Baby Bombshell Page 12

  In some strange way, the incident had made them closer friends than before. It was a balm to have such unquestioning support. Unsurprisingly, she hadn’t heard a peep out of Evan. Her father called every day, though, always circling around to the same question that she refused to answer. The recollection of those irritating, insistent conversations—and the silence from Evan—made her appreciate the man standing with her now.

  Impulsively, Anna reached out and hugged Carl. He returned the embrace, then stood back, his hands at her waist. “Thanks, but what was that for?”

  “For being such a good man.” Anna smiled up at him. “You are a rare breed.”

  Carl chuckled and opened his mouth to speak. Before a sound came out, there was a shout from the door of Anna’s office.

  “I knew I would catch him!”

  Anna’s head whipped around and she saw her father standing in the doorway. His expression was thunderous as he pointed an accusatory finger at her.

  “Pop! What are you—”

  “You will not get away with this,” Antonio said in a roar. As he started across the room, Anna was shocked to see Evan walk in behind him.

  “Oh, my God,” she whispered, ignoring her father to drink in the sight of Evan. Weak-kneed, she clung to Carl’s arms for a second, her head in a whirl of helpless hope. Had Evan changed his mind? Did he want to start over? Ask her to marry him? Why else would he have flown across the country?

  Her momentary fantasy allowed Antonio to pick up steam. “I will have satisfaction for what you have done to my daughter.”

  Jerked back to reality, Anna glanced up at Carl who stood openmouthed, staring at Antonio. He was as surprised as she, yet for obviously completely different reasons. Her father was charging at him like a madman. Anna swiftly interposed herself between the two men.

  “Wait a minute, Pop. It’s not what you—”

  Antonio stopped just short of them and shook his fist at Carl. “Hide behind a woman, will you? Coward! I will not stand for it. I will not!”

  “Stop it!” Putting her hands out, she pushed against her father’s chest as he stepped closer, reaching around her to grab for his prey.

  “Jeez, Anna,” Carl said from behind her. “This is your father? I bet I know where you get your temper.”

  “Who are you?” Antonio ignored Anna and lunged for Carl again. “Identify yourself!”

  “Evan, do something,” she said over Antonio’s shoulder.

  Evan’s face was set, his eyes like polished emeralds as he glared at Carl. “Better answer the question, buddy.”

  “Have you both gone crazy? Carl’s my boss.”

  “That explains it,” Evan said, stepping closer, his fists clenched. “He’s the guy you said you weren’t dating.”

  “So you take advantage of the women who work for you.” Antonio scowled at Carl. “This is disgraceful.”

  There was a burst of laughter from over Anna’s shoulder as Carl said, “I got Anna pregnant. That’s a good one.”

  “So you admit it!”

  “He does not!” Anna said desperately, looking up into her father’s face. Antonio pressed forward, forcing her back into Carl. “We work together—”

  “It didn’t look like work to me.” Evan eyes narrowed as he glowered at the man behind her.

  “What can I say? Anna’s more than just another employee,” Carl said with a laugh.

  “You laugh at me? At my daughter?” Antonio had stilled and his face flushed a deep red. A stream of Italian came from him that Anna couldn’t translate. She understood that he was furious, though.

  “Calm down, Pop,” Anna said. “Carl, tell him you weren’t laughing.”

  “But I was laughing,” Carl said. “This is better than Springer.”

  “You will pay for such disrespect!”

  “Carl, please. He’s seriously pissed,” Anna said.

  “No. Go ahead, Carl. Keep it up,” Evan said. “I want to watch him pound you into a bloody pulp. Then I’ll take a turn at you.”

  “This matter must be settled between men,” Antonio said, picking Anna up as if she weighed nothing. He handed her to Evan, who grasped her waist and drew her against his lean hard body.

  For a second, just a second, despite the craziness, Anna melted. The close embrace reminded her of too much and made her ache for more. Then she looked up and her gaze collided with Evan’s. The glittering green stare was full of scorn that brought her back to her senses.

