In a strange bed, wrapped in Adam’s arms, Kaitlyn didn’t quite recognize the noise the following morning when a gong sounded. It took a few minutes to realize it was Adam’s doorbell.
They’d been up a few hours before with Erica. On a Sunday, Kaitlyn didn’t have to rise as early as usual, so they hadn’t set the alarm.
Adam murmured into her neck, “That could be my father for all I know. I’d better answer it, or he’ll pound the door down next.”
There was another gong.
“I should be getting up anyway,” Kaitlyn said. “I have to make rounds at the hospital.”
Adam buried his nose under her hair. “I had envisioned a morning of pancakes, maple syrup and lots of making out in between shaking a rattle at Erica. But...”
After another quick kiss to her cheek, he swung his legs off the side of the bed, slipped on a pair of jogging shorts and left the bedroom.
Kaitlyn quickly dressed, knowing she’d have to stop at her town house for clothes more appropriate to making hospital rounds. She kept one ear attuned to the living room. She didn’t hear raised male voices, but she did hear—
Crying? A woman crying?
Erica was still sleeping in her crib in the sitting area of Adam’s bedroom in that kind of early-morning sleep babies had. Her little fist was balled under her chin.
When Kaitlyn stepped into the living room, she found Adam sitting on the sofa with a young woman, his arm around her.
He looked up. “Tina’s come home,” he said, and made it a statement of fact.
Kaitlyn could tell he wasn’t going to let his sister leave again, even if he had to tie her up and barricade her in his apartment.
“This is Kaitlyn,” he said gently to his sister. “I think she left a message for you.”
Tina, her honey-blond hair a bit disheveled, turned away from his shoulder and swiped at the tears on her cheek. “Your call on my phone was one of the reasons I came back.”
Following her instincts, Kaitlyn sat on the long sofa on the other side of Adam’s sister. “I’m glad my message made a difference.”
“They all did,” Tina admitted with a weak smile. “But I just had to be sure.”
“Sure of what?” Adam asked, keeping his voice nonjudgmental.
“I missed Erica so much.” She got choked up but then went on. “But I had to do what was best for her. I had to get my head on straight. I went to a clinic in San Jose. I talked to someone who said I had postpartum depression, and that lots of women get it, and that I shouldn’t beat myself up, just get my life back on the right track.”
“Sound advice,” Adam said.
“You pretty much told me the same thing, but I guess I wasn’t able to hear it. I mean, not about the postpartum depression, but about being overwhelmed and not seeing clearly. Anyway, the doctor put me on an antidepressant. He said it’s temporary.”
“It will help with the next few months,” Kaitlyn agreed.
Yet there was a question hanging in the room, and Tina looked uncertain as she answered it. “I want to be Erica’s mom. I want to take care of her again. But I don’t know how or where or what will be best for her. If she starts crying again all the time and I don’t know what to do for her, I’m afraid the same thing will happen. I can’t cope.”
Kaitlyn admired Tina’s honesty. It was the same honesty she often felt from Adam. “When I left that message for you, I told you there is help of all kinds from The Mommy Club. We just have to figure out what you need. The first step will be to find a doctor in Fawn Grove, and you can start attending the new moms’ group.”
“For now, you’ll stay here with me,” Adam said. “I’ve turned into good dad material and I can show you the ropes. Erica was on the wrong formula and that’s why she was crying all the time. There are ways to end her restlessness, too.” He motioned to the swing. “She loves that. Taking care of her won’t be easy, but if you want to be a mom—”
“Oh, I do. I looked at the pictures you sent about fifty times a day. Can I see her now?”
Adam quickly rose from the sofa. “I’ll get her.”
In a few minutes he was back with Erica swaddled in a blanket. Her little eyes were just coming open.
“Here’s your daughter,” he said to his sister and placed the baby in her arms.
From the expression on Tina’s face, Kaitlyn suspected Adam’s sister wasn’t going to leave her daughter ever again.
* * *
After hospital rounds, Kaitlyn headed toward Fawn Grove’s family diner—Country Comfort. She didn’t want to meet Tom, but she’d set up lunch with him at a neutral place. Tina and her brother needed time together. She hadn’t wanted to interfere in their family unit. Maybe Adam hadn’t had many ties when he was growing up, but he certainly had a bond with his sister. After taking care of Erica, she doubted whether he’d ever be out of contact with Tina again.
