Rebecca's Little Secret (4 page)

Betty offered Joey a bowl of ice cream. Peter offered to do anything Joey wanted. Vivian was sure he needed to go to bed at once. Will promised to teach
him how to avoid such pain in the future, and Vanessa was giving him kisses.

“I feel totally useless,” Jeff muttered.

“You weren’t useless at the doctor’s office,” Rebecca told him. “That’s the first time I’ve had someone to rely on when we had an emergency. I appreciate it.”

“Have you had a lot of emergencies?”

“Once, when he was eighteen months, he swallowed a penny. Another night, he ran a very high fever, and I had to take him to the emergency room because I was afraid he had some horrible disease. The waiting is painful when you’re the only adult, and you’re not sure if you’re doing the right thing.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there with you.”

“Well, we both know that’s my fault.” She moved away to stop the conversation. “I think Joey needs to go to bed, and I’ll bring him up a tray of food. Maybe a grilled cheese sandwich and some tomato soup, Betty, if that’s possible?”

“’Course it is. I’ll have it ready in fifteen minutes.”

“Thank you so much. Tell everyone good-night, sweetie.”

“But, Mommy, I think I should get to watch television,” Joey informed her.

Rebecca didn’t get angry. She just smiled and said, “And I think you should do as I said. Up the stairs and into your jammies.”

He gave in easily, which showed her how tired he really was. Trauma always wears out a person.

“May I help you put on your pajamas and get ready for bed?” Jeff asked.

“Hey, yeah, ’cause we’re both boys,” Joey agreed, intrigued with that idea. “Mommy, can he help me?”

“Of course. That would be nice. I’ll go find your pajamas while you wash your face and hands.”

The three of them left the family and climbed the stairs. “I can see why Joey might be spoiled a little. They’re very loving,” Jeff said.

“I don’t think you can have too much loving. When we lived in Arkansas, there was only me and Joey, and Mrs. Button, who baby-sat him. We’ve really enjoyed having family here.”

“I know what you mean. I haven’t had any family since my uncle died. At least none that I knew of.”

Rebecca refused to say anything else about their situation. Joey and his dad took a long time in the bathroom. Rebecca handed in the clean pajamas. Then she told them she was going down to get Joey’s dinner.

When she came back up with the tray, Joey was in bed and Jeff was reading him one of his favorite books. She waited until Jeff finished the book. Then she asked him to pile up the pillows so Joey could eat. They both teased him into eating most of his dinner.

Rebecca gave him two children’s Tylenol tablets and watched his eyelids grow heavy. She kissed him good-night and encouraged him to hug his daddy’s neck. Then she told him she would leave the light on
in the bathroom and he should call her if he needed her.

“Maybe I should stay. I could sleep in the other bed in his room so he won’t bother you.”

“He won’t bother me. I said that so he’d know he wasn’t alone, but he’s going to sleep well tonight.”

“I feel like I’m not being very helpful.”

“I told you I appreciated your going with us to the dentist. That helped a lot.”

As they came down the stairs, Betty came running down the hall. “Mr. Jacobs! I forgot to tell you to call your office when you got back. Your fiancée was there waiting for you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Jeff. You shouldn’t have gone with us. I didn’t know you had a date with Chelsea.” Rebecca felt terribly guilty.

“Damn! May I use your phone?” he asked Betty.

“Of course you can. And Miz Vivian said to ask you to stay for dinner. It will be ready in five minutes.”

“Let me see how things stand with Chelsea. Then I’ll let you know.”

Rebecca was going to excuse herself, but Jeff caught her hand and stopped her from leaving the library. “Chelsea? I hope Harriet told you about the emergency.” He stood listening for several minutes. Rebecca looked away. “I see. Well, then, I’ll see you Saturday morning. I’ll pick you up at nine, okay?”

After a brief moment, he hung up the phone. “That’s interesting,” he said.

That remark got her attention. “What was interesting?”

“It appears Bill took Chelsea out to dinner and then took her home. Her only complaint is that he refused to kiss her good-night.”

“Doesn’t that upset you?” Rebecca asked with concern.

“No.” He grinned. “That’s Chelsea trying to pay me back for not keeping our date.”

“Oh.”

“Am I still invited to dinner?” he asked when she said nothing else.

