Rebecca's Little Secret (8 page)

“Good for you,” she said with a big smile.

Jeff gave his fiancée an appreciative smile in the rearview mirror. “I’m glad to hear that, Chelsea.”

That was a bittersweet moment for Rebecca. She had convinced Joey’s future stepmother that her son was important, which earned Chelsea Jeff’s approval.

Bill cleared his throat. “Uh, since Joey’s not dining with us, I wondered if maybe you’d like to upgrade a little from hamburgers. I know a good steak place. It’s usually crowded, but since it’s almost nine, maybe they could work us in.”

“Oh, good,” Chelsea said. “I wasn’t in the mood for a hamburger.”

Bill laughed. “Somehow I’m not surprised. You always prefer the expensive.”

“It’s the way she was raised,” Jeff added with a grin.

“I think Chelsea has the right approach,” Rebecca said staunchly. “You go for the best and then adjust as necessary.”

“Our ladies are in agreement,” Bill said. “We’re in trouble.”

T
HEY LINGERED OVER THEIR
meal. Bill offered drinks, but no one took him up on his offer. Life was too perfect as it was. They enjoyed a steak dinner, the meat perfectly cooked, the baked potato just right, and a dinner salad with the right blend of ingredients.

“That was perfect,” Rebecca said with a sigh. “I like your choice of restaurant, Bill.”

“Hey, I might have chosen this restaurant,” Jeff protested.

“And if you had, I would’ve complimented you. But Bill chose the restaurant for us, so I complimented him,” Rebecca said.

“I accept the compliment. I just stumbled upon it by accident,” he said.

“Do you eat out a lot?” Chelsea asked.

“Yeah. After working all day, I’m not much in the mood to cook. Besides, I’m not very good at it.”

“That must get expensive,” Chelsea said with a frown.

The two men stared at each other.

“Should we take her temperature?” Bill asked.

“Probably. She must be sick to think such a thing,” Jeff returned.

Chelsea protested, her cheeks bright red.

“Don’t let them bother you, Chelsea,” Rebecca said softly.

“I just meant—”

“We know what you meant,” Bill said, relaxing in his chair. “And you’re right. But if I’m no good in the kitchen, my options are limited.”

“I was just going to point out that it would be more cost-effective to marry and have a wife who cooks.”

“Some wives work, too,” Rebecca pointed out.

“But you said you fixed dinner after working all day,” Chelsea replied.

“I did for two reasons. I didn’t have enough money
to eat out often, and I cooked because it wouldn’t be good for Joey’s diet to eat out all the time.”

“It’s not good for mine, either,” Bill said. “I’m getting fat.”

The other three laughed since Bill’s frame was as slender as ever.

The waiter brought back the receipt from Bill’s credit card. As he signed it, the ladies gathered their purses to leave.

“This has been so nice,” Chelsea said. “I even enjoyed the conversation.”

“Well, you should have,” Jeff agreed. “We covered every subject in the book. You had to stay alert to keep up.”

“But it was fun and so refreshing to have some adult companionship. Joey’s line of conversation may be sweet,” Rebecca said, “but it’s not very intellectual yet or mind-stimulating.”

“Not even when he wants to know what certain words mean?” Jeff asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rebecca blushed. “He’s asked about a couple of those words. The next time he does, I’ll tell him to ask his father.”

“They start asking difficult questions that young?” Chelsea asked with a gasp. “I thought that wouldn’t happen until maybe middle school.”

“Oh, no,” Rebecca said with a sigh. “I’ve been told most of those questions come by the fourth grade. They hear other children talking. Our children get an incredible education on the playground or school bus. Just not the education we want for them.”

“Maybe we should consider private school,” Jeff said.

“Then they get the same information, only with an attitude,” Chelsea said. “Now that I think about it, I remember things I heard on the playground. But I knew better than to ask my mother what they meant.”

Bill stood and they began walking out. “Who did you ask, then?” Bill asked, curious.

“My girlfriends.”

“But they may not have known the truth. They might have been making up something. You would have never known the difference.” Bill sounded horrified, as if he always got the correct answer to his embarrassing questions.

“You’re right, they didn’t know,” Chelsea responded with a laugh. “I remember one—oh, no, I can’t say that!” she exclaimed, her cheeks bright red.

“Can’t say what? Now you have to say it.” Bill said.

