Ignoring the other women in the waiting room, Daisy turned the page in her book and continued reading the details about what to expect during the sixteenth week of pregnancy. From the picture in the book, she should already show a little more. She ran her hand over the slight swell of her stomach and wondered if it was normal to still be so small. She’d have to ask Dr. Reynolds.
“Daisy?” She glanced up and spotted Valerie.
Her heart immediately started racing, and her mouth went dry. “Uh, hi, Valerie.” She glanced around but did not see Brad. “What are you doing here?”
Valerie gestured at her much larger stomach swell. “I’m here for my monthly appointment.” She raised an eyebrow and looked at the book, then pointedly at Daisy’s stomach. “What are you doing here?”
Her face flooded with heat and sweat beaded her upper lip. Even her scalp heated up. She hadn’t seen Valerie since having coffee with her two weeks ago.
“Same.” She cleared her throat. She had not prepared herself for this conversation. “I, uh, see Dr. Reynolds.”
Valerie carefully sat in the empty chair next to her and turned her body toward her. “Because?”
Unexpected tears burned her eyes. “Because I’m pregnant. Sixteen weeks tomorrow.”
Valerie gasped. “I’m seventeen weeks tomorrow. Are we seriously only a week apart?”
“Yeah, uh, looks that way.”
With a grin, Valerie grabbed her hands with both of hers. “How exciting is that? Does Ken know? What did he say?”
“Daisy Ruiz?”
Silently thanking God for the reprieve, she pulled her hands free and grabbed her book as she stood. “That’s me. I’ll see you later.”
She went through the appointment with edgy nerves fluttering through her stomach and down her arms into her hands. Her fingertips felt ice cold. She could barely answer the doctor’s questions. Her mind focused on Valerie and how she could possibly explain everything.
The doctor checked the placenta on an ultrasound and made sure everything still looked good. The baby’s heartbeat filled her ears, sounding very fast and very loud.
“I don’t think the subchronic hematoma is going to give us any more problems.” She smiled and wiped the ultrasound gel off Daisy’s stomach. “If you start bleeding again, just go straight to the ER. But call here first.”
Daisy got dressed, then went to the appointment desk and made next month’s appointment. Once she fully checked out, she headed back out into the waiting room to leave. When she saw Valerie sitting in a chair by the door, she stopped short.
When Valerie saw her, she smiled and stood. “Hey, there. I thought we could have lunch. Are you free?”
With a heavy sigh, Daisy said, “I am free.”
Valerie raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. “But you don’t want to be?”
Steeling herself for a conversation that needed to happen, she shook her head. “It’s okay. Let’s go.”
Soon, they sat across from each other in a little cafe. It was early still, only 11:15, so they had this corner of the dining room to themselves. Valerie squeezed lemon into her water and stirred it with the striped paper straw. Daisy tried to think of a way to start the conversation.
Valarie leaned toward her very slightly and, in a low voice, asked, “Does Ken know you’re pregnant?”
She guessed that she could start there as well as anywhere. “Yes.”
“Oh. He does.” Valerie sat back and laced her fingers together, placing them in her lap. She looked puzzled and thoughtful for a few seconds, then said, “I have a hard time reconciling the Ken I know with this situation. The Ken I know doesn’t abandon his girlfriend when she’s pregnant, no matter what kind of fight they had.”
She thought of a dozen things she could say. Most of them she’d practiced in the car on the way here. All of them sounded wrong. Finally, she said, “It’s not Ken’s baby.”
“Oh!” As Valerie assimilated that fact, all the puzzle pieces clicked into place then immediately tumbled into disorder again. She gasped and slapped her hand to her chest. “Oh, Daisy.”
She’d expected revulsion, not sympathy. Unbidden, tears sprang to her eyes. “I’ve loved Ken forever. I really think I’ve loved him since the very first second I ever saw him. All through college, I thought about him. I’ve compared every man I have ever known to him. And then I started dating this guy I met at one of my fundraisers. He swept me off my feet, completely pulled the rug right out from under me.”
Valerie pulled a packet of tissues out of her purse and handed her one. She dabbed at the tears streaming down her face. “But?”
She took a long sip of ice water and finally blurted out, “But he was married. And when he found out I was pregnant, he made it clear how he felt about it.”
