GAMBLING ON LOVE (Travis Series) (35 page)

Beth backed into the corner of the maintenance closet and almost screamed when a damp mop fell over and hit her in the shoulder
.
She could hear
someone calling
her name, but the
thick
door
muffled
his voice
so she couldn’t be certain it was Stephen
.
Whoever was out there was moving fast and heading right towards her
.

Her heart
was
hammer
ing
in
her
chest
, the
deafening roar
so loud
,
it was a wonder
she could hear the intruder at all
.
Drawing in a shallow breath, which seemed all she was capable of at the moment, Beth honed in
on the
racket the
man
was making
.
S
he hear
d
the dull thud of each door as he flung them open in rapid succession
and was convinced it had to be Stephen
; who
else would break in and race around like a mad man,
frantically searching
every office
for her
?
Mentally counting how many offices he would ha
ve
to check before reach
ing
the maintenance
closet
, she knew it was only
seconds before he
found her
.

Beth clutched the bat in her hands and lifted it over her head, ready and waiting to dish out the paybacks that were far overdue
.
As soon as the door was wrenched open, she brought the bat down hard
; the
jarring
impact
shooting shards of pain up
the length of her arms
to her shoulders
as
the bat made contact with flesh
.
For a moment, her mind went numb as she stared at the strong hand gripping the other end of the bat
. Her
stomach lurched when
Beth
realized he’d managed to block it mere inches from his head.

“Jesus, honey, you almost killed me!”

Beth dropped the bat and threw herself in his arms
.
“God, Sam, you scared
me
half to death.”

“We need to get out of here
now
,” he said, already pulling her towards the front entrance.

“Wait, Sam, I have to get the back-up disk
…
”

Ignoring her pleas to stop
,
he tightened his hold on her hand and al
l but
dragged her to the front door
.
Whipping her around in front
of him
,
Sam
put his hand over her head to protect her from the protruding shards of glass and shoved her
out
before barreling through himself
.
The police officer who was heading their way took one look at Sam’s face and ran back to his cruiser, motioning for them to hurry.

Sam grabbed Anne’s hand again
.
“Run,” he
ordered,
and felt the surge of energy as she finally
realized
what was happening.
 

They’d
nearly
reached
the police
cruiser where the
officer was waiting for them when the first
horrendous
explosion
ripped
through Sweeney Enterprises
.
Sam swept his arm around
Anne
’s waist
and hauled her up hard against his chest
,
shelter
ing
her from the falling debris
as
jagged pieces of wood, metal, and glass showered all around them
.
He
wasn’t even aware that he was still moving until they reached the cruiser.

He pushed Anne through the door the officer
had
opened for them and piled in after her
.
A few seconds later, the
y were
speeding away from the
burning
building
.
Beth turned around, rising on shaky knees to peer out the back window
.
Tears
cut a path through
the smudges of dirt on her face as she witnessed the destruction of the company
that
had taken seven years
of her life
to build
.

Another loud explosion rocked the cruiser but they were too far away now for any debris to harm them
.
Sam pulled her away from the window and into his arms just as a
strangled sob
was wre
n
ched
from her throat
. .
Burying
her face in his neck
, she
let out
a
an
anguished howl
and unleashed
the torrent of tears she’d been holding back.

 
 
 
 
                                                      *
**
 

Beth took a sip of the bottled water one of the police officers had handed her
.
The fire had been contained to just her building and some of the surrounding trees
.
All
that was left now was smoldering ash, but the firemen continued to spray the charred remains
to prevent it from
rekindling
.

She’d propped herself against the hood of Detective Holt’s car at the far end of the parking lot, well away from the fire trucks and activity
.
Sam and the detective had walked about thirty yards ahead of her, presumably so she wouldn’t be upset by what they were talking about
.
The idea was ludicrous
,
considering she’d lost her home and her business in less than a week.

She thought of her employees and the dismal look on their faces when they
discovered there was
nothing but a pile of rubble where the office used to be
.
If Vic was here, he’d probably put his arm around her and say something incredibly inappropriate like,
“I love what you’ve done with the place, doll,”
or
“maybe we should have gone with beige instead of the burnt sienna
.”
 

Suddenly
,
she found herself laughing at the imagined response
.
It bubbled inside her until she was laughing so hard her sides ached
.
She saw Sam and Detective Holt look behind them and the alarmed glance they exchanged, but still couldn’t keep it from rolling through her again, not even when Sam left the detective standing there and hurried to her side.

