Predicting Rain?

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“Yeah. He’s got information on EJS that he thinks we might be able to use.” Zane pushed the button to go down to the parking garage and the door opened immediately. He and Lindsey got in, then he turned with his wife in his arms and looked back at Jack. “You can work in here, and take the message. Just plug into the network. Matt should be back within the hour.”

“Take care,” Jack said as the elevator door slid shut.

The door had just closed when the phone rang on Zane’s desk. He reached for it, expecting the Japanese call, but it was Rita and she was obviously surprised to hear him answering Zane’s private line.

“Mr. Ford?”

He explained about Zane and she didn’t sound surprised. In fact, she said, “I’m impressed that she lasted this long.”

Jack was impressed that Lindsey had even thought she could come into the offices in her condition. “I’ll be in here working, so send Mr. Terrell in when he arrives.”

“No problem, but I was ringing to let you know you have a call on line five. I called Miss Ryder, finally got through, and she insisted that she had to talk to you right away.”

He didn’t like the feeling he was getting. Eve usually respected business, no matter what. “Put her through,” he said.

The next thing he knew, Eve was on the line, that breathy voice, the slight pout in her tone. It was good to hear her voice again, but he’d been right to feel that something had to be wrong when she started with, “I’m sorry to have to insist on talking to you, but things on this end are in a mess.”

He glanced at the clock. It was late at night in London. His stomach tightened. “Is something wrong with Victoria?”

“Not with the girl, exactly. It’s Mrs. Ferris.”

Jack hadn’t had an e-mail from the woman this morning and had actually been relieved after ploughing through three or four every day since he’d left. “What is it?”

“Her sister’s having an operation and she’s the only one who can help her. She gave notice that she’s taking off very soon. She’s in quite a tizzy and you need a new nanny.”

He was actually relieved when she got to the bottom line. A new nanny? He didn’t like the idea of Victoria having to get used to another nanny so soon, but Eve would be there and it wouldn’t be for more than a few weeks. “Okay, as long as you’re there, a new nanny isn’t the end of the world.”

“It’s not that simple, love.”

He closed his eyes and exhaled. “Then tell me why not?”

“I’m not going to be here myself.”

“What?”

“Well, I was bored without you here, and Sonny and Lex asked me to go to their place in Acapulco. They’re expecting me and they made plans. I thought that since Mexico is close to Texas, I could go down there, get some relaxation, then when you’re done there, you could fly down to meet me and well…”

This wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d hoped. “What about Victoria?”

“Well, there’s no way she can go along with me, nanny or not. I mean, Sonny and Lex have those horrid little dogs and I don’t think any of them like children. But, don’t worry. The service that sent Mrs. Ferris says they don’t have one for a permanent position at this time, but they can send temporary staff, maybe for a day or two at a time, and they said they’ll be sure that someone will always be here.”

He’d thought that going on holiday was to include Victoria, but if she was in London with a round-robin of baby-sitters, Eve in Acapulco and him here…no, that wouldn’t work. He couldn’t do it. This wasn’t what he’d promised Ian and Jean at all. “What do they mean, someone will always be there, moving around every day or two? What are we talking about, nanny musical chairs?”

She laughed, a throaty sound that jarred him. He wasn’t trying to be funny. “Oh, love, don’t be ridiculous.”

Ridiculous was a child being cared for by different people every day. “Isn’t there someone who can be with Victoria for the full time, then fly her over for the vacation?”

“Well, there is a nanny that the Kents had a few years ago, but they didn’t keep her long. She’s okay, but they didn’t like her all that well. But she’d probably do in a pinch.”

He wasn’t going to pawn Victoria off on some nanny who was sub par, and it bothered him that Eve thought that was even an option. “No, that won’t do.”

He heard Eve’s exasperated sigh. “Well, Mrs. Ferris says she has to be out of here in three or four days at the latest, so what choice do you have? Oh, I know, your mother!”

That idea never even saw the light of day with him. “No, not Mother.” She was busy somewhere in Italy, and she had barely responded to his situation with Victoria. “Get a good nanny,” had been all she’d said. He knew that when his father had passed away, she’d been stunned, but determined to keep living the life she wanted to live. He’d made sure she could, but he never looked to her as a source of support for him. He’d never known a time when she’d been strong or independent. And nothing had changed in the past ten years.

