Blueprints: A Novel (47 page)

“What’s deking?”

“Short for decoy. It’s when a player handles the puck in a way that misleads his opponent—you know, feints left, moves right, that kind of thing. The opponent gets out of position. The player moves past.”

“Clever. How long did it take you to learn?”

“Years.” He turned the corner onto his street.

Putting her blinker on, she followed. “I don’t have years. I’ve never had to wear so many different hats.”

Chip didn’t respond at first. Then came a low “Oh shit” and an aggrieved sigh. “Brace yourself. You’re about to try on another.”

twenty-seven

Jamie was about to ask what he meant when he pulled into his driveway beside a black BMW. A woman was leaning against it, hands flanking her hips, eagle eyes tracking the Honda. Jamie’s first thought was that it was Buddy’s mother. As she got closer, though, she realized the woman looked exactly like Chip.

Jamie barely breathed. “Which sister?”

“Samantha,” he murmured and, ending the phone connection, called out his window, “Hey, Sam.”

Samantha Kobik was the sister who lived in Manhattan. Black leggings covered slim legs, and though her tunic top was stylishly voluminous, her arms and face were lean. Her hair was long and caught in a high ponytail, but it was as dark and thick as Chip’s, her eyes as blue, her jaw as square.

Jamie knew other things about her from stories Chip had told her, but could she remember them now? No! All she could think, with an edge of hysteria, was that she had promised Caroline a presentation on Wednesday—
No problem!
—and that being with Chip and the boys alone would eat up more time than she had. She couldn’t be meeting a sister-in-law right now, much less a hostile one, to judge from the sharpness of those eyes.

But what choice did she have?

Parking behind him, she climbed out in time to hear Chip say a facetious “That was fast.”

Samantha had straightened. “Look who’s talking.”

He kissed her cheek and gave her shoulder what Jamie thought to be a conciliatory squeeze. “If you’re here to do Mom’s bidding, save your breath.”

“Do I ever do Mom’s bidding?”

“Always.”

“I do not. I do my own thing.”

“Which is always on Mom’s approved activities list,” Chip said. “You’re her first child. You don’t break rules, and you strive to succeed. You’re her dream child.”

“Who isn’t married.”

“Who has two graduate degrees and a choice job, who travels all over and earns a ton of money.”

“Who isn’t married,” Samantha repeated, only then shifting her gaze.

Opening an arm, Chip drew Jamie close. “Wife, meet sister Samantha. Sister, meet wife Jamie.”

Samantha held out a hand—no hug offered, for which Jamie was grateful. “Sister-in-law” was a technical term. A hug would have suggested a relationship, which they didn’t yet have. No, a handshake was fine, and Samantha’s was firm. Jamie returned it in kind. If her father had taught her anything, it was that.

“I’d say I’m pleased to meet you,” Samantha said, “but right now we’re all stunned.”

Jamie said the first thing that came to mind. “You should talk to my mom.”

“She should talk to
my
mom, or maybe not. Mine was pretty steamed, and not only at Chip.”

“If she’s angry at Jamie,” Chip said, “she’s totally off base. Jamie’s my other half.”

“A little advance warning would have been nice.”

“We didn’t have advance warning.”

“Exactly.
That
reassured her. Did you not upset her enough back when you were boozing it up?”

“Sam—”

“Or when you kicked them out of this house?”

“I did not kick them out.”

“You said you could raise your child alone. You said you didn’t need them.”

To Jamie, Chip muttered a tight-jawed “That’s not what I said. I’m getting the boys.” He strode off.

Jamie wasn’t sure she wanted to be left alone with Samantha. Little things were coming back, like the fact that this oldest sister was a perfectionist, which would be a disaster for Jamie, who wasn’t sure she was doing
anything
right just then. But she couldn’t move. Piercing blue eyes were pinning her in place.

“You’re an architect.”

With a serious deadline. “I am.”

“Dressed like that?”

“I was working at my condo.”

“No wonder. In a town like Williston, no good deed goes unnoticed.”

Jamie laughed. She couldn’t help herself. Broken engagement plus sudden wedding equals town gossip. The woman did know her Williston.

“I’m sorry about your father,” Samantha said in a way that wasn’t soft or sympathetic, just fact. “I read about it on the company website. MacAfee Homes was an institution when I was here. If half of what’s on the website is true, it still is. I haven’t watched your TV show. Is it any good?”