“Never mind. I can assure you I know what it is now.” Chelsea ducked into the back seat before Bill could ask any more questions.

“Don’t look at me,” Rebecca quickly warned the two men. “I think I’m too young to know what Chelsea is talking about.”

“Fine talk for a woman who has given birth. Definitely tell Joey to ask me anything anytime,” Jeff advised, a grin on his face.

On Monday, when Rebecca reached the office to work, she checked with Harriet to see if Jeff had a full slate of appointments.

“Why, no, dear, he’s free this afternoon. Mondays aren’t busy days. Do you need to talk to him?”

“Yes, I think I do.” Rebecca had done a lot of thinking after their Saturday evening adventures. As much as she hated to admit it, both Jeff and Chelsea knew enough about Joey to take him out alone now, without her.

It seemed to Rebecca that there was something unnatural about the foursome that resulted when she and Bill came along. She’d decided that for her own protection, she’d better bow out of any future evenings like Saturday.

Rebecca actually thought Chelsea was genuinely nice and intelligent, which didn’t make Rebecca find the foursome any easier. She could admit to herself that she was still in love with Jeff. And the more time she spent with him in intimate settings, even with the
other two along, made it harder for her to deal with his future marriage to Chelsea.

“Rebecca? Jeff said he could see you now.” Harriet stood there smiling at her, and Rebecca had to pull herself together, even though she felt like bursting into tears.

“Oh, thank you, Harriet. I won’t take up much of his time.”

Harriet just nodded and went back to work. She was such a dear woman, never interfering in others’ business.

Rebecca stepped into the office and closed the door behind her before she faced Jeff. He was sitting behind his desk, and she would prefer that he kept it between them.

“Have a seat, Becca. What’s up?”

“Nothing, really. I just wanted to tell you that I don’t think I need to accompany Joey every time you want to take him out anymore. Both you and Chelsea are very good with him and could handle him on your own.”

Instead of responding to her statement, he stood and came around the desk. “You aren’t even going to take a seat to have this conversation?”

“I don’t want to take up too much of your time,” Rebecca said, backing toward the door.

“Come on, Becca, I think we need to talk about what you just said.”

“I don’t think so,” she contradicted him. “I need to get back to work.”

“You make me sound like a slave driver. By the way, I’m giving you a raise.”

Those words stopped her progression to the door. “What? Why are you doing that?”

“Because you’re a hard worker. Besides, you spent four years paying for everything yourself. I owe you. I’m also setting up a college fund for Joey so that if anything happens to me, that part of his life will be taken care of. Bill is going to be the trustee.”

“The—the college fund is nice, and Bill will do well as the trustee, I’m sure. That’s very nice, but you don’t owe me anything, Jeff.”

“Yes, I do. That’s why we need to talk. I’m going to start child support payments at once. We need to talk about the amount.”

“No! I—I didn’t ask for child support money.” Her heart was beating too rapidly, and she found difficulty drawing a breath.

He took her arm and led her to one of the chairs in front of his desk. He took the other one. “I know you didn’t ask for it, but I’m going to pay it, anyway. I thought a flat settlement for the past four years and then a monthly stipend of two thousand dollars would be fair.”

The splits he mentioned took her breath away. “N-no! Absolutely not. You owe me nothing for those four years. You didn’t even know Joey existed. That wouldn’t be fair. And—and that’s too much for each month.”

“I think you should have enough so that if you need a place of your own, you could afford it.” He
reached out and took her hand in his. “If you don’t, then you can use the money for Joey’s expenses and put the rest of the money in savings for another time.”

“Jeff, I just came in to tell you the foursome wouldn’t be necessary anymore. That’s all. I don’t want to talk about—about money. I’m grateful you want to spend time with Joey. That’s all I ever wanted for him.”

“I know, sweetheart, but you’ve got to think about your and Joey’s future.”

“I have thought about it. That’s all I ever think about. I’m going to have my teaching certificate in three more semesters. Then I’ll earn a good salary and have more time to spend with Joey.”

“And that’s a good plan. But if you save your child support, you may be able to buy your own place by then. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

She got up from the chair and backed away from him. “I have to go to work.” Before he could stop her, she opened the door and escaped back into Harriet’s company.

“My heavens, child, what’s wrong? Did Jeff give you bad news?” Harriet immediately asked. “You’re so pale. You’d better sit down at once.”