When Kaitlyn reached the diner, Tom was already sitting in a booth. She slid in on the other side, face-to-face, eye-to-eye. She realized whatever he thought or whatever he did no longer had the power to hurt her or change her life. That really was a freeing feeling.
Before she could even say hello, he said, “I overreacted.”
Relieved that’s how they were starting, she admitted, “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you about the interview. I honestly didn’t think it would be any more invasive than what I wrote for the newspaper. I should have known better.”
Tom played with his fork for a few minutes then said, “I don’t think it was the miscarriage that ended our marriage.”
“No?” she asked, wanting to hear what he had to say.
“No. I think I had a lot of resentment built up and it all poured out over that. You know, like, when there’s an argument about how to load the dishwasher, but it’s really not about the dishwasher.”
Oh, yes, she knew exactly what he meant, but she remained silent, because he seemed to need to get this off his chest.
“I just couldn’t get used to the idea that I wasn’t the center of your world. Your dedication to your career was.”
“I didn’t know how to do it any other way,” she confessed. “Being a doctor meant everything to me. I thought I had to be the best doctor in the world to prove something to myself and to make my parents proud. Maybe I’m still trying to prove something to my father.”
“The Christmas card dad?” Tom asked with a wise grimace.
He’d called her father that because that was the only time she heard from him. She received a Christmas card over the holidays.
“After I lost the baby, I blamed myself as much as you did.”
He nodded. “I know. I should have helped you somehow, but I didn’t know how.”
“Time was an important factor. I needed time.”
The waitress came to their table and took their orders. Afterward, Tom asked, “So who was the guy and the baby?”
“His name is Adam Preston. Erica is his sister’s baby. She just returned from out of town.”
“Is it serious?”
Kaitlyn hesitated. Especially after last night, it was serious on her part. But she didn’t know how Adam felt about that. Now that Tina was home, he’d certainly be leaving on schedule.
“You don’t have to say anything else,” her ex-husband said. “I hope it works out for you.”
She could see Tom really did wish her well. She just wasn’t sure what “working out” meant.
* * *
To Kaitlyn’s surprise, when she arrived at Adam’s that afternoon, Sara was there. She’d told her friend Tina had returned...and Sara was on the spot. Right away, Kaitlyn saw that Tina was holding Erica, and she had a feeling she’d been doing that as much as she could since she’d returned.
The look Adam gave her said he’d missed her. She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and give him a huge kiss. Yet the truth was, she didn’t really know where they stood. What was going to happen next?
“Sara made Tina an offer I don’t think she can refuse,” Adam explained.
Sara grinned at them all. “Our guest cottage at Raintree is just sitting there empty. Amy and I loved it when we stayed there. So...I came over to invite Tina and Erica to live there. Jase, Amy, Ethan and I will be right across the lane, and Liam’s above the winery. It’s a beautiful location for walks and toddling around as Erica gets bigger. Marissa’s around a lot with Jordan, too, so I don’t think you’d get lonely,” she said to Tina. “What do you think?”
“Adam asked me if I wanted to stay here while he was gone,” Tina said.
“Once you see that guest cottage, you’re going to want to stay there,” he responded.
“But my job’s in Sacramento, and I really can’t afford to lose it. I need to pay my way,” Tina assured them all.
Sara nodded. “I understand. I felt the same way as a single mom. What if you could get a job here in Fawn Grove?”
“That would be perfect,” Tina agreed.
“Jase deals with lawyers all the time in the winery business. I’m sure he’ll check around, if that’s what you really want.”
Tina looked at all of them, and maybe finally she realized this was a group that was going to give her support. She wasn’t alone anymore. “If he hears of a job here in Fawn Grove, I’ll take it.”
While Sara and Tina talked about the guest cottage, Adam pulled Kaitlyn into the kitchen. “So how did it go with your ex?”
“It went very well.”
Adam scowled. “And just what does that mean?”
Could he be jealous? “It means we talked. He told me how he felt, and I listened. He wished me well.”
“No follow-up dinners?” Adam asked.
“No follow-up dinners,” she assured him.
Adam wrapped his arm around her and pulled her away from the doorway into the small breakfast nook, where Tina and Sara couldn’t see them. Then he gave her a hard, long, deep, wet kiss that curled her toes and maybe her hair, too.
