The Pregnancy Promise

She took a deep breath. Her private life was just that. She wasn’t best friends with her boss though they had worked together for years. The longer she worked there, the more she and Tray meshed. He’d bounce ideas off her. She’d bring up situations that were beyond her for his input. For a moment she wished she could confide in him. He was good at problem solving. But close as they were at work, they’d kept their personal lives private.

“I’ll be back in a couple of days. You can manage until then.” Lianne disconnected and then turned off the phone. She’d have to call her sister soon. Once she came to terms with things, she’d want Annalise’s wise counsel. But in the meantime, she wanted to hole up and not talk to anyone—especially her sister. Not that she was envious of her twin precisely. Okay, maybe she was just a little.

Annalise and Dominic had married five years ago. They lived in a lovely apartment near Dupont Circle in the District. Both successful in their respective professions, they traveled often, frequently to exotic locations. Sometimes trips were connected with Dominic’s work as a troubleshooter for a computer company. Other times just for fun.

The only person Annalise loved more than her twin was her husband. And once in a while Lianne almost wished he’d not come along. Almost, but not really. Her sister was blissfully happy in her marriage and that was what Lianne envied.

If Lianne had married five years ago, she’d have had children by now. Sometimes she wondered why Annalise didn’t. The answer to the question—they weren’t ready—seemed vague. But she’d never pushed for more. Everyone had their own timing. The next oldest in a large family, Lianne had always planned on having a large family of her own. She loved holidays and birthdays with her family. The closeness, the love, the feeling there was always someone there for her. She had deliberately sought to build a successful career before settling down to marriage and a family. Now it looked as if time had run out.

She dropped the quilt across one of the wooden chairs that surrounded the large plank kitchen table. Time to fix something to eat. If she had more energy, she’d go out to one of the local restaurants where the crab cakes were melt-in-your-mouth good. Or try one of the fish grills that dotted the town of Baden Harbor. But not tonight. She’d just heat up some soup and make toast. She wasn’t hungry, but practical enough to know she needed to eat.

Things would look better in the morning, as her grandmother always said.

Lianne didn’t know how, but she hoped so.

Traynor Elliott carefully replaced the phone, stunned at the reaction of his normally cool-headed senior analyst. Lianne had worked for him for the last five years. He’d only seen her angry enough to yell twice. What set this episode off? He thought back over the last couple of days. He had not been more difficult to work with than normal. So that wasn’t it.

In fact, if asked, he’d have said they had a great relationship. She stood up to him when she thought he was wrong. Something other employees could learn. She voiced her feelings about projects, sometimes pinpointing exactly what was missing. And he relied on her more than any of the other analysts to give him sound advice.

He rose and went down the hall and peered into her office. Tidy as always. She was neat beyond normal, he often thought; while his own desk was piled high with folders and printouts and reports. Lianne loved order, spreadsheets and tons of data to analyze. He counted on her to have the information he wanted when he wanted it. He was used to Lianne being there whenever he needed her. This wasn’t like her at all. Now he’d have to find Jenny and see if she could locate the file. And maybe give him some information on what was up with Lianne.

The younger woman was diligently typing a report from one of the field agents. She looked up when Tray stopped at her desk and almost grimaced before giving him an artificial smile.

“What can I do for you?” she asked.

“I’m looking for the Schribner folder,” he said.

“Oh, dear. I remember seeing that. Just hold on a sec and let me remember where.” Jenny jumped up and began to rummage through the stacks of folders on her desk. It resembled his, but there the similarity ended. Traynor knew exactly where every piece of paper was on his. Jenny was still rummaging through piles.

“Lianne was working on it, making sure everything was up today because you’re meeting with them soon and she wanted you to have every iota of intel at your fingertips,” Jenny mumbled as she rifled through yet another stack of folders. “She called in yesterday and had me get it from her office. It’s here. Wait a sec.”

Tray took a breath, trying not to let his frustration spill over. His first tendency was to snap and then make amends, but he wouldn’t do that today. He had more control over his behavior. But he didn’t have much patience in the best of times and this was not the best of times. Dammit, why had Lianne taken off at this juncture? He needed her.

“Here it is!” Jenny beamed with success and handed him the thick folder.

He took it and walked away. At least one thing had gone right today. Where the hell was Lianne? She had not previously requested vacation time. She wasn’t claiming sick leave. Was something wrong with someone in her family? He didn’t know much about her personal life, just that her family came from Maryland and she had more brothers and sisters than anyone else he knew. Most of whom also worked in the District of Columbia.

He returned to his desk and opened the folder. His curiosity over Lianne and her odd behavior wouldn’t let him focus on the material therein. If she were sick, wouldn’t she have said something? Normally he knew her schedule as well as he knew his own—and vice versa.

Tray tried her phone again. The not-in-service message came on. He uttered a brief expletive and hung up.

Ten minutes later Tray closed the Schribner folder and rose. His security firm specialized in keeping people safe, especially when traveling to dangerous locales. The agents assigned the Schribner account could handle things. Tray’d check on Lianne one more time and then call it a day. Maybe put in some time at the gym. The exercise tired him out enough to sleep at night. Though the nightmares still struck without warning.

