C.J. Carmichael - A Baby Between Them

“I’ll go to the farm tomorrow and buy more.” The older woman passed the salad to her niece. To Rae and Aidan she explained, “Jennifer insists on free-range, organically fed chickens and eggs. That means a trip to the Red Door Farm, which is all the way on the other side of the island.”

“Their eggs are the best,” Jennifer explained. “How many babies do you think you delivered in your career, Auntie?”

“Oh…hundreds. And I can tell by the way Rae is carrying that she’s going to have a—”

“Annie!” Phil admonished. “Maybe Rae wants the sex to be a surprise. What are you hoping for, dear? A boy or a girl?”

Aidan squirmed, uncomfortable on Rae’s behalf. She must get these questions all the time. How did she…

“It doesn’t matter,” Rae said bluntly. “I’m planning to give the child up for adoption.” She twisted to look beyond Aidan to Jennifer. “Can you pass the bowl this way, too, please? I love potato salad.”

“BUT AIDAN, I don’t understand.” Jennifer rinsed lingering bubbles from the platter she’d just washed and passed it to him.

“You’re not the only one.” Aidan dried the china carefully. It was covered with an ornate pattern of gold and flowers and looked about a hundred years old. He knew it was part of a set Jennifer had inherited from her mother. Jenn was always buying replacement pieces on eBay.

“Why would Harrison tell you that you could stay at the summer house if Justine had already given a key to Rae?”

Aidan glanced out the window. Rae and Annie were still seated at the picnic table, talking. Phil had offered to put the baby to bed when Erica had fallen asleep in her high chair.

“I think they were in cahoots,” he finally admitted.

Jenn caught on quickly. “You mean they were matchmaking?”

“Yeah.” Damn, but he was going to nail Harrison next time he saw him…

“But isn’t the timing a little off? I mean, with Rae eight months pregnant and all. Unless… Oh, Aidan. You aren’t the father, are you?” She stared at him, oblivious to the fact that she’d left the water running.

He didn’t answer, but his face gave him away.

“Well,” Jennifer said. “That explains a lot.”

He reached over. Turned off the tap. “Yeah, it’s quite a mess. I think I’m still in shock. I just found out today that Rae is pregnant.”

“How is that possible? I thought you worked together?”

“We used to work together. Until I promoted Rae to Pittsburgh.”

Jenn draped the washcloth over the edge of the sink. “That’s a long way from Seattle.”

“That was the idea.”

“Oh, Aidan. That’s so like you.”

“What do you mean?”

“A girl starts to get close, breaks through your defenses…and you banish her to Siberia.”

“It was a promotion.” God, Jenn was as bad as Rae. “What’s so bad about Pittsburgh, anyway?”

“This isn’t about Pittsburgh. It’s about you running away from emotional commitments. You always do, you know.”

“That’s not fair.” But this time, his protest lacked heat. It was true that he preferred to keep his relationships with women tidy. Uncomplicated, mutually beneficial and carefully limited in terms of time.

Nothing about his single night with Rae had fit into any of those categories.

Jenn eyed him with the understanding of someone who’d known him a long time. “So how do you feel about the baby?”

“I don’t know. Like I told you, I’m still in shock. Anyway, it doesn’t matter how I feel.”

“Oh, Aidan. Why would you say that?”

“Given that the baby is being put up for adoption, sperm donor seems more descriptive of my role.”

“You sound a little bitter about that. Do you want Rae to keep the baby?”

“God, no.” Of course, he didn’t. The route Rae had chosen was best for all of them in the long run. It was just that he needed time to come to grips with the idea.

“That’s something else I can’t understand,” Jennifer said. “Rae sounded so matter-of-fact when she said she was giving up the baby for adoption. As if the baby were no more important to her than an out-of-date piece of furniture.”

She had sounded a little callous, but Aidan felt compelled to defend her. “Rae’s pretty serious about her career. A family was never part of her plan.”

Jennifer eyed a picture of Erica that was displayed on the fridge. “Yes, well, plans change. Life happens and people adjust. Maybe you and Rae should at least consider…”

“Oh, no. We’re not considering anything.”

“But—”

“Please, Jenn. It’s bad enough that Harrison and Justine have tricked us into staying at the same house. Don’t you turn on me, too.”

As he’d expected, Jenn was too softhearted to press her point of view any further. “Of course, I’ll support whatever decision you make. You’re one of my oldest friends, Aidan. I can’t tell you how great it is to see you again.”

He gave her a hug. “It’s good to be here.”

Surprisingly, it was. Not everything on this island had been soured by Simone, and that was a good thing to remind himself of now and then.

“How are things with you?” he asked, pulling back from the friendly embrace.

“I’ve been getting more serious about the lavender. I’m not just making sachets now, but linen water, bath oils and I’m developing a new hand cream, too.”

“You were always the crafty one in the group. Say, how are Nessa and Gabe doing? Harrison told me their divorce was just finalized. He’s pretty worried about his little sister.”

“Nessa is doing well. Her MS has been in remission for quite a while now.”

“I’m relieved to hear that.” He still couldn’t believe Nessa had had the misfortune to contract such a serious disease.

“Yes. And the day care she opened last September keeps her busy and happy, though I’m glad she closes for the summer and takes a nice, long break. Of course, right now Autumn’s staying with her.”

Aidan remembered Harrison telling him that Autumn didn’t want to leave the island during the summer, and that she’d convinced her father to let her stay with her aunt for a couple of weeks. Aidan was pretty sure Harrison and Justine were making the most of the opportunity for a second honeymoon. They’d been married less than a year, after all.

“I’m glad Nessa’s doing so well. What about Gabe?”

“He’s struggling,” Jenn admitted. “Gabe took the divorce really hard. Which is surprising, considering how he treated Nessa when she was his wife.”

“No kidding.” Even after Simone’s marriage to Harrison, and his own marriage to Nessa, Gabe had never stopped carrying a torch for the singer. And she’d taken full advantage of his feelings for her. Whenever Harrison was working late or on a business trip, she’d gone crying to Gabe. Apparently, Gabe had thought nothing of ignoring his wife so he could cater to Simone’s emotional needs.

“I’d like to see Nessa before I leave.”

Jennifer looked puzzled. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem. You’re here for three weeks, right?”

“That was the idea. Before I found out who I’d be boarding with.” He glanced out the window again. Rae was holding back her thick hair with both hands, resting her elbows on the picnic table. Whatever Jennifer’s aunt was saying, it seemed to have the younger woman fascinated. “What do you think they’re talking about?”

Jennifer followed his gaze. Shrugged. “Babies, probably.”

He felt a nervous twitch of his stomach. Babies, indeed. And he’d thought he was stressed out in Seattle.

“YOU WORRIED ABOUT having this baby?”

Annie’s watery eyes were almost the same color as the lavender blossoms in the garden behind her. Rae still couldn’t get over how pretty this place was. The house, the gardens, even the picnic table, which had been set with real china and not the cheap outdoor plastic stuff Rae used when she had a barbecue.