Afterward, he said in a low voice, “I don’t know when we’re going to be alone again. This move into the guest cottage will be good for Tina, but I want to make sure she’s ready to live there alone with Erica and take care of her.”
“Sara and Jase will watch over her, and I will, too,” Kaitlyn assured him.
“I guess you don’t skip out for a couple of hours for an afternoon delight?” he asked hopefully.
“It’s possible I could meet you at my place for an hour over lunch, if you can be flexible.”
“Flexible is how I live my life,” he maintained with a grin. “Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow. I’ll call you when I’m free.”
“Call me when you’re on the way to the town house so I can get there at the same time.”
She laughed. This wasn’t like her at all, and she still didn’t know what came next. But for now, an hour with Adam tomorrow would have to do.
* * *
On Sunday, a week later, Kaitlyn dropped her overnight bag onto the floor in Adam’s bedroom, acutely aware of the package inside. It was a pregnancy test and it was time to use it. Her period was over a week late. Only, she wanted to wait until morning when the results would be the most effective.
Morning. Her life could change because of a message on a stick.
Couldn’t her life change tonight as well, if Adam told her how he felt? She’d spent the past week enjoying every moment they could steal together. They were both pushing the knowledge he was leaving next weekend into the recesses of their minds. At least she was. Was he looking forward to flying off again?
This weekend had been tough on him. They’d moved Tina into Sara and Jase’s guesthouse today. She knew he hadn’t wanted to leave Tina alone there with Erica, but he had. She was sure he’d be checking in with her every couple of hours until Tina got tired of the interference and told him to stop.
Or maybe she wouldn’t. A renewed connection with an older brother wasn’t something to mess with.
When Kaitlyn went into the living room, she found Adam standing by a side table, a tiny bib in his hand, a remnant of Erica’s stay here.
She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Peering over his shoulder, she said, “You can drop it off tomorrow.”
He turned around and shook his head. “I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be to leave her there.”
“Erica or Tina?”
“Both. I know Sara and Jase are right there.”
“And Liam and Ethan. Sara says under his lady-killer ways, Liam’s a good guy. Stop worrying until there’s something to worry about.”
Adam let the bib drop to the table, and he gave her a small smile. “I’ve watched her handle Erica all week and she seems to have the hang of it. Sleep deprivation will probably be the biggest problem. I know it was for me.”
Spoken like a dad, Kaitlyn thought. What if he was a dad? To distract herself from that thought for the moment, she reminded him, “Erica’s sleeping for longer stretches now and that should help. She’s satisfied on the formula, and Tina seems to like playing with her, counting toes and fingers. We stocked the refrigerator, and Sara invited her for dinner tonight.”
“The job Jase heard about seems like a good fit—a paralegal secretary for a general law office.”
“What more could you want?” Kaitlyn teased, and realized how much more she wanted. She wanted Adam to stay. She wanted a life with him. But all they had now was an affair and that’s what he was used to.
“What are we going to do for dinner?” he asked with an arched brow.
“Sara invited us, too.”
“Yes, she did, but then I would have lost a whole evening with you. I wasn’t going to give that up.”
She knew that look in his eye. She could feel the sexual tension now stringing his body. She wanted tonight as much as he did, because they didn’t know how many nights they’d have.
“Do you have much preparation for your trip?” she asked.
“Lots of emails, scanned documents zipping back and forth. I’ve met the team through video conferencing. There will be more of that this week, but I really don’t want to talk about that. Do you?”
No, she didn’t. Her hunger for Adam seemed to exceed everything else in her life. That was so unusual, and it scared her sometimes.
When Adam lowered his head to kiss her, she was eager for it. His tongue immediately played across her lips, seeking entrance. She responded to his foray, feeling transported as she always did. His tongue found the inside of her cheek, explored a bit, and repetitively stroked against her. Her knees began to wobble, and her whole body trembled.
Adam had taught her what passion was really about. He’d taught her how two people could want and need and satisfy. Yet not really satisfy. Not ever. Not unless there was a lifetime of passion and a lifetime of joining hearts. She wanted to do more than join her body to his. She wanted to join their hearts.
Their kisses became more fevered. He broke away, saying, “The bedroom is always so far away.”