“Anne, honey, it’s okay,” he soothed.
 

Sam pulled her into his arms and held her while she worked it out of her system, no doubt thinking she’d lost her mind
.
Maybe she had lost it a little, but it didn’t seem so bad going insane as long as Sam was holding her while she did it
.
Beth leaned into him, the laughter dying as quickly as it had erupted.
 

“Take me home, Sam
.
I’m so tired
…
just
…
so very tired.”

Beth sat in the lounge chair on the balcony outside Sam’s bedroom
.
It overlooked a beautiful flower garden and beyond that, a lush green lawn ended in a dense line of trees
.
She missed the ocean and the sound of waves washing over the shore
.
She
sank even deeper into the dark depression because she
wanted to go home to her beach
house
but
couldn’t. I
t
no longer existed
.

Nothing she’d worked for existed any longer
.
No home, no company
:
only her little red sports car had survived the havoc of Stephen DeBay’s revenge
.
She hadn’t even called Vic yet to let him know what happened and refused to let Sam do it
.
Let Vic enjoy his vacation while he could
.
There would be time enough for him to mourn the loss when he returned
.

She could rebuild
,
but what was the use
?
What would keep another Stephen from coming along and destroying that
,
too
?
Beth hadn’t even
been able to muster
the energy to call her employees; Sam and Maggie had done that for her two days ago
.
She’d been too desolate to do anything
except
sit for hours
,
staring at the garden
.
Beth had
seen the concern in
Sam
’s eyes when he glanced back at her as he was leaving
for
work early this
morning
.
She’d tried to
twist her lips into a smile in an effort
to assure him she
would
pull out of it eventually, but
imagined
it looked more like a pained grimace than a smile.

Maggie came to check on her several times throughout the day and urged her to eat, but Beth couldn’t seem to rid herself of the sickening lurches her stomach made when she thought of food
.
She’d managed to eat toast and crackers for the past few days, but nothing else stayed down so she’d stopped trying to force it.

She knew Sam was hurting
,
too
.
He’d tried to make love to her several times since the explosion, but she’d only cried and begged him to forgive her
.
He’d been so patient and gentle with her
;
it only made her lack of interest in being close to him
make
her feel even more guilty
.
She cried a lot and was beginning to wonder
whether
Sam thought of her as a burden.

Two
weeks
had
passed
since the explosion destroyed her company, but that wasn’t why she woke each morning with tears in her eyes or why
Beth
suddenly felt
the sting of them right now
.
Sam had started leaving early every morning for the past ten days or so and
,
more often than not
,
didn’t even wake her to say good-bye
.

He was also getting home later and later
,
and although he was always very attentive and loving, she had to wonder where he was spending his time
.
He’d stopped trying to make love to her nearly a week ago
—
not that she could really blame him
,
considering her disinterest
.
He still pulled her close to him at night and kissed her, but made no attempt to push it any further
.
At first she was relieved, but now she wondered sadly
whether
Sam was finding his sexual release in the arms of another woman
.

Beth buried her head in the pillow and sobbed,
desperate
to ease the pain in her heart
.
She’d lost everything else and now she was losing Sam
,
too
.
The pain
was just too much to take and she cried until she made herself sick
.
She made a mad dash to the bathroom and barely made it before the meager food she’d consum
ed
fo
rced
its way back up.

She pulled on the robe Sam had gotten her, intending to spend the rest of the day on the lounge chair
.
When she returned to the bedroom, she was surprised to find Maggie making the bed
.
She was also embarrassed because she was sure Maggie heard her throwing up.
 

Maggie finished making the bed and offered a sympathetic smile
.
“When are you going to tell him, Anne?”

“Tell him?”

“He has a right to know.”

Beth shook her head
.
“You’re not making any sense, Maggie
.
Exactly what is it I’m supposed to tell Sam?”
 

Maggie crossed the room and planted herself in front of Beth
.
“Well
,
good Lord
.” Her
smile broadened
.
“
You
really don’t know, do you?”
 

“Maggie, I’m tired
.
I really don’t feel like guessing what you mean.”

“Anne, honey, when was your last cycle?”

“I don’t know
.
I missed the last one because of all the stress I was going through
…
”
Beth’s voice trailed off when she saw Maggie slowly shaking her head, her smile growing bigger with each second
.
“Maggie, you don’t think
…
”

“Yes, I do
.
You’re pregnant, Anne, and I think you have been since before the explosion
.
That morning you were sick to your stomach, remember?”

