a pink envelope out of his pocket. “The postman put it in my box. I’m afraid I opened it before I realized it wasn’t for me.”

He’d said his name was Jack. Jack. Yes, it rang a bell. She was certain she’d seen him before, perhaps a younger version.

He was waving the envelope at her. “You seem to be invited to a baby shower,” he told her helpfully, leaning back against the wall with one leg bent casually over the other as he studied the paper in his hand. “Some old friend. Let’s see, her name was. ah, here it is. Sara.” He looked at her questioningly, one dark eyebrow cocked provocatively. “Anyone you know?”

“Hey,” she said, suddenly realizing what he was doing. “That’s my mail you’re reading.”

His glance was laced with amusement. “Yes, I thought I’d said that. It is the whole point of my stopping by, after all.”

She frowned at him, still too stunned by his behavior to get herself into the proper mode to repel his unwelcome visit. “I can read my own mail.”

“Not while you’re wet,” he said sensibly. “I’m just trying to be helpful.”

There was something about this man, something.

Jack Remington.

Oh my God, her inner child cried as the name flashed into her mind. No, not Jack Remington!

“The postmark says Denver,” he said. “What a coincidence. I’m going to Denver myself soon.”

“How nice,” she said crisply, finally reasserting herself and applying a quick hand to her dark hair, pushing it back off her face. “Thank you for dropping by my mail. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like some privacy.”

“Of course.” He straightened. “Well, nice meeting you, Miss.” He glanced at the name on the envelope before he set it down on the deck. “Miss J. J. Jensen. I guess I’ve worn out my welcome.”

She didn’t contradict him. Jack Remington. Now that she’d realized who he was, she didn’t know how she could have hesitated. Talk about a blast from the past. This was a major blow.

He stopped just inside the gate to the next yard, turning back. “By the way,” he noted. “If the babies bother you, just knock on the wall and I’ll see what I can do. But I can’t make any promises.”

She blinked, frowning, feeling like a batter with too many balls being pitched at once. “Babies? What babies?”

“My babies. I’ve got three of them.”

Jack Remington with babies. What a concept. The poor little things. “You have babies?” she echoed incredulously.

He nodded, his eyes smiling. “It’s a pretty standard thing to do. People get married, have little ones. It’s an accepted practice, even in these modern times.”

Maybe for some. “Not everyone does it,” she said, realizing her tone was defensive and regretting it, but it was only natural. She was so sick of people asking when she was going to “settle down.”

“No, of course not.” His eyes narrowed as though something in her voice had piqued his interest. “Nice meeting you, Miss Jensen.” Grinning, he waved and went on his way.

She held her breath until she heard a sound that could be his gate closing, and then she stepped tentatively out of the tub, reaching quickly for her towel. Jack Remington. Of all people to run into. And he hadn’t recognized her, even when he’d seen her name. That just showed how little he’d ever noticed.

Hugging the towel in close around her, she felt that old hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach, as though her world were crashing down around her. Things were changing so quickly, and lately everything new that happened seemed to be a bad thing. This was a time in her life when she should be moving forward, not stumbling backward. This just wasn’t right.

And now she’d been accosted in her hot tub by the only man who had ever fired her.

So far, anyway. She made a face at her reflection in the mirror. The way things were going, who knew? A picture of the station manager’s furious face when he’d found out his doughnut was missing swam into her mind. So far.

But that was not the overriding issue of the moment. Picking up the invitation, she pulled it out of the envelope and looked at it, feeling a bittersweet smile coming on. Sara’s baby shower. All her old roommates from college would be there and they were all doing so well. Cami was publishing a scientific journal of some sort. Hailey was a buyer for a major department store and selling a few paintings on the side. Sara was married to the perfect man and no doubt having the perfect baby.

And here was J.J., still searching for success. How was she going to keep a smile on her face and pretend she was just as happy as the others? She wanted to see her friends again, but something deep inside resisted. If only she could go without feeling like a failure. If only.

Still, she would go if she could get the time off. She had to.

A sound from next door swung her head around. A baby was crying, then a voice, then a child’s laugh. Jack Remington, playboy and man-about-town with babies? And what sort of wife, she wondered? It was going to be interesting finding out.