Paige pressed the number in her cell. The familiar nasal voice that answered belonged to his wife, Billy Lee. After exchanging pleasantries, Paige asked to speak to her brother.
“He’ll be glad to hear from you,” Billy Lee said cheerily. “I’ll just go grab him.” In the background, Paige heard the babble of childish voices. She’d lost count of how many grandchildren Dermot and Billy Lee’s five kids had produced, but they obviously enjoyed visiting the grandparents.
An explosion of giggling leaped across the roughly fifteen hundred miles between Austin and Safe Harbor, right into her ear. It reminded her how much Baby Bree or Brian would enjoy being surrounded by cousins.
“Paige!” Her brother’s friendly but puzzled voice came over the phone. “It’s good to hear from you.”
No sense beating around the bush. “I’m—” A lump clogged Paige’s throat. “I’m thinking of moving back to Texas. Wanted to sound you out about medical practices.”
“Really? That’s great.” A brief pause. “Mind if I ask why? I’m thrilled, but I had the impression you were settled out there.”
Let’s get this over with.
“I’m pregnant.” To head off the obvious questions, she added, “Intentionally. I used a donor.” If anyone in the family would understand, surely it was a fellow obstetrician.
“I see.” She pictured Dermot as he’d looked at the funeral: a rangy six-plus footer, his once-bright russet hair turning gray. “Um, congratulations. We’ll be glad to have you. Don’t forget you’ll need a Texas medical license. That can take a few months.”
“I know.” She’d already checked the information on the internet.
“You’re serious about this? Coming back here, I mean.”
“I’m seriously considering it.”
“We might very well have room for you in our practice. I’m sure Gray would agree.” That was his longtime medical partner. “We’ve got more patients than we can handle.”
“Terrific!” This might work out better than she’d hoped, Paige thought, trying to ignore the tightening in her gut. Considering that she’d dropped a big surprise on her brother, he was responding with as much enthusiasm as she could expect. “If things work out for me to join you, I’ll want to buy into the practice. This may be premature, but I’m mentioning it so you and Gray can consider it now.”
“You mean, join as an equal partner?”
“That’s the idea.” It seemed a good idea for her future stability. Also, her brother was in his early fifties. While retirement was still more than a decade away, at some point he and Gray would want to hand over the reins to a younger generation.
He cleared his throat. “That might be something to consider later. Initially, let’s talk about you joining as an employee. Once the baby comes, you’ll only want to work part-time anyway.”
“Perhaps for a few months, but I plan to return full-time.”
“Sweetie, take it from me. Once you hold that baby in your arms, you’ll be astonished how much you change.”
A flare of resentment nearly overwhelmed Paige’s usually even temper. Of course she knew that motherhood would affect her, but if she chose to invest her money and make a commitment, she was experienced and adult enough to own that decision.
Nearby, the front door opened. Her body tingled as Mike strolled out, jeans hugging his muscular legs and a sky-blue polo shirt emphasizing his tanned throat and neck. After a nod of greeting, he settled into a lounge chair near Paige and opened his laptop on his knees.
“We’ll have to discuss this further, Dermot,” she said. “As I said, I’m not ready to…”
“Have you spoken to your sisters?”
“Not yet.” Paige supposed she’d have to. No use trying to keep her pregnancy confidential now. Her brother would tell Billy Lee, and she’d hit the dial button so fast she’d sprain her finger.
“Give them a call. You could use some mature advice at a time like this,” Dermot said.
And you could use a good kick in the big-brother syndrome.
“I’ll consider what we discussed.”
“Gray and I would like to have a female on staff. The patients would love it. Paige, I’m doing you a favor by not letting you rush into something. Things are going to be very different once the baby comes.”
“We’ll talk again, bro.”
“You bet, kiddo.”
After ending the call, Paige fought down the temptation to throw her phone across the patio. That would be childish, and it might damage the device. Instead, she stomped her feet against the bricks in a rapid drumbeat, before reflecting that that was pretty immature, too. But less expensive.
Looking up from his work, Mike regarded her in amusement. “One of your brothers?”
“He called me ‘sweetie’ and ‘kiddo’! He wants me to join his practice as an employee and work part-time after I give birth.” Paige’s fists pummeled the air. “Rat fink! Sexist twit!”
“You cuss like a girl.”
