Chapter Four #3
“Uh, next week is better.” Was it? Really?
Not particularly. But she had this…yearning.
This week, if she got him alone, she knew she would blow it the same way she had about telling him there was a baby coming.
Instead of discussing how their relationship was changing, she would end up in bed with him where she could forget everything but the feel of his big hands on her body.
Next week, she would be stronger. Next week, she would tell him that they had to move on from this fling that had started to feel somehow more serious, more…dangerous to her vulnerable heart.
She just needed a few days to pull herself together. By next week, she would be ready to resist her desire for him and say all the things that needed saying.
“So then,” he said. “Next week, Lenore has Shane. Any chance we can manage some time alone, just the two of us?”
“Uh, sure.” She was staring at his lips, thinking about kissing him. Thinking about doing a lot more than just kissing. Because she was hopelessly attracted to him, and sometimes she wondered if that attraction would ever go away. “I’ll find out when Annette or Macy can watch Dillon.”
“That’ll work. Let me know.”
She said she would and then promised herself that she would use the time alone with him to discuss how their relationship was changing, to make it clear to him that the time had come for them to move on from their secret love affair because…
Why, exactly?
Well, duh. Because no affair lasted forever. And because they were having a baby, and they needed to focus on that.
And because she was getting way too attached. If she wasn’t careful, she would end up with her heart in pieces all over again.
* * *
The next day at the hotel, she tried to tell Annette that Dillon was going to have a sibling come October. It did not go well. She ended up blathering about Miles, encouraging her mother-in-law to give the guy a chance.
Surprisingly, Annette listened. She even said she would think about it—but then she added, “Not that it matters now. He asked me out. I said no and made it very clear I meant it.”
“You’re allowed to change your mind, Annette.”
“Hmm,” Annette replied. “I’m not so sure I agree with that.” And then off she went to confer with the head of housekeeping about an issue with the linen service.
Riley tried again on Friday. She chose the moment carefully. Things were reasonably quiet at the hotel, and Annette was in her office at her computer. She looked up with a smile when Riley came in from the lobby. “Hey, there.” And then she frowned. “If this is about a certain carpenter…”
Riley quickly reassured her that she hadn’t come to talk about Miles. And about then it occurred to her that her unexpected pregnancy should be tackled somewhere other than at work. “I just wanted to invite you to dinner tonight. You, me and your favorite grandson.”
Annette’s eyes lit up. “Sounds perfect.”
“Okay, then. It’s a date. Can you make it at five?”
“You’d better believe it.”
As always, Annette showed up right on time that evening with a bottle of wine and a Tupperware container full of Dillon’s favorite soft batch double chocolate chip cookies. She was barely in the door when Dillon came pounding down the stairs.
“Grammy! You’re here!” He grabbed her hand. “Come up to my room and see my Lego Guinea Pig Playground!”
Annette handed Riley the wine and cookies and let her grandson lead her up the stairs. When they came down an hour later, the chicken cacciatore was on the table.
For Dillon, dinner with Grammy Annette was the absolute best. Annette showered him with love and attention. Riley watched her, thinking how young she looked and how pretty.
Dillon had knock-knock jokes. “Grammy, knock knock!”
“Who’s there?”
“Boo!”
“Boo-who?”
“It’s okay, Grammy.” He reached over and patted her arm. “You don’t need to cry…” Annette burst into gales of laughter, and Dillon beamed.
After the meal and cookies for dessert, they all three cleared the table and then Dillon lured his grammy back upstairs. They didn’t come down for an hour and a half. When they did, Dillon was already in his PJ’s.
“Good night, Mom. Gimme a hug. Grammy is going to tuck me in.”
She knelt, and he wrapped his arms around her neck. His breath smelled of toothpaste as he smacked his lips against her cheek. A thousand emotions flooded through her at once. Her baby was five now, telling knock-knock jokes and brushing his own teeth. In the fall, he would be a big brother…
Dillon’s arms dropped from around her neck. He reached for Annette’s hand. They went up the stairs together. Twenty minutes later, Annette came down alone.
Riley was waiting for her on the sofa. “Sit. I poured you some of that wonderful wine.”
Annette took the glass, sipped and then sat beside Riley. About then, she noticed that Riley wasn’t drinking. “What? You’re not having wine?”
It seemed as good an opening as any. “Nope. I’m giving up wine for a while.”
“Giving up wine?” Annette chuckled, a teasing sound. “You know I support you in all that you do. But giving up wine? Whatever for?”
“I, uh, well…”
Twin lines of concern formed between Annette’s perfectly arched eyebrows. “Sweetie, what’s wrong?”
Riley straightened her shoulders and laid it right out there. “The truth is, Annette, I’m pregnant.” She managed a wobbly smile. “The baby’s due in early October, and I—”
Annette set down her wine and clapped her hand to her throat.
“Annette, are you okay?”
Annette coughed into her hand and then croaked out, “I… It’s a joke, right?”
“Uh. No, Annette. It’s not a joke. I’ve been seeing Josh Bravo and—”
“Josh Bravo?” Annette shot to her feet. “No, that’s not…”
“Not what, Annette?”
“Not…appropriate. Not appropriate in the least. You and Josh are friends. You can’t just…what? You’ve been having sex with your friend? That is… Well, no. I just can’t…”
Was this really happening?
Okay, yes. Riley had been a little nervous about cluing in her mother-in-law. She’d been afraid that Annette would disapprove, maybe even think less of her.
But this, right now?
This was beyond disapproval. Yes, her mother-in-law was a conservative sort of person. But she wasn’t a fanatic.
Was she?
“Annette, please,” Riley coaxed. “Sit back down. Let’s talk about this calmly and see if we can—”
“No!” Annette whisper-shouted the word. “There is nothing more to say, this is not okay. I can’t even begin to…” She slid out from behind the coffee table and made for the front door.
Riley jumped up and followed. “Annette, come on. Don’t go, please? Stay. Let’s talk. Let’s work this out.”
“Work this out?” Annette was already grabbing her coat off the hook and her purse from the entry hall table. “No. Absolutely not. This is not how we do things. You are the daughter of my heart. Love is forever, and when your husband is gone, you…” She seemed to run out of words.
“You what?” Riley demanded as she felt the tears rising. Her vision blurred. And right then, Annette started crying, too. They stood there at the door, staring at each other, tears streaming down both their faces.
“Well, I will tell you what you don’t do,” Annette said tightly. “You do not behave like a whore, that’s for sure!” And with that, Annette yanked open the door and fled into the night.