Baby of Fortune
Auteur
Shirley Rogers
Lezers
17,9K
Hoofdstukken
12
One
“Take your hands off my wife.”
Justin Bond stood on the spacious porch of the home he’d once shared with his wife, and a flash of irritation whipped through him. He steeled himself to remain in control as he stared through the partially open door. He’d never expected to find Heather in the arms of another man.
Sucking in a hard breath, he balled his hands into fists at his side. His plans to woo his wife slammed into a brick wall. He’d come to ask her to give their marriage another try. It was a blow to his self-esteem to discover she was seeing someone else.
Reeling from the brutal tone of the warning, the man snapped his arms away from Heather, tripping over his own feet as he backed away. A nervous twitch appeared in his left eye. Justin considered that a victory of sorts.
“Justin!”
Shock and disbelief registered on his wife’s face. She pressed a hand to her chest, as if unable to catch her breath. Or was she embarrassed to be caught in a compromising situation? Justin wasn’t sure which, and at the moment, he didn’t exactly care. He wanted this jerk out of his house.
“Heather.” Justin swiftly shifted his gaze in her direction again, and annoyance swept through him like a sandstorm in the desert. He clenched, then relaxed his hands again.
“What are you doing here?” She didn’t wait for him to answer as she looked from Justin to the other man, then back at her husband. Soft pink color stained her cheeks and neck, disappearing beneath the vee of her cream-colored blouse. “Um, you remember…uh, Paul…Paul Dailey, a colleague of mine from school?” Her voice trembled slightly.
Justin acknowledged the introduction with a slight nod. Twisting his lips, he studied his competitor. He hadn’t thought much of Dailey when he’d first met him a few years ago at a school function with Heather. His blond hair was messy, his casual pants and shirt severely wrinkled. He’d always had that “slick salesman” look about him. Justin didn’t trust him for a second.
It took every ounce of his willpower to restrain from storming into the room, grabbing the jerk by his collar and throwing him out of the house. Dammit! Heather was still his wife!
“Paul stopped by to discuss some…committee decisions we need to make.”
Justin sent his wife a questioning glance. “Committee decisions?” His throat tightened as his gaze shifted with lightning speed to her companion. “Is that what you were discussing with my wife?” he asked pointedly. He put his hands on his hips, and it gave him a bit of pleasure to note a trace of fear in Dailey’s eyes.
“We, uh, I…yes.” Paul Dailey cleared his throat several times, and his hands flitted about nervously, as if disconnected from his arms. “Heather, we…uh, we can continue our discussion tomorrow at school.” He snatched his briefcase from the floor and clutched it against his chest like a shield of armor. Without looking at her, he cautiously approached the door, his eyes watchful of the man challenging him.
Justin didn’t move, forcing Dailey to squeeze his slender body through the small opening created between Justin and the doorjamb. Before Dailey was through the door, Justin reached out and flattened his hand against the jamb, preventing his escape.
“My wife is off-limits to anyone but me. In the future, you’d be smart to remember that.” The threat of Justin’s words was reinforced by his grave tone. He hesitated a moment, then dropped his arm. He heard the man’s hurried footsteps, then a car door, and finally a revving engine and squealing tires. If he wasn’t so irritated with his wife, he might have been amused.
As it was, Justin stared at the woman he’d married seven years ago, his heart slamming hard against the wall of his chest. Damn, just seeing her again after a year apart made his pulse race. Heather had always had that effect on him. She was still as beautiful as the day he’d met her on the campus of Penn State during his last year of school.
Watching him with uneasy eyes, Heather cautiously stepped closer, stopping just in front of him. She put her hand on the door, then leaned her hip against it, hiking her short brown skirt higher on her thighs. Her auburn hair fell in curls around her face and shoulders. Black shoes with three-inch heels complemented her shapely calves. Justin’s muscles tightened as he remembered the last time he’d stroked her legs, the last time they’d been intimate. His blood pressure rose a notch.
Damn, a year was a long time without sex.
Apparently, it had been too long for Heather, also, he thought, outrage pulling at him.
“That was uncalled for,” she stated, her voice sounding more stable as she began to absorb the shock of seeing him. Small brackets formed a frown around her full lips.
“Was it?” Justin shrugged one big shoulder. “The wimp wanted to have you. I made sure he understood he wouldn’t.”
He heard her intake of breath as her green eyes darkened with emotion.
“You have no right to interfere with my life.” Her features tightened as she glared at him, a line between her eyes becoming prominent.
“You’re still my wife,” Justin reminded her. “Apparently you’ve forgotten that.”
