Angel Baby (16 page)

“Other than the fact that you cuss like a dock worker when
you’re in a lot of pain, I guess I don’t.”

Claudia coughed on a bit of omelet as she laughed at his dry
comment.

“I suppose you do know me, after all,” she admitted after
taking a sip of her tea to clear her throat. “We’re like war allies, aren’t we?
We’ve been through a battle, and know each other a little too well.”

“Yeah,” he admitted. “I know you can handle pain, but I'm a
little short on other details. For instance, I don’t know how old you are, what
your middle name is, where you were born, what your favorite color is, what
music you like, what movies you like, what books you read, and whether your
hair’s naturally that mix of red and brown, or has a little help from a
bottle.”

Shaking her fork at him, she acted affronted and said, “How
can you doubt my hair color when Sarah’s looks like it’s going to turn out
exactly the same?”

“Okay,” he nodded with a grin that told her he’d just made
the comment to rile her.

“As for the rest, what does it matter? I’m old enough, my
middle name’s too hideous to repeat, I was born about thirty miles from here, I
don’t have a favorite color, and I like any music I can understand, any movie
that makes me cry, and any book that keeps me awake all night finishing it.”

He chuckled, then stood and helped himself to more omelet
from the frying pan, and popped another slice of bread in the toaster. When he
returned, she stared at him expectantly, as if waiting for an answer.

“What?” he asked.

“Well, come on. Quid pro quo and all that.”

“Details?” he said with a grimace.

“Uh-huh.”

“You know about my less than perfect childhood.”

Determined not to talk about depressing subjects, she
immediately said, “Yes, but what about your checkered adulthood? Broken many
hearts? Ever done anything terribly outrageous like moon a busload of
cheerleaders when you were in high school? What else don’t I know about Mr.
Chase Paxton?”

He shrugged and said, “Maybe a few...hearts, that is, not
moons. I hate opera, loathe ‘chick flicks’, do enjoy a well-written novel. I
went to college at night, while I was getting the business going, and as a
matter of fact just finished up my B.A. a couple of years ago, right in
Milltown.”

Surprised, Claudia said, “You’re kidding. You were probably
going to school the same time I was. I don’t remember seeing you, though.”

“I definitely don’t remember you. And I know I would have
noticed you,” he said with a firm nod.

“Why?” she asked, giving him a sour look. “It’s not as if I
was wandering around ‘cursing like a dock worker’.”

He stared into her face for a long moment, as if memorizing
her features, then lowered his voice and said, “Let’s just say you attract
attention wherever you go.”

“I do no such thing,” she replied, slightly offended.

“Yeah, and every man at the picnic yesterday was staring at
you because he wanted to get a glimpse of Sarah. Don’t try to tell me you
aren’t aware of how attractive you are.”

Claudia felt a blush stain her cheeks, and cursed her pale
complexion, knowing he’d see it, too. She must have sounded like she was
fishing for compliments, waiting for him to tell her he liked how she looked,
when in truth, it hadn’t occurred to her that men had been staring at her. Of
course, back in college, she’d become accustomed to being flirted with, and
asked out a lot, but she’d never paid attention to it. And since Joe’s death,
and Sarah’s birth, she’d seen herself mainly as a widowed mother, not as a
woman men would be interested in.

“I guess we all see ourselves differently than the world
sees us,” she said softly.

Chase didn’t reply for a long moment, and she watched as he
thought about her words. Finally, he smiled slowly. “Yeah, I guess you’re
right.”

Feeling daring, she pushed a little and said, "For
instance, I'm sure you see yourself much differently than I see you."

Wary, he sat up straighter and said, "Oh?"

"Umh-humh," she nodded. "Mr. Tough Guy. That's
what you see when you look in the mirror, right?"

He didn't say anything, but she saw his eyes narrow as he
waited for her to continue.

"But I know better," she insisted, her voice full
of assurance. "Mr. Tough Guy who spends an entire Sunday afternoon working
to make a woman and child more comfortable and secure in their home."

Claudia wondered if she should have said anything at all
when he scowled at her.

