CHAPTER TWO

      “SO THIS BABY THING is the reason you didn’t feel like working today?” Seth asked as he walked her to her car fifteen minutes later. He seemed huge and intimidating in his expensive overcoat.

      And he was making her mad again with his refusal to take her seriously about the baby. If she couldn’t convince Seth, how in hell was she ever going to convince Michael? But because she didn’t want to face the fact that she might not be able to convince either one of them, Susan let his comment go.

      To a point.

      “No,” she finally answered him, studying the shadowy trail her breath left on the air.

      They’d reached her Infiniti, and Seth opened the door she’d unlocked with her antitheft device as they’d approached. “I’ve actually got a small problem at work that was making me wish I was somewhere else this morning.”

      “A small problem?” Seth leaned into the car, one arm on the hood, one on the open door. “That means there’s something major coming down. What is it?” He paused, frowning again. “Your job isn’t in jeopardy, is it?”

      Susan laughed then, but without much humor. “Hardly.” They both knew she could write her own ticket as far as Halliday Headgear for Sports was concerned. She’d saved them enough money over the years to buy them out twice.

      “Then what is it?”

      “Just a case I’m working on. No big deal.” Susan started the car, turning the heat up full blast.

      “Is Halliday in trouble?”

      “Nope.”

      “You going to tell me, or you want me to just keep asking questions until my ass freezes?”

      “It’s nothing, really.” Susan grinned up at him. “Just a little suit I could have won even before I attended law school.”

      “And?”

      It was annoying how well Seth knew her. She’d have to remember to stay away from him when she was having birthday blues in the future. “I just feel for this boy, okay? His face mask snapped, a production problem with one of the hinges. The kid suffered a subdural hematoma which is pushing against his brain, causing paralysis on one side of his body. His father’s out of work and the family doesn’t have insurance. They don’t have money for surgery, let alone the months of physical therapy he’s going to need.”

      “If his face mask malfunctioned, isn’t Halliday responsible?”

      “We would be if he’d been wearing it to play softball—the mask’s intended use.”

      “Why was he wearing it?”

      Susan looked up at her brother. “He was playing soccer.”

      “Halliday’s getting off on a technicality?”

      “A big one.”

      “And the kid?”

      Susan shrugged. “I don’t know. Even if the surgery’s performed, he’s not going to be able to walk again without rehabilitation.” She took a deep breath. “I could win this one for him if I were on his side. I know of a loophole that would override ours.” “Damn!” Seth whistled. “You sure as hell don’t need to be wasting energy worrying about babies, Susan. Sounds like you’ve got some soul-searching to do a lot closer to home.”

      “Yeah.” She’d be doing some soul-searching, all right, but having a baby was about as close to home as she could get.

      A MESSAGE FROM Michael was waiting for her back at the office. Susan was inordinately disappointed to have missed his call. Especially in light of the dissatisfying hour and a half she’d just spent with her punk of a brother. Who the hell did he think he was telling her she wasn’t mother material? How would he know?

      Of course she was mother material. She just hadn’t had the occasion to use those maternal skills or instincts or whatever they were...yet. But she would as soon as she could.

      Her fingers didn’t falter this time as she punched out Michael’s number. She had a goal. A purpose. And no one was going to stop her.

      “I’m sorry, Ms. Kennedy, Mr. Kennedy is out of town today....”

      And that about summed up the day for her, Susan thought as she dropped the phone back in its cradle. He’d left town on her birthday. He’d left town without telling her. What in hell was the world coming to?

      She listened indifferently to the remainder of her messages. Her father had called to wish her happy birthday. No round of golf for her. Only her brothers got that invitation for their birthdays. Julie, her brother Scott’s wife, not only called to wish her happy birthday, but to invite her to little Joey’s second birthday party the following week. Scott was her oldest brother. And her least favorite. He was so much like their dad he made her crazy. But he was a good man and when she was in a normal mood, she had to love him.

      Spencer, the doctor in the family and the youngest brother, had called for him and Barbara, his wife, who was also a doctor. What was this? It seemed as if everyone was ganging up on her. Like there was a conspiracy to make her feel better or something. Did they know how miserable she felt? How much she wished the day would just go away?

      The thought gave her chills. She didn’t want any of them to guess that she wasn’t just hunky dory and happy-go-lucky with her perfect little life. She’d been defending it to them forever, and she’d bloat up and burst if she suddenly had to eat all those words.

      Besides, Stephen and Sean hadn’t called yet. Which meant no conspiracy was afoot. Sean, the brother between Seth and Spencer, was the organizer of mutinies in the family. He’d have been the first to call and gloat if he thought he had a way to get to her. And Stephen? Well, she wouldn’t be surprised to get a birthday call from him sometime in March. If it weren’t for the fact that he was a renowned nuclear scientist, she’d worry about his IQ. The man was about as clueless as they came. He was also closest to Susan in age, being only one year her senior. He was going to hit forty this year.

      Snatching the phone back up, Susan buzzed her assistant. “I’ll be out for the rest of the day,” she said the second Jill answered. She didn’t want to enter into any discussions