“Don’t you start!” she roared.
Mike’s chuckle faded into pensiveness. “You’re really planning to move to Texas?”
“Maybe. I failed to consider how annoying families can be.” Wistfully, she added, “Not yours.”
“They’ve been known to rub me the wrong way.”
Her irritation subsiding, Paige gazed fondly at the man who’d made heart-stopping love to her last night. “I like having you around to yell at.”
Regret shadowed his blue-gray eyes. “Me, too. Paige, I’m sorry this isn’t working out.”
His quiet resignation hurt more than any accusing words. “Me, too.” Her phone buzzed. “Probably one of my sisters. That was quick.” She’d guessed wrong, she discovered from the display. “It’s the hospital. Gotta go help perform a few miracles.”
“Returning to Texas—you won’t be happy there. I mean, you’ve got this great home, and your friends at the hospital.”
“It’s just one option on my plate.” She waited, hoping he would add that she had him, too, at least for now.
“See you later, Doc,” Mike said, and returned to his computer.
More hurt than she’d expected, Paige got to her feet. Her alternative of moving to Texas was becoming less appealing by the minute. But staying here without Mike wasn’t an option she relished, either.
Well, she was in charge of her life, and one way or the other, she planned to make the best of things.
Chapter Fifteen
Mike couldn’t even go to the bathroom without the latest copy of
Today’s Baby
staring at him from the magazine rack. Did every edition have to feature an adorable tyke beaming from the cover? Just once, they ought to show an unshaven, bleary-eyed father with a soiled receiving blanket slung over his shoulder.
Flipping the thing open, he scowled at the articles on decorating a nursery and ads for baby furniture. It didn’t seem right that he’d moved out of one house in part to escape the pending arrival of his nephew, only to learn that his new, comfortable bedroom was to be transformed into yet another baby haven.
Unless Paige moved to Texas. He hoped she’d reconsider after the way her brother had reduced her to a fury. Still, that wouldn’t do Mike any good.
As he stuffed the magazine into its rack, a funny thing happened to his peripheral vision. The almond-eyed tot on the cover transformed, for a flash, into a cocky little boy with red hair and freckles.
His kid. And Paige’s.
Give me a break!
Back to work. On the patio, Mike ignored the increasing numbers of pedestrians flip-flopping their way to the beach. Holiday weekend, emerging sunshine, and here he sat knocking his brains out trying to get a break in the Kendall prototype theft. If it didn’t happen soon, Reese would have no choice but to call in the feds and let them run amok through his company. To Mike, that meant failure.
His
failure to his most important client.
He’d been trying since Thursday to get hold of Doug Loughlin, but the engineer had left early for the holiday weekend and apparently wasn’t answering his calls. Or maybe the guy had something to hide.
An alert popped up on the screen. Mike had registered for alerts on key figures in case any of them hit the internet, which Roy Hightower had just done.
Mike clicked a link that connected him to
On the Prowl in OC
, an Orange County video news program hosted by Ian Martin, a former international reporter who’d married Safe Harbor Medical’s public relations director a couple of years ago and settled here to write books on medical and social issues. His latest was entitled
Unexpecting: The Surprising Impact of Modern Fertility Treatments.
But while his program usually dealt with medical issues, he’d branched out into California politics, as well. Mike watched occasionally to keep tabs on developments that might affect his company.
When he started the video, Mike recognized the setting immediately: a custom pool overlooking a spectacular view of the harbor. He’d seen that same view when he’d met with Gemma Hightower at her home.
Seated beside her husband, she wore a plastic smile and a flowing blue pantsuit with an American flag pinned to the collar, coordinated with Roy’s blue jacket, red pin-striped shirt and white pants. At right angles to them, the show’s lean, blond host faced the camera with practiced ease.
“Safe Harbor Mayor Roy Hightower has just announced his candidacy for the state assembly in next year’s elections. His wife, Gemma, is serving as campaign manager. Mayor, why are you making the announcement so early?”
Someone must have applied makeup to the mayor’s jowly face, because no shine broke through the smooth finish, Mike noted. Every aspect of this announcement had been choreographed.
