A Promise of Forever (35 page)

Gianfranco didn’t bother to admit to Jake that his return was no accident.
He knew that Katelyn might have been on the verge of changing her relationship with Taylor; Kevin had told him.
It was the main reason he had come back.
He didn’t want to forfeit his last chance.
He had no idea, at the time, that he had a child by her or he would have been back long before now.

“I hope you’re right.
You know how to get in touch if you need me and I do appreciate this, Jake.
Now let me bring my daughter in to say hello to her uncle,” he said as held open the door to the office.

“Gianfranco, don’t sweat it; this is just payback for all you’ve done for me,” Jake said before Jenny chose that moment to jump into Jake’s arms.
“Hey there, little one, Dana, you didn’t tell me we hired a new girl,” Jake teased as he hugged Jenny.

“I’m not sharing her with you, buddy,” Gianfranco said as he took his daughter from his friend’s arms.
“We’ll make one trip to my office and then we have to go home.
Your Mom will be wondering where we are soon.”
Before Gianfranco could take Jenny into his office, Jenny had one thing she wanted to say to Jake.

“Did Daddy tell you, Uncle Jake, we’re going to Italy today?
Italy is another country and Daddy is going to teach me to speak Italy,” she said excitedly.

“Is that right?
Is he going to teach you to speak Italy or Italian?
Italy is the country you’re going to and Italian is the language you’re going to learn little one.
By the way, angel face, tell your dad that Uncle Jake needs a present,” he teased brushing the curly locks from her eyes.

“I will, I promise,” she whispered in his ear before kissing him good-bye and following her father to the big office in corner of the building.
Gianfranco took her to his office and showed her around and let her play at his desk for a little while before reminding her that they would have to be leaving if they were going to be on time for the flight.

“Katelyn, everything has been put in the limousine.
As soon as your husband and daughter arrive, we can leave.
Gianfranco has arranged for lunch to be served on the plane and I bet, after the morning Jenny’s had, she’ll sleep most of the trip,” Maggie added with a smile.

Gianfranco would be home soon so she chose her clothes with care.
She was determined to win her husband back; she might as well use his one weakness to her advantage.
She wore a lightweight pencil skirt.
It was olive-green and emphasized every curve she had.
The shirt was nude in color and a little revealing at the breasts as she wore the buttons opened pretty low and she made sure to wear the sexiest teddy she could find, underneath.
She knew that when she sat down, that he would see a hint of the teddy and it would drive him insane.
Katelyn smiled mischievously as thought she might as well enjoy her figure now; in another couple of months she would be swollen with his child.

Gianfranco and Jenny must have arrived because she could hear her daughter’s giggles as the elevator doors opened.
Katelyn did notice that Gianfranco looked at her reluctantly.
She could tell the outfit was working its magic and when they boarded the plane, with Jenny falling asleep shortly thereafter, all bets would be off.
She would show her husband no mercy as she fought to win him back.
This time, she would make sure he pleaded for a normal loving marriage and she would settle for nothing less.

Gianfranco kept his distance, as promised.
On the plane, Katelyn found it difficult to bring her plan into fruition.
He was avoiding her at all costs.
He managed to frequently have some business that needed his urgent care each time she got close.
She had almost given up, believing that he would never make time for her the way he made time for Jenny.

Their time together at the villa was proving just as scarce.
She didn’t know where he went after spending his afternoons with Jenny but he didn’t come near her.
Two weeks turned into a month and Katelyn was about to throw in the towel when the test kit showed a solid blue line running through it.
It confirmed what she had already suspected to be true; that they were going to have a baby.
She needed to fight harder to keep her marriage together because now there would be four of them.

She felt sick to her stomach as she got out of bed that morning; she ran to the bathroom to vomit.
She cleaned herself up and went to the window, watching as father and daughter played together on the beach.
It was as though he sensed her because he looked up at her window and waved.
She felt like screaming at him and admitting the truth but she didn’t dare.
Instead she decided to join them.

“Jenny and I were collecting sea shells.
Would you like to join us?” he asked as she made her way to beach.
She nodded in agreement just as Maggie called from behind.

“I have Jenny’s lunch ready.
Why don’t you two go and enjoy your walk and I’ll take Jenny in for her lunch?
It will do Katelyn some good to walk.
She’s been looking a little peaked these days,” Maggie added.
“Besides, Giovanni will be arriving to give her riding lessons soon.”

Gianfranco looked from Jenny to Katelyn and smiled.
“Maggie’s right.
You do look a little under the weather.
Are you feeling alright?” he asked.
She assured him that she was fine.
“Let’s go then.
We should spend more time alone now and then,” he added after Jenny was out of earshot.

Gianfranco had kept his distance from her long enough.
If their marriage stood a chance of surviving, they needed to build a relationship that was separate from that of their daughter.
The beach was quiet this time of the year and there wasn’t a soul to be seen for miles.
Every once in a while, someone would pass them with a dog and say hello.
The time passed by quickly and neither of them said very much in the way of conversation.
“I’m not sure how to talk to you anymore.
I don’t want to say the wrong thing and send you off in the opposite direction,” he said.