  “Let go of me, you idiot,” she ordered.

  “Forget it,” he said grimly. “I don’t want you getting hurt when your dad teaches loverboy a lesson.”

  As Anna fought to get free, Antonio was rolling up his sleeves, each fold of his cuffs determined, deliberate.

  Carl was watching the older man, amusement clear on his face. “Wait a minute. Before we get too far along, maybe we should get a paternity test. Just to be sure.”

  “Carl, please!”

  Her boss ignored Anna’s plea. Her father was still cursing in Italian. Evan’s hold was tight; much as she wriggled, he would not release her. Disaster was about to strike and there was nothing she could do to stop this farce.

  “Pop, listen to me!” Anna’s voice rose to a shriek. “He can’t be the father. He’s gay!”

  Antonio stopped his folding, obviously stunned by this revelation. “I could be the father.” Carl turned to Anna. Despite his stern expression, she could see amusement twinkling in his eyes. “Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I’m sterile!”

  Anna felt her skin heat and knew a blush was turning her bright red. When she pulled away from Evan this time, he let her go.

  “You’re dating a gay guy?” Evan asked, looking bewildered.

  Anna ignored his ridiculous question and glared at her father. “Pop, you owe my boss an apology.”

  Antonio looked hard at the other man, then said, “A father must protect his daughter, especially his youngest one.” He stood straight and tall and didn’t look sorry in the least.

  Anna put a hand to her forehead where an ache was beginning to spread. “That is not an apology,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “For what do I apologize?” Antonio asked haughtily. “I did not hit this man.”

  “For acting like a complete nut, would be a place to start,” Anna said, throwing her hands up in frustration. “For embarrassing me and insulting Carl.”

  “How did I do these things?” Antonio scoffed. He turned to Carl, grabbed the other man’s arms and gave him a little shake while eyeing him closely. “Did I insult you?”

  Obviously bemused, Carl shook his head. “Not in the least, Mr. Berzani. If anyone insulted me, it was Anna.”

  Antonio clapped him once on the shoulders and turned to his daughter. “You see, he is fine. No harm done.”

  Anna felt like screaming in aggravation or laughing in hysteria, she wasn’t sure which. “Could you excuse us, Carl?” she asked, keeping her voice level. “I need to talk to these two cavemen. Alone.”

  “Are you sure?” Carl asked, touching her arm lightly.

  “Don’t worry about me. They’re the ones in danger.”

  With a glance at the other two men, Carl walked to the door. There, he turned and looked back at Antonio. “Mr. Berzani, if Anna needs a father for her child, I’ll be the first in line.”

  “That is very generous of you,” Antonio said gravely.

  “Anna’s a dear friend,” Carl said, his tone just as serious. “I want you to know that she has people here who love her. The real father, whoever he is, is missing out on something special.”

  As Carl spoke, Anna saw Evan stiffen. Instead of speaking, he went to the windows and stood looking out, hands in his pockets. It was as if what had transpired didn’t concern him at all. His indifference further fired her anger.

  Carl closed the door behind him and her father let out a huff of breath. “He is a kind man, that is clear. I am pleased.”

  Anna turned to her father. “Is t
hat all you have to say for yourself, Pop?”

  “I want what is best for you, Anna Maria,” he said, coming to her and putting his hands on her shoulders. “Even your good friend sees that you need a husband.”

  “He said if I wanted a father, not that I needed a husband,” Anna said sharply.

  Antonio ignored this clarification. “The father must take his share in this situation. You cannot raise a child alone.”

  “How is forcing the guy to marry me going to accomplish anything? What makes you think he’ll stick around, anyway? You can force him to the altar at gunpoint, I guess, but as soon as you’re gone, he’s gone. Then I’m right back where I started from.”

  “You do not know how hard it will be.”

  “I know that it’s plenty hard now.”

