Loving Pursuit Page 9

  “Marie?”

  My shoulders sagged with relief at the sound of my name. I really needed her to recognize me today.

  “Hey, Grandma,” I smiled, taking a seat on the edge of her bed.

  The room was small, but it didn’t feel like a hospital room, the way that I expected from a nursing home. The furniture consisted of a bed, her chair, a night stand, and a dresser. The floor was hardwood and the walls white. It was the little things that made the place feel homey; the quilt that my grandmother had made years ago, her books stacked on top of the dresser, and the photos hanging on the wall. I was glad to see that her friends had visited and helped decorate like this. I hadn’t been able to come and visit before now, thinking that I was sick and not wanting to pass it on to my elderly grandmother. Now, I knew better.

  “How are you doing, Grandma?” I asked, noting that it was hot in here, just the way she liked it. She looked content.

  “I’m good, peanut. How about you? Feeling better?”

  “I am. In fact, I came to let you know,” I paused, placing a hand on my flat stomach. It would be months before I started to show, but I felt like I could sense the baby forming inside. “You’re going to be a great-grandmother.”

  Her eyes went to my stomach before coming back up to my face. She leaned forward with her arms outstretched and a huge smile. I got off the bed and hurried over, giving her a hug. The strength in her arms was wonderful to feel as she hugged me back.

  I knew that her mind was still failing her more and more often, but at least she seemed strong physically. She didn’t seem sad to be here either.

  “I can’t believe it,” she said when we broke apart. “Another little angel in the family. Congratulations.”

  Finally, the reaction I wanted to the news. Andrea had been little more than a little shocked, making her reaction a little stilted, and the whole fiasco last night was a nightmare. But my grandmother looked thrilled. She was celebrating with me. That was what I wanted because whether it was planned or not, I was happy to know that I was going to have a little bundle of joy.

  I stayed for another half an hour, listening to stories about when my mother was born. My grandmother recounted how excited and scared she was to become a new mother, but it had turned out to be a great gift.

  By the time I left the nursing home, I felt much better. I knew that I still needed to talk to Lewis, but first, I was going to go home and take a nap. Growing a little human was exhausting and the stress didn’t help.

  I was so lost in my thoughts, that I didn’t immediately notice the familiar car parked across the street from my house. It wasn’t until I pulled up to the curb and looked toward my home that I realized I had a visitor waiting.

  Lewis was sitting on my porch steps, wearing the same clothes as last night and looking dejected. His hair was a wild mess, like he’d been running his hands through it. As his eyes met mine, I could see a storm brewing within.

  I turned off the car and stepped out. It was time to talk things out.

  13

  The Path to Happiness

  Lewis

  As I sat on the cool concrete steps, waiting for Marie to slowly make her way to me, I couldn’t help thinking that I was an idiot.

  How did everything fall apart so quickly last night?

  It was just a moment of doubt. I knew Marie wasn’t a gold digger. I had no doubt that she was pregnant with my child. But for just a moment, I let the poison that was spewing from my father’s mouth get to me.

  I had been rich my whole life, born with a silver spoon in my mouth. It was seen as a blessing by most people, and I knew that I was privileged, but it also came with challenges. Mostly, I’d had to deal with questionable motives for every single person in my life. I’d been burned too many times by friends and lovers that had their sight set on my bank account.

  I thought that I’d gotten over all of that. It was in my past, and I’d gotten much better at judging a person’s character over the years. Yet, when I heard my father’s allegations, I let myself wonder if it were true.

  I was ashamed of that.

  It took watching Marie run out the door to make me snap out of it. I quickly realized that I screwed up. I hurt her with my silence.

  As I watched her drive away from me, knowing that my child was growing in her stomach, everything became clear to me. I marched back inside and told my father that I was quitting my job at Sims Hotels. It didn’t go over well, not that I expected it to. The fight that ensued was an epic one, and not even my mother could talk us down from it.

  Aside from being furious about the things he’d said to Marie, I was tired of the way he treated me. The expectations that I never could quite live up to…the endless stress of working together day after day…it was all a recipe for unhappiness and I was over it.

  In the end, I announced that I was going to buy the bed and breakfast myself and move to Bayville. It was the most obvious answer, the thing that would make me happy. I had the money to do it, I didn’t need to acquire the place on behalf of the hotel chain. It would just be mine.

  Of course, there was much more risk involved that way, but the payoff was huge. I would live here in Bayville and run the place. The only missing element that would make it perfect was my girl.

  I watched her walk my way, wondering where she’d been. After I had finished laying into my father, my parents had gone to bed, with him swearing they were leaving first thing in the morning. I left, going straight to Marie’s house, but she wasn’t here.

  I called her phone over and over, but it went straight to voicemail every time. It had to be turned off. I had no idea where she could be, and it drove me nuts. I settled down on the porch to wait for her, falling asleep propped up against her front door.

  I had woken up less than an hour ago. She was gone all night. I was starting to get really worried and contemplating driving around town to see if I could spot her car anywhere when it pulled up in front of me.

  “Have you been here all night?” she asked, stopping in front of me.

