Читать книгу How To Be A Blissful Bride - Stacy Connelly, Stacy Connelly - Страница 12

Chapter Four

“Don’t worry. Everything’s under control.” Even as Alexa spoke the words into her cell phone, she fought a burst of hysterical laughter that would certainly be enough to send her grandmother’s panicked assistant over the edge. Not to mention the state it would leave Alexa in.

Under control? As she listened to Raquel rattle off the dozens of details her grandmother had needed handled in the three days since Alexa left, she couldn’t imagine anything being further from the truth.

Chance was alive.

Chance was here.

She needed to tell Chance he was the father of her baby.

The phrases had circled endlessly through her mind, robbing her of any hope of a good night’s sleep. She’d always been an early riser, part of the strict schedule her grandmother had established and one Alexa couldn’t seem to break no matter how hard she tried. Or no matter how many hours she’d spent tossing and turning the night before.

Her doctor had encouraged exercise and warned her about too much stress, so Alexa had set out on a early morning walk. As she’d breathed in the cool morning fog, a bit of pressure eased from her chest. The breeze rustled through the pines, carrying a hint of salt air, and she was glad she’d thought to grab a thigh-length beige sweater to wear over her tunic-style cream blouse and tan leggings.

But any sense of relaxation had come to an abrupt end as she remembered that Chance wasn’t the only one Alexa needed to tell about her pregnancy. And while she had no idea how Chance was going to react, she had a good idea what her proper, old-fashioned grandmother would have to say.

Tuning back into the conversation and Raquel’s laundry list of concerns, she reassured the younger woman, “You’ll do fine.”

“But the Giving Thanks benefit—”

“Everything is going as scheduled. I confirmed with the vendors this morning.” Alexa could hear Raquel relaying the information back to her grandmother and Virginia’s protests in the background. “Tell my grandmother—”

“You can tell me yourself, Alexa.” Virginia Mayhew’s crisp voice cut across the line.

“Like I was saying to Raquel, everything is under control. I contacted—”

“You should be here working on the benefit. How does it look for you to be off on vacation at the most critical time of the fund-raising season?”

Considering she typically dealt with vendors by phone or email, Alexa knew things didn’t “look” any different. She also knew that wasn’t her grandmother’s point. Alexa was the face of the foundation, and that face was always supposed to be in the public eye.

But Alexa was tired of constantly living behind a public persona. She wanted to live her own life. A life where she could go outside without the perfect clothes, perfect hair, perfect makeup. A life where she could be something less than perfect. “It’s only for a few days, Grandmother.”

“This isn’t a good time. I told you that before you left.”

“Yes, you did,” Alexa acknowledged, but it was never a good time. Which was why she hadn’t taken a vacation in...she couldn’t even remember how long. “I’ll be home soon.”

Alexa hung up feeling the familiar weight of expectation pressing on her chest. She had started volunteering for the Mayhew Foundation when she was still in her teens and had dedicated her adult life to helping raise money for those in need.

Taking a deep breath, Alexa pressed the button on the side of her phone. For the first time, she was going to think of her needs. She’d longed for a break from the nonstop schedule for the past year or so, but doubted she would have made the stand if not for her pregnancy.

Growing up in her grandmother’s house, Alexa’s world had been filled with directives as to what a Mayhew did not do. A Mayhew did not slouch, did not sulk, did not argue, did not cry...

Only with Griffin had Alexa ever felt she could let down the walls her grandmother’s rules had built around her and truly be herself. Only with Griffin...and with Chance.

Not that her feelings for the two men were at all the same. With Griffin, she felt safe. With him, she could say and do whatever she wanted.

With Chance, she felt dangerous. With him, she had said and done things she’d never imagined, and now...

Alexa was certain getting pregnant following a weekend fling would fall within the “did not” constraints.

But telling her grandmother would have to wait. First, she needed to tell Chance.

Some wistful part of her hoped that he would be stunned, yet overjoyed by the news. Sweeping her up into his arms the same way he’d swept her off her feet in Santa Barbara.

After confessing she’d never done something so out of character, so impetuous as to sleep with a man she’d just met, they’d teasingly come up with the list of crazy, adrenaline-fueled exploits for her to try next—all with Chance right by her side.

How about rushing headlong into the adventures of parenthood, Chance? How do you feel about holding my hand on that wild ride?

But after seeing him again, it was almost impossible to imagine a happily-ever-after ending. The charmingly seductive man she’d met the night of the charity ball seemed so...different now. Had the injury somehow changed him? Or had she allowed herself to start to fall for a man who didn’t even exist?

Maybe he would even deny the baby was his. She supposed that would serve her right after foolishly pretending not to know him, and after she’d told him not to contact her in the first place, but the idea of Chance turning his back on their child made her heart ache.

I want this baby. A child to care for, to nurture, to love. The baby might have been unexpected, but not unwanted. Never unwanted. At least not by her.

Alexa slid the phone into the pocket of her sweater and glanced back toward the hotel. She’d walked farther than she’d realized, the Victorian turrets silhouetted by the gray autumn sky. She thought she’d taken the path that would lead to the gazebo Rory mentioned during their tour, but instead she caught a glimpse of a small cottage between the trees. She couldn’t help smiling as she recalled Griffin’s comment. If Rory was Snow White, then Alexa could certainly imagine seven dwarves living in the cute stone and wood structure.

She was tempted to take a closer look but stopped short when the front door opened. Her breath caught in her throat as Chance stepped outside, erasing any thoughts of fantasy dwarves and replacing them instead with the reality of six feet of living, breathing male.