  “See! And this is only the beginning,” Antonio said, completely missing her point. He slid his hands to hers and gripped them firmly. The dark eyes she had inherited locked with hers, his expression solemn. “When you were a baby, I stayed up many late nights with you so your mother could sleep. I changed your diapers. I read to you at bedtime. I loved you. I cared for you. So many things that a father does for a child. A mother cannot do it all by herself.”

  Anna spun away from her father’s hold. She caught sight of Evan, who had turned back toward them. His face was unreadable and Anna felt an ache in her heart. “But the father of my child doesn’t love me, Pop.”

  “He will learn to love you. Besides, it is his duty.”

  “Duty’s no substitute for love.” Tears sprang into her throat and she had to swallow before speaking again. “Isn’t that right, Evan?”

  The question seemed to shock him. He jerked to attention, then slid his hands out of his pockets so his arms hung down at his sides. “No. It isn’t.”

  The answer was no more or less than she had expected, but her temper flared again. He stood there, offering nothing. Had he come all this way to tell her that?

  “How could you do this, Evan?” she asked. The tears had welled up in her eyes. “You sat on that airplane for seven hours and said nothing to him?”

  “Evan is not to blame for this,” Antonio said. “He did not want to make this trip.”

  Anna ignored her father and waited for Evan’s defense, for him to speak the truth, but nothing came.

  “Are you that ashamed of me?” Her voice wobbled and she felt sick.

  “Of course not.”

  There was no hesitation in Evan’s reply, but Anna didn’t believe his answer. If not shame, why else had Evan worked so hard to hide the fact that he was the father of her child? Why else had he not told her parents? Why else had he not called her?

  “No one is ashamed, Anna.” Antonio stood next to Evan. “He came to defend your honor.”

  Evan remained silent. His face was still, his green gaze stoic.

  “I’m sorry I’ve been such a disappointment to you. Getting pregnant was not my plan.” Anna looked at the two men and felt the heat of her anger cycle down to a cold sorrow. “But you know what? I’ve started to look forward to it. But you wouldn’t know that, would you? Neither of you. No one has bothered to ask what I think about this, if I’m happy or sad or scared or angry.”

  Anna crossed her arms over her chest in an attempt to give comfort where none was being offered. “From the moment I found out that I was pregnant, there hasn’t been one second of concern for what I think and feel. All you want to do is pin the blame on some mystery man. You want to solve my problem. Well, guess what? A child isn’t a problem, it’s a life, an opportunity, a joy.” Her voice rose and she stopped, taking a deep breath to steady herself. “I have had enough of being your personal crisis.”

  “Anna—”

  “No more.” Anna held up a hand, interrupting her father before he could finish. “I want you to leave. Now. I have a job to do and you’ve disrupted my day long enough.”

  Antonio opened his mouth to speak again, but Evan took him by the arm. “She’s right, Pop. Let’s get out of here.”

  Anna watched as Evan herded Antonio in front of him and out of the office. At the door, he turned back to her. “I’m sorry, Anna. Really. I’ll…call you later.”

  “You’ve had a month to talk to me,” Anna said, her heart cold. “At this point, I have no interest in anything you have to say.”

  He seemed about to speak again, then obviously thought better of it. Stepping through the door, he closed it softly behind himself. The click of the latch felt very final.

  Knees weak, Anna fumbled for the chair in front of her desk. Sitting, she put her face in her hands, pressing her fingertips lightly against her eyelids. Her eyes burned, but they were dry now. She had no tears for anyone, not herself or Evan or the baby. It wouldn’t last, though. She knew there were many tears in her future. Too many to count.

  EVAN SIPPED HIS SODA, fingers toying with the end of his seat belt. Next to him, Antonio snored softly, head tilted against the window. How he could sleep, Evan didn’t know. Maybe Antonio didn’t feel he had done anything wrong. Maybe he hadn’t. Maybe just defending your child, even when you’re wrong, absolved you. Evan wished he felt the same—that he could feel the same. He had screwed up and he knew it.

  With a sigh, he leaned his head back and stared absently at the overhead storage bins that lined the aisle. He didn’t know what San Francisco’s official motto was, but for him it might as well be City of Disasters. On his first visit, he acted in a way unrecognizable to himself. This trip, the same was true—though the memories he carried back were painful rather than pleasurable.