“Oh! Yes, of course. Let’s go find the others.”

Rebecca thought it would be best for her to see Jeff only in the company of others. She was too drawn to him, remembering the past, wanting a future that could never be.

Will stood up as they came into the library, and shook Jeff’s hand. Vivian made him feel welcome.

“How are things going between you and Joey? He’s such a sweet boy!”

“Fine, Vivian. It will just take a little time to make up for four years.” He looked at Rebecca and held up a hand in apology, like tennis players do when the ball hits the net and goes over to the other player’s side, giving his opponent a point.

“Rebecca has done a good job of raising him,” Jeff added.

“Yes, she has. And he’s so smart. Smart children are more difficult to raise. Vanessa could always think of a good excuse to do what she wanted,” Vivian said with a laugh.

“I can imagine,” Jeff agreed as Vanessa protested.

“Dinner’s ready,” Betty announced as she entered the room.

They all went in to dinner. Jeff took the seat beside Rebecca.

She was a nervous wreck, finding it difficult to eat with Jeff sitting beside her, making conversation with Will. It seemed Jeff had a client who could use Will’s services.

When dinner was over, Jeff asked Rebecca if they could check on Joey one more time, to be sure he’d gotten to sleep.

They went up the stairs and opened Joey’s door quietly. The little boy was curled up under the covers, clutching his favorite teddy bear, sound asleep.

“Does he always sleep with his teddy bear?” Jeff asked after they’d closed the door.

“Yes. He sometimes gets scared in the dark. The teddy bear makes him feel better.” She thought maybe he was disappointed that his son wasn’t brave. “When he gets older, he won’t need the teddy bear, I’m sure.”

“It doesn’t matter. I just wish I’d been there those times he got scared.”

She turned her back to him. “It always comes down to my mistake, doesn’t it?”

“I’m sorry. But it hurts that you didn’t think I’d care.”

“Jeff—I was in shock when I first found out. My parents’ reaction made it worse. It seemed like no one cared and it was just me and the baby, on our own. Afterward, after Joey was born, I was afraid to let go, to bring someone else in to our close-knit world. It was wrong, I know, but I told you as soon as I found you.”

“You didn’t exactly look for me.”

“I know. What do you want me to do to make up for my negligence?”

Suddenly, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. The kiss went on and on. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn’t pull away. She’d been longing for him to touch her for five years.

When he finally released her, she stared at him in shock.

“I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.” He backed away from her, his hands in the air in surrender. “You’re just so damned tempting!”

“So this is my fault, too?”

He gave her a rueful grin. “No, honey, it’s my fault because I have no resistance. I never did have when it came to you. That’s why we have a son upstairs.” He took another step back. “I’m going now. I’ll see you tomorrow at work.”

He left at once, as if he was afraid someone would chase him away. Rebecca leaned against the closed
door, savoring the kiss she’d dreamed of so many times. She smiled—reality was even better.

I
T WAS IRONIC
, J
EFF THOUGHT
. Chelsea tried to threaten him with a kiss, and he’d taken that thought and made his own mistake. And it had been a mistake. Now, every time he saw Rebecca, he would remember that kiss and yearn for more.

He finally had to face the fact that his feelings for Chelsea were nothing compared to what he had felt for Rebecca years ago and still felt for her now.

But he had committed himself to Chelsea.

If he were a drinking man, tonight would be the perfect time to drink himself senseless. Unfortunately, he wasn’t. He would have to deal with the situation in another way.

And the first thing he had to do was call Chelsea and apologize.

R
EBECCA TRIED TO TELL
Jeff she and Joey would meet them at the zoo Saturday morning. Jeff wouldn’t agree to that. “No, we’ll pick you up at nine o’clock. Well, actually about ten after. I’m picking Chelsea up at nine.”

“All right. Did she forgive you for last night?”

“Yes, sort of. And I thanked Bill for entertaining her.”

“Did I hear my name mentioned?” Bill Wallace asked as he came to the door of his office.

“I was just telling Rebecca that I thanked you for taking Chelsea to dinner last night.”

“But I told you you didn’t have to thank me. Chelsea was a lot of fun.”

“And you like French food?” Jeff asked.

“Oh, we didn’t go to that restaurant. I took her to a good steak place.”