Her friend reached across the table and took her hand in both of hers. Her skin felt cool, smooth compared to her own hot and sweaty palms. “Listen, Daisy, I understand.”
She shook her head. “How can you understand?”
With intense, focused eyes, Valarie said, “Because when I lived in Savannah, I dated a married man. I even moved in with him.” Valerie pressed her lips together. “Let’s just say it ended badly.”
Daisy gasped. “Is he the one who—?
With a nod, Valerie said, “Who beat me for a year then threw me off a balcony? Yes. He was married, too.”
Suddenly, it occurred to her that Valerie would not condemn or judge. Valerie would listen and be her friend. “I don’t know how to get Ken back. I said something, and he reacted, and now we’re here.”
“What happened? What did you say?”
“It’s not important. I was emotional and stupid.”
Valarie grinned. “It’s hard to imagine you being stupid. I can see emotional, but stupid is a stretch.”
Daisy shook her head. “What happened was stupid. I wish I could go back in time and change everything that happened.”
Releasing her hands, Valerie sat back and said, “If it helps, he’s completely miserable.”
“At least we have that in common.”
Valerie licked her lips. “Did you guys break up because he found out you’re pregnant?”
More tears. “No. He said he loves me and loves my baby.”
A waitress served their soup and salad. Daisy tried to regain her composure while she went through the ritual of presenting dishes and offering pepper. When she left, she said, “I don’t quite know how it happened. But knowing he’s miserable gives me hope that it can be rectified.”
“You’ll see him tomorrow, right?”
She sighed. “Yeah. All weekend.”
“Then I guess that’s your chance.”
Ken ran his hand down the stair handrail, feeling for any rough spots he might have missed. It felt smooth all the way down, so he walked over to the makeshift table he’d created out of two sawhorses and a sheet of plywood and picked up the wood stain. He’d give it a good mahogany stain, then finish it with a high gloss varnish.
For two weeks, he’d worked non-stop on the house. Every room upstairs had drywall and trim, and most rooms had flooring. Painters spent the day upstairs painting bedrooms and bathrooms.
He’d started on the downstairs in the formal dining room on Tuesday. He built cabinetry and shelving, staining everything rich mahogany and then treating the wood varnish so it gleamed. Last night he finished the last of the trim in that room, and today he planned to start on the front room. Before he could begin, though, he had to put up the stair rail because he’d stored it on the fireplace hearth while he decided on wood stains and lighting.
Ken mentally replayed the conversation with Daisy over and over again while he worked. He hadn’t handled things well, but neither had she. Two weeks later, the silence between them screamed back at him. He missed her with every molecule of his body. Should he reach out or continue to wait for her to come to her senses?
Tomorrow, he would see her, build a house with her. He wondered if she’d even actively have a part in the construction or if she just set everything up and wouldn’t show. He didn’t think he’d ever wished tomorrow would come harder than now.
As he climbed the ladder to measure the wall above the front door, he saw headlights turn into his yard. He climbed back down the ladder and moved it out of the way so he could open the door just as Jon walked up onto the porch.
“Evening,” he greeted, opening the door wider.
“Yeah.”
His brother had looked better. He had dark circles under his eyes and lines around his mouth. “What’s wrong?”
“I messed up with Alex.”
“That was fast.” He led the way to the back of the house to the room beyond the kitchen. Here, he’d set up a small living area. He gestured at one of the folding chairs and took the other. “Spill.”
Jon rubbed the back of his neck and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Alex comes from a different world. Estates, helicopters, power, a house full of servants. When she got pregnant, her father stripped everything from her, evicted her, even applied influence at the bank to withdraw her trust. Her friends were told to shun her, and they did so that they didn’t suffer the same treatment from their families.”
Ken had a hard time understanding what kind of a father would do that to a child. “Why?”
“Because he was trying to pressure her to have an abortion.”
It took a moment for his words to sink in. “That’s horrible.”
“I know. It’s very hard to take a passive approach with her family when I want to just charge up to Connecticut and introduce myself.”
Ken shook his head. “I’d be your wingman.”
“I have no doubt. Anyway, when she first arrived, Dad offered to connect her with someone to get her a job. She declined and later told me that her father had opened every door for her, and because of that, he had the power to shut them. She wanted to make it on her own. I respected that. So, when she said Wade’s campaign called her, I assumed you or Brad had contacted him on her behalf, not knowing about her situation. Instead of just admitting we were friends, I congratulated her on the call.”