Beth nodded absently
.
She’d been so depressed about everything else, she hadn’t even thought about missing her cycle
.
She left Maggie abruptly and hurried to the bathroom
.
By the time Maggie appeared in the doorway, Beth was holding the early pregnancy test she’d purchased when she renewed her prescription for birth control.
 

Beth laughed for the first time in two weeks when she pulled out the unopened pack of birth control
pills
.
Because
the
ir sex life had ground to a halt
, she
’d fallen out of the routine of taking them each night
.
She held the
pills up in one hand and the pregnancy test in the other, sharing a good, hard laugh with
Maggie.

“I guess one explains the need for the other,” Maggie said
.
“If you’d taken the pills, you wouldn’t need the test.”

“Help me figure this thing out.
”
Beth shoved the pregnancy test box in Maggie’s hands, too excited to even attempt reading the instructions
.
“Hurry, Maggie,” she begged, “read faster.”

She watched Maggie open the box and take out the oval plastic tester, listening carefully as she explained what Beth needed to do
.
“I’m scared,” she admitted when Maggie pressed the tester into her hands.
 

Maggie just smiled
.
“Don’t you want to know
whether
you’re going to have Sam’s baby?”

Beth nodded
.
“I’ll be out in a minute.
”
She closed the bathroom door
, her body tingling with excitement
.
Her hand moved to her belly.
“Please, God,” she whispered, “give me
this
.”

A few minutes later, she and Maggie hovered
anxiously
over the strip, willing it to change color
.
Beth was still staring at it when Maggie straightened.

“Well that’s it
,
then,” Maggie said.

“Maggie,” Beth choked, “Maggie,
it’s
blue.”

Maggie put her arm around Beth
’s shoulders and guided
her back to the bedroom,
sitting beside
to
her on the
edge of the
bed
.
“Are you okay?”
 

Beth stared
dazedly at the wall
.
“I’m pregnant, Maggie
.
I’m really pregnant
.
I
…
I’m having a baby
.
Sam’s baby
.
I want to cry, but I can’t.”

Maggie laughed
.
“It’s because you’ve cried yourself out over the past few weeks
.
Listen, Anne, I’m going to let you in on a tiny secret because I think it
will
all work out nicely in the end
.
Sam asked me to make sure you were dressed and ready to go by three o’clock today.”

“Dressed for what?”

“Now that’s the part of the secret I can’t tell
.
You’ve been cooped up in this house far too long and you’re not taking proper care of yourself
.
You’ve got a baby to think of now,” Maggie said sternly
.
“
It’s
time to stop
grieving over what’s broken
and start thinking about how you can fix it.”

“Sam really wants to take me out?”

“Well, why wouldn’t he
?
Anne, he’s been so upset by how hard you took this
.
He wants to do something to pull you out of it
.
And it would be a great time to tell him about the baby.”

“Maggie
?
Do you know why he’s been leaving so early and staying out late?”

“Yes, I do.
”
She stood
.
“And whatever silly
notion
just rolled through your head had better roll right back out
.
Sam loves you
;
everything he’s done for the past few weeks is because of that love
.
Now, that’s all you’re getting out of me
.
I want you to take a nice long shower, dress in something bright and cheerful and meet me down in the kitchen
.
I’ll make you a nice English muffin and we’ll decide which room will make the best nursery.”
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                      *
**

On the drive home,
Sam
realized he was
almost as scared as the day he’d gone to Anne’s office knowing she was inside with a
ticking
bomb
.
When he’d gotten up the morning after
and saw how depressed and
listless
Anne had grown
, the seedling of an idea had been planted
.

When
he discovered she’d spent the entire day sitting in the lounge chair on the balcony, eating next to nothing and staring at the gardens, he decided to get the ball rolling
.
That first week following
the explosion,
she’d closed herself off and wouldn’t allow him to make love to her
.
Sam had tried to be understanding, b
ut when she continued to keep him at arm’s length, he knew something was seriously wrong.

He’d called in quite a
few
favors
and
accomplish
ed
a lot over the past
two weeks
as a result. Sam
prayed it w
as enough to
bring Anne back to him
.
Each day she slipped
further
and
further
away from him and the rest of the world
.
And despite a considerable amount of coxing, she
’d
even
declined
to go with him to pick up Vic at the airport the day before
.