Vicki Thompson - Bachelor Father

“What a lovely picture you two make.” Naomi smiled gently as she walked into the hospital room dressed in her usual color scheme of black-and-white, her silver hair perfectly coiffed, her makeup flawless.

Katherine returned her smile. “Can you believe she’s really here?”

“Not quite.” Naomi walked over to the bed and leaned down to stroke Amanda’s tiny head. “I didn’t dare count on this, not with the problems you had carrying her.” She finger-combed the baby’s abundant jet-black hair. “I don’t think this is going to turn blond.”

“Probably not.” Just her luck her baby’s hair would forever remind her of that lusty night in the forest with Zeke Lonetree.

“She’s beautiful, Katherine. I’m so sorry your parents didn’t live to see her.”

“Me, too.” Her throat tightened, but as she watched Naomi tenderly smoothing Amanda’s hair, she gave thanks that at least she had Naomi. “I guess this makes you a god-grandmother.”

Naomi looked up, her eyes moist. “So it does.” She cleared her throat and returned her attention to Amanda. “Although god-grandmother is a mouthful for a little kid. Maybe...she could just call me grandma.”

Katherine’s heart squeezed. “Of course she could.”

Naomi gave the baby’s hair one last stroke before turning to find a chair, which she pulled over to the bed. “And now that we’ve made it to this point, you and I have a few things to discuss.”

“I plan on getting right back to work. If you have no objection, I’ll bring Amanda to the office and set up a bassinet for her. I’m sure I—”

“I’m sure you can, too.” Naomi laid her manicured hand on Katherine’s arm. “But that’s not what I want to discuss. I’m thinking of making some staff changes.”

Katherine’s breathing quickened. She was being demoted. Naomi might have seen her through this problem pregnancy with loving care, but she was the founder of Cachet, and she hadn’t built the magazine into the industry giant it was by being soft. She’d decided to give Katherine’s job to someone else because she didn’t believe a new mother could handle the demands of being a senior editor.

Worst of all, Katherine dared not question the decision. When her parents died, Naomi had been her salvation, giving her a job at Cachet right out of college and promoting her regularly until she finally gained senior editor status. Katherine knew she hadn’t worked up to capacity during the final months of her pregnancy, but Naomi hadn’t ever complained. Under the circumstances, Katherine didn’t feel she could beg for more consideration.

Feeling like a doomed prisoner, she gathered the courage to look directly into Naomi’s eyes and take the bullet like a woman. “What sort of changes?”

“I want to train you to take over for me.”

Katherine sighed with relief. She would work like a demon to justify Naomi’s continued faith in her. “So you’re going on vacation?”

“No, I want you to take over permanently.”

Katherine’s gasp dislodged Amanda’s mouth. The baby’s reedy cry of protest brought her attention back to the task and gave Katherine a moment to recover herself as she resettled Amanda at her breast. But her heart was still pounding when she finally glanced back at Naomi. “I...don’t know what to say. I never in the world expected...” She stopped, at a total loss. Editor in chief. She couldn’t comprehend it.

Naomi chuckled. “I can’t go on forever, you know.”

Katherine felt as if someone had just hit her over the head with the NYC phone book. “I guess I thought you would.”

“And die in harness? Not this lady. Or worse yet, I could start losing my edge and have a staff who’s afraid to tell me. No, I want to slip out of the top spot gracefully and leave someone I trust in charge.”

“But what about Sylvia? Or Denise, or—”

“Darling.” Naomi squeezed her arm. “You’ve been my choice ever since you were born.”

“I have?” Katherine took a moment to digest that startling information. “No wonder you were so excited when I decided to work on the high school newspaper.”

“It was all the encouragement I needed. Of course, I would have backed off if you’d chosen one of those other careers you talked about. I remember once you wanted to be an actress, and then there was your doctor-nurse period. And what was it you wanted to be when you were ten? A wilderness guide?”

Katherine smiled. “Yeah. Then I thought about all the bears I’d meet.”

“Well, you made the right choice, both for you and for me. You’ve turned out to be a damned good writer and a highly competent businesswoman.”

“Who got herself knocked up!” No matter how happy Katherine was about having Amanda, she was still embarrassed that she’d stumbled into motherhood by accident.

“Stress counteracted your birth-control pills,” Naomi said briskly. “You couldn’t have anticipated that.” She gazed at mother and baby. “And don’t tell me you’re sorry, because I know you’re not.”

“No.” Katherine dropped a kiss on the top of Amanda’s head. “I’m not.”

“So, are you up for some new responsibilities?”

The shock of Naomi’s offer had lessened and now Katherine began to fully realize the scope of it—the confidence and the love that it implied. Her eyes filled. “You know I am.”

Naomi blinked and looked away. “Good. Very good.” She cleared her throat and glanced back at Katherine. “We only have one pesky detail to take care of.”

A catch. Katherine wondered if she’d been premature in her gratitude. “What’s that?”

“Amanda’s father.”

Katherine swallowed. It wasn’t a comfortable subject. Many times during the past few months she’d wished she could claim immaculate conception. After promising Zeke that birth control wasn’t a problem, she dreaded telling him she’d been wrong. She’d rationalized postponing the call because she’d seen no reason to involve him if she ultimately lost the baby.

“You have to tell him,” Naomi said.

“I know.”

“He might just relinquish all rights to her.”

“Maybe.” Funny how little she knew about the man who had given her life twice, first by saving her from drowning and second by fathering Amanda. He was possibly the most gentle man she’d ever known, yet beneath that gentleness burned a fierce passion. Her heart still raced whenever she allowed herself to remember their moment of joining, when she’d felt somehow claimed.

The next morning, though, he’d been much more cautious and withdrawn. Plagued by her own insecurities, she’d suggested that maybe she ought to get back. Instead of trying to change her mind as some men might, he’d sealed himself off completely, which had convinced her there was no hope for a relationship.

“Do you feel anything for him?” Naomi asked.

Katherine looked up to find the older woman watching her closely. It was an important question. If she still had an emotional connection to Zeke, one that could potentially lead to a relationship, then she had no business letting Naomi train her as a replacement. She might not know a lot of things about Zeke, but she was absolutely sure of one thing—he would never live in New York. During their night together he’d made clear his love of the wilderness and his aversion to cities and crowds.

“I feel gratitude.” Katherine glanced at the clock on the bedside table and decided it was time to switch Amanda to her other breast. She still felt a little clumsy handling the baby, but once she settled her in again, the tug of her small mouth felt perfect and right. “After all,” she continued, “Zeke saved my life, and he inadvertently gave me Amanda.”

“I’m not talking about gratitude.”