“I haven’t forgotten that we’re still married.” She faced him squarely, her shoulders visibly tightening. “But I easily could have. I haven’t heard a word from you in a year.” The reminder was spoken sharply, and hurt lingered in the shadows of her eyes. After she’d miscarried their baby, Justin had withdrawn from her. Eventually their marriage had suffered irreversible damage, and he’d chosen to leave her. The pain of his rejection still had the power to make her heart ache.
Justin stated the obvious. “I’m here now. May I come in?”
As she stared at her husband, Heather’s whole carriage stiffened. Her heart tripped over itself as his gaze held hers captive. He was so handsome that he literally stole her breath. Impeccably dressed in a white shirt and dark business suit, he looked as if he’d come straight from work. Justin always had a presence about him, something about him that commanded attention wherever he was, whoever he was with.
She glanced back up at his face. His well-groomed dark brown hair was combed back from his face, and his blue eyes were blatantly perceptive as they studied her. Though she could never quite read what Justin was thinking, she wished now, more than ever, that she had such power.
What was he doing here? Could it be that he still loved her? Flushing at the foolish thought, she dismissed it. She’d given up that hope long ago. Besides, she wasn’t going to let him hurt her again. There was no way in hell she could stand the torture of losing him again.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she told him, then frantically glanced behind her and into the living room, praying that none of her baby’s things were visible. It was the one area of the house that she tried very hard to keep straight.
A flash of guilt swept through her, temporarily paralyzing her. She’d never told him that when he’d walked away from her, he’d left her pregnant. He had no idea that he had a three-month-old son. Knowing Justin, if she’d told him, he would have felt obligated to come back to her—and Heather hadn’t wanted him back on those terms. A child wasn’t a good reason to keep a marriage together. She’d learned that cold hard fact when her own father had deserted her and her mother when she was thirteen.
Her husband’s unexpected arrival on her doorstep unnerved her. Was it possible he’d learned of Timmy’s existence? Panic seized her—the hard, gripping kind that twisted and tortured every muscle in her chest.
“I’d like to talk to you.” Justin spoke with obvious control. Though he appeared calm, the underlying determination in his tone spoke volumes.
Heather glanced at her watch and realized she was very late picking up Timmy. Nerves made her stomach tighten as she weighed the consequences of allowing Justin inside. She was thankful she’d had a few errands to run after school, and hadn’t swung by her mother’s for her baby.
“Maybe some other time,” she suggested coolly, dropping her hands to her side. Dispassionately, she continued, “I have another appointment in a few minutes.” It was the wrong thing to say.
Justin stared directly at her, his curiosity apparently piqued. “What kind of appointment?”
“Just something I need to take care of,” she offered vaguely. She combed her hair away from her face with her fingers. “Look, can’t this wait?”
“It’ll only take a few minutes,” he insisted, stepping closer. “What harm could there be in inviting me in?”
His words made her skin burn hot, and Heather immediately assured herself that her reaction was only from seeing him so unexpectedly, not at all because of his nearness or the familiar scent of him. No, she couldn’t afford to let her heart respond to him.
“None, I assure you,” she retorted, then wished she hadn’t let him provoke her.
“Then let me in—” his lips curved ever so slightly “—since you have nothing to be afraid of.”
Heather thought about it for a moment. Well, technically he was still her husband, even if she didn’t want to acknowledge that fact to him. That they’d been separated for a year apparently meant nothing at all to him. And she really couldn’t refuse, since he still owned the house they’d shared through six years of marriage.
She shifted and moved away from the door. “All right. For a few minutes.”
Justin stepped inside, and then he shut the door behind him. As he entered the foyer and then the living room, his gaze slowly swept it, as if cataloging every item in minute detail.
His scrutiny made Heather edgy, and she glanced about, again searching the room to be sure it was free of anything that belonged to her son. Then she walked over to the sofa and stopped beside it. “Would you like to sit down?” She gestured toward the chair across from her.
“I’ll stand.” Justin walked farther into the room.
His gaze swept her from head to toe, and she nervously smoothed her hair with her hand. The curls refused to cooperate, and she tucked a stray strand behind her ear.
“How long have you been seeing Dailey?” It came out sounding like a blunt demand.
“We’re just friends. I haven’t been seeing him.”
Justin stared at her, his expression disbelieving. “Then that was the first time he’s come on to you?”
Heather blushed furiously.
“I didn’t think so.”
“All right, I’ll admit that it wasn’t, but that doesn’t mean anything!” She put her hands on her hips to stop them from shaking. He had the power to annoy her without even trying. Apparently he hadn’t changed. Justin always had to be in control. It was one of the things she’d first admired about him. He’d been a no-nonsense, hard-driven, dependable person in her life when she’d needed someone to care for her. After years of struggling with feelings of abandonment by her father, it had been easy for her to let him take charge.