  “Yeah. Where were you?” I tried hard to keep any accusation out of my voice. I knew I was the one that messed up in this situation.

  “Andrea’s.”

  That made sense, and it had crossed my mind, but I didn’t know where Andrea lived or her phone number. That would have to change. I would go crazy if I had to endure a night like this again.

  Marie walked past me, squeezing by so close that the delicate fabric of her skirt brushed against the side of my face. I stood and followed her as she unlocked the door of her house and stepped inside.

  “So, when are you leaving?” she asked, without turning around to face me. She just kept on going into her room, where she sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off her brown leather ankle boots. I stood just inside the room, watching her.

  “Leaving?” I repeated. “Why do you think I’m leaving?”

  “I’m not stupid enough to think that your dad is going to buy the bed and breakfast. After his behavior last night, I’d be surprised if he’s even still in Bayville at all.”

  “I don’t think he is,” I replied with a shrug. “My parents are probably in first class seats on their way back to Beverly Hills as we speak.”

  Her feet now bare, Marie stood and walked over to her dresser. Bending down to the bottom drawer, she started rifling through her pajamas. I couldn’t stop myself from checking out her ass.

  “Frankly, I’m shocked that he even considered buying the place at all,” she said, as she straightened with a pair of flannel pajama pants in her hand. “After all, this is just a ‘small town with no prospects.’”

  I grimaced as she quoted my father. “Yeah. Well, I talked him into considering it. I wanted to come here.”

  She finally stopped moving and looked me in the eye questioningly.

  “I wanted to see you again,” I admitted. I was sure that it was obvious by now, but I felt better after saying it out loud.

  “I guess that
worked out for you,” she said, not betraying any emotion. “Can you step out while I change?”

  Hell no.

  “I love you,” I blurted out. I wanted to be more elegant than that, to give her some kind of romantic speech about how special she was to me and that I felt like we were fated to be together, but I couldn’t find the words. I just needed her to know how I felt.

  Marie stared at me, emotions flickering across her face too quickly for me to track. The only thing I was sure of was that I took her by surprise.

  “Say something.” I couldn’t stand not knowing if she felt the same.

  “I…I need to know if you’re leaving first. I just can’t…not if you’re going back to California.”

  I closed the distance between us, pulling her into my arms where she belonged.

  “Didn’t you hear me?” I asked softly, with my lips just inches from hers. “I said I love you. I’m not going anywhere.”

  The kiss I stole was white hot and full of unspoken promises. I could never get enough of her. It was several minutes before I pulled away and allowed her to speak.

  “I love you, too,” she finally said breathlessly. I started to smile, but it was cut off as she continued, “but…”

  “What is it?”

  “How do you feel about the baby?”

  This time there was no holding back my grin. “I’m going to be a daddy. I can hardly believe it.”

  “You aren’t worried about the things your dad said?”

  “My only worry is that his words hurt you. I’m so sorry I didn’t step in. I don’t have an excuse. I just…I don’t know. Everything happened so fast.”

  “I don’t care about your money.”

  I placed my hands on each side of her face as I stared into her eyes so that she’d see my honesty as I replied. “I know that, but I’m still going to take care of you and our little bundle.”

  “You’re sure? I remember what you said about your dad not being sure about having kids before you were born. I don’t want you to feel trapped by this.”

  “Hey, hey, hey,” I frowned, “don’t talk about my sunshine like that.”

  Marie giggled. “I already love the nicknames.”

  “And I love the bambino.” I pressed a chaste kiss to her lips.

  “Good. Now, get out of here,” she demanded.

  “You still won’t change in front of me?” I pouted.

  Marie gave me a saucy wink as she started to undo the buttons down the front of her dress. “It’s not that. I’m going to take a nap.”

  I stared at her exposed skin as her fingers worked quickly. A warm rush of lust gathered in my lower body.

  “A…nap?” I asked, dazed.

  She nodded. “I’m exhausted.”

  The dress pooled at her feet in a pile of yellow fabric, leaving her only in a white bra and panty set. She looked innocent, ready for corruption. I smiled wickedly.

  “Maybe I’ll join you,” I said, pulling my shirt over my head as I headed to the bed. By the look in her eyes, I could tell that it would be a while before either of us fell asleep, but I didn’t mind one bit.

  Epilogue

  Marie

  It was amazing how quiet everything seemed after the chaos of just an hour ago. I was sweaty, exhausted, sore, and ridiculously happy as I stared down at the sleeping face of my gorgeous daughter. She’d come into this world two days overdue, but I had already decided that she was worth the wait.

  “So, we’re agreed?” Lewis asked from my side. He’d pulled the chair at my bedside up as close as he could get it and was leaning in to do his own staring. “Her name will be Ruby Lynn Sims?”

  “Are you sure?” I asked, looking into his grey eyes. Naming our daughter after my grandmother had been his idea and I couldn’t be more touched by the gesture.

  Grandma had died a little more than a month ago, and it was torture knowing that she’d never get to meet my child. I was glad that it had been peaceful though. Her heart had simply stopped beating while she was asleep. She never even woke up, and I was told that it was unlikely that she’d experienced any pain.