Ken tried to process the situation. “When did you tell her?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t. She found out while researching Wade’s past.”
“Dude,” Ken said.
“Yeah,” Jon agreed.
“That’s messed up,” Ken observed.
“Yeah,” Jon agreed.
“So, you lied by omission.” Ken pursed his lips.
“Pretty much. So, when she left here to work with Wade, she was just hurt and felt betrayed and, honestly, was a little bit angry.”
Knowing his brother’s propensity to hit the bottle when life overwhelmed him, Ken decided to do a quick status check. “How’s the drinking?”
Jon shook his head. “I’m not doing that right now.”
That impressed Ken. Jon had discovered alcohol at a high school party. Actually, all three of them had at the same party. Brad had accepted a beer and sipped on it for hours. Ken and Jon drank like their lives depended on it. Jon had done fine. He laughed too much, talked a lot, made friends with everyone at the party, and woke up the next morning without an issue.
Ken had fallen deep into his own psyche. He’d examined every moment of his life and saw everywhere he came up short. He couldn’t walk, couldn’t speak, everything spun and appeared to fall apart then come back together. The next morning, he thought he’d died and gone straight to hell. Then he wished he could die. He never took another drink in his life and didn’t plan to ever again.
He studied his brother. For maybe the first time, Ken realized that Jon was actually committed to his sobriety this time. “That’s good, Jon. Welcome to coping with your emotions without a buffer.”
“You’re so pretty.”
“Yeah, that’s what mama says.” Ken brought them back to the serious matter at hand. “Are you two speaking?”
“We are. I made her promise to call me at least once a day. So far, she’s been terse, but she laughed this morning, so I have that going for me.” He sighed and rested his elbows on his knees. “I can’t lose her, man. She is everything to me.”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “I know what you mean.”
Jon stared at him. “Still no Daisy?” He frowned. “What happened there, anyway?”
Ken scoffed. “She’s pregnant.”
“What?” With wide eyes, Jon sat up straighter. “What are you doing here? Go get that girl!”
“It’s not mine.” Jon quit speaking and waited. Finally, Ken spoke very succinctly. “She dated a guy before me. Married guy. It’s his.”
“Dude,” Jon said.
“Yeah,” Ken agreed.
“That’s messed up,” Jon observed.
“Yeah,” Ken agreed.
“So she lied by omission,” Jon said.
“Pretty much.” Ken shifted the ball cap on his head. “I love her, Jon.” He pursed his lips and uncharacteristically elaborated. “I need her.” He met Jon’s eyes. “I never needed anybody. But I need her. And I love that baby as if it were mine.”
“Can you, though?”
Ken just stared at him.
Jon said, “Look, I know how I felt when Alex told me she was pregnant. First, I was afraid. Then I was ridiculously happy. But, the baby’s mine. The fear faded pretty quickly and left nothing but joy.”
Ken kicked his legs out in front of him and crossed them at the ankles. “I don’t know how to explain it. I just know her baby has filled my heart the same way she did. I never think about the fact that my DNA isn’t there. It truly doesn’t matter to me.”
“What will the biological father say?”
“He already said it. Told her to kill it. Then signed over his parental rights so his wife wouldn’t find out. All legal and documented. Daisy’s protected.”
“She tell you who he is?”
“Nope.” Ken shook his head. “Don’t care, and it doesn’t matter.”
Jon nodded. “So, what’s the problem?”
Ken had started to feel tired from all the talking a few minutes earlier. He nearly froze at the thought of revealing such a personal matter with his brother, but he really did need to talk about this. “The week of your wedding, she had a miscarriage scare. She said she wished she really had miscarried.”
Jon tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling for a moment, then said, “I can understand that. She’s in ministry with specific expectations and moral standards. She teaches at her church. She runs the risk of losing all of that as soon as people know she’s pregnant out of wedlock from an adulterous affair.”
Ken stared at his ceiling and didn’t meet Jon’s eyes. “She talked about abortion, too.”
“What? Daisy Ruiz?”
Ken shrugged. “Said the ER doc tried to push an abortion flyer on her, and she thought about taking it.”
They sat in silence for about half a minute that stretched out like a long, cold night. Finally, Jon said, “She must have really been hurting to even feel that temptation.”