But she was no longer the love-starved young girl he’d married. She no longer needed someone to lean on, someone to protect her and take care of her.
“I see.”
“Apparently you don’t,” Heather retorted, taking in his skeptical expression. “Maybe Paul’s asked me out a few times, but I’ve always refused.” Heather had her hands full working full-time as a teacher and being a mother.
Okay, so maybe she got lonely once in a while, but she wasn’t ready to date again. She didn’t have time for a relationship, nor did she want one. She knew too well how easy it was to get hurt.
Justin’s jaw tightened a fraction. “He didn’t look as if he was going to take no for an answer just now,” he remarked.
“You didn’t give me a chance to make it clear to him that I wasn’t interested.”
“If he’s come on to you before and you’ve discouraged him, apparently he isn’t getting the message,” he reasoned, and a muscle worked in his jaw.
Heather gave a frustrated sigh. “I really don’t see that this is any of your business. You’ve been out of my life a long time, Justin, and I don’t owe you any explanations.”
He favored her with a curious look, lifting his brow in question. “We’re still married.”
She bristled, annoyed by the intimate reminder she saw in his eyes. “We haven’t lived together in a year,” she stated, resolving to end the conversation.
“That’s why I came to see you.”
Heather paled and her breath caught. She felt as if she’d been punched in the chest.
He’s come to ask you for a divorce!
She trembled before she brought herself under control. Though totally unprepared for this, she could handle it. She could, dammit! Shaking her head, she realized she should have expected that he’d find someone new.
“You want a divorce,” she stated flatly, denying him the chance to tell her he was in love with someone else.
A small smile gradually spread on Justin’s lips, just enough to expose a trace of the dimple in his right cheek. Heather’s heart hammered. His smile was what had first attracted her to him. His smile and that damn attractive dimple.
“What?” Confusion etched her brow. Feeling lightheaded, she touched the back of the sofa for support. “Isn’t that why you’re here?”
“No.”
She glanced at his hand, and for the first time realized he still wore his diamond-and-gold wedding band. “Why are you here, then?”
Justin regarded her silently, then seemed to choose his words very carefully. “Actually, I want us to give our marriage another try, Heather.”
“What?” Heather couldn’t have heard him right. Surely, her mind was playing tricks on her.
“You heard me correctly,” he assured her, apparently reading the bewilderment on her face. “I want us to give our marriage another chance.” He stepped closer to her, and she immediately took two steps away from him.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered softly. This didn’t sound at all like the Justin who had turned his back on her and walked out on their life together after her miscarriage. “I mean, why?” She wondered again if he knew about Timmy. But from the way the conversation was going, that was doubtful.
Justin reached toward her and touched his fingers to her cheek. She moved her head a fraction, out of his reach, and he let his hand fall. “A lot has happened in the year we’ve been apart.”
“Such as?” she prompted. What could possibly have happened that would have a bearing on their marriage? she wondered suspiciously.
He’d never been one to open up, and she’d always thought they would have had a chance if he’d told her what he was thinking, what he was going through.
“I met my birth mother.”
She blinked with surprise. “You have? Really?”
Heather was stunned that he was talking about his past. She always believed the reason that Justin was so reserved and reluctant to share his feelings was the way he was raised. As a baby, he’d been left on the doorstep of a sheriff’s office in Nevada. Because he was unable to be put up for adoption, he’d been placed with a foster family, had been given their last name. He’d grown up in the foster-care system, had been shuffled around all his life. He was never allowed to put down roots, never given the opportunity to become part of a family.
When they’d first married, she’d thought that they would put down their own roots. Naively, she had believed they’d be together forever. She couldn’t have been more wrong.
Justin gave her a slight nod. He hesitated a moment, then continued, “Her name is Miranda Fortune and she lives in Texas.”
Heather wasn’t sure what to say. Justin seemed…somehow pleased by this new development in his life. “Oh, Justin.” She sighed, and her heart swelled with caring. Despite the heartache he’d caused her, she was happy for him.
Justin had been searching for something all his life, something to fulfill him. He seemed to have found it. The realization that it wasn’t her, that she hadn’t been enough to make him happy, stung, even as her compassion for him flourished.
“How did you find her?”
“I didn’t.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Her ex-husband, Lloyd, sent a private detective to look for me. The P.I.—Flynn Sinclair—eventually contacted me and asked me to go to Texas to see her.”
“And you did?”
