The Inn at Dead Man's Point (24 page)

Maybe if he started in the bathroom. As he drew the spa tub in the corner of the room, he saw Jenna lying back in the tub, her toes sticking up through the bubbles, a terry robe lying on the floor beside the towel, and fat candles glowing in the corner of the window behind her.

So much for the house. Maybe he could work on the garage. But when he tried, he saw Jenna in the driveway with Katie, washing her car.

He gave up and drove to his mother’s house. He was hungry and she always had good things to eat.

And Jenna was there.

<>

Jenna was lying in the half-sleep of someone not fully awake when she felt something heavy on the bed and a big, warm hand on her forehead. She opened her eyes and saw Alessandro’s worried face. “Don’t,” she whispered, and he removed his hand.

“You don’t want me to touch you?”

“No.”

The worry in his eyes was replaced with hurt. “You’re still pissed at me?”

She rolled up to sit on the other side of the bed. “It’s too hard,” she said before she walked into the bathroom and locked the door. If she wasn’t careful, she’d end up in bed with him again, and she couldn’t let it happen.

It was time to find another place to live, time to move out of this house and get her things out of the garage at the inn. Time to get out of Alessandro’s life for good. She and Katie could get along without a man.

Minutes later, they sat down to dinner together. Sophia had made Italian meatloaf, pasta tossed with vegetables in a spicy sauce, and garlic bread. It looked wonderful, but Jenna’s stomach couldn’t handle that much spice tonight. She ate some of the meatloaf and a few bites of bread.

Sophia smiled warmly. “It’s all right, Jenna. I know you’re not feeling well. How about cereal or toast?”

“Yes, thank you. I’ll fix it.”

As Jenna made herself a piece of toast, she heard Alessandro asking his mother what was wrong.

“She’ll be all right,” said Sophia.

“Maybe I should take her back to the inn and—”

“I’ll take good care of her, Alessandro.”

“I know you will, Ma.”

Jenna wondered what Sophia knew that she didn’t, but she wasn’t about to ask while Alessandro was there. She ate her toast and listened to Sophia tell Alessandro about Angelo and Teresa’s twin daughters. They’d just started sleeping through the night feeding. “Poor Teresa. All she does is feed those babies. She needs more sleep.”

“Two babies at once must be twice the work,” said Jenna.

“Yes, but Angelo is a good daddy. He’s helping her with the babies and the cooking. They’re such pretty babies. Luciana’s hair curls a little, and Liliana is always smiling. She’s such a happy baby.”

Sophia asked Katie, “Do you like babies, Katie?”

“Yeah. Can we make a baby, Mommy?”

“You need a daddy and a mommy to make a baby.”

Katie looked up at Alessandro, and Jenna muttered, “Don’t even think about it, Katie Bug.”

Alessandro didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. The way he looked at her, with his eyes sparkling, said he was quite willing to do his part. “Don’t
you
think about it, either.”

He gave her an innocent look. “Who, me?”

Sophia watched the interaction between them and knew things were going better than they were yesterday. Alessandro hadn’t come here today because he was hungry. He knew she’d put a pan of lasagna in his refrigerator. He came to see Jenna.

Alessandro didn’t suspect that she was pregnant. Jenna probably didn’t either, but Sophia recognized the signs. She knew they’d been sleeping together, something that was forbidden when Sophia was a girl.

Nobody in her family knew she was pregnant when she married Vincent. He was the love of her life. After he died, people urged her to find another man and marry again, but no one could replace her precious Vincent. She was left with six children to raise, and she felt Vincent’s presence around her often until they were all grown. She still felt him now and then.

Alessandro was still in diapers when his father died, and if she was right about Jenna, he was about to have a baby of his own to change and cuddle. Katie would have her baby brother or sister, and Jenna would be a wonderful mother. She was already a good mother to little Katie.

After dinner, while Alessandro cleaned up the kitchen and Jenna bathed Katie, Sophia drove to the drug store, where she bought a pregnancy test kit.

At home, Sophia found Katie in the kitchen chattering to Alessandro. Jenna was in the bathroom washing out the tub. Sophia walked in behind her and closed the door. “Jenna, is there any possibility that you could be pregnant?”

Jenna stared in stunned silence. This was apparently something she hadn’t considered. Finally, she said, “It’s possible.”

“I bought you something. You don’t have to tell anyone the results if you don’t want to, but if you are pregnant, you can’t hide it forever.” Sophia put the pregnancy test on the bathroom counter and left the room.

Two minutes later, Jenna came out of the bathroom and nodded slightly. The results were positive. Sophia would have another grandbaby to love. She gave Jenna a big hug and left her alone.

Jenna lay on her bed, sick to her stomach from the smell of food and sick at heart because she was pregnant and the baby’s father didn’t love her. It didn’t matter with Brian, because she didn’t love him, but this wasn’t Brian. This was Alessandro, and she did love him. She’d give anything if she could undo the past.

But she couldn’t.

At least Alessandro would be a good father, no matter how he felt about her. He wouldn’t be anything like Brian, coming around when another woman dumped him, visiting Katie when it was convenient for him without considering that Katie was sitting in the window watching and waiting for him.

Katie would have the baby sister or brother she wanted, and Jenna had a feeling they’d end up with another cat or two when Alessandro moved out of the inn.

It was the wrong time to have a baby. She had health insurance this time, but one of the reasons Cara had hired her was because she was pregnant and sick herself. What would she do when she found out Jenna was pregnant, too?

What would Alessandro do?

