Baby Business

“I want you to marry me.”

Thad watched several emotions flicker across Macy’s face—surprise, incredulity, anger—but before she could settle on one, he added, “There would be a lot of benefits to the arrangement, for both of us. Before you say anything, just hear me out.”

“No.”

“No, you won’t hear me out? Or no, you won’t marry me?”

“No, period. Our ‘arrangements’ have gone far enough. Don’t you understand that what you want, what we’re doing—having a baby like this—makes a mockery of everything I believe in? You’ve reduced love, marriage and family to…to this. To nothing but emotionless agreements and practical considerations.”

Thad flinched. Love, marriage and family were just as sacred to him, maybe more so. “Think of the baby,” he said. “If we marry, the baby will have my name.”

“So we’d be married but we wouldn’t live together. Is that what you’re suggesting? A marriage in name only?”

Thad cleared his throat, certain Macy wouldn’t like this next part any more than she’d liked the first. “Actually, I was thinking we could live together. Just as roommates.”

“But why? What purpose could there possibly be in—Oh, I get it.” Her eyes narrowed. “You’d be protecting your investment.”

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Dear Reader,

Sometimes someone touches your life, and you know that afterward, nothing will ever be the same. It’s incredible, when you think about it, that we have the power to make such a difference to those we meet. Katie, a mere child of five, made that kind of difference for me. As her Sunday school teacher, I watched her fight a battle against cancer. Her courage inspired me. Her death broke my heart. Her life gave me new appreciation for the ties that bind us all, for beauty and for love.

I wrote Baby Business during Katie’s last year. Though its characters are entirely fictional, I hope I’ve succeeded in my desire to share the magic that came from knowing her.

I’d love to hear from you. You can write me at P.O. Box 3781, Citrus Heights, CA 95611. Or simply log on to my Web site at www.brendanovak.com to send me an e-mail, enter my monthly draws, join my mailing list, check out my book signings or learn about my upcoming releases.

Here’s to love and to life!

Brenda Novak

Books by Brenda Novak

HARLEQUIN SUPERROMANCE

899—EXPECTATIONS

939—SNOW BABY

Baby Business

Brenda Novak

For Katie, because I believe in rainbows, too.

And for my own five children, Ashley, Megan, Alexa, Trey

and Thad, because they’re the reason I believe.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

“IS SHE the one?”

Startled, Thad Winters glanced up. Kevin, his best friend and partner in Winters-Brodey Advertising, stood in front of his desk, staring at the photograph of Macy McKinney that Thad had pulled out of a manila envelope. That same picture, showing a woman with wide green eyes, shoulder-length black hair and a mysterious Mona Lisa smile, had drawn his eye again and again—ever since it had arrived in the mail two days ago.

Was she the one? Thad could only hope. The sooner he found the right woman, the sooner he could make his way back to the man he used to be. “Who knows? They all look good at this point. It’s after Rychert finishes his little background check that things start to go downhill.”

Tall and pencil-thin, with a shock of dark hair that never seemed to lie down in back, Kevin shoved his hands in his pockets. He crossed to the wall of windows overlooking the jammed Salt Lake City streets—it was afternoon rush hour—twenty stories below. “Have you met her yet?”

“We have an appointment in fifteen minutes.” With a glance at his watch, Thad shuffled the papers on his desk, trying to appear busy. He didn’t want Kevin to stay. The interviews were difficult enough without an audience.

“So what are you doing? Advertising for women?” Kevin asked.

“No, a few discreet friends are asking around. That’s it.”

“Thank God for small favors. It’s starting to look like Toys “R” Us in here.” With his foot, Kevin nudged a life-size teddy bear that toppled over onto a box of chocolates. “How many have you interviewed?”

“I haven’t counted. A dozen maybe. Why?”

Kevin straightened, his usually good-natured expression strained. “Because I think you’re making a mistake.”

The mistake was made eighteen months ago by a drunk driver, but Thad wasn’t about to go into all that. Valerie’s death was still too painful to talk about—ironic considering she was all he ever thought about. The memories swirled around and around in his head until sometimes he could almost touch her, taste her, smell the perfume he’d given her their last Valentine’s Day.

Those memories preserved a small part of the heaven he and Valerie had known during their short marriage. They also introduced him to a whole new concept of hell. “And?”

Kevin sighed and rubbed his jaw. “Haven’t you learned anything from all this?” He waved his hand at the pile of gifts.

“I’ve learned that it isn’t going to be easy to find the one I’m looking for. And that some women can be far more aggressive than I ever would have dreamed.”

“You dangle a hundred thousand dollars in front of anyone, and you’re going to see their worst side. Why not give it some more time? Valerie’s only been gone eighteen months. You’ll fall in love again eventually.”

How many times had Thad heard those empty words? Why couldn’t anyone understand that he didn’t want to fall in love again? He wanted Valerie and their unborn child.