“I think it is,” Jamie said. Just then Chip approached holding Tad, and she took him and made the introductions. Tad just stared at Samantha, clearly not knowing any more than Jamie did whether the woman was friend or foe.

Buddy, on the other hand, was no sooner released from the car than he made a beeline for his aunt. Stopping short inches away, he rocked back on his heels and grinned up.

Samantha gave him a thoroughly Chip grin, which made Jamie warm to her a little. “Hey, big guy,” she said with genuine enthusiasm and bent for a hug. “I’d pick you up, but…”

“But what?” Chip said, approaching with Jamie’s computer in his arms.

“He’s too heavy.”

“Then I won’t give you this. If you want to make yourself useful, take the boys inside and make dinner. There’s ground beef in the fridge.” To Jamie, he said, “She likes to cook. Mom molded her.”

“Taught her,” Samantha corrected, “and it’s a good thing someone learned something from her, because my brother sure didn’t. Marriage is a major thing.”

“Sam—” Chip began.

“You could’ve called me, y’know.” She swallowed once, then again, and seemed to be taking a deep breath even as she asked, “Why did I have to hear this from Mom?”

“Because Jamie’s mom wasn’t happy, and our mom wasn’t happy, and I didn’t want more not-happy from you and my sisters, and Jamie and I had to get to work. She has a killer deadline on a major project, so I need to hook up these machines ASAP. Are you staying the night or driving right back?” As an aside to Jamie, he said, “She does that sometimes. Important people don’t take time for family, which may be one of the reasons she isn’t married.”

“Chip,” Jamie scolded softly. Marriage was a touchy subject for some unmarried women, and his sister seemed to have gone pale.

But she didn’t back down. “Actually,” she said, “the reason I’m not married is that I’ve never been able to find a guy who was anywhere near as solid as Dad. I’ve been looking. Trust me, I have. And yes, I’m staying the night.” She swallowed again. “But I didn’t bring my key, so if one of you could unlock the door, I could use a bathroom.”

She was looking a little green. Jamie wondered if she was sick. Shifting Tad on her hip, she went to the side door, unlocked it, and stood back. Samantha had grown up in this house and knew her way around. She made a beeline for the closest bathroom.

When Tad squirmed, Jamie set him down near the fridge. Buddy was suddenly there. “Mamie, can I have apple juice?” he asked.

“That’s just what I was coming to get,” Jamie said with a smile. Buddy was a sweet child, and even if that hadn’t been so, the fact that he had accepted Tad so readily would have endeared him to her.

Removing two juice boxes, she tucked one under her arm while she fixed a straw first in Buddy’s, then Tad’s. She unwrapped granola bars and set the boys up near the toys in the living room. Retracing her steps, she heard the toilet flush as she passed the first-floor lav. Wanting to give Samantha as much privacy she could, she went straight on through the kitchen and out the door. She reached the car as Chip was gathering a second load.

He straightened, looking hassled. “I’m sorry. I figured I’d hear from her at some point, but I didn’t think she’d leave New York so fast. You don’t need this right now.”

Thinking that she was so far behind in work that a little more wouldn’t hurt, she tugged at his shirt to lighten his mood. “She doesn’t seem so bad to me. Do you think she’s okay?”

“Okay how?”

“She got really pale there.”

He snorted. “Being brilliant can be draining.”

“Be kind,” Jamie chided. “She’s your sister. She wants you happy.”

“I’ll be happy if she makes dinner,” he said and, carefully extracting a machine from deep in the SUV, headed back to the house.

Jamie followed with a carton of typing paper, traceing paper, packs of Sharpies, pens and pencils, and correction fluid. When she saw the bathroom door still closed, she set the box on the kitchen table, went into the hall, and knocked softly.

“Samantha? Are you okay?”

There was total silence from inside. Then the handle turned and the door cracked open.

An invitation?

Thinking that she didn’t have time to accept it but that this was Chip’s sister and she couldn’t turn away, she gently eased the door back. Samantha sat sideways on the closed toilet with her head bowed and a damp cloth pressed to the back of her neck.

Frightened, Jamie slipped inside and shut the door to keep the boys out. “What’s wrong?”

“Morning sickness is only supposed to last three months. I’m going on six.”

“Pregnant?”