“Chelsea refuses to eat at a steak house,” Jeff said, frowning.

“Well, I really didn’t give her a choice. I had no intention of eating strange food while some snooty maître d’ stared down his nose at me. It would give me heartburn.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed your meal,” Jeff said, still frowning.

Rebecca turned back to her work. She didn’t want to know if Chelsea threw a temper tantrum.

Jeff stood there, his hands on his hips.

“She didn’t complain?” he asked Bill.

“Sure she did. But I teased her out of her bad mood.”

“I guess I never tried that.” Jeff shrugged his shoulders.

“No, because it’s easier to give in. You’ve got to think about how things will be after you marry Chelsea, Jeff. Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?”

Jeff ran his fingers through his dark hair. “Bill, I can’t discuss my marriage with you.”

“Okay. Well, you don’t owe me thanks for last night. I enjoyed myself.”

J
EFF PICKED
C
HELSEA UP
at nine o’clock, as promised. Or, at least, he arrived at that time. She wasn’t
quite ready, and he was invited in to have a cup of coffee with Chelsea’s father.

“You know, Jeff, I’m so glad to have Chelsea’s future settled. She’s not one of these career types. She’s like her mother. She’ll run your life for you, which will do wonders for your career.”

Jeff suppressed the urge to tell Mr. Wexham that he didn’t want Chelsea running his life. Just then, Chelsea bounced into the room, a huge smile on her face. “Sorry I’m late, Jeff.”

She looked about sixteen, dressed in overall shorts and a T-shirt. In fact, Jeff had never seen her look so casual. Or so happy.

Once they were in the car, he observed, “I should take you to the zoo once a month if it makes you this happy.”

“Silly, it’s not the zoo. We, Mom and I, went shopping for my wedding gown yesterday and I fell in love with one. Mom said I could have it. Dad almost swallowed his teeth, but it’s worth every penny. After all, it’s a Vera Wang.”

“Um, is the groom allowed to ask how much it cost?”

“Probably not, but I don’t mind telling. We got a bargain. It was just under twenty!”

“Twenty dollars?”

Chelsea stared at him. “You’re joking, right?”

“The only other thing that fits is thousand and that would mean—you spent twenty thousand on the wedding dress!”

“Well, it is the most important part of the wedding.
The wedding cake is second, of course, and we put our order in as soon as we got engaged.”

“Six months ago?”

“Oh, yes. There’s only one decorator who makes the best cakes. Mine will have blossoms that spill down the five layers. It’ll be the most beautiful thing, almost too pretty to eat.”

“And it’s going to cost, what, a couple of hundred?”

“No. The main cake itself is seventy-five hundred, but we’ll need additional cakes to serve all our guests, so it’ll be about ten thousand.”

“And I don’t suppose you considered cutting the guest list?”

“Actually, I did. The caterers were outrageous!”

“I thought we were serving cake?”

“Well, of course, but you have to have real food, too. Nowadays, you have stations. A roast beef station, a shrimp station, a roast-of-lamb station. Some weddings divide their stations by carrying different ethnic foods. Greek, Mexican, French, American, but I don’t think that’s as elegant. And of course, at each station, you have a mix of vegetables and finger foods.”

Jeff wasn’t quite grasping what Chelsea was saying. He was too preoccupied with arriving at Rebecca’s home. “We’re here. Do you want to come in or wait in the car?” Jeff was glad to change the subject. The thought of the cost and planning of the wedding was making him sick.

“Oh, I’ll come in. I had no idea they lived so well.”

“This is Vivian Greenfield’s house, Chelsea, not Rebecca’s.”

“I should’ve known.”

Jeff raised his eyebrows. He didn’t hold out much hope for the day ahead of him. When he rang the doorbell, Betty answered, but Joey was right behind her.

“Hi! We’re ready. We’re going to see lions, Betty!”

“I know, Joey. You’ve been growling at me all morning. Come on in, Mr. Jacobs, you and your friend.”

“Betty, this is my fiancée, Chelsea Wexham.”

In response, Betty smiled and offered a hand in welcome. Chelsea stared first at Jeff and then at Betty’s hand, as if she didn’t know what to do about it. Finally, at the very last minute, she barely shook Betty’s hand.

“Have you had breakfast, ’cause I can fix something real quick. It’s best to start out with a full stomach,” Betty offered as she led them to the library.

