930 A.M. — November 21, 1996 #4
She’d find out any minute. Or maybe months from now, because it could take a long time for the dust to settle.
It was all in Sienna’s hands now. Hers and Zane’s.
Provided he had told her already. A twisted part of her kept playing out a fantasy that he wouldn’t call, but would show up on the doorstep of her cozy Spanish-style bungalow instead.
He’d tell her his marriage was over, and Sienna’s actually happy about it because it turns out she fell out of love with him a long time ago, only she didn’t have the heart to say it.
They were going to divorce amicably, and he was there to stay.
For some reason in her fantasy, it was pouring rain and he was drenched (because it would be more dramatic that way).
They’d open a bottle of wine, order Chinese food and watch Elliott sleep, marveling at the fact that everything was already sorted out and tied up with a neat, little bow.
Isn’t it amazing? Yes. Clearly, it was meant to be.
Glancing at the clock on the thick dark wood mantel, she saw it was quarter to ten, which meant it had been just over thirteen hours since she had gotten the results from Dean.
Claudia already knew who the father was, but when you’re dealing with a man like Zane, nothing is done in isolation.
There was a team of handlers in the background, keeping him going, clearing paths, protecting him.
Although this time, only Dean, Zane, and Claudia knew.
(Well, her mother too. She’d broken down and told her on a hot summer’s day, her feet swollen, her heart aching with loneliness.
Her mother was horrified, yes, but that quickly turned to a giddy delight when she realized her daughter was about to give birth to a windfall.)
When Zane first told her he’d need to get the test done, it felt like a hot knife to her chest, but she smiled anyway. “Of course. I understand.”
“It’s not that I think … it’s just … you know.”
She had slept with him which made it plausible that she might’ve slept with some other guy right around that time. “Sure, yeah.”
“This is…”
“Awkward. I know, and I am sorry about what this is going to do to you. And Sienna. And the kids.”
His gaze hardened in a way that asked why she was putting him through this, but he had the brains not to say it. Or maybe the compassion.
She picked up her cordless phone and checked to make sure there was a dial tone, even though she already knew it was working. When she pressed it to her ear, she heard the voice of her mom, Doreen. “Claudia?”
Her stomach clenched and she spoke quietly so as not to wake Elliot, who fell asleep while she was nursing him on the couch. He was snuggled against her, like a tiny, soft oven. “Oh, hey, Mom.”
“That was fast. I didn’t even hear it ring. Did you hear from him yet?”
“Nothing yet.” She sighed and Elliott stirred, then put his little hand on his forehead as if he was dreaming he had a very important financial decision to make. How could he be doing such grown-up things already? He was only six weeks old.
“Do you think that’s a good sign or a bad one?”
“No idea,” she answered. “I’m sure it’s been a terrible time for them both, and it’s got to be tricky with the kids there.”
Her mom made a tsking sound that did more than any ten-minute lecture ever could. “Those poor children. My poor grandson.”
“They’ll all be okay. Kids are resilient.”
“Tell that to yourself at fifteen.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, and Elliott let out a grumpy little groan. She dropped her voice to an angry whisper. “Did you call to make me feel worse than I already do?”
“Don’t tell me you’re letting him sleep on you again,” her mom answered. “You’re going to regret spoiling him like that.”
“He fell asleep while I was nursing him. I was hoping he’d finish his meal.”
“Do not let him do that. He’ll turn you into a twenty-four-hour snack bar.”
“He’s a newborn, Mom, he’s not trying to manipulate me.”
Letting out a scoff, she said, “That’s what you think, but they start from day one and it never ends. You’ve always been too giving and just look where that’s got you.”
Oh, God, I can’t do this right now. “I should go in case Zane’s trying to call.”
“Don’t you have call waiting?”
“Yes, but I don’t trust it.” She did trust it, but she needed to end this conversation before she snapped and woke her baby.
“What are you honestly expecting to happen today, Claudia? That he’ll show up on your doorstep with a suitcase, tell you his marriage is over, and declare his undying love for you?”
“Yeah, Mom, that’s what I’m thinking. And that she’ll be over it already and we’ll live happily ever after,” she said, feeling a trickle of sweat slip down her back. Why were babies so hot? “Come on. I’m not an idiot.”
Her mother’s hmph said Doreen wasn’t so sure about that.
“I’m going to go. I need to put the baby down and make myself something to eat.”
“You shouldn’t be eating so late at night. You’re going to pack on the pounds.”
“Nursing burns a lot of calories.” It also made her absolutely ravenous, which meant she was definitely binge-eating again.
But she would stop once she heard from Zane.
She could never eat much around him. He made her too nervous.
That’s how she’d lost all the weight in the first place.
She should sell the plan to Women’s World Magazine. The Zane Diet.
“Well, make sure you don’t overdo it. You don’t want to go back to the way you were before. And when he does finally call, you demand the money you’re owed. Threaten to go public if you have to.”
“Mom, I’m not about to blackmail the father of my child.”
“You’re going to have to do something because clearly he’s not willing to take responsibility for his actions. He should’ve already started giving you something to live off of.”
“We only found out for sure this morning.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.
The entire band. Dean too. All those men have been awful to you.
They used you and threw you away when things got inconvenient.
You’re owed millions, Claudia. Millions, and if you won’t fight for what’s yours, I will.
For your sake and the sake of my grandchild. ”
Not to mention for her own sake. Doreen was nothing if not pragmatic.
Her own life hadn’t turned out the way she’d assumed it would back when she was a blushing bride.
She and her new husband, who’d just bought his first dry-cleaning store, were going to be wealthy.
Only someone came up with wash-and-wear fabrics, then a recession hit, followed by an energy crisis, and instead of living the high life, they were still scraping by in their early fifties.
She’d told Claudia a dozen times over the last few months that she ‘damn well wasn’t about to watch her daughter suffer the same fate. ’
“Please leave it alone,” Claudia answered. “These aren’t the kind of men you turn into enemies. If I cooperate, I’ll have a bright, shiny future ahead of me.”
“I doubt that very much.”
“Mom, seriously stop it. You think Zane is going to let his child grow up in poverty?”
“So far, he hasn’t made one move to help you. He didn’t even pay for your hospital stay. Not one lousy night in a double room. And we can’t take this lying down, Claudia. We just can’t.”
“Oh my God, stay out of it. I know these people far better than you, and I know things will get sorted out.”
“You can’t trust any of them.”
“I’m hanging up now.”
“Call me as soon as you hear from him. And if I don’t hear back by tomorrow night, I’m flying there to go bang on his door myself.”