Confirmation came with a snicker. “Not on the approved activities list when there’s no husband.”

“Who’s the father?”

“Donor XR 21899.”

Jamie gasped. “Not an accident, then.”

“Oh no. I picked him carefully. He’s six-three, comes from a large family, did a Peace Corps stint, and is currently a pediatric resident at a major hospital God knows where. I was lucky. I got pregnant on the first try.”

Chip hadn’t mentioned a pregnancy, which meant that either his parents had chosen not to tell him or … “Your parents don’t know?”

“No.” Samantha rocked gently. “I knew they’d be against it. They’d want the husband to come first. They’d tell me I’m not that old, and they’re right, but I’ve always wanted kids, and my life is perfect in so many ways but empty in others, and I seriously do not like the guys I see out there. My folks say I need friends.” She made a disparaging sound. “Like I have time to make friends?”

Boy, could Jamie identify with that. She didn’t have time for friends
or
for a sister-in-law. Yet here she was, chatting it up in the bathroom with one. And mothering Tad? Granted, she’d have chosen any other way of getting him than having her father and Jessica die—but she loved her baby. Had it not been for him, she wouldn’t be with Chip, with whom she was over-the-moon crazy in love. Nor would she be stressed to the max over time demands, or setting up an office in a house she would never have designed but in which she felt totally at home, or terrified about meeting in-laws. But she wasn’t turning away from any of it.

Samantha set the cloth on the edge of the sink and raised nervous eyes to Jamie. “If I don’t have time for friends, do I have time for a baby? I mean, what was I
thinking
? My lifestyle is crazy. I work long days, and I’m gone overnight all the time.” Jamie remembered now; she did publicity for a restaurant group that had started in New York but was spreading steadily westward. “I can’t do that with a baby. My boss may can me when I tell him I won’t travel.”

“He can’t fire you because you’re pregnant.”

“No, but if I refuse to do the job he hired me for? Travel was always part of the package. I signed on to the deal. So I think about that, and I think about my teeny apartment, which is a walk-up, which I love for the exercise, but which may not be cool once I have a baby and a carriage and groceries, and the nausea’s been so bad that I’ve used up my sick time, and this is all before childbirth, which terrifies me, and I haven’t
begun
to consider child care.”

“You’re thinking too far ahead.”

“But shouldn’t I have done that before I got myself into this?”

“Would you do anything different if you could go back?”

“No. Mothering is the job I want.” Closing her eyes, she put a hand on her stomach and drew in a slow breath through pursed lips. Exhaling the same way, she said, “Except when I feel sick.” She breathed in again, out again. “Okay. I’m good.” But she bent forward again.

Not knowing what else to do, Jamie freshened the cloth, refolded it, and returned it to her neck. “You don’t look pregnant.”

“A mixed bag, there,” came the muffled voice. “I didn’t tell my parents during the first trimester on the chance that the pregnancy wouldn’t hold, and once I knew it would, I kept putting it off. I haven’t seen them in a while. Besides, I’ve always worn leggings, and tunics are in style.” Moving the cloth to her throat as she straightened, she smoothed the wide tunic so that her middle showed.

“Oh my,” Jamie breathed. The baby bump was small, but definitely there. “Is it healthy?”

“She is.”

“A girl!” A momentary excitement caught her up. “I want one of those next.”

Samantha snorted. “Mom always said she loved that her first was a girl. Wonder what she’ll say about her first girl now.” She grew earnest, seeming to want Jamie to understand. “It’s not like they won’t want the baby. They just won’t like how I got her. I was waiting to tell them until I felt better, so my third month became my fourth, and now that I’m well into my fifth, I tell myself that they’ll just have to accept it the more of a done deal it is.”

“Like Chip and me getting married,” Jamie said.

Samantha was quiet. When she finally lifted her head, her eyes were defiant and ashamed at once. “Want to know my first thought when Mom called this morning with your news? Pure glee. I kept thinking,
My being single and pregnant will be small potatoes compared to Chip marrying one of his bimbos.
” Her defiance faded, leaving apology on its own. “Only you’re not a bimbo, are you.”

Jamie smiled. “No. But I’m horrid in the kitchen, and I’m in a state of panic about a deadline that my mother, who, by the way, isn’t speaking to me right now, set for a project she wants done by Wednesday. So if I get you crackers, will you be able to make dinner while Chip and I set up my office?”