Chapter 14

She spent the next day in bed, and he worked from home with her.

“You don’t have to babysit me.” She told him when she woke up at noon.

“It’s part of my job description. He had been sitting on the sofa facing the bed and saw when she stirred.

Putting away the brief he had been reading, he sat on the bed”s edge. Brushing back tendrils of her hair from her forehead, he peered at her closely. “How are you?”

“I feel drained.”

“And hungry?”

She nodded.

“I will call down for something. What are you in the mood for?”

She shrugged listlessly. “Anything.”

“I will decide.” Tilting her face up, he kissed her gently and would have moved away when her arms came around him, and she clung.

“Make love to me.”

He started, looking down at her with a frown. “You have been through the wringer regarding emotions and have not eaten anything since yesterday morning. I am not a monster.”

“I need you.”

“You need sustenance, and I will see to it that you get it.” Unlinking her hands from around his neck, he pressed her against the pillows and watched as she closed her eyes. Planting a kiss on her cheek, he rose and made his way out of the bedroom.

Opening her eyes, Nikki stared blindly at the doorway. Her mother was dead. She had given up on life. After the death of her husband, Norma Johnston decided that life was not worth living, even though there was a child involved. That was the matter, and it hurt so much that she could barely stand it.

Feeling the fresh tears behind her eyes, she furiously blinked them away. It was time to stop this nonsense. She was mourning for a woman who had not loved her the way a mother should.

Climbing off the bed, she made her way into the bathroom to take a shower.

She was pulling the t-shirt over her leggings when he returned bearing a heavy silver tray that looked like the housekeeper had sent up the entire kitchen.

“You are up.” He observed with a pleased smile.

“I am.” She nodded to the tray. “Is there any food left in the kitchen?”

“Breakfast and lunch. Want to eat out on the patio?”

“I would love that. Let me get a wrap.” Selecting one from the vast closet, she slipped her feet into comfortable mules and followed him out.

“It’s getting chilly.”

“Fall is almost upon us.” Putting the tray on a side table, he gestured for her to sit. “Coffee and freshly squeezed OJ.”

“And bacon, eggs, strawberry preserves on wheat toast. Yummy.” She smiled at him and watched as he made her a plate.

“I want you to try and eat as much as possible.” He sat across from her and picked up his cup.

“You took care of me.”

“Part of my job.”

“You could have gone into the office.”

He shook his head. “Dad and Matthew are handling most of the meetings, and I rescheduled the rest.” His golden eyes wandered over her face. Her hair was scooped up on top of her head, with tendrils escaping the untidy topknot.

Her face was fresh and clean of makeup. She reminded him of a very pretty coed. “I bet you were a cheerleader in high school.”

She gave him a startled look at the turn of conversation. “Head cheerleader.” She admitted with a laugh.

“I should have known.”

“I was very active and competitive.”

“I never would have guessed.” He teased, happy to see some sort of normalcy going on with her. She had scared him yesterday and worried him with her hysterics.

Picking up the toast, she took a big bite, turning her head to stare out at the trees, bending in the brisk breeze. “It looks like we are going to get some rain,” she said.

“The weather is calling for it.” He did not want to mention the funeral arrangement in case it triggered another episode, but they were going to have to discuss it.

Taking a sip of his coffee, he ventured into the topic. “Mother, Grace, and Julia called.”

Turning to look at him, she braced herself. “The funeral?”

“I am afraid so. The funeral home called me about the arrangements as well.”

“Next Saturday,” she said briskly. “Viewing on Wednesday and the funeral on Saturday afternoon. I am going to have to contact her church. She was a Good Bible Baptist church member in my old neighborhood. I will call and speak to Pastor Johnson today.”

“If you want, I can do that.”

“No.” She shook her head. “It has to be me.” Scooping up fluffy eggs, she started eating. “I suppose I am going to have to discuss floral arrangements—no. Instead of floral arrangements, a donation can be made to the children’s ministry.” Nikki looked over at him.

