Читать книгу Baby Of Fortune - Shirley Rogers - Страница 10

“To Texas?” Heather’s voice rose a pitch as she stared blankly at her estranged husband. He couldn’t really mean what he was suggesting.

He frowned deeply at her reaction. “That is where she lives.” There was the briefest hint of frustration in his tone. “I’d like you to meet her, as well.”

Heather’s mouth was still hanging open. “You would?” Knowing her husband wasn’t prone to spontaneous actions, she figured there had to be more to this. For someone like Justin, who needed to control everyone and everything around him, well, she figured, adjusting to his new family had to be very hard for him to deal with.

She was certainly curious about the Fortunes. Apparently they’d made quite an impression on him. He seemed so…she couldn’t really put her thoughts into words. Justin was somehow undefinably…different.

“Of course.”

“Why didn’t you just tell your mother we were separated?”

He hesitated, then said, “Because I thought maybe you and I still had a chance together. There’s no reason for her to know otherwise, if we stay together.” He moved a step closer to her. “It’s not so crazy when you think about it. We were happy once, Heather.” He reached toward her and ran his fingers across her cheek, then through her hair to brush it from her face.

She stiffened, again moving a step away. “I thought we were,” she agreed, “until…” She left the words unspoken, but the reminder was there all the same. Heather’s skin tingled where he’d touched her, and she suspected he wasn’t just talking about their marriage. For a while, they had shared something special, and she had no trouble remembering those wonderfully happy times. Those memories taunted her often, as did the memory of the moment he’d left her.

“We both made mistakes, but we had a good life for a while.”

“I haven’t forgotten, Justin.” Her admission came reluctantly, and brought a barely noticeable look of relief to his features.

“Maybe we can recapture what we had.”

“Justin—”

“We were married for six years,” he interrupted, his tone slightly challenging. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

She bristled. “I could ask you the same thing. I haven’t heard a word from you in a year, and now you show up wanting me to go away with you.”

“You didn’t bother to contact me, either,” he reminded her sharply.

Heather felt a wave of embarrassment sweep over her. His charge was justified, more so than hers. She’d had more reason to contact him than he knew. “You’re right, but—”

“Come to Texas with me,” he said again, softening his tone. He cocked his head and studied her. “That’s all I’m asking. It’ll give us time to think about what’s happened between us, time to decide where we should go from here.” Surprise filled her gaze once again. “Would you be willing to try again to make our marriage work?”

“I…I don’t know,” she answered honestly, astonished at how her pulse raced at the thought. Could she really risk her heart again?

Justin didn’t say anything for a moment. He turned and went to the window and stared out of it. Heather nervously bit her bottom lip, wondering what he was thinking. Just as she was about to speak, he turned and faced her.

“How about if we give it a month?” He walked back over to her and stopped so close that she could feel his body heat. “One month. Isn’t our marriage worth a month out of your life?”

Heather swayed, staggered by his proposition. “A month,” she repeated. He was putting a timetable on their reconciliation. Now, that sounded more like the Justin she remembered. Always in control.

Justin nodded. “It’s long enough to see if we can work things out,” he rationalized. “If after a month it isn’t working, I’ll give you a divorce.” His jaw tightened a fraction.

Heather still couldn’t believe this was happening, and she was hesitant to give him the power to hurt her again. Yes, she still had feelings for her husband—but only because he was the father of her son. And what about when he learned about their baby? Would Justin use Timmy to pressure her into staying married?

She was astute enough to realize that she saw very little change in Justin. He was still a man of few words, still kept his thoughts to himself. Though Heather had always felt during her marriage that he cared for her, he had never really said the words. She supposed she couldn’t blame him. Words of love never came easy to her, either, and she’d held back her own thoughts and feelings. It was also obvious that he still wanted to control everything around him.

However, in the past year she’d changed, grown independent. She was used to making decisions for herself.

