Baby, I'm Yours

“Hey.”

“I heard about Gabe. Sorry, man.”

“Thanks.”

Rick couldn’t recall the guy’s name. Rob, Bob, something like that.

“I’m Bill Connors. My partner and I have the next court time.”

“Oh, yeah. See ya around.” Rick turned, unwilling to watch the twosome enjoy a kick-ass game when his partner was six feet under.

“Thing is, I was wondering what you’ll be doing with your court time. Didn’t see you here last week. Me and my buddies wouldn’t mind taking it off your hands.”

Rick slowly turned to face Bill, his hand clenching his racquet handle. It was all he could do to keep from taking the guy’s head off. He had lost his best friend, his business and racquetball partner. He’d be damned if he was going to lose his court time, too.

“I’ve got a new partner starting next week,” Rick lied. “But I’ll keep you in mind if I decide to give it up.”

“I’d appreciate it.”

“No problem.”

Rick exited the parking lot faster than was necessary, anger buzzing through his system. The problem was, he didn’t know why he was so pissed off. Maybe because he had absolutely nobody with whom he wanted to partner up on the racquetball court. Rick was the kind of guy who was content with one close friend. That had been Gabe. No wonder he felt the loss so keenly.

When he reached the rental agency ten minutes later, Rick swung his car into the parking lot and sighed. There was a pickup parked in his space beneath the shade tree.

Finding a spot at the back of the lot, Rick was in a pretty foul mood. First with Bill trying to take his court time, now with David Smith stealing his parking space. It seemed as if the kid had been challenging him a lot lately.

His irritation grew darker as he entered the agency and saw the light on in his office.

He nodded and said a curt good-morning to the Saturday staff.

His suspicions were confirmed when he walked into his office.

“David.” It came out more a challenge than a greeting.

“Hey, Rick.”

“You want to get out of my seat?”

David’s chin came up. “It’s my father’s company, too.”

“Yes, and your father has a desk. I suggest you use it.”

“It’s…weird not to see him there.”

The challenge was gone and all Rick saw was the young boy who had done cannonballs into the pool the first time Rick had been invited to the Smith house for a party.

Even then, he’d envied the way the Smiths had fun together. And how people seemed to flock to their home, where impromptu parties were common.

Rick cleared his throat. “Yeah, it’s kind of weird for me, too. I expect to see your dad walk through the door all the time.”

“Like he’s at lunch or something.”

Rick nodded. He stood behind David, willing him out of his chair and feeling guilty about it. “I bet you can scare up an empty desk somewhere in the office.”

“All right already. I’m moving.”

“Good. Oh, and David? Don’t park in my space again.”

“You’re on a real power trip, huh?”

“You know the rules.”

“Yeah, well, I’m tired of it always being your way. It’s our business as much as it’s yours. It’s time I stepped up to the plate as the man of the family. I’m gonna talk to my mom about me taking over my dad’s job instead of her.”

“I can think of several reasons that wouldn’t be a good idea, the first of which is your age. Twenty may seem mature to you, but believe me there’s a lot to learn. And I can’t imagine your mother would be happy about you quitting college.”

“Probably not. But this is something I need to do. I can’t just stand by and do nothing while my family sinks. If I take over Dad’s position, then my mom can work at the salon full-time and nothing’s changed. We can make it.”

Rick had to wonder about David seeming so well informed about the family finances.

“Your mother and I can discuss increasing your hours if she thinks you can handle it and still carry a full course load.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it. I’ll quit school. She’ll know that it’s the best way. You’ll see.”

Rick felt a headache forming behind his eyes. He hoped like crazy that David was wrong. But Becca had been acting out of character since Gabe died. Did David know something Rick didn’t?

IT WAS NEARLY three o’clock by the time Becca made it into the agency. She’d done upsweeps for a wedding party, run home, made lunch for the kids, taken sixteen-year-old Maya to dance class, mopped up a mess after ten-year-old Aaron had washed the dog in the upstairs tub, then picked up Maya from dance class.