“She was a Sunday school teacher.”

“I see. That’s a good idea.”

“I will make a list, and I will have to collect her personal things from the nursing home.”

“I will go with you.”

“Thanks.” She gave him a brief smile as she continued eating. “I am going to have to box up her stuff from the house and give it to charity, as well as put the house on the market.”

“Whoa.” He held up his hand. “You are selling the house?”

“Why not?” Picking up the glass of juice, she took a sip. “I don’t live there anymore and-”“It is your family home. We both know you are making this decision based on your emotions. How about you hold off for a few months and see how you feel?” He suggested.

“I have made up my mind.” She told him firmly. “Now, what do you have planned for the rest of the day?”

He opened his mouth to prolong the discussion but left it for another day. “Whatever you want to do. I am all yours.”

“In that case, let’s go for a drive.”

*****

“I am worried about her,” Marcel admitted to his mother when she called to check on Nikki later that day. “She is behaving as if everything is normal. She suggested we go for a drive after we ate, and we ended up at the minister’s home, where she discussed the funeral arrangements.”

“She called me to say she wanted to discuss the menu with us.”

“And afterward, we went to the nursing home to pack her mother’s things.” Walking over to the window, Marcel rubbed the back of his neck to try to release the tension.

“It’s one of the stages of grief.”

“Denial.”

“Where is she?”

“She is upstairs making her list. She wants to sell the house.”

“To get rid of the memories.”

“And she does not want to talk about her mother. I think she blames her for leaving her.”

“You have to allow her to go through all of these stages, darling. Will she be returning to the firm tomorrow?”

“No,” he said decisively. “I have to be there because I have some pressing things to attend to, but I want her to stay here and get some more rest.”

“She might believe she needs the distraction, darling.”

“What she needs is to start feeling. After that awful day of finding out about her mother, she has not shed a single tear.” Taking up his drink, he swallowed. “They were very close, at least; that was what I believed.”

“I think she is dealing with it the only way she knows how to. If she needs to talk, we are here.”

“Thanks, Mother.” Hanging up, he went to stand at the mantle, bracing an arm on the sculpted marble. Twirling the glass in his hand, he stared into the empty fireplace, a frown on his brow.

She was not behaving like a grieving person. His wife was jaunty and upbeat. When the man expressed his sincerity at the loss of a very good woman, Nikki made the careless comment that she was in a better place. “She is with the man she loved more than anything else. I am sure she is fine.”

The man looked at her with a strange expression and then moved on to other matters.

On the drive to the nursing home, she chatted about a case she was working on, and when he tried to bring up the topic of the house, she waved it aside. He even jokingly remarked that it should be left as a legacy for their children: “They won’t need that legacy.”

Tossing back his drink, he put away the glass and went upstairs. To find her naked.

Stopping in the center of the room, he felt every ounce of his blood rushing through his body to settle in his crotch.

The swift and powerful punch of lust staggered him, and he could not move, could only stare at the lithe figure stretched out on the Egyptian cotton sheets. Her hair was loose and spread out on the pillows, and she had a soft, seductive smile on her lush lips.

“Are you going just to stand there?” She asked huskily.

“I might. What are you doing?”

“What does it look like? I need my husband inside me. I have been waiting for the past ten minutes.”

“Darling, are you sure?”

Her tapered eyebrows lifted. “Are you going to stand there wondering if I am up to making love? I am naked and wet-”

His swift intake of breath had her smiling smugly. “And horny, very horny. Join me?”

She did not have to say anything else. He almost killed himself by getting rid of his clothes. Finally, he joined her and covered her body with his, driving into her forcefully. “You witch,” he whispered against her mouth, his heart hammering inside his chest.

“It’s my way of thanking you for being there for me.” She wrapped her hands around his neck and brought his mouth down to hers.

*****

His eyes flew open when he did not feel the warm body against his. A smile touched his lips as he recalled the events of last night. His wife had been particularly frisky during the lovemaking.