“My wife encouraged me to throw my hat in the ring early to kick off the fundraising and let any potential opponents know they’re up against the front-runner.” Behind the smile that Roy cast at Gemma, Mike caught a hint of appeal. “I rely on my wife above everything. We will celebrate our thirtieth anniversary this fall. I’m prouder of that than of all my accomplishments in business and city government.”
To Mike, the comment explained a lot. Knowing her husband’s political ambitions, Gemma Hightower had most likely confronted him about his cheating and insisted on this move. Increased media attention plus the threat of an ugly divorce torpedoing his chances must have forced him to end the affair, or at any rate put it on hold. With one stroke, Gemma had bested her rival and cemented her own position as vital to her husband’s future.
Mike missed whatever Roy said next. Then the camera pulled back to reveal a fourth participant in the interview, and he nearly stopped breathing.
“I’m here to let everyone know I support Mayor Hightower as our future assemblyman,” said the familiar voice of Safe Harbor Police Chief Jon Walters. With his cropped hair and military bearing, the man commanded instant respect. And deserved it.
His support carried a lot of weight. When the day came for Mike to run for county sheriff, he’d intended to ask for the chief’s endorsement.
Maybe it was a good thing that he hadn’t been able to pin any wrongdoing on Roy. Doing so now would publicly embarrass Chief Walters.
Still, Mike’s first obligation was to his client. He watched the rest of the interview, only half listening to the discussion of issues facing the state legislature. Then he put in yet another call to Doug Loughlin’s number.
* * *
B
Y
LATE
AFTERNOON
,
WHEN
Paige finally got a break from delivering babies, she still hadn’t heard from her sisters. Were they angry with her for some reason, or just too tied up today to react to the news?
Might as well get this over with.
She wanted to clear the air before she decided whether to live near them.
Resting on a couch in the doctors’ lounge, Paige put in a call to Juno. It would have been easier to start with Maeve, since, as the eldest, Juno tended to be bossy. But if Paige couldn’t face the queen bee, she certainly wasn’t strong enough to take on the entire clan.
By the fifth ring, she was about to give up when her sister’s softly accented voice said, “Paige? I’ve been wondering when we’d hear from you.”
“I’m on call at the hospital today,” she answered, avoiding any trace of apology. No sense starting off in an inferior position. “You’ve heard from Billy Lee, I gather.”
“She was all too happy to get the jump on me.” In the background, a TV set blared. “Just a minute. Aldo’s watching baseball. I’ll take the phone into the kitchen.”
“I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“That’s no problem. Just a silly old ball game. Hold on a sec. I trip over my feet if I talk while I’m moving.”
Listening to background rustling, Paige could picture her sister walking through the sprawling ranch-style house where she and her husband, Aldo, had raised three children and where the family held Christmas gatherings. Paige had missed the last one. So soon after Bree’s death, she’d have been a drag on everyone else’s holiday spirit.
“You still there, honey?” Juno asked.
“Still here.” Paige glanced up as Jared Sellers’s dark head poked into the lounge. The neonatologist brightened when he spotted her, then noticed she was on the phone and withdrew.
“When’s your little darling due?” asked her sister.
“Early February.” As she spoke, Paige realized she hadn’t even considered the fact that she’d have to switch doctors if she moved. But things might not happen that fast, what with the need to sell her house and qualify for a Texas medical license.
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you’re doing this without a husband. That’s Aunt Bree’s influence,” Juno said. “I don’t mean to criticize.”
“Okay,” Paige said guardedly.
“Before we go any further, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”
Her sister had secrets? “Oh?”
“The reason we couldn’t go to Aunt Bree’s funeral, or whatever you call that service she had, is because Maeve was being treated for breast cancer.”
Their middle sister had only said she didn’t feel well, not that she was fighting for her life. “I wish she’d told me.”
“You had enough on your plate,” Juno said briskly. “Anyhow, Maeve’s fine now. They caught it early thanks to her mammogram. She had surgery and radiation, and everything looks good.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Paige said. “I’ll call her.”
“She’d like that,” Juno agreed. “And, honey, don’t let Dermot push you around. If you want to come back here and practice with some other doctor, that’s just fine. Billy Lee eavesdropped on that whole conversation—you know her—and we both think he’s being a sexist pig. I mean that in the nicest way.”
Paige laughed. She’d missed Juno’s sense of humor. “I haven’t made a decision yet, but one way or the other, I’ll visit you all as soon as I can arrange it.”