Then she’d listened to Maya’s sobs about a lost dance solo for the upcoming recital. Becca had to wonder if her daughter’s hysteria was caused more by fallout from Gabe’s death than losing the solo. With teenage girls, it was hard to tell. Emotions swung from one extreme to the other, with barely any advance notice. It was like trying to grab hold of a funnel cloud.

Sighing with relief, Becca was pleased to have the relative peace of the rental agency to look forward to.

She waved to the agents and went into Gabe’s office, where she found David.

“Hi, sweetheart. Isn’t it about time for you to head home?”

“Yeah, but I’m trying to put in more hours. Rick said it was okay.”

Becca suppressed a flash of annoyance. “It would have been nice if he’d talked to me first.”

“I was the one who brought it up. Anyway, I think he was just trying to keep me quiet. I told him I wanted to take over Dad’s job so you wouldn’t have to.”

“You told him what? I thought I made myself clear. School first. Once you have your degree, then we’ll see what we can do.”

“We can’t afford college. My tuition is expensive. I could be contributing to the family finances instead of draining them.”

Becca scraped her bangs off her face. “I’ll work it out somehow. And I’m going to take on your dad’s job. Don’t worry about your tuition or the family finances.”

“Mom, I’ve heard you on the phone to Uncle Royce. I know Dad didn’t have any life insurance. How can I go to school when I know we need the money?”

“We’ll do fine. I’m drawing your father’s salary now.”

“And losing half of your own.”

“Once I get things down here, I might be able to spend more time in the salon.”

“Why? I can help.”

“No, and that’s final. Your father wanted you to have a college education. I want you to have a college education.”

David grumbled, but tidied up his mess. “I won’t be home for dinner.”

Neither will I.

Truth be told, she had enough work to keep her busy till late into the night. But shared dinners were the glue that kept a family together.

“Where will you be?” Becca asked.

“I’m taking Brittany out to dinner. It’s her birthday.”

Becca nodded. “Have fun. And be careful.”

“I always am.”

“I know you are.” Just as she knew he was a normal twenty-year-old kid who occasionally didn’t think things through. She’d always feared a phone call in the middle of the night saying something had happened to one of her children.

Since Gabe’s death, it had become almost a compulsion. She worried until she heard David and Maya come up the stairs and enter their own rooms. Only then would the dread ease.

David kissed her on the cheek before leaving.

She went to Rick’s office, knocking on the door frame as she entered.

He glanced up, his expression inscrutable. “Hi, Becca. I didn’t expect to see you today.”

“Gabe usually worked Saturday afternoons.”

“Yeah, but you have the kids and all their activities.”

Becca shrugged, hoping she didn’t look half as exhausted as she felt. “I’ll do both.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You look like you haven’t slept for days.”

“Gee, thanks, you really know how to make a woman feel beautiful.”

“You’re always beautiful, Becca.” Rick flushed, as if realizing what he’d said. “But you’re going to burn out if you’re not careful. Gabe would never forgive me if I allowed that to happen.”

“Gabe would understand why I have to do this.”

“I’m not so sure. He’d hate to see how hard you’re pushing yourself.”

“There’s no other way. Now, do you have a few minutes to sit down and go over what I can expect in the next couple weeks as we prepare to return leased vehicles?”

“Pull a chair over. I’ll show you what I have so far. Then you can go with me to the body shop and we can check on repair status.”

“Good.”

For the next hour Rick explained how the system worked. “The factory won’t take back vehicles with extensive repairs or obvious damage,” he told her once he’d run through the procedures.

“So we’re stuck with them?”

“We’ll have to sell them at auction, probably at a loss.” He handed her a computer printout. “These cars should be on the lot today. We’ll thoroughly inspect them and avoid renting them out again if possible.”

“What if we do have to rent them?”

“We’ll want to reinspect them even more closely than usual. Come on, I’ll show you what to look for.”

They went out on the lot.

“I also pulled the repair history on each vehicle, so we can eyeball the repairs. Everything has to be pristine. The new cars will be arriving as these leave, so it’s going to be chaotic.” He grinned.

