19. Nineteen
19
NINETEEN
“T oday is the day for celebration!”
Dad strolled into the boardroom throwing Mardi Gras beads in every direction. A purple set smacked me in the face but after the hot fudge sundae—with all the fixings—I wasn’t in the mood to get up and strangle him to death with the beads for a change.
“And what are we celebrating today?” Pearl asked, her eyes narrowed as Dad considered throwing beads at her. There was a clear message in her glare. Do it and die.
Dad must have read how serious Pearl was because he nicely handed her a set of yellow beads. “Today is the day, children. Today is the day my new life begins and the old one ends.”
I cast a quick look at Zach, who was settled on the opposite side of the table with Olivia. The muscle working in his jaw suggested that he wasn’t in the mood for whatever mind trip Dad was about to embark on.
“I think he’s saying his mistress had her baby,” Opal offered in a stage whisper. Everybody was meant to hear it. “I mean … that’s just a guess, though.”
Dad pinned Opal with a pointed but still pleasant stare. “Opal, Claire gave birth two months ago. It was right after the party at your sister’s suite to announce my first grandchild.”
It was so Dad to make everything about him. “Technically, I’d already announced my pregnancy,” I offered helpfully. “The dinner at my suite was to announce the father.”
“Yes, you always did like to do things in the proper order,” Mom said sarcastically.
All I could do was shrug. I refused to engage with her. She’d come a long way when it came to my pregnancy. She was still struggling with the fact that I wasn’t married, though. It was the way she was raised. I understood that and didn’t hold it against her. In her day, people got married whether they were a good match or not. They didn’t see the damage a bad marriage could do. Not that I thought Rex and I would have a bad marriage. Weirdly, the longer things went on, the more I started to wonder if we were selling ourselves short by not dating.
We were getting along great these days. The ice cream situation was further proof of that. Even though I’d been determined to go the healthiest route possible at the ice cream shop, Rex had seen beyond my facade and insisted on real ice cream. Sure, it had been a bossy move, but since I really loved ice cream, it had been the right one.
The truth was, ever since Rex told me he had feelings for me—beyond the baby and just sex—I’d been doing a lot of daydreaming. He wasn’t boyfriend material yet—that was a hill I would die on—but he was getting there. Slowly but surely.
The fact that he texted to know what I wanted for lunch every day was proof that he was reliable.
The massages he provided for my feet multiple times a day proved he had empathy. He saw I was in pain and wanted to end it.
Even the scene at the ice cream shop proved that he was looking out for me on every level imaginable.
It was the bear that had really done it for me, though. That stupid bear that I wanted when I was a teenager even though I couldn’t explain why. There hadn’t been a lot of comfort in our house when we were kids and we’d all been searching in our own way. The bear had looked comforting through the window. My father, who bought anything and everything, had sneered at the bear. That only made me want it more.
I’d told Rex about the bear in an offhand fashion. I didn’t need to justify what I wanted to do to my nursery. He wouldn’t have cared either way. He listened to the story anyway, then went out of his way to get the bear. And not for the baby, but for me. He’d been specific. He wanted me to have that bear.
It wasn’t that it was likely a two-hundred-dollar bear either. It was that he remembered my angst at not having the bear, and he’d managed to track one down without knowing where to look. That would’ve taken him ten times as long as it did me to find bears for the nursery.
Just thinking about it made me misty.
“Your mistress gave birth?” Opal challenged. “How did I miss that?”
“She sent out birth announcements,” Pearl replied. “They had clowns on them.”
Opal visibly shuddered. “Well, that explains it. I wouldn’t open anything with a clown on it. I’m sure it went straight into the trash.”
“I told her those clowns were a bad idea.” Dad wrinkled his nose. “Anyway, I’m not talking about the baby. I’m talking about my divorce. It was finalized today.”
I was caught off guard. It wasn’t that I didn’t know my parents were getting a divorce. Who could blame them? It was that I’d lost track of it amidst all of my stuff. I jerked my eyes to Mom to register how she was feeling about the situation. “Congratulations?” It was more of a question than a statement.
She smirked at my uncertainty. “I’ll be celebrating properly this evening. I’m going out with Cassie and Blair.” She shot a glare toward Dad. “I didn’t think this was the proper place for a celebration.”
“I’m the one who has more to celebrate,” Dad fired back. “That’s why I’m so excited.”
“What exactly are you celebrating?” Zach challenged. The tilt of his head was a warning that our father should tread carefully. “I mean … are you celebrating the fact that you’re broke?” He glanced at Mom. “He didn’t get anything extra in the divorce, did he?”
Mom chuckled at Zach’s obvious worry. “He did not. He got to retain his shares on the board. He tried for a redistribution of my shares there at the end, but when my attorney explained to the judge exactly why Ryder had been stripped of his shares, he not-unsurprisingly sided with me.”
Zach smirked. “Bummer, huh?” he taunted Dad.
For his part, Dad was managing to hold it together, but just barely. “As always, your personality has all the appeal of a wet rag, Zachary,” he drawled.