“N-no, Harriet, I’m fine, really,” Rebecca said, moving toward her own desk. “I just need to start work.”

Harriet’s eyes went past Rebecca, and Rebecca whirled around to discover Jeff had come to his office
door. He nodded to Harriet, and she immediately began showing Rebecca her work for the day.

Jeff went back into his office and picked up the phone. When his caller answered, he said, “Will, I need to talk to you about something. I’m trying to arrange things financially with Rebecca, and she won’t discuss it at all. Could I come to your office and show you what I want to do, so you could tell me if I’m being fair to Rebecca? And help me convince her to accept what I’m offering?”

“I’ll be glad to talk to you about it, Jeff, of course. You understand that I don’t have legal guardianship for Rebecca. She’s completely independent.”

“Don’t I know it. But I want to protect her and Joey from—from whatever could go wrong in their lives. Could I come in half an hour?”

“Of course. We’ll try to work out something Rebecca could accept.”

“Thanks, Will. I’ll see you in a little while.”

Jeff hung up the phone and stared at the painting on the wall. He wanted to be there for Rebecca and Joey. He gave a disparaging laugh. What he really wanted was to marry Rebecca, but he’d promised to marry Chelsea, and she didn’t deserve to be dumped now.

His only hope was the foursome Rebecca had just tried to end. It seemed to him that his fiancée was responding to Bill more than she did to him. And he knew Bill was attracted to Chelsea, too. He was his friend and would never try to break up his engagement. But he wanted Chelsea.

So it was up to Jeff to continue these foursomes until whatever might happen, happened. He’d already bought tickets to the opening night of the basketball season for their local pro team. He’d bought five tickets, planning to use the excuse of taking Joey to the basketball game.

He felt sure he could convince Rebecca to come so he didn’t waste his money on a ticket for her that she wouldn’t use. But what else could he find for the five of them to do without Rebecca catching on?

His phone rang. “Jacobs.”

“Jeff, I have a wonderful idea,” Chelsea announced without any preliminaries. “I think we should take Joey to Six Flags before they close for the season. I think this Saturday is the last day. It would be so much fun for the five of us.”

“I think you’re right, Chelsea. I’ll ask Bill. Why don’t you call Rebecca and check with her.”

“Isn’t she at work with you?” Chelsea asked, sounding confused.

“Yes. You see, she’s decided we are ready to take Joey without her, which is a compliment to you, darling, but I think it would be nice if she came with us to Six Flags. After all, it would be an all-day event, and some of the rides are rather scary.”

“Oh, I see. Okay. I’ll call her.”

“Good. Don’t take no for an answer.”

“I won’t.”

Jeff immediately went to Bill’s office as soon as he’d hung up the phone. “Bill, do you think you could stand another outing with Joey?”

“Of course I could. He’s a fine boy, Jeff. You should be proud.”

“I am. But his throwing up might make you a little hesitant about wanting to accompany us anymore,” Jeff said with a laugh.

“As long as I don’t have to clean up after him, I’m happy to go along.”

“Well, Chelsea has suggested that we all go to Six Flags this Saturday. It’s the last weekend they’re open until next spring.”

“Chelsea’s just full of good ideas, isn’t she?” Bill asked with a laugh. “That sounds like fun.”

“Okay, she’s checking with Rebecca now. I’m on my way to an appointment, but one of us will let you know the details. I’ll be back later this afternoon.”

He hurried out of the office with a whispered goodbye to Harriet, not wanting Rebecca to see him leave. He knew she was on the phone with Chelsea, and she didn’t seem happy about what was being said. He was pretty sure he could count on Chelsea to convince her, though.

Was he being fair to Chelsea? He was using her enthusiasm and reluctance to deal with Joey on her own. But he thought he was doing the right thing. Better for them to be sure their marriage would work before they both made a terrible mistake.

R
EBECCA GOT OFF THE PHONE
with Chelsea and stood to go back to Jeff’s office.

“Are you looking for Jeff? He’s gone out, Rebecca. He had an appointment.”

“Oh. I didn’t see him leave. When will he be back?”

“I’m not sure. Bill is here if you need to talk to him.”

“No, thank you, Harriet. I’ll just get started on the filing.” Rebecca could think of nothing she wanted to say to Bill. According to Chelsea, Jeff knew of her plans and had promised to tell Bill.