“Why do I get the feeling you thrive on this?”

“Probably because I do.”

“This process used to kind of stress Gabe out. Not that he complained or anything. He wouldn’t have wanted me to worry. I wonder if he’d still be here if I’d worried more.”

“You can’t second-guess yourself, Becca.”

“How can I not second-guess myself?”

“Focus on what you can do. You’ve got some pretty intense challenges right now.”

They checked the vehicles one by one, a time-consuming job with a midsize fleet. Fortunately, many were rented out at the moment. Becca was amazed at how easily Rick could find a flawed repair or minor damage.

He shook his head. “Roger’s usually not this careless. He’s been at it for so long, he could do bodywork in his sleep.”

“Gabe thought the world of him. Said he was the best in the business and we were very fortunate to have him run our body shop.”

“He’s got a couple kids working with him to help get the cars ready for return. This must’ve got past him. I’ll talk to him about watching the guys more closely.”

“See this fender.” Rick squatted, pointing. “Run your palm over it.”

Becca knelt next to him on the asphalt, glad she’d worn jeans today. She ran her hand over the fender the way she’d seen him do it. “I can feel it’s rougher there. And it looks like the paint is bubbled up.”

“Yep, that’ll need to be sanded and repainted. If we had to send out the repairs, this would be a substantial expense. But since we have our own shop, that keeps costs down.”

Nodding, Becca said, “Yes, one of the women at the salon was rear-ended, a fender bender really, and repairs cost over a thousand dollars.”

“Absolutely.” Glancing at his watch, he said, “I gotta run. I’m meeting Valerie for drinks.”

“You two have the most amicable divorce I’ve ever seen.”

Rick stood, brushing off his hands. Grinning, he said, “Too bad the marriage wasn’t this amicable. We just get together once a month to compare notes on Kayla.”

Becca rose, too, bracing her hand against the car, hoping she didn’t sway.

“Are you okay?” Rick steadied her.

She managed to smile. “Fine. Just stood up too quickly.”

“This dizziness worries me. And you’ve lost weight. Maybe you should see someone about it.”

“I’m really fine.” She smiled brightly. “Besides, I’ve got a checkup next week. I’ll mention it to my doctor then.”

“Be sure you do. After what happened to Gabe, I’m kind of jumpy about my friends not feeling well.”

“I’ll talk to the doctor, I promise. And thanks for caring enough to nag. I’m fortunate to have friends like you.”

Though just this once, she wished Rick were a little less observant.

CHAPTER FIVE

A WEEK LATER, Dr. Barker finished the examination. “Go ahead and get dressed, then meet me in my office.”

“That sounds…ominous.”

The doctor smiled, kindness in her warm brown eyes. “Not at all. Just a better place to talk.”

“I read the material in your waiting room about perimenopause and that certainly describes some of the symptoms I’m having. Fatigue, mood swings, difficulty concentrating, decreased appetite…or it could have something to do with stress.”

“We’ll discuss it in my office.” The doctor closed the door behind her.

Becca dressed as quickly as possible, her fingers fumbling with the buttons on her blouse. She avoided looking at the diagrams of a woman’s reproductive organs on the wall. One of the drawbacks to having her ob-gyn handling her general checkup.

When she emerged from the examination room, the nurse took her to Dr. Barker’s office.

The doctor glanced up from a file and smiled warmly. “Have a seat.”

Becca sat in the padded chair, wishing they could dispense with formalities and get right to the point.

“We checked your hormone levels to see if perimenopause might be the culprit. We also checked for pregnancy hormones.”

“Pregnancy? No, that couldn’t…”

But it could have happened and that’s why she’d been trying to avoid panicking. Trying not to think about it at all.

“Becca, you’re not perimenopausal. You’re pregnant.”

The room spun and Becca felt as if she might be sick.

“I understand the timing may not be the most opportune…”

“No, it’s not.” She started to tick off items on her fingers. “I’m forty-one, recently widowed, working two jobs to keep food on the table and supporting three children and my two elderly in-laws.”