“I love you too, Dad,” Zach shot back in the same tone.
“The good news is that the state of Nevada says I no longer have to pretend to love him,” Mom offered. “In case you’re wondering, I got the house and the bulk of the shares in Stone Group. He got his condo, his vehicles, and the shares he was allotted last year when things hit the fan. That’s basically it.”
“That’s still more than he deserved,” Zach said darkly.
Dad glared right back, then he adopted a benevolent smile—Mother Theresa had nothing on him—before addressing the room. “Since nobody congratulated me on my new daughter,” he started. His lips curved into a sneer, telling me exactly what he thought about having another daughter. I would’ve laughed at his luck if I didn’t feel sorry for the kid. “I thought perhaps tonight would be a good night to go out as a family—you already have plans so you can stick to them, Cora—and celebrate new beginnings.”
“Are you really sitting there telling us that you think we should celebrate you having a baby with your mistress and our mother divorcing you?” Zach demanded.
“Your mother is the devil.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure you have that role covered,” I replied, my fingers absently trailing over my stomach. I hadn’t popped to basketball size yet but I knew it was right around the corner. I was down to twelve weeks left and they were ticking by at a fantastic rate. The doctor had warned me I would pop at any time, and when I did, my body was going to take a beating. I would feel tired doing even the simplest things. I was determined to prove him wrong on that one.
“Your sarcasm is a gift, Ruby,” Dad countered, causing me to smirk. “I can’t wait until you get a dose of karma with your little one there.” He pointed toward my stomach. Then, to my surprise, he turned serious. “You’re feeling okay, right?”
Was he kidding me with this? “Since when do you care?” I challenged.
“I’ve always cared, Ruby. You’ve simply never looked beyond the businessman and embraced the father.”
That was the corniest thing I’d ever heard. The snickers erupting from my siblings suggested they felt the same way. “You read that in a book, didn’t you?”
The way Dad’s nostrils flared told me I was right. He didn’t respond, though. “So, where did we land on dinner and drinks tonight?” he prodded.
Oh, crap, why did he have to be looking at me first? Sometimes I had the worst luck. “I can’t,” I replied, knowing exactly what excuse I was going to use. “My feet are swollen—Rex calls them sausages—and being in a smoky bar isn’t going to help matters.”
Vegas was one of the few places you could still smoke out in the open. It wasn’t every bar and casino. It was enough of them, though, and I knew that was exactly the sort of casino my father was going to choose for his little soirée.
“You can’t put up with being on your feet for even an hour?” Dad challenged.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. A few hours on my feet and I’m exhausted.” I held out my hands in “what are you going to do” fashion. I wasn’t really sorry. I was also too tired to pick a fight.
“Lovely,” Dad muttered under his breath before turning his expectant eyes to Zach. “I’m sure you’ll be there.”
“Oh, I have dinner with my in-laws tonight,” Zach replied. He didn’t look sorry in the least. “I wish I could, though.” He let loose an exaggerated “aw shucks” elbow pump that had Olivia hiding her smirk behind her hand.
“And you?” Dad asked Opal. He’d deflated enough that I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
“Oh, I don’t want to,” Opal replied. “I have zero interest in seeing your new baby. There’s a reason I haven’t committed her name to memory. I definitely don’t want to see Claire. As for you…” She cocked her head as she regarded him. “Yeah, I’m good there too.”
I had to lower my head so Dad wouldn’t see the wide smile crossing my face. That would only make matters worse.
“And I’m guessing you’re busy too,” Dad said as his gaze fell on Pearl.
“Oh, I’m not busy.” Pearl shook her head.
Dad knew better than to get his hopes up with Pearl of all people, so he kept his expression neutral.
“I just don’t like you,” Pearl continued. “There are about a million things I would rather do than spend time with you and your mistress, including a hot sauce enema and a vaginal exam with an oversized speculum.”
Groans went around the table.
“Well, thank you for that visual, Pearl,” Dad said dryly.
“You’re welcome,” she replied without hesitation, her smile benign.
“If that’s all, I would like to get through this meeting,” Mom prodded. “I actually have people who want to spend time with me tonight and I don’t want to be late.”
If looks could kill, Mom would be dead. Dad’s distress was obvious. Unfortunately for him, nobody cared. He’d screwed us all so many times over the course of our lives that there was no going back for him.
“Yes, let’s get to the meeting,” Opal agreed. “The longer we have to stay in this room with Dad, the worse we’ll all feel.”
“Oh, keep it up, Opal,” Dad warned. “Just keep it up.”
I FELL ASLEEP NOT LONG INTO THE meeting. I was jerked to consciousness when Olivia patted my elbow to wake me up.
“Sorry.” She seemed genuinely contrite. “I would’ve let you continue to sleep but I figured it wouldn’t be good for your back. You should go to your suite and take a nap.”
“What?” I was not one of those dainty nappers who could drop out for twenty minutes and wake up with no ill effects. When I napped, I went down hard. There was drool, bedhead, and twenty minutes of fuzzy brain to contend with each and every time.