“I’ll make a note of your objection.” Thad tried to keep his voice flippant to cloak the anger that sometimes swelled, inexplicably, with the pain. “Anything else?”

Kevin stared at him a moment longer. “No, I’m leaving. But I wish you’d listen to me. This thing is destined to lead you into trouble.”

“Mr. Winters?”

A sultry voice pulled their attention to the open door, where the woman from the picture stood, both hands fidgeting with an oversize leather handbag.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know I’m a few minutes early, but something has come up, and I can’t stay long. I hope you don’t mind. I tried to call first but only got a recording.”

Thad stood and tried on a welcoming smile. “No problem. My secretary’s gone for the day. You must be Ms. McKinney.”

“Yes.”

He half expected her to tell him to call her Macy. But she didn’t. “Ms. McKinney” was entirely too formal for what they planned to discuss.

Fine. It was better to keep things as formal as possible, he reminded himself. “This is my partner, Kevin Brodey.”

Kevin’s face, always an open book, showed heightened interest and a certain reluctant appreciation. He strode to her and shook her hand, and for some reason, Thad noticed that Ms. McKinney wore no fingernail polish, a simple detail that set her apart from the others who had applied. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. McKinney.”

She smiled hesitantly and nodded, but her gaze darted to Thad, then took in the balloons, candy and flowers that adorned half the room.

“My partner here was just leaving.” Thad shot Kevin a meaningful look.

Kevin made a face at him from behind the woman and managed to haul himself out of the room.

Thad closed the door to ensure the privacy he wanted. “Please, have a seat. Can I get you a cup of coffee?”

The way Ms. McKinney’s hands were shaking, she looked as if she could use something warm in her stomach. As a matter of fact, she looked as though she could use a lot more than coffee. Such as several weeks of healthy meals and someone to make sure she ate them. The woman in the photograph had a gleam of laughter in her eye and a healthy flush to her porcelain skin. But Ms. McKinney in the flesh looked tired and drawn. Dark circles underscored large eyes, hollows accented high cheekbones, and despite the classy sheath dress and matching jacket she wore, Thad could tell she was too thin.

What had happened to the woman in the picture? Was she ill?

“I don’t have time for coffee, thank you.” She hovered near the leather chair across from his desk, but when her gaze met his, it was as direct as any business associate’s and far more piercing. “Actually, I’m not sure I should be here. It’s certainly not what I want.”

Thad cleared his throat, taken back by her honesty. “Then why did you come?”

“Why would anyone come?”

“You need the money.”

She nodded.

“For what?”

A faint, bitter smile curved her lips. “Is it important? Do you have to approve of how I’d spend it?”

Thad crossed to his desk and sat down, steepling his fingers in front of his chin. “One hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money.”

“No one knows that better than me. I’ll be honest with you, Mr. Winters, I need to raise $98,523, and I need it right away.”

The exactness of the figure surprised him, as she must have known it would. “For what?”

She smoothed her dress. “That’s my business.”

Thad’s eyebrows rose. This gal was certainly different than the rest. Some of the others had eagerly gushed over the new house or car they would buy. One had hoped to sway him by claiming she’d donate half the money to charity. A couple of others had offered to do him sexual favors he hadn’t asked for and certainly didn’t want.

But then, it was difficult to find a healthy-minded individual to do what he was asking. He’d anticipated as much, which was why he insisted on certain precautions.

“I have to protect my investment,” he said, studying her. “Part of that includes understanding your attitude toward the remuneration.”

“Investment? Remuneration?” She made a sound of disgust and dropped her head into her hand.

Her damning judgment, though unspoken, told Thad she was probably the most normal woman he’d ever find, but it stung him enough to bring him to his feet. “I’m sorry. I can already see we wouldn’t make good partners on this. I won’t keep you.”

Surprise and something akin to fear flashed across her face. Had she expected him to beg her, in addition to paying her so handsomely? Evidently she didn’t understand what the money was for.

“Wait.” She held up a hand. “I think maybe we got off on the wrong foot. Could we try this again?”

Thad remembered the two interviews he had scheduled for tomorrow and the many women he’d already rejected. They were calling him incessantly and sending him things, hoping to change his mind. He had to find someone quickly, while he could still withstand the onslaught.

And despite their bad beginning, Ms. McKinney struck a chord in him. There was something about her eyes.

“Please,” she murmured.

“Fine,” he heard himself say. “Why don’t you sit down this time?”

She perched on the edge of her seat, her purse in her lap.

“You said on the phone that a friend of yours gave you my number.”

“Yes, Lisa Shriver. She got it from her doctor, a Dr. Peters.”

Dr. Peters was an old friend, and one of Thad’s few confidants. They’d discussed Thad’s intentions at his last physical, three months ago. Evidently Dr. Peters had decided to help him, after all. “And you called because you need ninety-eight thousand dollars?”

