Billion Dollar Bride

Anna left Will to entertain them while she excused herself to make a fresh pot of decaf.

Even now that they were adults, Anna worried about R.J.’s sense of disconnection from the family.

She and R.J. had been born to William Maitland’s brother, Robert, then abandoned when their mother died and Robert left, unable to cope. R.J. had been three and Anna just six months old.

William and Megan had adopted them and raised them with the same love and attention they gave their own children, but R.J. had struggled with the knowledge that he wasn’t really their child and that his father had abandoned him.

Though he’d always been protective of Anna, he’d also thought of her as William and Megan’s daughter, because he remembered their natural parents and she didn’t.

It was a defense mechanism, she knew. He’d been afraid that genes would win out and someday, despite all his efforts to the contrary, he’d find in himself the same irresponsible qualities their father had shown.

Even after he’d become president of Maitland Maternity, he’d held himself a little apart from everyone—except her—for fear he would fall short of what was required of him.

While Anna loved and counted on their closeness, she worried about the subtle distance he kept between himself and their family.

Now, though, as she heard R.J. and Dana laughing together in the other room, she felt sure that Dana’s love would go a long way toward bridging that distance.

And he had once vowed never to have children, afraid he’d be the kind of father their natural father had been. But now his wife was pregnant, and he looked as though he couldn’t be happier.

There was hope for him.

“You understand, of course,” Anna said, carrying out a tray filled with a pot of her favorite flavored decaf, three cups and a mug of cocoa, “that I’ll have to throw you the biggest, most elegant Boston shower known to man.”

“What’s that?” Will asked.

Anna set the tray on a carved bench she used as a coffee table and sat on the edge of the doe-colored leather sectional where they were all gathered.

“It’s a shower that isn’t restricted to women. Men can come, too.” She poured and distributed cups.

“We just want you to be happy with us,” R.J. said, leaning back and sipping his coffee. “You aren’t required to do anything else.”

“I’m not required to do anything at all.” Anna scolded him with a look. “But I happen to love both of you, so I’d like to do it for your baby. What’s your due date?”

“October seventeenth,” Dana replied. “I’m just about nine weeks along.” She sighed dreamily and turned to smile at R.J., her eyes alight with love and excitement. “I can’t believe we’re sitting here, talking about our son—or daughter.”

“Can’t they tell you what it is?” Will asked.

R.J. shook his head. “We want it to be a surprise.”

“But what if you get a lot of pink stuff, and it’s a boy?”

Dana laughed. “People usually give you yellow or green when you’re not sure.”

“Or we’ll just save it for the second baby,” R.J. said, wrapping his arm around Dana and pulling her toward him to kiss her temple. “God, I’m happy.”

“Me, too, darling,” Dana mumbled brokenly against his throat. “Me, too.”

Will, sitting on the other side of his aunt and uncle, rolled his eyes at their prolonged hug and smiled happily.

Anna nodded, jealousy at work deep down where she hid all private thoughts. But she smiled brightly, forgetting everything else and telling herself she was fortunate to have her son.

When she’d learned she was pregnant with Will, her husband, John, had been unenthused, and for the first month or so her happiness had felt hollow because he hadn’t shared it.

Then her family’s excitement and her reading and research began to thrill her despite John’s lack of interest. The first time she felt the baby move, she realized she already had a relationship with him, and nothing would ever diminish the miracle of that for her.

And nothing ever had. Even when she’d been about to deliver and John had chosen to support a client through a tricky deposition rather than his wife at the birth of their son, she’d approached labor gleefully, eager to see this child she’d come to love so much.

From the moment she first rested her eyes on Will, he’d been everything she’d ever prayed for.

She was delighted that her brother would support his wife throughout her pregnancy. Anna had never regretted a moment of hers, but she imagined it would be wonderful to have a husband’s hand to hold through it all. She had never and would never experience that.

“I know it’s early,” she said as R.J. and Dana drew apart. “But have you thought about names yet?”

“We bought a book that’s in the car,” Dana said, “But you’re commissioned to watch for great names as new clients come through your office.”

“How about Austin for a boy?” Will asked eagerly. “Mom’s going to do Austin Cahill’s wedding to… Mom?”

“Caroline Lamont,” she provided.

“I know Cahill.” R.J. nodded, as though expressing approval. “Nice guy. Smart. But a cool customer. I met him when I was on the board of Texas Charities, and then I saw him at the gala last month. Nothing gets by him.”

“He’s buying RoyceCo,” Will informed him. “I’d buy some shares, Unc. It’s about to go up.”

R.J. smiled at his nephew, his expression half affection, half attention. “No kidding. I’ll have to look into that. Did you tell Drake?”

Drake Logan was Maitland Maternity’s vice president in charge of finance, and he and Will met regularly to talk stocks.

Will shook his head. “I’ll tell him when I see him.”

“I imagine that’ll be quite a wedding,” Dana speculated. “I had to call Caroline Lamont when I was soliciting donations for a silent auction your mother was chairing for the Lone Star Ladies, and she sent a litter of wolfhound puppies. They made a bundle on those pups! They’d all had their shots, too, as I recall.”

Anna remembered that. “She thinks big. We’re doing a medieval English theme complete with armor and horses.”

R.J. laughed. “Don’t forget to hire someone to follow with a shovel. We’d better move, sis, if we’re going to see Mom before she goes to bed.”

He stood and pulled Dana to her feet. “Thanks for the coffee, but please don’t plan a party. You’ve got enough to do already.”

She hugged him tightly. “It’s what I do best, brother mine. And I’d love to throw a shower for you two. I’m sure I’ll have more than enough help from the family. We’ve all waited a long time to see you married and walking the floors with a teething baby.”

He held her away from him and frowned teasingly at her. “That’s sadistic.”

She smiled shamelessly. “I know. Let us have our little fun.”

“So, don’t you think Austin’s a cool name?” Will asked as R.J. wrapped an arm around him and headed for the door. Anna and Dana followed.

“It is,” R.J. agreed. “I like it. We’ll put it on the list we’re collecting. Of course, Will’s a pretty good name, too.”

Will grimaced. “It’s too ordinary.”