Ivorie's Surprise [Golden Dolphin] (Siren Publishing Classic) (23 page)

“Not a problem. Have a safe trip, and I’ll see you at the office on Thursday.”

“Okay, you, too. Try to relax tonight and enjoy your last night of luxury. Why don’t you stay in the Master Suite? And think about me.” He smiled at her and hoped she would. He knew he was already missing her, and he wasn’t gone yet.

* * * *

Ivorie kept a brave smile on her face as he boarded the Riva and turned to wave to her. She wouldn’t be staying in the Master Suite, and she wouldn’t be seeing him in the office. She probably wouldn’t be seeing him again at all. Her heart was breaking, but she was Ms. Ivorie McKenzie James, not someone’s convenience or responsibility. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes as she watched the Riva recede in the distance.

She returned to the office and completed the packing. When she looked at the desk Drew had used, her face turned a bright red as she remembered what they had done there. She didn’t know if she would ever be able to forget or get over this. She hadn’t known what pain was until she had stood in the suite and listened to Drew describe her as a convenience. The breath had refused to leave her lungs.

She spent the night in her own cabin, packed her clothes, and prepared to leave. Casey had invited her to dine in the crew’s dining room, but she knew she would be poor company and decided to eat in her cabin. She barely touched her food. When Saltydawg paid her a visit, she was so glad to see him she almost squeezed the stuffing out of the sturdy little dog before she fed him pieces of her steak and cuddled with him on the chaise in her sitting area. It was a good thing he was a salty dog because she definitely spilled some salty tears on his mud-gray coat. She went to bed early in an attempt to get through the last few hours aboard the
Dolphin
and cried herself to sleep. She hoped that someday she would remember this trip for the wonderful things she had experienced and without the bitterness that now clouded her feelings.

Park Avenue Apartment of Barbara McKenzie, New York City, October 30, 2013—Wednesday Night

Ivorie went from the airport directly to her grandmother’s apartment on Park Avenue to pick up her dog before she returned to her own apartment, hopefully to do some laundry and pack for another trip.

“Thanks for keeping Annie for me, Grammy. I hope she wasn’t too much trouble.”

“No trouble at all, dear. I had a dog walker to help out. I enjoyed having Annie. She’s great company. Now, are you going to tell me about the trip and what’s bothering you?”

“Nothing, Gram. Everything is fine.”

“That’s a load of you-know-what, missy. Who do you think you’re talking to? Some senile old woman? Now what happened on that boat?”

“Why is everyone asking me that? I’m fine.”

Barbara just looked at her expectantly and said, “Maybe it’s because your face is an open book to anyone who knows and loves you? Now spill.”

Over a cup of coffee with a splash of brandy, Ivorie told her grandmother about everything that had happened, sparing only the most intimate details. Ivorie and her Grammy Barb, her maternal grandmother, were very close. Grammy Barb was horrified when she heard about Ivorie’s kidnapping on the Amazon. “Oh, baby. We could have lost you. Thank God you had that bracelet.”

“It could have been a whole other story without the bracelet.” She turned her wrist so her grandmother could see the navy-blue rubber bracelet she had not had the heart to take off. Somehow, it made her feel still connected to Drew, although why she wanted to still be connected to him, she did not know. Well, yes, she did. She knew she still loved him regardless of the cruel things he had said. “Gram, I’m not going back to work. I can’t face Drew, Mr. Blessingame, after everything that happened and what he said. Would you mind if I went out to the beach house for a while?”

“Of course not, Ivorie, but it’s going to be rather bleak out there at this time of year.”

“That’s okay. I’ll light the fireplace, walk the beach. I need to think.”

“Honey, maybe you misunderstood. After all, you only heard one side of the conversation. Maybe you should talk to him and make sure…”

“Grammy, there wasn’t much to misunderstand. I have to decide what I want to do about a job and all that.”

“Well, don’t worry about money. You know you can take the income from your trust any time you need to. I know you want to be independent, but don’t be foolish about it. Your grandfather and I wanted to be sure you would always be provided for, and he would not be happy to know you didn’t take advantage of the trust.”

“I won’t be stubborn. I think this is probably the right time to use that money. You don’t know how much I appreciate that you and Grampy made sure I’d always be okay and not dependent on any employer or any man for that matter.”

Madison Avenue Offices of Blessingame Holdings, New York City, October 31, 2013—Thursday Morning

Drew got to the office early, had a cup of black coffee, and dove into the piles on his desk. He didn’t expect to see Ivorie until at least nine o’clock, but he was already anxiously watching for her to come in and sit at her desk in his outer reception area. Ms. Winthrop actually seemed happy to see him and was thrilled with the gold bracelet he had picked up for her. At least someone here liked him. But of course, Ms. Winthrop remembered him as a young boy and later a young man before his disposition had soured. She was one of the few people in the firm who also understood all he had been through after 9/11 and after his parents’ deaths. He had not forgotten the lessons learned from Ivorie and was determined to make some changes.

By ten thirty Drew was starting to worry.
Where the hell is she?
He guessed she’d had a lot to do after being away from home for over three weeks, but he was anxious to see her. Drew walked out to his inner reception area. “Ms. Winthrop, has Ivorie called in?”

“No, sir. I haven’t heard from her yet today. Do you want me to call her?”

“No, wait until noon. If she hasn’t come in by then, I’ll reconsider.”

By noon, he was really getting worried. It was not like Ivorie to be late and not to at least call in. Drew decided to go by her apartment and see if she was all right. When he realized he would have to pull her personnel file because he had no idea where she lived, he was appalled. He really had been disconnected. His father would have known not only where she lived, but who she lived with, and the names of her spouse and children if she had any. He would probably also know their ages and birthdays and ask about them regularly.

