Donna Alward - Secret Millionaire For The Surrogate

Adele came back in, bringing a bowl of pita chips and a dish of dip. She put them down on the coffee table. “I’m assuming you’re staying for dinner, but I thought you might like a snack for now.”

“God, your homemade hummus is to die for,” Harper said, leaning forward to grab a chip and scoop it through the smooth dip.

“I laid off the garlic, too. I know it’s...”

She didn’t finish her sentence.

Drew helped himself. Harper was right. The hummus was delicious, and he wasn’t a huge fan normally. “You don’t like garlic?” he asked, before popping another chip in his mouth.

“Oh, I like it. It just doesn’t like me right now.”

He frowned a little. Why would there be a change? Not that it was a big deal. It was hummus, for Pete’s sake. But that was the second time one of them had stopped midsentence. He wondered if he’d interrupted something important. Something that was none of his business. He considered leaving, but then knew it would look odd if he left without at least seeing his brother.

They made small talk for a little while, until the door opened and closed again and Dan called out hello.

“We’re in here!” Adele called back.

“We?”

Dan stepped into the room and Drew grinned at the look of sheer surprise on his face. He got up and gave his brother a bear hug and received one in return.

Dan clapped him on the back. “What the hell?” He laughed, stepping back. “We weren’t expecting you!”

“I know. And I don’t have any desire to disturb the newlyweds’ love nest. I’m at a hotel.”

“Don’t be silly. Of course you can stay here.”

Drew laughed. “Yeah, well, thanks, but I’m comfortable where I am. You guys deserve your privacy.”

That Dan didn’t argue further, and Adele blushed a little, told Drew all he needed to know. The hotel had definitely been the right—and most considerate—choice.

“You’re staying for dinner, though, right?”

“Sure.”

Dan finally noticed Harper. “Oh, and of course you’re staying, too, right?”

“Oh.” She looked surprised and slightly uncomfortable. “I should probably get back.”

“To what? The workday’s over. Stay,” Adele insisted. “I’m going to grill some chicken and make risotto. I’ve got falafel I can make for you, unless you want something else.”

Right. Drew remembered now from sitting next to her at the wedding. Harper was vegetarian.

“No, no, whatever you have is fine. You know I love falafel. Particularly if you have tzatziki from the market.”

“It’s settled, then.”

“Let me help you in the kitchen,” Harper offered, getting up from her chair. When she did, she pressed her hand to her back and stretched.

Once they were gone, Dan undid his tie and took it off, stuffing it in his pocket. He sank into a chair and sighed, then grinned. “It’s good to see you, Drew.”

“You, too. You guys look really happy. I’m glad.”

“We are. Very.”

Adele snuck in and handed Dan a cold beer, kissed his head and took off again.

“Did you really just come for a visit? It’s unusual for you.”

Drew shook his head. “As much as I’d be brother of the year if I said yes, I do have another agenda. Our last few stores are up and running smoothly, and I’m looking at expansion locations again. I got a tip about a property here. But I’m not saying much about it. I’m scouting things out.” Of the family, Dan was the only one who knew how successful Drew had become. And they’d talked about keeping it under the radar, even with the family. Drew preferred to keep his life private, particularly his bank balance. Enough people treated him differently. He didn’t need it from his family, too.

“You’re looking at setting up a store here.” Dan’s grin was wide. “Cool.”

“It’s a prime location. I’m here to check out the local competition and see the property. Maybe some other locations if it’s not what I’m looking for.” He smiled. “And the fact that you’re here is a major bonus. We haven’t seen each other enough over the last five years.”

Dan took a long pull of his beer. “You could have stayed here. I mean it.”

“And disturb the newlywed love nest? No thanks. It’s as much for my sake as it is for yours.” He chuckled and took a drink of his beer, as well. “By the way, is Harper here a lot? I was surprised to find her here when I arrived.”

Dan got a strange look on his face. “Oh, she’s around quite a bit I suppose.”

Drew put down his beer. That made at least four odd looks and a couple of halted conversations. Something was definitely off.

“Okay, I might be totally crazy, but is there something going on? You looked funny just now, and a couple of times Adele and Harper stopped midsentence. Am I missing something?” He frowned. “And if it’s none of my business, say so.”

Dan hesitated. “Well...it’s not that it’s none of your business, it’s that we haven’t said anything to anyone yet.”

“About what?”

Dan took a drink of his beer. “Well, you know that Delly can’t have kids.”

“Y-es,” he replied, drawing the word out a bit.

“So when I asked her to marry me, we talked about possibilities. Maybe adoption. Maybe not having children at all, which would have been fine. But at the wedding, Harper told us that she wanted to offer to be a surrogate for us.”

Drew’s gaze snapped to the kitchen door. He could hear Adele and Harper talking. A surrogate? He’d heard of such a thing but had never met anyone who’d actually done it. “So you’re going to do it? But...how? I mean... I’m assuming you’re...you know, and are you using her...” He started to stammer. “Okay, so this is actually really awkward.”

Dan chuckled. “I know. It was for me at first, too. Adele had some testing done and we decided to try using her eggs. Normally this can be a bit of a long road, but we lucked out on the first try.” His smile widened.

Drew stared for a minute as what his brother had just said sank in. We lucked out on the first try. “Does that mean... God, Dan, are you saying you’re going to be a father?”

He nodded. “And Delly’s going to be a mom, and Harper is carrying our baby for us.”

Drew flopped back against the cushion of the chair. “Holy mackerel. I did not see that coming. That was fast.”

“We haven’t told anyone yet, not even Mom and Dad. She’s still in the first trimester, and we want to be sure everything is okay. But since you’re here...” He leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees. “I’ve been dying to tell someone, you know?” His grin broadened.

It made sense now. The whole garlic-doesn’t-agree-with-me thing and the strange looks and truncated sentences. Drew rubbed a hand over his face and wondered what kind of woman offered to carry a child for a friend. What a huge commitment. What a generous thing. He hadn’t realized that Harper and Adele were so close. What the heck was she getting out of it? He didn’t consider himself a cynic, but he’d done enough business to know that hardly anyone did anything 100 percent altruistically.

“You okay, bro?” Dan lifted an eyebrow. “You look a little freaked out.”

“I’m just surprised. You’ve only been married since March.”

“We didn’t want to wait. If it didn’t work, we knew it could take time to adopt. I’m telling you, Harper is one in a million. Adele has gone to every appointment so far and soon we get to hear the heartbeat. That’s our baby in there, you see? Adele’s and mine. We’ll never be able to repay Harper for this.”

Harper stepped into the living room, her face easy and unconcerned. “Does anyone want another drink?”