“You fell asleep.” She looked apologetic even though she hadn’t done anything wrong. “You were snoring a little bit and everything.”
“Oh, well, lovely.” I’d gotten over being embarrassed about anything pregnancy related months ago. “Just tell me nobody took photos.”
Olivia shot a dark look toward Zach. “I wish I could tell you that.”
“It’s not as if I’m going to publish them in the newspaper,” Zach countered. “I am thinking of having one or two of them framed, though.”
I rolled my eyes. “Where did Dad go?”
“He stormed out as soon as Mom ended the meeting. He’s mad nobody wanted to celebrate with him.”
“Which just proves that he’s even more out of touch than any of us realized.” I pushed myself to a standing position. Mom, Pearl, and Opal were gone. “I’m sorry I fell asleep. Were they mad?”
Zach shook his head. “I would say that ‘concerned’ is the better word for what they were feeling,” he replied. “You look tired, Ruby. You shouldn’t force yourself to come to these meetings if you need rest.”
“That’s not it.” I waved off his worry. “Your buddy Rex filled me full of ice cream and hot fudge an hour before the meeting. I don’t include a lot of sugar in my normal diet, so I flew high right away and then crashed hard.”
“Why is he my buddy?” Zach laughed. “Last time I checked, he was your buddy.”
“Just because we’re having a baby doesn’t mean that we’re buddies.” That was laughable. “I mean … come on.”
“No, you come on,” Zach fired back. “He and I barely spend any time together. We’ve been to the sports bar once in the last month. He’s always getting food for you, shopping for the baby, or rubbing your feet.” He made a disgusted face. “He’s totally forgotten about me.”
“Not that Zach is bitter about it or anything,” Olivia said dryly. She honestly looked amused.
“Sorry.” Sarcasm practically dripped from my tongue because I wasn’t sorry. “I didn’t mean to steal your drinking buddy. I’m just creating human life here.”
“Oh, I can’t wait until you can’t use that as an excuse,” Zach muttered.
Before he could say something else, Rex appeared—as if he’d heard us talking about him—and scanned the boardroom. “Where is your father?” he asked after several seconds.
“Probably crying into his drink at whatever venue he wanted to throw his divorce party,” I replied. “Nobody would go so he’s pouting.”
“But he’s not up here causing trouble?” Rex pressed.
I shook my head. “Why would you assume that?”
“Because he’s your father. I just wanted to make sure everybody was okay.” When he said the last part, Rex’s eyes moved to me.
“We’re fine,” I assured him. “You don’t have to worry about us.”
“Yes, well, that’s my job.” He stepped closer, and to my surprise, he brushed my hair off my forehead without warning or invitation. “You look tired.”
“She crashed from the sugar because she’s not used to it and slept through the meeting,” Olivia volunteered.
“She snored like a freight train too,” Zach added.
I split my glare between them. “Well, thanks for that.”
“No problem.” Zach’s smile was sunny. “We’re heading out. You’ll get my sister to her suite safely, right?” he asked Rex.
“I think I can walk myself back,” I groused.
“No, I want to,” Rex countered. “There’s something I want to talk to you about anyway.”
That sounded bad. “Uh-oh.”
“No, it’s not an ‘uh-oh’ situation,” he assured me as he put his hand to the small of my back.
“What sort of situation is it?”
He waited until we were in front of the elevator to drop the bomb. “I’ve thought about it, and I still have feelings for you.” He was matter of fact. “I want to date.”
My mouth fell open. “Just like that?”
“Yup.”
“But … I don’t think you’re ready to date.”
“I’m going to prove I am.”
“And how are you going to do that?” I was honestly curious.
He shrugged. “I guess we’ll both get to enjoy the process.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It means that I want to be more than just your baby daddy. I get why you’re leery, though. I haven’t exactly proven myself to be a standup guy where you’re concerned.”
I was already shaking my head. “You’ve been great, Rex.”
“Not really. I needed time to think at the start. I don’t always think things through before I do them and the one time I should’ve been impulsive and followed my gut I didn’t. I made you tell our parents too.”
“You were still kind of in shock at that time.”
“I don’t need you to make excuses for me.” His eyes were intense as they locked with mine. “I just want you to know that I’ll be starting my full court press today.”
“I don’t know what that means. You know I’m bad with sports analogies.”
“It means that I’m going to prove to you that I’m worth dating.”
“It’s not that you’re not worth dating—” I was silenced when his finger landed against my lips, which resulted in a glare for him.
“This is probably not helping my case,” Rex realized as he jerked his finger back. “Anyway, I want you to want to be with me.”
That was the problem. I did want to be with him. My practical nature knew better than to open my heart, though. He just wasn’t ready. Maybe one day. For now, I was convinced he wasn’t.
“I’m willing to work for it,” he said. “I think you’ll end up being pleasantly surprised at what I come up with.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“I guess you’ll have to wait to find out.”
That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “I hate surprises.”
“You’re going to love this one. Trust me.”