Broken Wings (28 page)

“And we should probably plan an announcement party. Let everyone know we are back together and about the baby,” he suggested behind her.

“Maybe we should wait until I’m a little farther along to make baby announcements.” She kept her eyes on the frolicking squirrels as she spoke.

“You’re probably right,” he agreed. “Then we’ll just have a party to let everyone know we are a couple again.”

Pamela smiled as the squirrels ran down the tree and across the lawn. She turned back to Bob. “What about Clarissa? Shouldn’t we wait for your divorce to be final before you start planning parties?”

Bob grinned. “Clarissa and I had a pre-nuptial agreement. If she gives me any shit in the divorce, or discredits my reputation in any way, she loses any claims to her settlement. Trust me, that pre-nup is iron clad.” He looked at his watch. “We’d better get going. I don’t want you to be late for your first appointment with Dr. Holdford.”

*  *  *  *

Carl Holdford was a robust, round man with bright blue eyes, had a long scar over the top of his bald head, and walked with a limp as he stepped into the exam room. When he spotted Pamela and Bob seated in two chairs next to the exam table, he smiled.

“I got your old charts and your most recent labs from Dr. Derbois, Pamela,” Dr. Holdford said, opening her chart and taking a stool across from the couple. “And I’m concerned about your kidney function, as well as your blood pressure.” He looked down at the paperwork. “My nurse got one fifty over ninety-eight a few minutes ago, and I see your blood pressure has always run a little high on your visits to Dr. Derbois,” he added.

Bob turned to her, his eyes flecked with concern. “Since when d
id you have pressure problems?”

Pamela shrugged. “Started about two years ago,” she replied.

“I want to find out if it is your kidneys, or if we are dealing with another issue here,” Dr. Holdford clarified, sounding a little more serious than before.

“What other issues?” Bob quickly asked.

“Your fiancée could have a compromised vascular system, making it harder for her heart to pump the extra blood and fluid a pregnancy can introduce into the body. We already know her kidneys are not functioning as well as I would like for someone about to embark on a pregnancy. We can control her blood pressure with medication that won’t affect the baby in any way.” He turned to Pamela. “You need to be aware, Pamela, that my goal for this pregnancy is to get you to eight months with as few problems as possible. At that time, we’ll take the baby via c-section. I don’t think going to full term for a woman in your condition is advisable. You also need to be prepared to spend part of this pregnancy in bed, if necessary.”

“I’m in the process of hiring someone to take over my facility. I rehab wildlife,” she explained. “I have applicants coming in this afternoon, in fact, to interview for the position.”

Dr. Holdford nodded. “Your fiancé told me about what you do, and I have to agree with him that you need to have as little contact with wildlife as possible now. If you were to get an infection from a scratch or bite it could prove deadly to the baby.”

“And she’s going to be moving in with me,” Bob disclosed. “I want her in the city and close to you and the local hospitals.”

“Glad to hear it.” Dr. Holdford closed the chart in his hands. “I know that both of you are aware that this could be a difficult pregnancy, and you need to be prepared. As time goes on and the baby grows, Pamela, your level of fatigue will increase. And that fatigue could continue until well after the baby is born, so you will need to make plans for additional assistance in caring for the child. I have had several lupus patients, and they usually report increased joint pain during, and after, their pregnancy. But every woman is different and your complaints may not be the same as theirs, so we will deal with issues as they come up.” He stood from his stool. “So let’s take a look at you and see where we are.”

When Dr. Holdford waved Pamela up onto the exam table, the color drained from Bob’s face.

“Bob, why don’t you go back into the waiting room?” Pamela suggested as she stood from her chair.

Bob just nodded and bolted for the door.

Dr. Holdford watched as Bob shut the exam room door closed behind him. “Is he okay?” he asked.

“He has a phobia about doctors and hospitals. I’m surprised he lasted this long,” she admitted.

Dr. Holdford gave her a worried glance. “And what do you think he will do in the delivery room?”

Pamela shook her head, already knowing the answer to that question. “I’m sure he won’t be in the delivery room, Dr. Holdford,” she told him
.

“Is he going to be able to help you through this, Pamela?” he asked, looking even more troubled.

“I’ve got no one else. Bob’s all there is.”

Two hours later, Pamela pulled up in front of her cottage feeling worn out. She still had an afternoon of interviews to get through to find her replacement, and the prospect of selecting someone to take over her beloved sanctuary felt overwhelming.

She got out of the truck and greeted each of the dogs. As she made her way to the porch steps, Rodney came out from some bushes near the side of the house and said hello. She scratched behind his silver-tipped ears and gave his back a long rub. The sunlight shimmered off the diamond in Pamela’s engagement ring and Rodney reached out with his front paws to grab at the shiny object.

“Oh, no, buddy,” Pamela chastised as she removed the ring from her finger and slipped it into her purse. “I can just see me explaining to Bob how a raccoon ate my ring.”

Satisfied with his moment of attention, Rodney waddled back into the bushes. Pamela climbed the steps to her front door and went inside.

She had just retrieved a cup of tea from the microwave and was going to have five minutes of peace with her feet curled up on the couch when the dogs started barking. A few seconds later, she heard a car pulling up to her house.

Pamela looked over at the clock on the microwave and silently cursed. The first of her interviews was over half an hour early. She put the tea down on the coffee table and went to the front door. Then she noticed the silence.

“That’s odd,” she said to herself as she reached for the doorknob. “This one must be really good with animals.”

She opened the door and saw a tall man hunched over in her driveway with his back to her, petting each of the dogs.