The words twisted Ken’s heart. He harshly cleared his throat. “I have analyzed that to death. I know I didn’t react well when she told me. But the idea that a mother could wish that…”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one in her position. Men never are the ones in that position. We can sit back and issue judgment and condemnation, but in the end, we can walk away, and no one looking at us would ever know. Women get pregnant, carry babies, have children. There are no secrets there.”
Ken glared at his brother. “Good men don’t walk away.”
Jon sat back and gestured at his surroundings. “So, what are you doing here?”
Ken pressed a fist to the bridge of his nose. What was he doing here? Building a house for a woman who would never be his? “I asked her to marry me.”
Jon’s bark of laughter had more to do with shock than amusement. “Imagine that went over well. You’re dating for a month, and suddenly you’re asking her to marry you.”
“Jon? I would have asked her to marry me the day after we went on our first date. I know who she is to me. I’m building this house for her. I’ve had a ring in my pocket for weeks now.”
Jon nodded. “I knew you loved her the first time I heard you talk about her. But she doesn’t know that. Right? She doesn’t understand that you’ve never dated, and you intentionally waited until you knew someone was right for you before you even asked her out.”
Ken shifted uncomfortably. Jon continued, “She doesn’t know how you think just all the time, and just how carefully you speak, and how much is constantly churning under the surface of that pretty face.”
Ken turned to give him a disgusted look. Jon shrugged, “We all know just how pretty you are.”
Ken could not believe that his brother would tease him at this moment, and it broke through the steel gates of his thoughts. He half-grinned, and Jon smiled in return, then gripped his shoulder and said, “What she knows is there’s this man who obviously adores her and was willing to marry her out of pity just to rescue her from social embarrassment.”
Ken chuckled. “Exactly when did you become the wise one?”
Jon smirked, “Same day you became the pretty one.”
Ken sat back and, with a perfectly deadpan delivery, said, “I’m much prettier than you are wise.”
Jon grinned. “I feel very wise. I think it’s the lack of alcohol. It’s like all of these repressed senses suddenly came fully to life. Who knows what I could have accomplished if I’d stayed out of the bottom of a bottle all this time?”
Ken nodded. “Exactly.” He pointed at his brother. “But you came to talk about you. How can I help you, oh, wise one?”
“I want to build a pool house. Nothing as extravagant as mom and dad’s, but something simple just to have a kitchenette and a bathroom right there. If I get it started, can you help with some of the heavy lifting?”
Ken imagined Jon’s property, envisioning the structure in his mind. “Your yard’s layout is perfect for it. You want it complete before Alex gets back home?”
“Actually, I want it complete for when she stops back in October. Wade has that fundraiser dinner here on a Thursday. She’ll be here for two days so she can work in a doctor’s appointment.”
“Guess you better get some building permits going.”
Jon chuckled. “Already have that in the works. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t need to hire some labor.”
Ken shook his head. “You don’t need to hire labor. You have all the labor right here.”
“Yeah. Brad said the same.”
Ken took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Alex was betrayed by the person who should always have protected her. Because of that, she doesn’t know how to trust you yet.”
Jon nodded, “I didn’t do myself any favors.”
“She’ll come around.”
“That is my prayer.” Jon stood, and Ken stood with him. They shook hands. “I’ll let you know when I need the exterior walls raised.” He gestured around. “This place is looking decent. You need anything?”
Ken shrugged and shook his head. “Thanks.” He walked his brother to the door. “I’m half a mile away. Keep not drinking. Sober suits you.”
Jon slapped him on the shoulder and went outside, shutting the door behind him. Ken took the opportunity of the break to down a glass of water and then reset the ladder so he could climb up and measure the wall above the door.
At seven a.m. on Friday morning, Daisy looked up at the morning sky and thanked God for clear blue skies and sixty-degree weather. She knew the afternoon high would climb to eighty-five, but they could get a lot of work done before the afternoon heat.
Beverly approached with Thomas Osborne. Daisy walked forward and held her hand out to him. “Good morning, Mr. Osborne. How are you?”
“Thomas, please,” he corrected, shaking her hand. He wore a pair of worn jeans, a dark green T-shirt, work boots, and a tool belt slung low on his hips. “I can’t tell you how much this means to us.”
Daisy smiled her professional smile. “Having the ability to do it means the world to me. We have a lot of support.”
