A Convenient Proposal(73)

“What are you talking about?”

“Were you ever planning to have a baby? I can’t figure out what you had to gain from this little charade, otherwise. Whatever, you’re clearly not expecting to have one now.” He sent her a humorless grin. “Spermicidal jelly doesn’t make good babies.”

Arden put her hand to her mouth. She’d been rushing…it must have fallen out of her bag.

At this point, she could only end the entire episode with dignity. “No, it doesn’t. I decided that…that I wouldn’t have a baby. We obviously weren’t staying together.”

“We were never staying together, remember? Why would you think otherwise?”

“Because I—” She caught herself before she could make the one irretrievable mistake. “I decided it wasn’t fair to take a child from its father and grandparents, to deprive your family of the baby they would have l-loved.”

“You didn’t think I might want a part in this decision?”

She squeezed her eyes shut, but felt tears escape, nonetheless. They slid down her face and dropped off her chin, no doubt making spots on the raw silk of her dress.

With his hands in the pockets of his slacks, Griff shrugged. “I guess you’ll find some other fool to give you a baby. A guy with fewer family obligations to consider.”

“No. I’ve decided I won’t have a child by myself. A baby needs a family.”

A long silence stretched between them. Griff stood motionless, as if he’d turned to ice.

Arden took a deep breath. “I lost a baby last year. Andre’s baby. I learned I was pregnant only a few days before I…found him with my mother. Then I—I miscarried. When you wanted me to come here, I thought I could replace that baby. Fill the empty place inside me with another child. But I wasn’t thinking about that little person, about what he or she would need. Now I am.”

She cleared her throat. “That’s my last secret, Griff. If there’s anything else you want to know, send me a letter. I’ll answer any question you ask.”

Turning on her toe, she forced her stiff legs to move, ignoring the pins and needles in her feet as she walked over the stone floor. She thought he might say something, might try to stop her at the last moment.

But even though she hesitated, holding the door open for endless seconds, Griff’s pride made the final choice.

Letting the door close behind her, Arden fetched her coat from the checkroom and waited for the valet to bring the Jag around. At the cottage, she made sure her note for Mrs. Campbell could be seen on the kitchen counter.

Then she and Igor headed south.



“IT’S A LITTLE CHILLY in here for a nap.”

Griff hadn’t heard his dad open the sunroom door.

But he didn’t reply, or move from his slouch in one of the wicker armchairs, even as Jake approached across the stone floor.

Tall and slim in his tux, the elder Dr. Campbell crossed his arms and propped his shoulder against a window frame. “Where is Arden? Your mother and the girls have searched the ladies’ room. This was the last place in the club we hadn’t checked.”

“Gone.” Griff cleared his throat. “Home.”

“Alone?”

He managed a jerk of his head. “Florida.”

Jake pulled up a bench and sat down. “What happened?”

His quiet, concerned tone broke through Griff’s defenses. “It was all a sham,” he confessed, keeping his gaze on the icy world outside. “I brought a beautiful woman home with me to avoid looking like a loser. We agreed she would stay through Zelda’s wedding, then we’d have a fight and go our separate ways.” A chuckle escaped him. “Mission accomplished. In record time.”

“You lied, in other words. To your mother and your sisters.”

“Yes. And to you. Hell, to the whole town.”

“When did you cook up this scheme?”

“I met Arden on New Year’s Eve. On the beach.”

His dad gave a long, low whistle. “She’s quite an opportunist.”

Griff erupted from the chair to stand over his dad, hands fisted at his sides. “That’s complete bullshit. The plan was mine alone. I had to convince her to come with me.”

“And what does she get out of this collusion?” Jake didn’t appear to feel threatened. “Not cash, I gather.”

As fast as his anger had surged, it drained away. Griff let his shoulders slump. “A baby,” he said roughly. “She wanted a baby.”