“Why do we need the bedroom?” she asked provocatively. “Don’t you always carry a condom in your pocket for our fast-food lunches?”
Their quickies at her place were exciting, a bit forbidden and altogether fulfilling. So fulfilling, in fact, that the receptionist at the office had asked her what new makeup she was using to give her that glow.
Adam’s lovemaking gave her that glow.
Adam breathed into her neck, inhaling her fragrance, as his hand went to the edge of her top. But after he had it up and over her head and tossed it to the floor, he took her face between his palms and kissed her deeply. Kaitlyn didn’t even care about his shirt. Her fingers pulled at the recalcitrant leather of his belt and undid it.
“Eager, aren’t we?” he asked with a chuckle.
She answered by unzipping his fly and caressing him.
He groaned. “You do know how to get a man revved up. Let’s see if I can do the same thing to you.”
Sliding his hand to her waist, he unfastened her jeans, pushed them down and cupped her bottom. He kissed between her cleavage, unfastened her bra and bent his head to her breasts.
But then he said, “Let’s make this easier. Take off your jeans and I’ll do the same.”
Easier? She wasn’t sure about that, but she wanted to get her clothes off as much as he did his. He was already done until she slipped out of her jeans. Taking her by the waist, he lifted her up on the table.
“Better access,” he muttered, as he bent to her breasts again and explored one nipple while he flicked the other.
She was wriggling and restless now, ready for him. But he seemed to have more pleasure planned for her. He stroked her thighs apart until she was panting and reaching for him. He just laughed and kept on, using his fingers to flutter against her...using his fingertips in inventive ways that made her breath catch.
“Adam...”
“Soon,” he crooned, his voice deep and husky, alerting her he was almost ready, too.
He touched her where he knew she’d feel sparks and sensations that would throw her into climax. She didn’t want to go without him. Yet, everything he was doing was so deliciously wonderful. She said his name again, and this time he must have agreed that both of them were more than ready.
She opened her eyes when she heard the foil packet tear. She reached out and took it from him, and smoothed it over him, making him groan. Holding her hips, he brought her closer to the edge of the table and then he thrust in, once, twice, three times, until the pleasure was so great she didn’t know if she could stand it. Each time they made love, it got better. Each time they made love, she fell deeper in love with him. Each time they made love, she dreamed of a future. His drives into her increased in speed and intensity until she was at the breaking point and so was he.
“Come with me,” he commanded Kaitlyn, and she easily obeyed the command. Adam’s loving took her over the highest crest she’d ever experienced. She wanted to stay on top of that pleasurable wave and ride it forever.
She wanted to love Adam forever.
He held on to her and she held on to him. When their hearts had fallen to a more normal rhythm, he looked down at her, kissed her forehead, wrapped his arms around her and sighed.
“After that fantastic expenditure of energy, we can do one of two things,” he advised her.
“What two are you thinking of?”
“We can make omelets for supper, or we can get a shower together.”
They’d never done that, and every first with Adam was spectacular.
“I suppose this just wouldn’t be a normal shower?”
“Not if I have anything to say about it.” He wriggled his brows.
She laughed, but the laughter faded as she thought about the package in her duffel bag. Tomorrow morning would be time enough to think about that.
* * *
Kaitlyn slipped out of Adam’s bed the next morning and grabbed her nightgown from the floor beside the bed, knowing what she had to do. If Adam came in and saw what she was doing, so be it. Then that was meant to be. She’d put her duffel in the bathroom the night before, so she could easily access the package. Now she took it from its wrappings, read the instructions, which she was already familiar with, and went about the task of finding out whether or not she was pregnant. Five minutes later, her nightgown on and her teeth brushed, she stared at the wand in her hand, disbelieving.
Oh, she’d known pregnancy was a possibility, but really, what were the odds?
Apparently the odds were 100 percent that she and Adam had created a baby. But now what was she going to do? Tell him right away? Wait and see if he expressed what he was feeling before he left for Thailand? Would that make a difference?
Of course it would. She wouldn’t trap him in something he didn’t want. After one failed marriage, she knew everything would have to be right to enter into one again. Marriage might not even be in the cards. Did Adam feel for her what she felt for him?
She was still debating what she should do when Adam called in from the bedroom. “Kaitlyn, your cell’s ringing. Do you want me to get it?”