"Is that your way of saying thank you?" he asked
as he stood and walked out of the kitchen. Claudia followed him to the door
where he stopped to retrieve his toolbox. She had a sudden urge to shake his
hand and pay him for his work, as if he were some repairman who’d done a good
job and deserved a tip.

"Thank you," she murmured quietly, sincerely
appreciating his efforts.

“It's an investment, all right?" he retorted.
"This is my grandmother’s house. Just consider it a little landlord
repair."

Landlord...boss...friend...savior...the man whose kisses
still made her mouth tingle more than a week later. All of these.

Claudia watched him leave without another word, and almost
regretted confronting him the way she had. The more she knew of Chase Paxton,
however, the more she realized he was a man who needed to be confronted. Sooner
or later he would have to face facts and admit he was not a fortress.

And she really wanted to be present when he discovered that
he did need some love in his life.

As soon as Claudia walked into the office Monday morning,
she was stopped in her tracks by Annie. The receptionist leapt out from behind
her desk and rushed over, her high heels clicking noisily on the highly
polished ceramic tile.

“Claudia, I’m so sorry. I was so upset Saturday night, I was
in the bathroom bawling my eyes out when you and Chase left.  I felt so guilty;
Sarah could have been killed and it was my fault.”

Claudia took pity on the younger woman, knowing Sarah could
just have easily have crawled away unnoticed if there had been twenty people in
the room, and she patted Annie on the shoulder.

“It wasn’t your fault, and I don’t blame you. Like I told Dorien
the other night, when she was crying that it was all
her
fault, Sarah’s
even gotten away from me. Everything worked out just fine.”

“Thanks to Chase,” the other woman said with a stout nod. “I
just never realized babies were so…mobile.”

Claudia laughed at Annie’s bemused expression, and replied,
“Once they start crawling, look out. Heck, once they start rolling over even.
When Sarah was about five months old, she rolled all the way across the floor
of my apartment and nearly pulled down a pile of laundry from the coffee table
on top of herself.”

“I guess I have a lot to learn," the younger woman
replied. "Luckily, I’m not in any hurry.”

Claudia walked toward her office, then looked back over her
shoulder and said, “I don’t know, the way you and your date were looking at
each other at the picnic....”

Annie grinned saucily and said, “Nah. Girls just wanna have
fun, remember? I’m only twenty-three, too young for marriage and babies and all
that stuff.”

Seemingly unaware that she’s just handed Claudia a
back-handed insult, Annie went back to work at her desk. Walking slowly toward
her office, Claudia thought about herself at twenty-three. Married, widowed,
finding out she was pregnant, all before twenty-fourth birthday. Yet looking
back, she realized she’d always been much older than her years. Annie, with her
giggles and her three inch brightly painted nails, and her wobbly high heeled
shoes seemed younger than Claudia had ever felt.

Shrugging off the memories, Claudia sat at her desk and went
right to work finishing up a few minor programs she’d been designing. Later in
the day, she persuaded Sylvia to sit down at a terminal with her while she
showed her some of the work she’d done, and was gratified when the older woman
nodded approvingly. Sylvia didn’t go quite so far as to say she’d ever use the
programs, but she did admit that Annie would be able to do her job a good bit
easier. Claudia figured it was at least a start.

A few minutes after she returned to her office, the phone on
her desk gave two short beeps, and Claudia answered it distractedly.

“Yes, Annie?”

“You have a call on line three, Claude.”

Claudia heard a note of mischievous laughter in the
receptionist’s voice, and asked, “Did they say who’s calling?”

“It’s Andrew Worthington. And somehow, I don’t imagine he’s
calling to talk about business.”

Claudia didn’t respond. Striking the line key on her phone
to answer Andrew’s call, she wondered why he was contacting her. She’d just
seen him Saturday for the first time in years, and while his attention had been
flattering at the picnic, she’d chalked it up as old high school reunion stuff.
She really hadn't expected to her from him again.