Deep in thought, Heather was unaware of how close Justin had come to her until he reached for her and drew her against him. Caught by surprise, she put her hands flat against his hard-muscled chest. In the past, they’d settled many problems in each other’s arms—the last being when she’d gotten pregnant with Timmy. But she wasn’t going to let him get away with it now.

Not this time.

Leaning backward, she put enough pressure in her arms to break his embrace. He frowned, and his lips flattened into a thin line. But he let her go. She stepped farther away, enough to feel as if she could breathe normally again. She hated the way he had of stealing her breath with his mere presence.

“One month, Heather.”

The ringing of the telephone startled them both. Heather murmured an apology. “I have to get that,” she said, suspecting it was her mother. Quickly moving across the room, she picked up the telephone receiver on the end table.

“Hello,” she said. “Oh, Mom. Yes, I know I’m late. I’m sorry.” She glanced at Justin before quickly looking away.

He watched her talk on the phone with her mother. He’d always liked Kathryn Watson. She was warm and attentive without being controlling or smothering—the kind of mother that he’d always yearned for, the kind of mother he’d never known. Now that he’d met Miranda, Justin thought she, too, seemed to be kindhearted and caring. She’d made an effort to get close to him, but so far he hadn’t been able to totally let his guard down around her—or any of the other Fortunes.

His reserve around his extended family didn’t include his sister Emma. He and his twin shared a certain respect for each other, a bond that only twins could feel. He’d been amazed by her easygoing nature, despite her troubled past. When they’d met, he’d learned she was on the run from an abusive ex-boyfriend. Had he not been reassured by Sinclair that Emma would be safe with him, Justin would have taken care of her himself. The thought of someone hurting her infuriated him. Justin was pleased that Emma had found Flynn, who loved her and her newborn daughter.

“I have some unexpected company.”

Heather’s voice drew his attention, and he wondered what Kathryn would say if she knew it was him. He strained forward to hear what he could of the conversation, and it was obvious she was avoiding telling her mother about him. Well, that was okay. Kathryn would know soon enough that he wanted to reconcile.

His wife sighed heavily. “It’s Justin, Mom.” She listened for a moment. “I’m going to be a few minutes longer, if that’s okay.” More silence, and her foot tapped the floor nervously. “Thanks, Mom. I really appreciate it.”

Heather hung up the telephone, then turned to face him. Her expression was shadowed, probably out of a need for self-preservation. But Justin didn’t miss the brief glimpse of awareness in her eyes, and he took that as a sign that she still felt something for him.

She ran the pink tip of her tongue over her upper lip, and he bit back an oath. He wanted nothing more at that moment than to pull her to him and make love to her, to show her there was an underlying spark between them that they could build on.

She represented everything he’d worked for in his life—and everything he’d been unable to hold on to. He’d lost the woman he’d loved, his home, and with her unfortunate miscarriage, the family he’d wanted so badly. They’d had a chance once. Was it irrational to believe they could have another?

He resisted the urge to pull her back into his embrace, and as though she needed to put space between them, she stepped farther away from him and stood beside one of the big overstuffed chairs that decorated the room.

Her hands tightened on the back of the chair, her knuckles turning white. She looked…wary, and Justin could understand that. He’d deeply disappointed her once, although he’d thought he was doing the right thing by giving her her freedom. It was going to be hard for her to put those unpleasant memories to rest and consider his proposal.

She held her head high and looked him directly in the eyes. “This is so like you,” she commented. “I mean, showing up so suddenly, making decisions and expecting me to agree to whatever you want.”

Annoyed by her words, Justin grimaced. “I called and left you a message, letting you know that I’d be coming over.”

Heather’s gaze swung to the answering machine sitting on the table. The little red message light was blinking. “I haven’t had time to check my messages. As soon as I came in the door, Paul arrived.”

“Would it have made a difference if you’d known I was coming?”