They had been rough. He could still feel the marks she had scorched on his back and chest. He had left a few bite marks on her flawless skin himself. Turning his head, he felt a jolt as he stared at the clock.

“Good God!” He grabbed his phone from the nightstand and swore loudly as he realized that he had left it on vibrate and had slept through his alarm.

Jumping out of bed, he rushed into the bathroom and saw from the wet towel on the floor that his wife had already taken her bath. No doubt she was already downstairs. Taking a quick shower, he grabbed the phone and called his brother.

“I am running late-”

“Understandably. I thought Nikki was staying home today.”

“What do you mean?” He grabbed an ash gray suit from the hanger and selected a lime green shirt and a herringbone tie.

“She is here in a meeting with a client. And she looks jazzed.”

“She is supposed to be staying home.” Swearing beneath his breath, he dragged on his pants and put the phone on speaker. “She sneaked out of the damn house because she knew I would not agree to her going in. I will be there shortly.”

“I think she is hanging on by a thread, brother.”

“What do you mean?”

“She is smiling way too much and insisting on taking on several client meetings.”

“I will deal with her when I get there.”

*****

“Give us a minute, please.”

Nikki’s assistant hastened out of the office and closed the door behind her.

“Hi, darling. You are late.” She looked up from the documents in front of her with a smile.

“Was that deliberate?”

“Was what deliberate?”

“Last night, the whole seduction scene. Was it a ploy to get me to sleep in?”

“You needed the rest.” She told him off-handedly. “I turned off your alarm. You have been taking care of me for the past couple of days, and now that I am better-”

“You are better?” He tried to hold onto his temper, but it slowly slipped away. He could see from the pot of coffee on her desk that she had been at it since she arrived. His housekeeper had also told him she had not had breakfast except a large cup of coffee.

“I see. It sounds like you had a cold and are now fully recovered. You were supposed to take a few days.”

“I took a day and a half, and that’s more than enough time. I also spoke to your mother, Grace, and Julia, and everything is being arranged for next Saturday. I am sure you have some things to catch up on-”

“I would like you to grieve properly. You lost your mother-”

“I lost my mother a long time ago. That woman who was in that costly nursing home was a shell. I am done grieving for someone who did not exist.”

“And that’s the way you want to deal with it? Pretend that it is all over?”

“Yes. Now, excuse me, I have pressing work to do.” She looked up at him with a bright smile. “I was thinking we could check out Kelly’s new restaurant-”

“Dammit, Nikki! This is not you. You need to get ahead of it, and I beg you to let me take you home.”

“I am fine.”

“You are not fine, goddammit! Andrew had to give you a sedative-”

“I am over it!” Pushing away from her desk, she stalked to the coffee pot and poured a cup.

“Don’t you think you have enough?”

“I will know when I have enough.”

He would have turned around and left until he saw the tremors in the hands holding the cup.

“Put down the damn coffee and drink some water. You are existing on adrenaline and caffeine.” Striding towards her, he practically wrestled the cup from her.” Putting the cup down, he placed his hands on her shoulders, his expression gentling. “How about we go home and work from there? I can grab a few files and take them with me-”

“No!” Her eyes flashed. “Stop trying to control my life. I told you that I am fine. I am not going to play the hypocrite and stay at home mourning a woman who decided that dying was better than being with me.

My mother died when her husband did, and there is nothing I can do about it. I am going to bury her next Saturday and be done with it.” Pushing away from him, she grabbed the cup and returned to her desk.

“Please leave me alone.”

Staring at her for a few fulminating seconds, he whirled and left the room.Leaning back against the chair, she closed her eyes and took shaky breaths. Her heart was racing, and the dizziness that had plagued her since this morning had returned. And her stomach was tied up in knots, her chest feeling tight.

Pressing a hand to her chest, she rubbed slowly, trying to eliminate the sickness there. She had not eaten anything this morning and was relying on caffeine.

No one understands what she was going through. Her heart was shattered, and she felt as if she had stopped for one minute; she was going to start breaking apart. She had to keep going.

