A Baby in the Bargain. Victoria Pade
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approached the coffee shop from his car.
He averted his eyes the minute she caught him at it and fidgeted just the slightest bit.
Jani did a quick check of her blouse buttons but they were all fastened; as far as she could tell, nothing was amiss, so she wasn’t sure what about the way she looked made him even slightly ill at ease.
She just hoped she didn’t look as if she were trying too hard. Or worse yet, as though she were trying to seduce him with the blouse and the shoes. And her better butt-hugging slacks…
Maybe she should put her coat back on. But she was afraid that would seem odd, so she decided she just had to weather whatever was going on with him.
When their coffees were ready they took them to a bistro table in a corner where they sat across from each other. Jani laid her coat over the third, unused chair.
“I was glad you called,” she began, opting for friendliness even if he wasn’t. “But I would have met you during business hours—I don’t want to keep you away from your wife and family…”
Yes, she was fishing. There wasn’t a wedding ring but that didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t married. Or didn’t have kids. And wasn’t that the underlying reason she was doing any of this—to get to know the man? It wasn’t that she was curious herself….
“I’m divorced,” he said curtly, giving her no more information than that. “But I suppose you didn’t like leaving your husband home alone.”
Was he fishing, too? After all, the lack of a ring on a woman’s finger was a dead giveaway, wasn’t it? Or had he just not noticed?
She held up her left hand, showing him the back of it. “I’m not married,” she said.
But then she recalled spilling the contents of her purse the evening before.
Of course he would assume that a book about getting pregnant would mean there was a husband in the picture.
“Oh, because of the book,” she said when light dawned on her. “No, no husband. Not even a fiancé or a boyfriend currently. I’m just not letting that stop me from having a baby.”
No, no, no, she hadn’t really said that, had she? Un-filtered thoughts right out of her mouth—always a mis-take!
Not that she was hiding her plan to have a baby on her own. She’d vowed that if she were going to do it, it would be without making excuses or being ashamed of it. She was going to do it proudly and joyously. The way having a baby should be.
But she was talking to Gideon Thatcher. He was a stranger and a man who didn’t like the Camdens on principle. This was not a situation where it was appropriate to talk about her baby plan.
Not that Gideon Thatcher said anything to encourage her to share more information. He was staring into his coffee cup without making any comment at all.
Then he changed the subject. “I’ve thought about the Camdens wanting to do something for Lakeview in my great-grandfather’s name.”
All business. Good, Jani thought, tasting her own latte and merely raising her eyebrows at him in question rather than trusting herself to say something else she shouldn’t.
“I’ve been thinking for a while about a community center there,” he continued. “Something that offers recreation, low-cost day care and preschool, and adult education to help retrain people who might want to escape working in the Camden factories and warehouses, or develop more skills to help them move up the ladder within your organization. But it isn’t in the budget, and I haven’t been able to come up with the extra funding.”
“The Franklin Thatcher Community Center,” Jani suggested.
“I have a building in mind that would meet the requirements, but it’s been out of use for over a dozen years and needs some serious repair, remodeling and even some reconstruction. Not to mention landscaping to create sports fields and a playground to serve the day care and preschool. Plus there’s staffing, operating costs—”
“But it sounds like something that would really benefit Lakeview and be nice to have your great-grandfather’s name on,” Jani observed.
“It isn’t just a simple park,” he pointed out with a challenging arch to one of his own eyebrows.
“No, but it seems worthwhile. Something good to give back to the community.” And something that was definitely going to cost…
He relaxed slightly more in his chair and seemed to reach unconsciously for his tie, loosening it, unbuttoning the collar button that had come out from hiding behind it.
Then he stretched his neck a little. His head swayed to the right, then to the left, his chin jutted forward, and for some reason Jani saw it all in slow motion.
She savored every nuance, finding every detail somehow enticing. And suddenly she felt fidgety herself.
Was that why he’d been fidgeting when she’d taken off her coat? Was it possible that he’d liked what he’d seen? That he’d felt enticed by it?
Probably not, she told herself, knowing that she shouldn’t entertain such thoughts. Not with this man and not at this juncture in her life.
And yet if the way he looked and the simplest of gestures could entice her, it helped to think that she might be able to entice him a little, too. Anything that gave an inkling that he didn’t have complete contempt for her was a plus. It helped her feel as if they were on more equal territory. And she’d take whatever crumbs she could get.
“So, if it’s worthwhile, are the Camdens willing to foot the bill?” he asked, repeating her term with a tinge of insolence. “Including staff salaries and operating expenses until the center becomes self-supporting?” There was a challenge in his tone, as well.
Jani pretended to consider what he was asking even though her instructions were to do whatever he wanted. He was asking a lot, after all. She looked into her own coffee cup. Letting silence reign for a moment, she took another drink of her latte.
Then she said, “Of course I’ll have to run the actual numbers by my family, but I think a community center is a great idea and I think they all will, too.”
“In my great-grandfather’s name? Without strings attached, the Camdens won’t profit from it now or at any time in the future—in fact it could be instrumental in costing them warehouse and factory workers. And the donation will be absolutely anonymous, there won’t be a single drop of credit to your family….”
His terms and more challenge.
“Agreed,” Jani said simply.
“It’s going to cost a hell of a lot more than a park,” he warned unnecessarily.
“The money isn’t the point,” Jani said sincerely. “We just want to do something for the community that honors your great-grandfather.”
Gideon Thatcher took a turn at letting silence reign, studying her.
Then he said, “That’s some kind of big guilt you people are showing.”
Jani met him eye to eye. “I know you believe the worst, but there is another side to this that I might tell you when you’re ready to hear it.”
“Is that so?”
“It is,” she said, holding her ground calmly, quietly, but with conviction.
His great green eyes stayed steady on her for a long moment. While Jani knew he was once again gauging her motives and whether there was some hidden trap or conspiracy in this, she also had the sense that he was looking beyond the fact that she was a Camden and sizing her up as her own person.
His expression didn’t reveal the conclusion he came to, though.
“I suppose we should start with you taking a look at the building and getting an idea of what you’re