  “Of course. She was a great woman, a huge part of your life, and we should absolutely honor her like this.”

  “I love you,” I said, close to tears. I tried to bite back my emotions, but it was proving to be impossible. Apparently, giving birth messed with a woman’s emotions even more than the nine-month pregnancy did.

  “I love you, too,” he replied, giving me an indulgent smile. I knew he found my mood swings humorous but knew better than to say so.

  I looked back down at Ruby, running my finger across her cheek, amazed at how soft it was. She already had long, dark eyelashes and wisps of blonde hair. I felt like I could stare at her forever.

  Before long, she stirred, opening her mouth and nuzzling against my arm. I had an idea of what that meant, so I unfastened the buttons on the shoulder of my nightgown, releasing my breast.

  “You think she needs to feed again already?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  I didn’t need to answer as she latched on and he laughed.

  “Looks like we have a little piglet on our hands.”

  It took fifteen minutes to feed her, and, by the time she was finished, there was a soft knock on the door of the hospital room. I covered myself up as Lewis let his parents in.

  We had come a long way over the last eight months. Sasha was easy, always supportive and excited to become a grandparent. Adrian was another story, but it was no surprise. Initially, he seemed more upset about Lewis walking away from the company, blaming me for his decision to relocate and walk away from everything he had going for him. Eventually, he moved past that. It took months, but Lewis had a cousin, Jeremy, that was more than happy to step in and fill the role. He was now being groomed to take over the business someday.

  That development opened the door to healing between Lewis and his father. He still didn’t approve of Lewis’s decision to move to Bayville and run a single bed and breakfast, but he accepted it so that he could be a part of our lives. I had a feeling that Sasha’s excitement at having a grandchild rubbed off on him a bit. So, in the last few months, he has been practicing the whole “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” thing. It worked for us. I was never going to be his biggest fan, but he was the only grandfather that my daughter had, so I put in an effort.

  Lewis took Ruby from my arms, holding her as if she were made of glass, while his parents came over to me. Sasha gave me a hug that made me long for my own mother.

  “Congratulations,” she said into my ear. “I just know that you’re going to be a great mom.”

  Damn. That set off the pesky tears again.

  While I got myself under control, Lewis directed his parents to sit on the small couch against the wall. They settled side-by-side and Lewis carefully put Ruby in Sasha’s arms.

  “Oh my god, she’s perfect,” Sasha cooed. Adrian didn’t say a word, but the look on his face was one that I never expected to see. The softening of his features and widening of his eyes made him look like a different person. I was pretty sure that he was smitten.

  “Her name is Ruby Lynn Sims,” Lewis announced, and Sasha beamed. Lynn was her middle name, so we were representing two amazing women with our daughter’s naming.

  They didn’t visit for long, and I had the feeling that Lewis had directed them not to. I wanted them to be the first to meet her, but it was also important to me that we got home together alone as a family.

  When they left the room, Lewis kept holding her while I fell asleep. It was crazy how tired I was. I expected the pain, but I had no idea I would feel like I could sleep for a week straight. When I woke up, I could see through the crack in the blinds that hours had passed, and the positioning of the sun was different, indicating it might be early evening.

  Looking around the room, I saw that Ruby was also sleeping in the bassinet that Lewis had the foresight to bring. I didn’t know what I�
��d do without him. At that thought, I realized that I didn’t know where he was.

  I slowly sat up in bed as I heard his low voice speaking to someone out in the hall. The door was cracked open just enough that I could make out what was being said.

  “Thanks for picking it up. It should’ve arrived before now, but I guess there was some kind of shipping delay.” That was Lewis. What was he talking about?

  “Don’t even thank me,” a voice I recognized as his old secretary, Lacey, said. “I wasn’t going to miss a chance to see that perfect baby.”

  “Well, you’re a lifesaver. Do you think that this is a right time?”

  “Of course.”

  They must have started to move away from the door, because I couldn’t make out their words any longer. It just became a muffled jumble that grew fainter. Winging my legs over the side of the bed, I slowly lowered myself until my feet touched the ground. My legs felt weak, but they held my weight. I made my way over to the bassinet. Peering inside, I saw Ruby was out like a light. Her breathing was steady, and her tiny fists were clenched.

  “Whoa, shouldn’t you be in bed?”

  Lewis had just returned to the room. He came to my side, placing an arm around me like I might collapse at any moment.

  “I had to check on her,” I insisted. I wanted to pick her up, but I’d heard what they said about not waking a sleeping baby. Besides, if she was half as exhausted as me, she needed rest.

  “She’s good. Perfect.”

  “Was that Lacey that I heard?”

  “You heard her?” he frowned slightly. “What else did you hear?”

  “Nothing. Why?”

  “No reason,” he said too quickly.

  “Lewis.” I used my most intimidating voice. “What are you hiding?”

  He stared at me for a moment before sighing. “I guess that I have no choice but to do this now.”

  “Do what…”

  My breath left my lungs as he got down on one knee in front of me. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a small, white ring box.