He’d given Lianne a ride home a few times over the years. Her apartment building was out near Key Bridge. He’d never been inside. Entering the building a short time later Tray noticed it was as nondescript as most modern buildings. The elevator was quiet and quickly rose to her floor. Ringing the doorbell brought no response. He leaned against the door to listen. He could hear nothing. He tried her phone again. No service. Where was she?

After eating her soup, Lianne perused the books in the shelves. She’d read all of them, a couple more than once. Light summertime reading, none would hold her attention today. She considered going to bed, but it was too early—though darkness had fallen. Sighing softly, she went to the cottage phone and called her sister. Time to tell Annalise what was going on.

Lianne felt marginally better after their conversation. Her twin had been as shocked with the news as Lianne had and wanted to jump right in the car and drive over, but Lianne had convinced her talking on the phone was good enough. So then her sister had come up with a dozen of different scenarios all in which Lianne was miraculously cured.

When they’d exhausted those options, they settled into a heart-to-heart.

“Mostly I wanted a family one day, like ours,” Lianne told her. “Can you imagine life without all the kids running around and grandparents and aunts and uncles?”

“Actually, I can. That’s what Dominic and I have.”

“But if you did want children, at least you’re married. I’m not even seeing anyone,” Lianne said.

“That’s because you’re too involved with Tray.”

“I’m not involved with my boss,” she denied quickly. Immediately his image came to mind—tall with dark brown hair and a body to die for. He turned the heads of lots of women, but never settled on one. She could picture his concentration at work. The serious focus of his eyes on the reports. Running his hands through his hair when frustrated. His laughter if they took a break and ordered pizza while staying late because of some crisis.

“Not that way, silly. I mean too caught up in work. You’re more of a workaholic than Dominic is. If Tray says he needs you, there you are. I’m surprised you’re not at work right now.”

“Now you’re being silly. I’m not there all the time.” Though she did work more closely with Tray than any other analyst. But that was because he needed her. “I enjoy what I do. I thought I could have my career for a little longer and then think about getting married and starting a family,” Lianne said pensively.

“Well, you’d enjoy finding someone with lots in common and falling in love. Set some boundaries—let Tray know you can only work for eight hours a day, not twenty-four. You have time. Just not as much as you always thought. The doctor didn’t say get into hospital next week.”

“She did say soon. There’s always so much to do at the office. The business keeps expanding as Tray’s reputation grows. He’s really providing a terrific service with fabulous results.”

“Great, he can hire some more help if business is booming. Let him deal with that. Your next assignment is to find a husband, get married and start that family,” Annalise said.

Lianne sighed. “That sounds so calculating. These days a woman doesn’t really have to be married to have a baby.” She always thought she’d fall in love like her twin, with a man who was perfect for her. One who also wanted a large family. Was that a pipe dream?

“You’re not thinking of a sperm bank?” Annalise asked, the incredulity coming clearly across the phone line.

“No. I can’t imagine raising a child alone. Wait, before you say a word, I know you’ll be there for me as will the rest of the family. But I want my baby to have a father. Can you imagine our lives without Dad? That wouldn’t be fair to a child, to deliberately bring him or her into the world with no father.”

“You have five brothers, each would be a perfect father figure. Dominic would as well.”

“It’s not the same thing as having your very own. So even if I don’t marry the father, I want a man who will be a part of the child’s life forever.”

“Women who fall in love and get married don’t even get that guarantee,” Annalise said.

“I want it anyway.”

Her sister thought for a moment. “I guess it’s worth a shot. Maybe you’ll fall for a man and get married and end up with a dozen kids.”

“Or maybe just find someone I really like, who is good father material and wants a baby without all the ties and commitment of marriage,” Lianne said thoughtfully. “I mean, how much do I really want to be tied down? I’d be there for the baby, but I still want to work. What if a husband didn’t want that?” She didn’t even want to think about giving up her career.

“Ties and commitment are necessary with a child,” Annalise said. “And you’re strong enough to stand up for yourself married or not. It’s not an either-or decision.”

“You’re right. Still, I’d have to choose a daddy carefully, whatever else happened.”

Lianne rose early the next morning. The sun was peeping above the horizon, below the clouds that were rapidly dissipating. She hoped it would be a better day than yesterday, but the pain that woke her didn’t hold much promise. Staying another day meant she’d need to visit one of the grocery stores. The canned goods that stocked the cottage cupboards didn’t offer the variety she craved. But she couldn’t face that now. Groaning slightly, she curled up in a ball.

Waking an hour later, she felt awful. She made it to the bathroom and her pills. After a few minutes, she headed back for bed when someone knocked on the front door. She debated letting them stay there, she longed for bed. But curiosity more than anything won out and she went to the door.

Opening it, Lianne stared at Tray Elliott standing on the porch, towering over her. His expression was impossible to read. He wore a suit, the tie loosened. He hadn’t shaved yet that morning and the shadow of his beard made him look more rugged and masculine than normal.