“If you don’t, Aldo and I are coming out there to California. My little sister is having a baby, and I do not intend to miss this.”
“I’d love to see you both.” Paige wound up the conversation quickly, and dialed Maeve’s number. To her relief, her other sister sounded robust and energetic.
“I’m doing great,” Maeve confirmed. “Sorry I didn’t tell you in December but I’m not the type to throw a pity party.”
“That’s a lot to go through,” Paige pointed out.
“Darling, I’m a nurse. I’ve seen it all.” Maeve’s remark reminded Paige that her sister was in her midforties. Hard to believe. “And June Bug—” her pet name for Juno “—swamped my kitchen with casseroles and pies. She gave me all the mothering I could’ve asked for. Maybe more.”
They chatted for awhile longer about her husband and four kids, including a married daughter with a toddler. After the call ended, nostalgia and longing swept over Paige. Even though common sense warned that the euphoria of a reunion would quickly wear off, she couldn’t wait to see her sisters again.
In the doorway, Jared reappeared. “Listen, I’m on my way out, but I had to let you know the good news. Lori took a pregnancy test and it’s positive.”
“That’s wonderful!” Paige decided to hold off on sharing the news of her own pregnancy. “Congratulations, Dad.”
“We’re over the moon. And it’s another credit for you in the contest.”
“As if that mattered!”
“It puts you in third position, right after Owen and Mark,” the father-to-be said cheerfully. “In any case, we’re glad you’ll be delivering her. Lori feels comfortable with you.”
“I’ll be honored.” Only after Jared vanished did it strike Paige that she might be gone by then.
Erica was scheduled to deliver in November, the contest climaxed in December, and now Lori was expecting a baby next spring. How could Paige bear to miss those events?
She lurched to her feet. Time to check on her patients in labor. Her decision would have to wait.
* * *
O
N
THE
COMPUTER
SCREEN
, Mike watched the engineer’s thin face crease with outrage. Home from a camping trip, Doug Loughlin had returned his call a few minutes ago via Skype and immediately made a damning connection. Unless there were holes in his story, it was likely to derail Roy’s political career…and indirectly, Mike’s.
“Of all the people I wouldn’t have suspected, Mayor Hightower is near the top of the list.” Behind the man, the camera showed his home office bristling with electronic equipment. “I feel like flying out to California and strangling him. He played me for a fool.”
“You’re certain of this?” Although he’d heard the account once, Mike wasn’t satisfied. With so much at stake, he’d better review the details. “Walk me through it again.”
“No problem.” The engineer plunged ahead. “Like I said, I didn’t think twice about leaving him alone in the house while he staged it for buyers. Frankly, I was impressed with his initiative. My wife had gone to Phoenix to look for a new house. It seemed like a big favor that he was willing to pack away some of the stuff and rearrange things a little.”
“You’re certain about the laptop?”
“In retrospect, I was an idiot,” Doug grumbled, clenching his hands atop his cluttered desk. “It was defragging and I needed to run errands, so I left it on. Of course, it finished before I got back, so it was just sitting there, unguarded.”
By itself, Roy’s being alone with the laptop proved nothing. “And you clearly remember…”
“When I came in, like I told you, he was in my office. He pointed my attention out the window, yammering about how I needed to get the bushes trimmed. Later I found a message on the screen about failing to disconnect a device properly. The kind of warning you get if you pull out a flash drive in a hurry.”
“But you thought nothing of it?”
“Obviously, I should have. But after I walked him to the door, it must have been ten or fifteen minutes before I sat down to work. When I saw the warning, I didn’t associate it with Roy’s being in the room. I’d copied a file earlier and I figured I’d made the mistake myself. I do tend to get distracted.”
“I understand.” Around Mike, the early-evening light etched deep shadows onto the brick patio.
“What happens now?”
“I’ll take this to Reese tomorrow,” Mike said. “After that, it’s up to him.”
“The man stole our prototype!” Doug fumed. “He cost us a bundle. Not to mention betraying our trust. He deserves to be marched away in handcuffs.”
Probably true, although more investigation would be needed. If Doug himself had committed the theft, he had reason to lie about the mayor. But Mike’s instincts sided with the engineer. He just wished that Roy Hightower’s downfall wasn’t likely to create a problem for Chief Walters.