She heard the rumble of vehicles and turned to see four black pickups pull up. Beverly whistled under her breath. “Look at that workforce headed our way.”
Daisy watched as the trucks pulled into the parking area. Her eyes scanned each person who exited a truck, desperately hoping to see Ken but also hoping that he had decided not to come. She recognized Phillip Dixon as he walked toward them. Like his sons, he stood tall and had a wide chest. Unlike his sons, he had a shaved head.
He wore dark blue jeans, a black T-shirt with the Dixon Contracting logo over the pocket, and a red hardhat. His biceps bulged out from under the sleeves of the shirt. “Daisy Ruiz,” he said in a deep voice, “it’s good to see you again.”
If she worried that Ken had told his father about their falling out and he’d treat her differently, his warm greeting alleviated those fears.
“You, too, Mr. Dixon.” She gestured at Thomas. “This is Thomas Osborne. We’re building the house today for his family.”
Phillip held out his hand. “Pleasure.” He gestured at Thomas’ belt. “That looks like it’s been used, son. Where do you work?”
Thomas shook Phillip’s hand as his cheeks brightened. “Yesterday, I finished a house for Culpepper. They didn’t have anything new, so I’m looking again first thing Tuesday morning.”
Phillip narrowed his eyes, looking from the younger man’s worn boots to the white hardhat on his head. “I’ll see you in my office Tuesday morning. Seven a.m.” He lifted his chin. “Do you know where to come?”
“Uh, yes. Yes, sir.”
Phillip turned to Daisy. “Plans?”
She smiled and led the way to the table where she’d rolled out the house plans. “It’s a four-bedroom. They have four kids, so I think they’re planning to give the two older kids their own rooms, and the two little kids will share.” She gestured at the lumber pile. “My project manager confirmed the inventory last night. Plumbers finished up at four yesterday, and electricians laid their groundwork. They’re coming back tomorrow afternoon.” She tapped a clipboard. “Here’s the proposed schedule.”
“Who’s your project manager?”
“He’s a retired PM from the school board. He used to oversee their construction projects and now sits on our board of directors. Harvey Madison.”
“Harvey?” Mr. Dixon’s face lit up. “I’ve worked with Harvey many times. Will he be here?”
She nodded. “He’ll be by around lunch. He sets everything up, and I initiate on the day of.”
She held up the clipboard, and he glanced at the top page. “How many of these have you done?”
She pursed her lips. “Uh, two a year from the time I was twelve. And I’ve done six since moving into the executive director position. This makes seven.”
Over his shoulder, Daisy saw Ken approaching. Her mouth suddenly went dry, and her heart started pounding. She tucked an imaginary hair behind her ear. “Uh, hi, Ken.”
His smile didn’t make it to his eyes. “Daisy.”
Phillip looked between the two of them. “Excuse me, Daisy. How did you know this is Ken?”
She shrugged. “I always know.” She gestured with her thumb behind her. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure.” Ken slapped his dad on the back. “Morning, Daddy.”
“Son.”
As Ken followed Daisy away from the crew gathering around the coffee urn she’d put at the end of the table, she tried to think about what to say. She should already know. She’d had fifteen conversations with herself in the mirror between last night and this morning.
“I didn’t expect you to come.” Daisy tentatively met his gaze, steeling herself for anything.
“I made a commitment to come.” He raised both eyebrows. “I keep my word, Daisy. Especially to you.”
“No, you made a commitment to support us with Dixon Contracting. It had nothing to do with you personally.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. The look on his face silently informed her he inferred she would prefer he had not come. He glared at her, his eyes angry and hard. “I made a commitment to come,” he repeated. “I did that before I knew you. It has nothing to do with you personally. I’m here to work.”
Daisy realized that she didn’t feel the same. It felt very personal to her. “But you don’t have to be here.”
Ken stared at her. For a few seconds, she thought he would just remain silent as usual, but he surprised her. He leaned in close enough so that only she could hear him and whispered, “Good talk.”
He spun on his heel and walked back to the table. As she watched, he unrolled a set of plans and took a small notebook out of his breast pocket and a pencil out from behind his ear. His dad leaned in toward him and ran a finger over something on the plans. Ken nodded and made a notation.
Finally, she realized she had stood there alone for nearly a full minute, just watching him, and she walked back to the crew. She picked up a clipboard off of the table and whistled sharply. “If I can have your attention, please.”