“Ms. Winthrop, please call me a car. I’m going to go and check on Ivorie.” He did not see the astonished look on her face as she turned away to do as he asked.

When Drew’s car pulled up outside of Ivorie’s building, he was surprised to see she lived in a fashionable high-rise building with a doorman. The doorman advised Drew that Ms. James was not at home. After some cash changed hands, he told Drew that she had left with her dog and two bags that morning. He did not know where she had gone. Drew was at a loss for what to do next. He returned to the office and carefully read Ivorie’s personnel file, looking for clues. He researched the title to her co-op apartment and discovered that while it was a small unit, she owned it free and clear. The tax records told him that it was probably worth in excess of three-quarters of a million dollars, on the conservative side. He never would have thought that Ms. James had assets in that neighborhood. She certainly didn’t flaunt it, but when he thought about it, he could tell she came from a very comfortable, if not wealthy, background.

Drew sat back in his chair and thought. He would give her a few days and see what developed. Apparently, she felt she needed some space. If he hadn’t heard from her by the end of the week, he would get aggressive in his search. He was not going to let her walk out of his life without even an explanation. He did not know what had turned the affectionate, sexy, and funny Ivorie back into the uptight Ms. James, and he didn’t like it. He had finally found a woman, the right woman for him, and he was damned if he’d let her walk away without a fight—and fight they would. He was starting to get pissed.

Southampton, Long Island, New York, November 1, 2013—Friday Morning

Ivorie had opened Grammy’s Southampton beach cottage yesterday, stocked a few groceries and dog food, and settled in. She had awakened that morning in her girlhood bedroom under her old pink-and-yellow Dresden-plate quilt with a feeling of misgiving that she didn’t quite understand. This place always settled her right down. Something…was not right, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was at the moment. She was sure it would come to her. Besides the obvious, of course—she missed Drew desperately, to the point that it was a physical pain in her chest.

The cottage was a two-story, weathered, gray, shingled house with pristine white trim right on the beach. The dunes were covered in sea grass and protected the cottage from the worst of the winds. It wasn’t large or fancy, but Ivorie loved it. She had spent all of her girlhood summers there with her older sister and Grammy while Grampy had traveled back and forth on weekends from the city and his job on Wall Street. It represented one of the most treasured parts of her childhood. Her parents had been free spirits who needed to travel the world, and Grammy and Grampy had provided the stability in her life. They had seen to it that she went to private school and then to Columbia University and made sure she was ready for life.

When she turned over in bed the next morning, she felt slightly queasy. She hoped she wasn’t coming down with something. The wind had cut right through her denim jacket when she had walked the beach yesterday with Annie tucked securely in a quilted baby carrier she wore around her neck. The tiny dog was no match for the stiff breeze, never mind the seagulls that flew overhead and “dive-bombed” them. They were aggressive creatures, and Annie would have been a tasty morsel if they could get her.

Ivorie let Annie out the back door, watched her while she did her business, and then went back to bed. She decided to try to go back to sleep for a while longer. She had plans to have lunch with a friend from her teen years who lived in the Village. Donnie—Donnette to her parents only—was always good for a laugh and would lift her spirits. When she woke, she felt better, had some coffee and toast, and took a bath in the old, claw-foot tub in the one and only bathroom. She smiled when she remembered Grampy trying to evict her and Donnie from that one bathroom. They had spent hours primping and doing each other’s hair and makeup when they were teenagers. He had always threatened to add another bathroom just for himself and Grammy, but he had never gotten around to it. She got ready for her trip into town. She pumped air into her flat bicycle tires. She planned to ride her bike since she had come out to the island on the train and didn’t have a car.

Ivorie’s mind wandered as she rode her bike to Donnie’s house. Then it hit her. She knew what was wrong. She hadn’t gotten her period. She had been so wrapped up in Drew and the trip and then so upset since she had left the boat that it had just slipped her mind. Oh, God. She couldn’t, she just couldn’t be pregnant. Maybe it was just the stress. She only remembered one time that Drew had not used a condom. If she was correct and she had conceived that one time, it was the morning after they left Scarborough, Trinidad. She consulted her mental calendar and realized that was twenty-one days ago. She could already be twenty-one days pregnant. She began to sweat, and her hands began to shake. She would pick up a pregnancy test kit at the pharmacy in town, and then she’d know. In fact, she’d buy two of them and do the test at Donnie’s house immediately and then again in a few days. She was glad her old friend would be there when she did the test. This was not something she wanted to confront alone.

When she got to Donnie’s house with the test kits, she went into the bathroom to pee on the device. She came out and held it out to Donnie, who looked at her, then at the plus sign on the stick.

“Oh, Ivorie. You have some ’splaining to do, girlfriend. What the heck is going on? Wait, I’ll get us some tea, and then I want the whole story. Do not leave anything out.”

Ivorie gave her the scoop, this time not leaving out any of the details. “The sex was incredible, Donnie. Not like anything I’ve ever experienced before—not that I’m the world’s greatest expert or anything. I mean, sex was always good, it just wasn’t mind blowing like with Drew.”

Donnie looked like she had been hit by a bolt of lightning. “Ivorie, I can’t believe this. I have been listening to you complain about that man for a year. You have not had one good thing to say about him. And now, you’re telling me that he’s the father of your baby?” Donnie shook her head as though to dislodge a nest of bees in her ear. “Sorry, this just doesn’t compute.”

“Well, I can’t explain it either. Like I told Jenni, one of the friends I made on the trip, sometimes it seemed like he was two different people. He started out his usual unpleasant self when he arrived at the dock that first day, and then he seemed to change into a normal person. I thought to myself at the time that it was just too good to be true, and apparently, it was.”

“Aren’t you on the pill?”

“No, they don’t agree with me. But I can remember only one time when Drew didn’t use a condom.”