“I don’t know.” She searched his face, wishing for even a hint as to what he was thinking. “We didn’t exactly part on good terms.” Truthfully, they hadn’t exactly parted on any particular terms. He had simply walked away from her one day.

Later, he’d contacted her through his lawyer, who had informed her he would be sending her a monthly check. Once she’d realized that he wasn’t coming back, she slowly started putting her life back together.

Then she’d discovered she was pregnant again.

They’d made love one of the last evenings they’d spent together. On her part, it had been a desperate attempt to regain some closeness between them. Heather hadn’t taken precautions, and neither had Justin. Even up to the very end, she’d hoped to have another child. She had foolishly thought another baby would help her marriage, had hoped Justin would love her if she gave him a child.

But he’d left, anyway. It wasn’t long afterward that she had started missing her periods. When she’d found out she was pregnant, she was elated, yet deeply saddened by the irony of her situation. She realized she was going to have the baby they’d always wanted—only Justin wouldn’t be there to share the joy with her.

She’d hoped he’d contact her, give her some idea he still cared for her. But he hadn’t, and she had decided at that point not to tell him about her pregnancy. She’d thought about it long and hard. But dealing with his rejection had been so difficult, and she’d known he would have come back to her only because of the baby. Heather just couldn’t live with him knowing that her love wasn’t enough to make him happy.

For a while, she’d been worried he’d find out somehow, or that their paths would cross and he’d discover the truth. Fortunately, Pittsburgh was a very big city. Justin’s office was across town in the Pittsburgh Plate Glass building, and their house in the elite suburb of Fox Chapel was far enough away that she’d hoped her secret was safe. Apparently she hadn’t had to worry about it. Justin had never even tried to see her—until now, and the friends they’d had had dropped out of her life when she no longer traveled in the same circles.

Justin’s lips curved into the bare resemblance of a smile. She hadn’t seemed surprised when he’d shown up. “My intent in coming here wasn’t to run roughshod over you.” His gaze was direct. “My motives aren’t suspect. I’m asking you to give us another chance.”

When she didn’t answer right away, he felt his heart stop. His plans for a reconciliation depended on getting Heather alone with him so he could convince her to give their marriage another try.

“I don’t know. I need to think about this,” she stated frankly.

Though he didn’t necessarily like her answer, he decided not to pressure her. He’d give her some time to think about it, then see where that got him. He had a tenacious nature and wasn’t one to give up easily if something was important to him.

That had a lot to do with his past. It hadn’t been easy getting past abandonment and growing up in foster care. Justin had never been fortunate enough to live with a family who cared about him.

He hadn’t stayed with any one family very long. There had always been a reason to get rid of him, no matter how hard he’d tried to fit in. He’d been too young or too old, too reserved or too much trouble. At a very early age he’d learned to look out for himself.

He should thank Miranda for instilling in him a drive to make something of himself. In a perverse way, her abandoning him as a baby had implanted the motivation to become independent and successful.

“All right.” He stared at her a moment, then reached for her hand. He was both surprised and pleased when he realized she still wore his ring. He touched it, then watched the large, tear-shaped diamond sparkle in the light from the window. She drew her hand away, and he frowned. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Heather pressed her lips together as she followed him to the door. “No,” she said quickly, wanting to control their next meeting. “I have school and a meeting afterward. I’ll call you. Where will you be?”

Reaching inside his jacket, he extracted a business card. “You know the office number. This has the number of my apartment, as well as my digital.”

Heather studied the card as he opened the door. “All right, I’ll call you after school tomorrow.”

Justin nodded, then stepped outside. He hesitated, then turned back toward her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Heather watched him get into his Mercedes and drive away. As he disappeared from sight, she sagged against the door, her strength zapped.

Justin’s visit had blindsided her. Even a tornado wouldn’t have caused such havoc in her life.

Was she losing her mind? She’d actually told him she’d think about his proposition—that she’d consider giving their marriage another try.

Did she really want to?

A long time ago she’d loved Justin. Could she learn to love him again?