After a minute’s small talk, and her reassurance that Sarah
was just fine after her adventure on the stairs, Andrew explained the reason
for his call. “You remember my kid sister Jen, right? You tutored her during
her first year of Algebra back in high school.”

“Of course,” Claudia said, remembering Andrew’s younger
sister as a smiling, female version of her handsome, blonde brother. “She was a
sophomore when we graduated, wasn’t she?”

“Right," he answered. "Well, Jen's getting married
next Saturday night, and when I mentioned to her that you were back in town,
she made me
promise
to bring you with me.”

“Me? Why?”

Andrew laughed lightly and said, “My mother claims if it weren’t
for you, Jen would never have made it out of high school. She really wants to
see you.”

“But, a wedding? Surely her guest list was settled ages
ago.”

“No,” Andrew insisted. “This is the groom’s second time
around, and he doesn’t want a big fancy thing. The reception is more like a
family party at the club. I don’t have a date, there will probably be lots of
people you know there. It'll be fun.”

Claudia thought about it for a second. She hadn’t been out
for an evening with friends in months...heck, it had been almost two
years.
Before she could think about it too much, she impulsively agreed, and could
tell by Andrew’s response that he was pleased.

After hanging up, Claudia placed a call to Melanie, to see
if she’d be interested in babysitting Sarah Saturday evening.

“Are you kidding? We’d love to have her. Ryan says he’s
jealous that she’s always gone by the time he gets home from work. Do you have
something fantastic to wear for your date?”

“It’s not a date,” Claudia insisted. When Melanie didn’t
respond, she quickly continued, “It’s just a fun evening with an old friend and
his family.”

“Whatever you say,” Melanie replied. “Listen, why don’t you
plan on just leaving Sarah here overnight, and you can come over early Sunday
morning for breakfast. By the time the reception’s over it will be late, and
you won’t want to drag her out.”

Claudia didn’t like the idea of being away from Sarah for an
entire night, but recognized that what Melanie said made sense. It was only
after she hung up and started thinking about Saturday that she began to worry.
It had sounded like a big celebration with a happy family and some old friends,
but Andrew
had
used the word "date.” Even though she liked him,
Claudia really wasn’t interested in Andrew that way. She hadn’t thought about
any man romantically for a long time...with one exception.

The exception popped his head into her office a few minutes
later and said, “Sylvia tells me you’ve been busy. She even managed to use a
few pleasant adjectives instead of her normal dour ones.”

Claudia laughed and pushed her chair back from her desk.
Waving him in, she said, “She is quite a character. How did you end up with
her, anyway?”

“I inherited her,” Chase explained as he strolled in and
took a seat across from Claudia. “She was my grandfather’s bookkeeper when he
owned a hardware store in Milltown, and when he retired, she needed something
to do, and started helping me with my business. She’s been with me every step
of the way.”

“That explains it,” Claudia said.

“Explains what? Why I put up with her?”

“No, why she’s so protective of you," she explained.
"You should be thankful.”

“I am, I am,” Chase insisted. “I’m grateful that she’s
scared off three receptionists, has my crew foremen taking off their work boots
before they walk into my office and calls and personally harasses any client
who’s more than two weeks late on a payment.”

“Hey, at least she’s on your side, right?”

Nodding, Chase leaned across the desk and turned Claudia’s
computer terminal around so he could see what she was working on.

“Is this the payroll program you were telling Sylvia
about?" he asked. 

Claudia nodded and flicked a few buttons on her keyboard to
get back to the first screen of the program. “Yeah. All the HR secretary
upstairs will have to do is enter the data off the time cards, and this will
calculate all the paychecks and print them out on the laser. It will also keep
track of all the benefit dollars per employee, taxes, insurance, and overtime.”

Chase nodded as he watched her flip between screens. He
asked a few questions, and seemed very impressed with what she’d done so far.
Finally feeling comfortable enough to broach a touchy topic, Claudia said,
“Listen, Chase, I know you’ve been having problems with the courthouse project,
and Sylvia has told me the company’s facing some serious fines if we get any
further behind.”

He sat back in his chair and eyed her warily. She didn't let
that dissuade her and continued quickly.