  So many unanswerable questions swirled around in his head. Why had he let Antonio cause such a scene? Why had the sight of Anna in her boss’s arms infuriated him? He didn’t love her, so why should it matter if there was some other man in her life? Why hadn’t he answered Anna’s question and defended himself?

  Closing his eyes, Evan tried to imagine the entire scene playing out differently. He would have restrained Antonio immediately, calmed him or hustled him out of the office before he could continue his rant. Then he would ask Anna if she would talk to him, just the two of them.

  Calmly, clearly, he would tell her how he could support her and the baby, expanding what he had told her that day in the coffee shop. He would tell her how he planned to be a father, how he could do it from a distance. After she saw how sincere he was, how much sense he made, after they had agreed to a plan, then he would go to her family and tell them the truth. They would understand that he meant to do his duty. His road to atonement could finally begin.

  Opening his eyes, Evan looked over at Antonio. The older man snorted and shifted, but remained asleep. Evan imagined the moment when he would break the news to Antonio. A humorless smile twisted Evan’s lips. If he told him now, Antonio would go into a rage, far worse than the one he had unleashed in Anna’s office. An air marshal was likely to pull a gun on both of them. At best, they would end up in jail and be banned from flying for the rest of their natural lives.

  Finishing his drink, Evan set the glass aside. His head was already aching from drinking too much wine the night before at the restaurant that Antonio’s cousin owned. It had been a typical Berzani affair: tons of food, gallons of wine, loud arguments and people of all ages. Every relative in the city, no matter how distant or dubious, had attended.

  Evan had been thankful for the chaos. It had kept him from brooding too much. Anna had refused to answer her phone and, when he went to her condo, she was either gone or not opening the door. He had retreated, disheartened, but determined to succeed in settling things between them. When he got back home, after she had had time to cool down, he would try again.

  With a sigh, Evan tilted the seat back and tried to sleep or at least relax. It had been less than two weeks since the news of the pregnancy. No wonder he felt confused and befuddled. No wonder this trip to San Francisco was such a disaster. He had to give himself time. And give Anna time, too. Things would get better. They had to.
r />   Chapter Ten

  “We will sit in front,” Antonio announced as he, Elaine and Anna walked down the main corridor of city hall. “I do not care what Evan says. I know politics. If the commissioners must look us in the eye, they will certainly grant us permission.”

  “Fine by me,” Anna said. At least they could agree on something, she thought wryly.

  Which made for a nice change. Her father may have retreated from the battlefield in San Francisco, but the war had continued for the five weeks since then. The salvos were lobbed via e-mail from one coast to the other, with endless rounds of arguments fired over the phone on the same topic. Her father was determined to solve her “problem.” Anna was just as determined to prove him wrong. She could manage without a man. Especially a reluctant one.

  Her conversations with Evan held a disheartening symmetry to those she had with her father. He would call and offer a deal—shared custody, joint parenting, child support or some combination of all—and she would refuse. The only commitment he would agree to was fatherhood, a fact he couldn’t deny anyway. Her aching heart wished he would propose marriage, or at least living together, but Evan never broached the subject. Anna knew she shouldn’t be surprised. His anticommitment streak ran deep. Still, it hurt to be rejected.

  That feeling of rejection was intensified by his inability to admit the truth publicly. When she asked if he had told her parents yet, Evan hedged, he needed more time, he needed a plan before he broached the news. Every excuse sounded like more evidence that he was ashamed of her and his child. The idea, first spawned that awful day of revelation at her parents’ house, ate at her. She might understand his fear of marriage and commitment, but his shame was the one thing she could not forgive.

  When Evan asked about the baby and her health, she answered tersely. What was the point of details when they weren’t going to be raising this child together? The whole thing was painful, sad and demoralizing, so much so that she had no intention of even seeing Evan on this trip. She just couldn’t stand the misery.