“Then what do you want?” Eve asked.

He’d never thought of himself as chauvinistic, but right then, he really wanted Eve to say she’d stay with Victoria and be there for her until they could meet for a vacation. But he knew that wasn’t going to happen. Part of him worried that their marriage would not exactly be smooth sailing. Right now, the only options he had were to have Victoria stranded in London with another stranger or the option he knew he had to choose. He took a breath then said words that he barely had time to measure. “Bring her here on your way to Mexico.”

“What?” Eve sounded shocked, as if he’d told her to walk on water.

“You’re flying to Acapulco, so make a stopover in Houston and bring her with you.”

She laughed again, but this time there was little humor in it. It was more nervous disbelief. “Are you bonkers? How can you take care of her and do your job?”

He didn’t have a clue, but he said, “I’ll work it out. Just get Mrs. Ferris to pack Victoria’s things, then let me know when your flight arrives.”

“Okay,” she murmured. “But what about our holiday after you’re done there?”

He couldn’t even think about that. “We’ll work it out.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” she said softly. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too.” Suddenly the idea of Eve in Houston was very tempting. If she could stay over a day or so, to get Victoria settled and to spend time with him, that wouldn’t be all bad. “Let me know when you’re arriving.”

“We’ll try to get out of here in three days. And, Jack?”

He had things to do, and his mood shifted. He wanted to get off the phone and get on with things. “Yes?”

“I love you.”

He closed his eyes again. “I know.”

“No, love, you’re supposed to say, ‘I love you, too.’ If you love me.”

He exhaled and felt the tension building inside him. “Love you,” he said.

“No, say, ‘I, Jack, love you, Eve,’ the way most fiancées would do.”

“Eve, not now,” he said tightly.

“Okay,” she said. “I can wait.”

He exhaled. “Call?”

“Sure. As soon as I know. Now I have to make the child understand what’s going on. Not that I think she understands much of anything. But I’ll try…just for you.”

Victoria understood, he didn’t doubt that. She just didn’t react to anything. He wished there was some way to get into her mind to see what was going on. “You’re terrific.”

“Absolutely, and remember that,” Eve said, then the line went dead.

He slowly hung up, and tried to figure out where to start. Zane was gone, Matt hadn’t shown up yet. Rita. He could ask her about nannies or baby-sitters. She seemed to be indispensable to both Matt and Zane. Maybe she could find someone to step in and be with Victoria, and possibly get something set up in the loft for the little girl. If he had to, he’d move to another place, as long as he could be hooked up to the office wherever he went.

He turned to go and find Rita, but stopped in his tracks, stunned to see Rain standing in the open door of Zane’s office, watching him. It was as if the thought of the loft had conjured her up, making her materialize not more then ten feet away from him. But he could see her breathing, could almost catch a hint of that flowery essence that clung to her. She was very real.

Rain. With her hair sleekly pulled back form her finely boned face, exposing how large her eyes were, he could see a faint suggestion of freckles dusting her small nose. She was in tailored dark slacks, an almost prim white top and—he looked down—no bare feet. White dress sandals. Even without her tie-dyed T-shirt and loose hair, she didn’t look as if she belonged here at all.

Rain faced Jack Ford from the doorway to Zane Holden’s office, and knew that his shock at seeing her had been as great as her shock seeing him moments ago. She’d expected Lindsey Holden, a woman who had almost attained sainthood in the eyes of the people she’d just talked to. Even the personnel man had almost waxed poetic about how much the woman had done for the day-care center.

But it wasn’t Lindsey she was facing now. It was the man she’d heard on the phone moments earlier, his back to her, speaking in a low voice. She’d watched the way his shoulders tested the fine fabric of his silky shirt when he took a breath, then said, “Love you.” They must have been said to his fiancée, but they were said with something of a throwaway. As if they weren’t nearly as important to him as they should be.

Now he was looking right at her. Actually, he was looking her over. From her head to her feet, then back to her face, and she couldn’t begin to read his thoughts. She hated it when a person was so closed that you had to guess at what they were thinking and feeling.