“We’ve eaten, Betty, thank you. How about you, Joey? Have you eaten?” Jeff smiled at the little boy who was dancing around in excitement.

“I ate twice. First, when Betty fixed my breakfast. Then I helped Mommy eat her breakfast.”

“That was mighty good of you. Did Mommy say thank you?”

“Yes. But she said I mustn’t eat too much or they might want to eat me up!”

“Who might want to?”

“The lions and tigers, a’course!”

“Good thing Mommy warned you,” Jeff said, grinning at the nonsense.

Chelsea, however, wasn’t charmed. “Don’t be ridiculous. They don’t feed children to the lions and tigers!” she snapped.

Before Jeff could think of a subtle reprimand, his son spoke.

“I know, Chelsea. Mommy was making a joke because I’m excited to go to the zoo.”

Having life explained to her by an almost four-year-old left Chelsea with nothing to say.

Jeff winked at Joey. “Is your mom ready to go?”

“She’s on her way down,” Betty said, having gone upstairs to let Rebecca know they were there. Rebecca came down wearing jeans and a sweater, much as she’d been dressed Monday night.

She greeted Jeff and Chelsea, adding a compliment about Chelsea’s overalls.

“Thank you. Someone told me that I was too pretentious, so I thought I’d give overalls a try.” Her expression was triumphant, but Jeff knew he hadn’t made that remark, so who was she planning to show?

“And they have big pockets for peanuts to feed the elephants!” Joey added knowledgeably. “On TV I saw an elephant who could get the peanuts out of your pocket with his long nose without you doing anything!”

“That’s called his trunk, Joey, not his nose,” Rebecca corrected.

“But it’s just like a nose,” Jeff said, “and I’d like to see the elephant do that to Chelsea. Wouldn’t you, Chelsea?”

“Absolutely not! You’re both being silly. Let’s go.” She turned around and marched back down the hall to the front door.

Jeff looked at Rebecca, wondering if she understood his fiancée any better than he did. But she shrugged her shoulders and caught Joey’s hand in hers. “We’re ready.”

In the car, Chelsea chattered nonstop about the plans for their wedding. Joey almost fell asleep in the back seat, since he had no interest in the conversation. Chelsea, however, thought of a role for him.

“Jeff, Joey can be the ring-bearer. I didn’t have any cousins or friends with children young enough to be cute. But Joey would be perfect. He’ll look darling in a tux.”

“Just when is the wedding?” Rebecca asked.

“In June, of course. It’s the perfect month for a wedding.”

“But how long have you been engaged?”

“We got engaged last March,” Chelsea said. “And I thought about getting married last June, but I didn’t want my wedding to be all harum-scarum. It takes time to have a perfect wedding. And three months just wasn’t enough time to plan my dream wedding. I was telling Jeff earlier, the cake had to be ordered months in advance, and I just found my dress yester
day. It’s a Vera Wang. But it will have to be made to my measurements, of course.”

“It’s not ready-made? I mean, you can’t buy it and take it home with you?”

“A Vera Wang? Well, I suppose she does some pret-a-porter, but I want one made strictly for me.”

“I see.”

“Look—there’s a giant giraffe!” Joey screamed.

“He’s a statue, sweetie,” Rebecca told her little boy.

“Yeah, Joey, he guards the entrance so we can find it easily,” Jeff told him. “If you get lost, just look around and go to the giant giraffe.”

“Oh,” Joey said in a long, drawn-out breath.

Chelsea, too, seemed impressed with the giraffe. Suddenly she was sitting up straighter in her seat, craning her neck to see it.

“Haven’t you seen the giraffe before, Chelsea?” Jeff asked out of curiosity.

“Yes, of course, but it’s been a long time.” She continued to stare, but she tried to look nonchalant. Jeff parked the car, and they all got out to walk to the entrance.

After Jeff bought the tickets, they moved inside the walls of the zoo, where the giant giraffe stood.

“Why, I believe that’s Bill over there!” Chelsea exclaimed.

Startled, Jeff looked up in time to see his partner walking toward them.

“Bill? What are you doing here?” he asked in surprise.

“Didn’t Chelsea tell you? She invited me.”

Jeff and Rebecca turned to stare at Chelsea.