*****

“Send her home,” Marcel said tightly, pacing the length of his father’s office. “She is in no condition to be here.”

“I tried talking to her about her mother, and she refused to engage.” James stared at his son with a frown pleating his brow. “Perhaps this is just what she needs. She is going through a tremendous loss-”

“That’s just it, Dad, she says she is fine, and she is not. She is hanging on by a thread. She has been drinking coffee since she got up this morning.” Passing his hand at the back of his neck, he tried to work out the kinks there. “She is so stubborn that she won’t listen to a word I said.”

“Son-”

“No. If she wants to stay, then she is going to. I have work to do.” Turning on his heels, he left the office and closed the doors.

Turning left, he went into his office first to catch up on the meetings he had missed.

Forcing himself to concentrate on work, he told himself his wife would be okay. What she needs right now is work to get her through the devastation of losing her mother.

*****

“Are you okay?” Marge stared at her anxiously.

“Of course. Why do you ask?”

“You don’t look so good, Nikki. Maybe you need to go home-”

“Not you, too.” She laughed as she pushed forward to pick up the files she had been reading.

“I need Johnathon on the phone. And I also need Argell’s files on the merger. We have been pussyfooting around this acquisition for several weeks and not getting anywhere.”

“How about something to eat?”

Nikki wrinkled her nose. “I tried the sandwich you brought me, which turned against me. I was thinking of some plain soup. My stomach is not cooperating.”

“Some soup coming up. I will call down to the kitchen.”

“Thanks.” While waiting until she had left, Nikki pushed to her feet and felt the room spinning around. “Oh crap.” Clutching the edge of the desk, she took several deep breaths. If Marcel happens to come into her office and see her like this, he is going to force her to go home. And she could not afford to do that.

Making sure she was steady, she took several tentative steps toward the cabinet and poured herself a glass of water. Her stomach was turning. She was returning to her desk when the room tilted crazily. Crying sharply, she went down, the glass bouncing on the carpeted floor.

“They had chicken and beef,” Marge announced cheerfully as she backed into the office. “I figured you would prefer chicken-” Her eyes went huge as she saw the woman slumped on the ground. “Oh, my good Lord! Oh, my Lord!” Dashing to the desk, she put the tray down and grabbed the phone.

“Millie.” She cried in the receiver. “Get Mr. Hadley in here now, Nikki; Mrs. Hadley fainted.”

*****

Her eyes flickered open slowly, and for a second, she had no idea where she was.

“She is awake.”

Her eyes swiveled toward the sound of the voice to see James and Matthew standing before her.

“Don’t try to get up.” Her husband marched over to sit on the side of the sofa, a grim expression on his handsome face.

“I fainted. I never do.”

“You have been pushing yourself too hard.”

“You are upset.”

“That’s one way to put it,” he told her grimly.

“We will leave you two alone.”

“I am taking you home,” Marcel told her coolly.

“I don’t-”

His eyes flashed. “If you think that was a question, you are out of your mind. Andrew says you are exhausted, and there is something else.”

Her hand flew to her throat, her eyes wide. “I am dying?”

A slow, reluctant smile touched his lips. “No darling, you are not dying.” Taking her hand in his, he lifted it to his mouth. “You are pregnant.”

Her eyes went wide. “I am pregnant?” She whispered.

“Six weeks. Andrew figured that it was more than just exhaustion.”

“Oh my God.”

“Yes. And I am afraid I am going to insist that you stay home for at least a week-”

“No. Marcel, I cannot possibly stay home for a week.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “I have to work. The memories and thoughts of her keep crashing into my brain, and I cannot bear it.”

His expression softened. “You are going to have to talk to someone, darling. I have made an appointment with a grief counselor-”

“No.” She shook her head wildly, her eyes wide. “Don’t make me. I don’t want to talk about it. Please.” The tears ran unchecked down her cheeks, and he felt like his heart was breaking. Gathering her into his arms, he cradled her as she sobbed into his chest.