“You’re pretty good with animals,” she called out.

At the sound of her voice, the man turned to greet her.

“Daniel,” she gasped.

“Hello, Pamela,” Daniel said as he took a step closer to the house. All the dogs followed close behind him.

She walked out to the porch and gazed down at him. He appeared to be a little leaner and his eyes had dark circles beneath them. His skin seemed paler and his warm features looked strained, as if all of the burdens in his life had finally come to etch their way across his face. This was a wearier version of the Daniel she had known before his disappearance from her life.

“How are you?” he asked as he climbed the steps to her porch.

She took in a deep breath and nodded. “I’m fine,” she said. “How are you?” she inquired, trying to sound upbeat.

He came up to her and peered into her cool gray eyes. “I’m fine,” he replied with a faint smile.

“Liar,” she murmured. “You look like shit.”

His smile widened. “Shit does not suit you, Pamela. Why don’t you try crap, or even hell, but not shit.” He took a step closer to her.

She laughed. “Well, you still look like shit to me.”

“You look wonderful to me,” he whispered.

An uncomfortable moment of silence filled the air between them. There were so many things to say, but neither said a word.

Seconds ticked by and Pamela could feel the strain building between them. The smell of his spicy cologne encircled her and instantly flashes of their night together invaded her thoughts. Her pulse quickened as her body yearned for his. Pamela fought to maintain control as their silence persisted. Unable to stand it any longer, she finally asked, “What happened to you, Daniel?”

He took in a deep breath and turned away. “The day after the party Bob came to see me.”

“Your landlady told me about that,” she confirmed. “I went to your place looking for you and she mentioned that Bob had been there.”

Daniel walked to the porch railing. “Yeah, T.J. said you had stopped by. I dropped my bags off at my old place before I headed out here.”

“So how long are you staying in New Orleans?”

He turned back to her and rested his hip against the railing. “Long enough to open a new office for my father. He wants to expand his import business, and he asked me to come down here and get it going.”

“Is that where you went, back home to work with your father?”

He nodded.

“Why? I thought you said you and your father didn’t get along.”

“It was part of a deal I made with him.” He paused and ran his hands through his hair. “When Bob came to my place, he told me he was going to stop giving you money unless I left town. He said he was going to have the loan called on your facility. He wanted me out of your life. I didn’t want to leave, so I called my old man and asked him for the balance of my trust fund. I wanted to make sure Bob couldn’t hurt you. My old man agreed to transfer the money from my trust fund over to you, but he had one condition; I had to come home and take over the business. I figured I had no choice but to go. It was the only way I could make sure you would always be safe from Bob.” He slowly walked up to her.

“You could have said something to me,” she argued. “You could have called and told me what was going on. Asked me what I wanted to do. We could have talked about it.”

He rubbed his hand across his chin as he stopped in front of her. “You would have stubbornly refused my offer. And you probably would have gone back to Bob and kissed his ass until he was appeased.”

Pamela looked down at the porch deck beneath her feet. “You don’t know that,” she whispered.

He raised her chin with his hand until her eyes met his. “I know you,” he declared. “The only problem with my whole plan was that once you had the money I believed you wouldn’t need me anymore. I figured you would forget about me and I hoped I would forget about you. But then my father returned from his recent business trip and told me that he had met you.” Daniel removed his hand from beneath her chin. “Then he ordered me to pack my bags and move back to New Orleans.”

“So why are you here?”

He placed his hands behind his back. “Because my father said I was an idiot to ever leave you and he was right.” He inched closer to her. “I know what I did was wrong and I’m sorry I didn’t call or tell you
—
”

“Look, Daniel,” she said, cutting him off. “I’m not going to stand here and pretend your running off didn’t hurt. It did, but things have changed and I really can’t take your money.” She turned and walked back into her house.

Daniel followed her inside. “What’s changed? I want to be with you and I hoped you would want to be with me. I thought we could talk this through.”

She went over to her desk and picked up the envelope Edward Phillips had given to her. She turned back to him, trying to keep the storm of emotions swirling inside of her hidden from view. “And then what, Daniel? Date? Spend a few more nights in bed and see how it goes?”

“Pamela, this is new territory for me,” he said, impatiently. “I want us to have a chance together.”

She walked across the living room to him and held out the large brown envelope. “When you left, you blew any chance we ever had. Here, I don’t want your money. I don’t need it.”

He looked down at the envelope but did not reach for it. “What do you mean you don’t need it?” he questioned, glaring at her. “When I left Bob was about to cut you off at the knees.”

She avoided his eyes and focused instead on the envelope in her hand. “Bob and I have come to an understanding.”

There was silence. She raised her eyes and caught sight of Daniel’s face. His mouth was pulled tight in a painful grimace and the menacing darkness had returned to his eyes.

“I never thought you were the kind of woman to sell yourself to a man, even to save your facility,” he growled.

“It’s not like that,” she refuted as she raised her head high. “I have had some medical problems lately, and Bob has been there for me.”

Daniel cursed and threw his hands in the air. “You’ve been sick!” he shouted, sounding more hurt than angry. “Why didn’t you say something to me?”

“Because you weren’t here, Daniel. Bob was, and he has promised to continue to be there for me. I realized after you left that I do need someone to help me. I need someone I can count on.”

“And you think Bob is going to be there for you? After what he did to you the first time round, how on earth can you trust him again?”

“Where in the hell were you, Daniel?! When things got tough, you ran. You showed me the kind of man you are and
—
”

“I left to protect you!” he shouted.

“Protect me! You ran off leaving me…” She shut her mouth and turned away from him.