He walked through the door behind her. She didn’t see him, but she felt his presence in the room. He sat on the side of the bed and put his hand on her shoulder. “Jenna? Are you all right?”

Was she? Right now she wasn’t sure anything would ever be all right again.

He closed the door and lay down beside her, and she knew she was going to cry again. Her emotions were so messed up right now she couldn’t help herself.

“What’s wrong, honey?”

“I can’t talk about it right now.”

“Is it something I did?”

Yes, but he didn’t do it alone. She was a more than willing participant. Now she’d go through another pregnancy, give birth to another baby, and have another child to love.

He pulled her into his arms and tucked her head under his chin while his big hands held her gently. It felt so good, she stayed there, breathing in the male scent of him and wishing she could stay there forever. After a few minutes, she felt herself relax, and she fell asleep against his tear-dampened shirt.

Al knew he should get up and go home, but he couldn’t move. It was the first time since California she’d let him hold her like this, and he didn’t want to let go. She wasn’t feeling well, and she was upset about something, but she couldn’t talk to him about it.

He held her until she rolled away from him, and then he went to find his mother. Maybe she knew what was wrong. She was reading Katie a bedtime story.

“Mommy doesn’t feel good,” said Katie.

“She’ll feel better tomorrow, Katie Bug.”

Al went in to use the bathroom and spotted the pregnancy test in the trash can. It sure as hell wasn’t there for his mother. He fished out the little wand and saw the plus sign. After reading the instructions to be sure it meant what he thought it did, he dropped it back in the trash can. Now he understood why Jenna was so upset. She was pregnant with his baby, and he’d treated her like shit.

It should be a time for celebrating, and he’d ruined it. If not for that phone call from Gerry, he wouldn’t have known about the check, and they’d be picking out baby names and toasting with glasses of sparkling cider. Or milk.

He not only had to get some plans drawn for Nick’s customers, he had to get busy designing his own house, because he wanted a home for Jenna and their children, a home they could share for the rest of their lives.

<>

Al worked most of the night finalizing the first of the house plans and then he took the same plan, flipped it, and made significant changes to create a new plan. It was a time-saving technique he’d used on other plans in the past. The buyers would probably want to customize to suit their own personal tastes. On a million-dollar plan, it was to be expected, and these would sell for well over a million each, probably closer to two million with the view at Dead Man’s Point. They’d have all the luxury touches that people in the high tax bracket had come to expect.

On the second plan, he left off the basement, moved the sun room to the other side of the house, changed the entry and staircase from square to round, and put a Jack and Jill bathroom between two bedrooms instead of the two small bathrooms. He also added built-in desks with shelves over them in both bedrooms.

Since the view on this house would be in the front, he repositioned the living room and dining room, so the living room had the best view. And he put a big window seat in the family room. When he finished this plan, it wouldn’t look anything like the first one.

Vinnie could work his magic on the landscaping. He’d have fun with waterfalls and ponds in this development.

The sun was coming up when Al finally went to bed. He’d accomplished a lot tonight, and he was pleased with the results. A few more days of work, and he’d have something to show Nick’s buyers.

<>

Jenna went to work the next morning with Sophia and Katie. Sophia was going to help with the kids again.

As soon as she was alone with her boss, Jenna said, “Cara, I need to talk with you about something personal.”

“Okay.”

“I took one of those pregnancy tests last night, and it was positive. I know you hired me because you were pregnant and needed help, and I’ve been so sick I can’t keep much down.”

Cara’s smile took over her face. “But that’s wonderful. Did you tell—”

“Sophia knows, but I didn’t tell Alessandro. Things haven’t been good between us since... It doesn’t matter why. I want to see a doctor first, and my last obstetrician was in Seattle.”

Flipping through her address book, Cara said, “I’ll get you in to see my doctor. I have an appointment tomorrow, so we’ll see if we can’t go together. Okay?”

“Sure, that’s great.”

Cara made the phone call while Jenna munched on a cracker to control the nausea. At least she knew what it was. She wasn’t sick. She was pregnant.

<>

On Tuesday, Nick came home early to be with the kids while the women went to their doctor’s appointment. Al met him there as Jenna and Cara were leaving. He caught Jenna’s eye. “Are you feeling better?”

“I’m fine.”

Al walked into Cara’s office with Nick. “Is she fine?”

Nick shrugged. “All I know is that they both have appointments with the same doctor. Is there something I should know?”

“I found a pregnancy test in the bathroom trash can, but nobody told me anything.”

Nick slapped him on the shoulder. “Congratulations. Does Aunt Sophia know?”

Al opened his hands in a questioning gesture. “How in the hell should I know? Does Cara talk to you about these things?”

“Yeah, sure, but we’re married, and from what I hear, you made an ass out of yourself in California.”

Al shook his head. “Is anything ever private in this family?”

“Come on, Al. All the women in this family knew Cara and I were having Max before I did.”

“Sneaky creatures, these women.”

Nick laughed, infecting Al. “Before your kids come in here screaming, look at these plans and tell me what you think.”

Inspecting one plan, Nick said, “Hey, I like this. It’s big and comfortable, and it doesn’t scream money. I could live in this myself.”

“What about this one?” Al put the other plan on the desk on top of the first one, and Nick examined it closely.

“The footprint isn’t that much different from the other one, yet it looks different inside and out. No basement on this one?”

“No, this one is for the back side of the road.”

“The surveyor will be out next week and we’ll see how many view lots we can get out of the property. I want every house there to have a view. It’s the only way we’ll get top dollar on everything we build.”

They talked about specific features and then a baby cried.