Dr. Barker reached across the desk and grasped her hand. “I’m sorry. There are options…”

Becca drew back in horror. “Abortion? Absolutely not.”

“Adoption.”

“No, I couldn’t live with myself. I’ll work through this. Raise the child myself. H-how far along am I?”

“We’ll need to do an ultrasound to determine that. You said you haven’t missed any periods?”

“No, but my last one was very light. I thought it was because of stress.”

“Maybe this baby will bring you joy—a gift from your late husband.”

“Yes, of course.”

Becca was barely aware of grabbing her purse and fleeing the office.

She couldn’t face going back to the agency. She called Rick and, wonder of wonders, something worked out right for her. Her call went straight to his voice mail.

“Hi, Rick, it’s Becca. I have some stuff I’d like to take care of from home, so I won’t be back today as planned. I’ll be in bright and early tomorrow morning.”

There, her voice hadn’t even wavered.

No need to call home because her family wouldn’t expect her until dinnertime. What she did need was some time alone to think.

She drove through Cuyahoga Falls and headed out of town, seeking serenity at Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Her thoughts bounced around like a frantic rabbit as she drove. But she wouldn’t allow them to get out of hand. Even now, safety was paramount. Maybe even more than before.

A short time later, she pulled into the parking lot near her favorite covered bridge, a spot that seemed to take her back to the simpler times when the historic bridge was built. A time before progress in Ohio meant paved roads and shopping malls.

She got out and walked, simply walked, allowing the thoughts to come cascading in.

How in the world had this happened? She and Gabe had used condoms as protection for years, but had gotten progressively lax. Becca had secretly welcomed the idea of another child and Gabe had been on the fence. Until two nights before he died, when he’d laughingly said they’d take their chances.

Why then? Had Gabe had some premonition of his death?

Becca smiled, touching her stomach. It would be wonderful to have one more part of Gabe live on.

But what if the baby wasn’t Gabe’s? A wave of nausea made her tremble. No, it wasn’t possible. She remembered how insistent Rick had been about using protection, even in the throes of the most spontaneous lovemaking she’d ever experienced. Becca would be forever grateful for his consideration, because she’d been in no state of mind to consider the ramifications.

In his way, he’d given her a gift, too. Because she could, with certainty, know this baby was Gabe’s.

RICK FINISHED WORK around seven. He probably should swing by the gym, but he couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that there was something going on with Becca.

Nodding to his staff, he grabbed a few files on his way out.

As he walked up the Smith driveway a short time later, Rick told himself he was worried about a friend, pure and simple. It was normal to feel responsible for his best friend’s widow.

Wasn’t it?

He rang the doorbell and waited.

Aaron answered the door and hollered, “Mom, it’s Rick.”

The boy left the door open, so Rick stepped into the entryway.

Becca staggered in, yawning.

“Hi, Rick. I must’ve fallen asleep on the couch.”

Even half-asleep and with dark circles under her eyes, Becca was beautiful.

Shifting, he said, “I brought you the damage files. Thought you might want to look them over.”

“Thank you.”

“Everything go okay at the doctor’s today?”

“Fine. I’m healthy as a horse.”

But she didn’t look healthy. She looked drawn and lifeless. There was something she wasn’t telling him. He’d known Becca long enough to sense when she was dancing around an issue.

He opened his mouth to protest, but Maya beat him to the punch.

Coming down the stairs, she asked, “You went to the doctor? Why didn’t you tell us? Is something wrong?” There was an edge of panic in her voice.

Becca raised her chin. “Absolutely not. It was a routine checkup, nothing more.”

“You’d tell us if something was wrong, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course.”

Becca’s overbright smile told him that she would do whatever was necessary to protect her daughter. But Maya seemed mollified.

The girl gave her mother a big hug. “Okay. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Mother and daughter were about the same height, but that was where the resemblance ended. Maya was all Gabe, with an olive complexion and expressive brown eyes.