So Jeff had completely ignored her determination to avoid any foursome in the future. Why? Didn’t he know how hard it was for her to see him escorting Chelsea? She had to admit, of course, that he didn’t appear to do much escorting since he was doting over her and Joey most of the time.

Poor Chelsea. Rebecca thought she would be glad to avoid the foursomes, but here she was trying to set up another one. And it did sound like fun, of course. Joey would love Six Flags, she was sure.

She tried to put it out of her mind. She had work to do. Harriet had left her a lot of filing. If Jeff was giving her a raise, she’d better earn it.

J
EFF SPENT A SATISFYING
hour with Will. He liked the man, and he was able to be honest with him. As honest as he could be. “Are you and Vivian happy having Rebecca and Joey there with you? Because I can pay for a place for them to live on their own.”

“Vivian would kill me if I aided you in removing one of her chicks from the nest. Truthfully, Jeff, we love having them there. It means a lot to Vanessa to
have her sister there, to get to know her better. And Joey has stolen all of our hearts.”

“But with you having a child of your own, things may get a little more complicated.” Jeff watched him carefully, looking for any sign that Rebecca and Joey were burdens to him.

Will laughed. “Do you really think Betty couldn’t handle a dozen children and still be happy? It’s not like it’s Vivian and me doing all the work.”

“Betty is good with Joey and she’s terrific in the kitchen. I have a lady who cleans my house regularly, but she doesn’t do much cooking.”

“Well, we’re fine, but I promise to let you know if I think it would be better for Rebecca and Joey to be out on their own. But I really don’t like the idea. There are too many bad guys looking for lonely women to target.”

“I know. And I appreciate the protection you provide them.”

“Happy to do it,” Will assured him.

“Here’s what I had in mind for child support,” Jeff said, showing Will a piece of paper where he’d written out his intentions.

Will studied the figures. Then he looked at Jeff. “These are very generous numbers.”

“Joey is my child, and Rebecca is his mother because I was careless with her. She—she deserves better than just money, but it’s all I can offer in my present situation.”

“I see. Well, she should have no complaints with this much money.”

“The problem will be getting her to agree to it. She says I don’t owe her anything, and she doesn’t want me to pay child support.”

“Hmm. Well, I’ll try to talk to her, but it might be better handled by Vivian. She’ll explain why Rebecca should accept this amount, for Joey’s sake, of course.”

“I’d appreciate that, Will. Were you able to offer any assistance to Dr. Janvers?” he asked, referring to the man he’d sent to Will.

“Yes, I was. In fact, I’ve done several jobs for him since you referred him. I appreciate the business, Jeff.”

“Hey, you’re the closet thing to family, other than Joey, that I have. Any business I can send your way, I’m more than happy to do so. How are your searches for the other siblings coming along?”

“David and Rachel, if those are the names they go by, have proved elusive. I haven’t discovered the name of their adopted parents. They haven’t signed any of the lists of children seeking their real families. I’ve tracked down some Rachels and Davids but they weren’t adopted. But I’ll keep looking. I promised Vivian I’d find them.”

“It would mean a lot to Rebecca to find her twin. She enjoys Vanessa a lot, I think, but I’ve always heard twins were special.”

“Yes, me, too. Hopefully, I’ll find them soon.”

Jeff stood and held out his hand. “I appreciate your help on this. Let me know if there’s ever anything I can do for you.”

“If you run across any Rachels or Davids that look like Vanessa and Rebecca, let me know,” Will said with a laugh.

“You got it,” Jeff promised.

He left, saying goodbye to Carrie, Will’s assistant. He thought he’d met her before, but he wasn’t sure.

On the way out, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Chelsea’s number. “Chelsea? It’s Jeff. Did you talk to Rebecca?”

“Yes. She’s very stubborn, but I convinced her to go. Did you talk to Bill?”

“Yeah, he’s fine with it. So we’re set for Saturday. What time shall I pick you up?”

“I think we should get there about ten. So you should pick me up at nine, and Rebecca and Joey at nine-fifteen. Oh, and you should get Bill before you pick me up, too.”

“Right. So I’ll see you Saturday.”

“Well, you could call me sometime before Saturday.”

“Oh, yeah,” he agreed with a laugh. “I’ll do that.”

But his mind was on Rebecca and his son. Joey was becoming almost the most important person in his world. Well, maybe second. That didn’t leave a place for Chelsea until number three. That wasn’t the way things should be. Not for his fiancée. But it was the way things were.