“And change.”

“For something you won’t tell me.”

“It’s not a big secret. It’s just my business. If we decide to…to work together, I want my personal life kept as separate from yours as possible. I’m sure you understand.”

He did understand, and he felt the same way, which was a point in Ms. McKinney’s favor. “What do you do?”

“I’m in my second year of med school. I want to be a pediatrician.”

“Now I know why you need so much money.”

A faint smile reminiscent of the one in the photograph flitted across her face, then her gaze fell to the floor. “So, would you like to explain the details of what you propose, or have I lost any chance of…of being the one you select?”

Thad sat on the corner of his desk so he wasn’t hovering over her. “Let’s just say I’m willing to spend a few more minutes together before I decide.”

Her hands knotted, but when she looked up at him, her unique beauty, and that mysterious something that haunted her eyes, struck him again. “I’m usually not difficult to get along with,” she said softly. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

Thad winced, surprised that even the dream of graduating from med school could bring this proud woman to her knees. “I’m not looking for an apology, Ms. McKinney.”

“Macy.”

Maybe they were getting somewhere at last. “Fine, Macy then. And please, call me Thad.”

“I know you want a baby, Thad. Would you mind telling me why you’re not able to have one in the normal way?”

He cleared his throat to dislodge the lump that nearly choked him whenever he spoke of Valerie. “My wife died in a car accident eighteen months ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

“She was carrying our first child, a son. The doctors couldn’t save either of them.”

“How terrible.” They were simple words, the same so many people had used over the months, but something in the tone of Macy’s voice told him she could hear the silent scream inside him. And he hated the vulnerability her knowing inspired.

Pushing off the desk, he went to the window so he wouldn’t have to face the pity, thinking that he preferred the harshness of her judgment. “I merely want the child I was denied, Ms. McKinney…Macy. It’s as simple as that.”

“Simple?” she echoed. “Nothing about this is simple. Surely you must realize that.”

“It’s as simple as we make it.”

“How do you plan to…I mean, how would I…”

He kept his face averted. “Become pregnant? You’d be artificially inseminated, of course. I want this to be handled as professionally as possible, in every way.”

“Of course.” She seemed to breathe a little easier. “And once I’m pregnant…”

He turned toward her. “You’d carry my baby and deliver it, then you’d turn the child over to me and walk away forever. And for your trouble, you’d be a hundred thousand dollars richer.”

She studied him as though trying to decide what he was thinking behind the mask of his face. “What if I were to miscarry?”

“You’d be paid in installments as the pregnancy progresses, the final payment after delivery, all nonrefundable deposits.”

“God, it sounds like you’re buying a house,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut.

“The terms have to be clear, Macy, or we’re setting ourselves up for disaster.”

Composing herself, she sat up taller. “I realize that. This is just all so…so unnatural.”

Thad went back to staring down at the traffic ebbing and flowing in the street below, remembering Valerie’s radiant smile the morning she woke him with breakfast in bed to say she was pregnant. Valerie was gone. Now there was no natural way to achieve what he wanted. But when the baby arrived, the end would justify the means. He wouldn’t be alone anymore. After eighteen long months he might actually feel something again. “It’s the only way.”

“What if the baby isn’t whole or healthy? What then?”

“Perfect or not, the child is mine. I’ll take care of any medical bills. On the off chance that something should…happen to you in delivery, the money would go to your heirs.”

“That’s a comfort, at least.”

He glanced over his shoulder at the sarcasm in her voice, and she lifted her hands in a defensive gesture. “I know, I know. We have to talk about all possibilities, make everything clear.”

“It’s a business deal, Macy. The more we think of it that way, the easier it will be for both of us.”

“A business deal,” she repeated, then, more loudly, “When do you hope to finalize your plans?”

“The sooner the better.” He thought of a baby’s happy gurgle breaking the tomblike silence of the house that awaited him at the end of each day and thought it couldn’t be soon enough. “Are you interested?”

Her forehead creased and she sighed. “Yes.”

“Then you’ll need to fill out an application.” He strode to his desk and searched for the packet he’d so carefully created, the one that grew thicker every day. By the time Ms. McKinney finished with his questions, he’d know everything about her, from her shoe size to her grandparents’ medical history. “You are single, right? That’s imperative.”

Tucking her silky black hair behind one ear, she gave him a look that said she was surprised marital status even mattered to a man who was already bending all the rules. “I’m divorced.”

“Good.” He handed her the questionnaire, and her eyebrows shot up when the weight of it transferred to her hand.

“I’ve seen shorter dissertations. When would you like this back?”

Thad wasn’t sure how long it would take to fill out. No one else had gotten beyond the initial interview. Macy McKinney hadn’t passed with flying colors, but he was interested enough to take it one step farther. “I’m still interviewing, so you might want to get it back to me in the next day or two.”