“I’m coming.”
Hurriedly she pushed everything about the pregnancy test back into the bag and stuffed it into her duffel. This early on Monday morning it could be the hospital calling, or even another doctor in her practice. Hurrying into the bedroom, she reached for her phone on the nightstand and answered the call.
“Dr. Foster here.”
As she glanced around Adam’s room, she noticed something she hadn’t noticed last night. He had a pile of clothes stacked on top of the chest. It looked like a stack of work clothes—khakis and cargo pants, sweatshirts, T-shirts, and on the floor beside the chest stood sturdy boots. She guessed he was assembling his wardrobe to take to Thailand. She hadn’t caught sight of it last night because she’d been so mesmerized with him and what they were doing...the pleasure they could give each other. But now in the light of day, she could see the truth more clearly. He was going to leave.
When the voice on the other end of the line said, “Dr. Foster, I’m sorry to call so early, but I wanted to make sure I got you. My name is Bernadette Mathis. I’m with The Mommy Club Foundation in San Jose.”
The post office box Marissa sent the money to had an address in San Jose.
“I see,” Kaitlyn said, not seeing at all. “Is there some way I can help you?”
“Yes, indeed there is. We saw the interview you did with Tanya Edwards.”
Kaitlyn wondered who the “we” was. “Yes?”
“You did a wonderful job with it. The viewing public was obviously touched by your story because donations are rolling in.”
“I’m happy about that. That means we can help more families.”
“Exactly, and that’s my point. Up until now, The Mommy Club has been kept to a local level in Fawn Grove. But the founder is thinking about expanding statewide. After all, as you said, every community could use a Mommy Club. So we have a question for you. Would you consider being our spokesperson, letting a PR consultant find you spots on statewide talk shows and the like?”
The offer threw Kaitlyn completely off balance. “I don’t know,” she said.
“I’d like you to come to San Jose and meet with me about it. I know you’re a busy woman, and you have a practice, but we can be flexible in our time frame. What do you think?”
Kaitlyn wasn’t sure exactly what to think. After all, she just found out she was pregnant. “Can I have twenty-four hours to think about it?”
“Sure, you can. You have my number on your phone now?”
“I’ll send it to my contact list.”
“All right, then I expect to hear from you in a day or so.”
After Kaitlyn said a goodbye, she saw Adam was watching her. He was naked and rumpled and oh, so sexy.
She gave a little shrug. “That was unexpected.”
“Something you have to think about for twenty-four hours?”
“The Mommy Club Foundation representative wants me to go to San Jose and meet with her. She thinks I’d be a good spokesperson. They want to book me on some talk shows.”
“You can’t seriously be thinking about it.”
“Of course I’m seriously thinking about it. This could be important for The Mommy Club.”
“I can’t believe you want to take on something else.”
She heard judgment in his tone, just as she’d once heard it with Tom. She said simply, “You’ve no right to judge my life when you’re going to be leaving.”
“That sounds like a judgment of my life.”
“Then maybe we both ought to back off,” she said, hurt he couldn’t express his feelings toward her, worried most that he didn’t want to be a husband or life partner, let alone a dad.
“Maybe we should,” he agreed, going to the bedside chair and gathering up a pair of running shorts. He stepped into them. They rode low, just under his navel. “It looks as if you’re going to be busy with two careers, and I’m not going to be in the country,” he added in a measured tone.
Suddenly she felt like crying. That couldn’t be hormones already, could it? And she certainly wouldn’t cry in front of him.
She’d hung her outfit for today in his closet, and now she went for it. “I have to get going. I have to make rounds.”
He caught her arm. “Does this mean I won’t be seeing you again before I leave?”
Oh, how she wanted to keep seeing him. She wanted more nights like last night in his arms, in his condo, in his life. But she wasn’t in his life if he was going to leave expecting to return to an affair.
“Would there be any point?” she asked sadly.
His mouth tightened and his jaw set. He released her arm. “Maybe not.”
Avoiding his gaze, she took her clothes into the bathroom and shut the door.
She was in shock, that was all. Learning she was pregnant was enough to do that. Figuring out what to do about Adam was the rest of it. She was so confused.
And as far as the job as spokesperson?
She’d figure that out after she absorbed the fact she was going to be a mom and her baby’s dad would be a world away.