Standing on the small porch, he stretched his neck from one side to the other. As his gaze swung in her direction, Alexa automatically ducked. She cringed, imagining what her grandmother would say if she could see her now, crouching behind a row of hedges before he could spot her.

A Mayhew does not skulk in the bushes, Alexa.

As she watched from her leafy vantage point, he ran both hands through his tousled dark hair and arched his back. Her mouth went dry as his faded T-shirt rode up above the loose waistband of his sweatpants, revealing a slice of muscled abs and tanned skin. Heat licked at her cheeks, and she wasn’t sure which flame burned brighter—her arousal or her embarrassment.

Hiding was one thing. Spying was something else entirely!

Really, she needed to stop. And she would...in a minute.

Because beyond arousal and embarrassment, Alexa couldn’t help noticing that his sweatpants weren’t just loose. The elastic band threatened to slip past his hip bones.

Her stomach clutched. How much weight had he lost? As he took a few steps, his limp was more noticeable than the day before. Was his leg worse...or with no one around and no reason to pretend everything was all right, was he allowing himself to give in to the pain?

He would hate for her to witness even a momentary weakness, and she carefully ducked deeper into her hiding spot. She’d wait a moment or two for Chance to go inside before making her way back to the hotel.

She hazarded another glance toward the cottage and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the porch was empty. She needed to tell Chance about the baby, but not yet. Not until she could be calm and in control, and until she was sure she could do that... Well, she’d be hiding in the bushes.

Pushing to her feet, she swore beneath her breath as the branches caught in the loose knit of her sweater. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a deep voice behind her asked, “You lose something?”

She spun around, slipping on the damp ground and stumbling against the solid, masculine wall of his chest. Chance instinctively caught her, his hands warm and roughly seductive against her upper arms. Each individual fingertip struck a pinpoint of sensation, and the back of his thumbs pressed against her overly sensitive breasts.

She jumped back quickly, but the damage had already been done. Her body still tingled from the sudden contact, the air around them still crackled with undeniable intensity, and she knew she’d made a big mistake not leaving when she’d had the chance.

“You scared me half to death!”

He gave her a sardonic grin. “Sorry, didn’t mean to sneak up on you while you were...?”

His words drifted away, a dark brow winged upward in query, and Alexa wrapped her sweater around her waist. “I was out for a walk,” she sniffed, trying to maintain an air of dignity.

His smirk marked her as a liar. “Next time maybe you’ll try the beach. That’s my favorite spot.”

Alexa had a view of the rugged coastline from her suite along with the uneven, rocky pathway that led to the beach. It was not what she’d consider a leisurely stroll. As he turned, Alexa realized he hadn’t been stretching on the porch; he’d been warming up.

Without stopping to think, she reached out and caught his arm. His skin was warm, undeniably masculine muscle beneath a dusting of dark hair, and for a moment, she forgot what it was she wanted to say.

Forgot everything but the memory of sliding her hand down that same arm as she’d slipped the white tuxedo shirt from his broad shoulders.

Chance froze beneath her touch, and Alexa swallowed. “Are—are you sure that’s a good idea?”

His heated gaze dropped to where her hand still rested on his forearm. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Snatching her hand back, she said, “I meant pushing yourself so hard.”

“Hard was being stuck in traction. You don’t have to worry about me, Alexa. I heal fast.”

She couldn’t imagine what that had been like for him. For a man who was always on the move to not just be stuck in a hospital bed, but to be held in place, immobilized by ropes and pulleys.

She was dying to ask him what had happened, what he’d gone through, beyond the news reports she could barely bring herself to read. After that first devastating headline, she hadn’t known what to believe. Was he truly recovering or was that information wrong, as well?

But she knew better than to expect an honest answer. Especially not after he pinned her with a look and added, “Before long, I’ll move on like nothing ever happened.”

The way he thought she’d moved on to Griffin? Alexa swallowed but asked, “What about your job here?”

“You mean...wedding photographer? That isn’t my job, Alexa. That’s a favor to my sister. One I never should have agreed to,” he added beneath his breath.

“Why? Photographing weddings will be a piece of cake compared to what you’re used to.”

“What I’m used to—” he muttered. “What I’m used to is photographing some of the worst of humanity. I’m not sure I trust myself to still recognize the good.”

His vulnerability grabbed hold of the secret she kept, tugging the words straight from her heart. She longed to reassure him of the good in the world, of the something great the two of them had created together. But would he see their baby that way? When he was so dead set on pushing himself to get better so that he could move on?

So instead, she pointed out, “Your sister clearly trusts you.”

“My sister tends to trust everyone. It’s one of her biggest failings.” Chance glanced around the towering trees and the Victorian hotel in the distance. “Rory’s always thought this place was magic.”

With her arms still crossed at her waist, Alexa could feel the slight swell of her belly. She and Chance had made a baby. It might not have been magic, but as far as Alexa was concerned, it was a tiny miracle.

A miracle she needed to share. Swallowing against the lump in her throat, she whispered, “Chance...”

He straightened abruptly. “You should go. I’m sure your fiancé is wondering where you are.”

“Chance, we need to talk—”

“I think you said everything you needed to say during our last phone call.”

Goodbye was pretty much all they’d said during that phone call, and so much had happened since then. Finding out that she was pregnant, the bombing, the reports of his death. “But...”

He started to turn away, then stopped. Alexa’s heart jumped to her throat as he reached up a hand and brushed his fingers through her hair. A muscle in his jaw clenched, and she could only stare helplessly into the firestorm of emotions in his sapphire eyes.