“Fine.” She glanced at her watch and stuck out her hand. “I have to go. Thank you for your time.”

Thad clasped her hand in his, noting the delicate bones and soft skin. She had good doctor’s hands, even though they were a bit cool to the touch. And though physical beauty was far from his primary concern, he couldn’t help noticing she had other good features, too—and genes that would make a pretty baby.

“Hello?”

A woman he’d interviewed a few days ago poked her head through the door and thrust out a huge cookie bouquet wrapped in purple cellophane.

Thad stifled a groan.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said, her voice sticky sweet, “but I thought you might enjoy these. Aren’t they darling?”

“Miss—”

“Lanna, silly. Call me Lanna, remember?”

Thad tried to suppress the twitch that started in his cheek. With Lanna came the memory of the other bold women his offer had enticed, and suddenly Macy McKinney’s cool reserve looked far more appealing than it had a moment ago. “Lanna, I told you I’d call you when I made my final decision. I’m sorry that it’s taking some time, but—”

“My phone’s been on the blink, and I thought you might have tried to reach me.” Coming into the room, she ignored Macy and shoved the cookies in his face so he could admire them. Then she set the elaborate bouquet on his desk, next to the flowers someone else had sent him yesterday.

Thad looked at the cookies and knew there would be a lot more where they came from if he didn’t do something to stop Lanna and her competitors. “Actually, I’m glad you’re here,” he heard himself say almost before he knew what was going to come out of his mouth, “because I think I’ve reached a decision.”

“Yeah?” Her smile broadened as she positioned herself with one hand on his desk, bending slightly forward to show her cleavage to best advantage. “Who’s the lucky girl?”

“Ms. McKinney and I still have to go over her application, but if she agrees to the background check and everything else is in order, then she is.”

Thad glanced at Macy and saw her eyes widen. He also noted, again, the thinness of her body and the drawn look to her face. “If she passes the physical,” he added.

CHAPTER TWO

THAT NIGHT, Macy’s eyes traced the blue veins visible just below the surface of her daughter’s translucent skin as Haley slept, curled up, in a hospital bed that nearly swallowed her whole. Her breathing was markedly shallow, but after fifteen minutes of studying the rise and fall of her small chest, Macy couldn’t decide whether or not she was resting any easier than she had the previous night. That last round of chemotherapy had really taken it out of her, poor baby, but even at such a terrible price, the treatments had done little to stop the lymphoma.

Thad Winters’s notion of an application lay in Macy’s lap, and she thought briefly of using this time to fill it out. Who knew when Haley’s vomiting might start again, when she might need to be held and rocked. The night could get long. But Macy refused to turn her attention to other things for fear death would creep in and steal her only child away.

“God, Macy, what are you still doing here?” a voice whispered harshly.

Macy turned to see her friend Lisa slip through the door. Almost like a sister, Lisa had been a part of Macy’s life since she was fifteen. They’d gone to school together, weathered their dating years together, attended the same university. Macy doubted she would have survived the past few years without Lisa’s emotional support. “I can’t leave her. You know that,” she said simply.

Lisa’s face creased into a sympathetic smile, and she pushed her glasses higher up on her stubby nose. “Haley’s been in and out of the hospital for nearly a year. I know you’re going to collapse if you don’t start taking care of yourself.”

“I’m fine.” As though contradicting her words, the weariness Macy felt sank a little deeper, into her bones, but she forced a smile of her own. “And you can’t talk. What are you doing here again? You’ve spent almost as much time at this hospital as I have.”

Out in the hall, a strident voice over the intercom directed a Dr. Johansen to the emergency room, but such calls came so frequently they were only background noise to Macy now.

Lisa shrugged her thick shoulders. “You and Haley are family. That bum you were married to isn’t here for you, but—”

Haley stirred, and Macy waved for Lisa to lower her voice. “I don’t need him.”

This assertion was met with a skeptical lift of Lisa’s eyebrows as she wrapped huge arms around Macy for the hug she gave to everyone when she came and when she left. “There’s nothing but noodles in your cupboards. Have you eaten today?”

Macy couldn’t remember whether she had or not, but to save herself from a scolding, Lisa-style, she went on the offensive. “What were you doing in my cupboards? You’d better not have been cleaning my house again.”

“Damn straight I was. The last thing you need to worry about is cleaning and cooking. You’ll find my homemade lasagne in the refrigerator. See that you eat it when you get home.”

“Damn straight,” Macy echoed, thanking the fates for bringing Lisa into her life all those years ago.

Lisa set her purse down and wedged her bulk between the bed and the wall. Her body was big, but not nearly as big as her heart, Macy thought as Lisa stared down at Haley. “You think she’s any better?” she asked.

Macy let her gaze drop to the soft blond fuzz that was all the hair her five-year-old daughter had left, and shook her head.