“Have ever tried to talk to me lately?
We’ve been here a month and the only time you’ve said anything to me has been at dinner when you’re forced to hold a conversation.
I feel as though I’m a third wheel in this family.”
Gianfranco took her hand in his and they continued to walk on the beach.

“I never realized that I was making you feel left out.
That wasn’t my intention.”
He squeezed her hand and smiled at her.
“Have you noticed how much time I spend apologizing for one thing or another when I’m with you?” he asked with a chuckle.

They both found his admission amusing and it felt good to laugh for a change.
Maybe, after all this time, we have finally taken a step forward.
“Tell me, what you thought when you first found out about the baby?” he asked innocently.

Briefly, she thought he was talking about their second child.
After a second or two, she realized that he meant Jenny.
“I was a scared teenager.
You had already gone back to Italy and I was heading for California.
I don’t need to tell you that I had no idea what to do at first.
Instinctively, I wanted to call you but my pride wouldn’t allow it.
You never actually said you wanted a future with me and I didn’t want to force you into marrying me.
I became more confused as time passed and then, when I could no longer hide the pregnancy, I told Kevin.
He was surprisingly understanding about my decision not to tell the father.
I don’t know what I would have done without him and Jake,” she said.

“Did you hate me?” he asked.

“No, I never hated you.
There was a time when I thought I should but I couldn’t.
It would have been easy to hate you and blame you but I didn’t.
When Jenny was born, she reminded me so much of you.
That’s when my opinion of you really changed.
I thanked God everyday that you had come into my life.
There wasn’t a day that went by, after her birth, that I wasn’t glad that you were her father.
I had no regrets, not one,” she said, picking up a shell from the beach and tossing it.

He picked up one himself and tossed it where she had tossed her shell.
She could see that several emotions were warring within him.
“I wish I was there for you both at the time. You do believe that, don’t you?” he questioned.

“Yes, I believe you would have done the right thing if I had told you and we would be a settled married couple today.
I didn’t want you feeling you were forced into a marriage you didn’t want,” she said, daring to hint that history might be repeating itself.

“Sort of like now, you mean?
I wanted things to be different.
I didn’t want things to turn out this way,” he said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
Up until now, they were moving along nicely and again they would probably take ten steps back.

Katelyn looked a little baffled at what had just happened between them in a matter of a few feet.
“Are you having regrets?” she asked.

“Some but, for the most part, I’m still convinced that our marriage could be a good one.
It would take a lot of sharing and caring but I think we could do it.
I believe that from the bottom of my heart,” he said as a wave came crashing to the shoreline.

A noise escaped her lips.
It was more of a sigh than a noise, he turned toward her to try and understand what it was she wanted from him.
“Is that enough for you?
I’m not sure that it’s enough for me.
I need a husband who loves me.
I want a commitment for life.
I want you to promise me that we will try to make our marriage last forever.
Can you give me that promise?
Do we even want the same thing?” she asked.

What had she meant on the beach
?
If they hadn’t been interrupted with an urgent business call from New York, he would have found out.
The call was something Jake had already handled but his assistant panicked when she couldn’t get a hold of Jake to verify.
Jake apologized to him, letting him know that, going forward, Dana would have his personal cell phone number in order to contact him directly with any and all business.

After hanging up with Jake, he thought again about what Katelyn had said earlier.
She was going on and on about a lifetime commitment and settling for nothing less.
She will never find another man more committed to her than I am
.
He would talk to her about it later.
As he walked down the hall, the phone was ringing.
When it rang a second and third time, he picked it up and was surprised that it was a medical office verifying Katelyn’s appointment.

What appointment?
Is Katelyn sick?
If she is, why is it a secret?
“Is this my wife’s appointment for her cold?” he asked with nervous curiosity.

The young voice on the other end laughed.
He could tell she hesitated before answering him.
It was obvious she was checking Katelyn’s file to make sure that she had permission to talk to him.
After verifying that he was her husband, she answered his question.
“Well, she should mention her cold to Dr. Bank because I’m sure he would want to know.
Be sure she doesn’t take any over-the-counter medications in her condition, without talking to the doctor first.
Even cold medicine could be harmful to the baby,” the nurse added.
All he heard were the words ‘baby’ and ‘her condition’.
He couldn’t believe that Katelyn was keeping this from him, again.
Could she be hiding this information from me because she isn’t sure who had fathered her child?
No, fate wouldn’t be that cruel.
The thought was so foreign that he couldn’t think about it.

His suspicion escalated with each passing hour and it wasn’t until she stepped out of the shower that she noticed him.
He glanced down at her flat abdomen.
He wanted it to be his child.
He couldn’t handle any other outcome.
He watched as she grabbed for her robe and tied the belt.
“I wasn’t aware that you had come in,” she said, emanating sexual appeal in waves.

“I came to discuss something with you.”
He moved closer and watched as she listlessly moved across the room.
He was almost afraid to bring up the subject with her in her condition.
He was also reluctant to have this conversation fearing the outcome.
If he found out the child was not his, but someone else’s, he knew even he couldn’t mend a broken heart, his own.