“I’m going to Trina’s house to study.” Maya grabbed her backpack.

“Be home by ten.”

“See ya.” And she walked out the door.

“They are so self-contained at that age,” he commented.

“She worries too much. If I’m five minutes late, she calls. If she can’t reach me on my cell, she starts to panic. I think she’s afraid of losing me, too.”

“I can understand that.”

“Yes, but it makes things difficult sometimes.”

Rick hesitated.

“Do you want to come in?” Becca asked.

He had a feeling he was expected to decline, but instead said, “Sure, for a few minutes.”

“Maybe there are still some cookies left in the kitchen. Come on, let’s go check.”

He followed her to the kitchen, admiring the ease with which she handled his sudden appearance. Their lovemaking hadn’t shaken her as much as him.

Aaron was sitting at the kitchen table, his math book open in front of him.

“I thought you already finished your homework,” Becca commented.

“I forgot a page.”

“Hmm. Try harder to remember next time. I don’t like you leaving your homework till the last minute. That makes for sloppy work.” She ruffled his hair as she went to the counter. “Have a seat, Rick.”

He sat at the opposite end of the table, so their talk wouldn’t disturb Aaron’s concentration.

“Coffee? Water?” Becca asked, placing a plate of cookies on the table.

The boy snagged the first one.

“Water’s fine,” Rick said.

Becca returned with two glasses of ice water and napkins.

Selecting a cookie, Rick nodded toward the plate. “Still working on the leftovers from the wake?”

Becca’s smile faded as she sat down in a chair across the table from him. “They freeze well.”

Gabe’s mother, Irene, came in the kitchen. She glanced at him, unspoken questions in her eyes. “Hello, Rick. Good to see you again.” So soon?

“Good to see you, too. I brought some files for Becca.”

“Why don’t you join us for a snack, Irene,” Becca invited.

“No. But I’ll steal a couple cookies and take them out to Jim.”

“Is he working on something in the shop?” Rick asked.

“Yes. I haven’t seen it yet—he’s been very secretive about this project. But he did let it slip that it’s some sort of commemorative to Gabe.”

“Ah, so you’re trying to catch him unawares and the cookies are your excuse?” Becca teased.

Irene stiffened. “Absolutely not. That would be an abuse of his trust. Trust is very important, don’t you agree, Rick?”

Did he detect an undercurrent? Surely there was no way she could know what had happened with Becca the night of Gabe’s funeral.

He forced himself not to break eye contact. “Trust is very important.”

She nodded, her hand hovering over the cookies. Her stare was lethal.

He grasped at another reason for his visit. “Um, Becca, I also came by to talk to you about David.”

Becca frowned. “Did he take your parking space again? I talked to him about that. If it involves him working more hours, I would prefer that he spend the time studying.”

“I agree with you about the hours and I’ll back you up. He seems determined to be the man of the house now that Gabe’s gone.”

“I don’t want that for him and I’m sure Gabe wouldn’t, either. I want him to have every opportunity to be a young man before he has too many responsibilities thrust on him.”

“It seems to be something he’s taking on himself,” Rick said. “The kid’s wound pretty tightly. I need to find a replacement partner for racquetball, or I’m going to lose my court time at the gym. I was thinking it might be a good outlet for David to blow off steam.”

Becca smiled. “I think it’s a wonderful idea.”

“Hmmph.” Irene made a great show of wrapping cookies in a napkin.

“What do you think, Irene?” Becca asked.

“It’s fine, I guess. Nobody could replace David’s father, though.”

There was a moment’s silence, then Rick said, “I know that.”

Slowly, Irene nodded. “Good.” Then she left through the back door.

“I hope Irene’s feeling all right.” Becca sounded concerned. “She’s not usually short with people. I’ve been worried about her since the funeral.”

“I’m sure she’s fine.” As a matter of fact, he was pretty sure Irene had picked up on the vibes he’d been trying to hide, even from himself.

Because when he looked across the table at Becca, he remembered how good they’d been together.

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