He nodded. “At first I refused. Then I learned that I have a twin, a sister.” Justin could understand Heather’s surprise at his news. He’d felt the same overwhelming disbelief when the detective had shown up at his office to tell him of his heritage. His first reaction had been indifference. His mother hadn’t cared enough to keep him—why should he give her the satisfaction of knowing him now?
But learning he had a twin had convinced him to change his mind. There was another part of him somewhere in the world, someone with some of the same personality traits, the same looks, the same feelings of abandonment and emptiness. Based on that, he’d agreed to a meeting.
“A twin sister?”
The thought of his sister brought a smile to Justin’s lips. He touched the dimple on his cheek and remembered his surprise when he’d first seen that she, too, shared the identical physical trait. “Her name is Emma,” he said to his wife. “She’s just had a baby, and she ended up marrying Flynn Sinclair.” Seeing the confusion on her face, he added, “It’s a long story.”
“My goodness.” She sounded as if she couldn’t believe it. “A lot has been happening. I’m very pleased for you,” she said. “What is your mother like?”
“She seems nice, and is interested in learning more about me,” he explained, his tone noncommittal. “Miranda was very young when she had us, and on her own. She felt that there was no way she could take care of us. Later, she married and had two other children—so I have two other siblings, as well.
“I’ve seen them all on a few occasions,” Justin continued. “The first time was several months ago when I first went to Texas to meet Miranda and Emma. I saw Miranda again just a few days ago at a party given by my half-brother, Kane and his wife Allison, welcoming me into the Fortune family.” Justin had even considered moving to Texas, but had quickly realized that leaving Pittsburgh would add a finality to his relationship with Heather. He wasn’t prepared to do that. Not yet.
“You have a brother?”
Justin nodded. “Yes. He’s a doctor and he also lives in Texas. So does my half-sister, Gabrielle, who is married to the town sheriff and has a daughter.”
“And you’ve already met them all?” Heather could imagine Justin’s manner as he met the strangers who were related to him. Even as he spoke of them now, she could see the reservation in his eyes. That he’d called his mother by her first name revealed more than he intended. He’d met these people—relatives—but he wasn’t yet willing to call them family.
“As I said, several times.” He moved across the room and picked up a framed picture on a drop-leaf table. It was of the two of them on their wedding day. Deep in thought, he rubbed his thumb over the picture.
Heather wished at that moment that she’d put it away. She didn’t want him to think it meant something to her. She’d kept it out to remind herself of the mistake she’d made by believing he truly loved her.
“Apparently the Fortunes are obscenely wealthy,” Justin stated, sounding notably unimpressed as he studied the smile on Heather’s face in the picture. Their wealth hadn’t been what had encouraged him to meet Miranda or the Fortunes. At eighteen, he’d moved to Pittsburgh with the last foster family he’d lived with. A short time later, when they’d moved again, he’d moved out on his own. He’d worked two jobs and attended college.
He’d made a place for himself in the world—owned his own prosperous steel business, Trigon Steel, which earned enough money for him to live on quite comfortably for the rest of his natural life even if he never worked another day.
But it wasn’t enough to fill the void inside him, and what actually prompted him to meet his biological mother was her connection to his own existence. It was finally knowing where he’d come from, who he was linked to in the world, that had taken him to Texas.
“Your mother never searched for you before?”
“I don’t think so. When Miranda was young, she never wanted any affinity with the Fortune family, but she’s since made peace with them. She wants Emma and me to be a part of the family, too.”
“What about your biological father? Have you met him as well?”
“No, we haven’t discussed who my father was.” Though he was curious, he hadn’t asked.
He looked at Heather and saw confusion clouding her green eyes. She couldn’t imagine why meeting his family had provoked this visit from him, nor did she have any idea why he thought they should make another go of their marriage. How could he make her understand, when he wasn’t quite sure he understood himself?
Seeing all of the Fortune family together had made an impact on his hardened heart. Through troubles and tribulations, they’d stuck together, found offspring they didn’t know existed and brought them under the umbrella of their family. They’d supported each other, had opened their arms to welcome him and Emma.
“And what exactly does all of this have to do with me?” Heather finally asked, after listening to his explanation. “With us?”
“Miranda would like to meet you.”
“But, why?”
“Because you’re my wife.”
Justin’s answer was too simple to make sense. Heather couldn’t imagine why his biological mother would want to meet her, especially since she and Justin were separated.
When she didn’t reply, he swung around to face her. She felt the full force of his heated gaze as it traveled very slowly over her body, then rose with meticulous precision to her face. Butterflies attacked her stomach. She had an eerie feeling she wasn’t going to like what he was going to say.
“I’d like you to go to Texas with me.”
