“I wish you’d quit saying that.”
“It’s true. Now are you going to believe in Alek or aren’t you?”
With all her heart, she wanted to trust her husband, but she’d been badly hurt before. She’d zealously defended Roger, even when faced with overwhelming proof of his betrayal. Her faith in him had nearly destroyed her family.
“I take it you didn’t fire him, then?” she asked.
“No. I won’t, either. If you want him out of here, then you’re going to have to do it yourself. I believe him, Julia, even if you don’t.”
“Jerry, please, try and understand. This is like waking up to my worst nightmare. Don’t you think I want to believe him? So much that it’s killing me.”
“I can see that.” He sighed. “Just leave it for now, Julia. Time will tell if he’s being honest with us or not. For the record, I’m sure he is.”
“I can’t let the fate of the company ride on your instinct and your friendship with him. I can’t take that kind of risk. I have no choice but to ask for his resignation.”
Jerry’s fists clenched at his side. “You can’t do that.”
“I’m the president of this company, I can do as I please.” She didn’t want to get hard-nosed about this, but her first obligation was to protect their family business. Jerry was silent as he absorbed her words. “So you’re going to pull rank on me.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. The last thing we need to do now is argue with each other.”
“If you ask Alek to go…”
“Jerry, please, I have to, don’t you see?”
“If you ask for Alek’s resignation,” he started again, “you’ll receive mine, as well.”
Julia felt as if her own brother had kicked her in the stomach. “It’s funny,” she said unemotionally, “I remember saying those very same words to Dad three years ago. I believed Roger, remember?”
“A week,” Jerry said. “We’ll know more in another week. All I ask is that you give him the opportunity to prove himself.”
“As I recall, I said something along those lines to Dad, too.”
“Alek isn’t Roger,” Jerry said angrily. “What’s it going to take to convince you of that?”
“I know he’s not,” she said vehemently. “Maybe it would be best if I was the one who resigned.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Just give this time. If Alek sold us out, then there’s nothing we can do about it now. The deed’s done. It isn’t going to hurt us any to sit on our doubts for the next few days. Promise me you’ll do that.”
“All right,” Julia said. “One week, but then it’s over, Jerry. Unless there’s incontrovertible proof that Alek’s telling the truth. If not, he goes and I can return to running this company the way it’s supposed to be run.”
Jerry’s smile was fleeting. “I promise you, it’s going to be different this time.”
She stood to leave, then recalled her conversation with her husband that morning. “Alek mentioned an important meeting with marketing this afternoon.” She gave Jerry the particulars. “He said he’d like us both to be there. Can you make it?”
Jerry nodded. “With a bit of juggling. You’re going, too?”
“Yes,” she said, but she wasn’t looking forward to it.
Alek waited for Julia and Jerry to arrive. He watched the door anxiously, glancing repeatedly at his watch. Jerry was the first to show up; he walked into the conference room and took the chair next to Alek. Apart from them, the room was still empty.
“You talked to her?” Alek didn’t need to explain who he meant.
Jerry nodded. “I’ve never seen her like this. It’s tearing her apart.”
“It hasn’t been easy on any of us. I wish I knew how to clear my name. Julia would barely listen to me. It’s as though she’s blocked out everything and everyone, including me.”
“It would be a lot easier if she were a man,” Jerry muttered.
Alek arched his brows and laughed for the first time in days. “No, it wouldn’t.”
“Yeah, it would. I hate to stereotype, but maybe then she’d listen to reason. Sometimes I forget my sister is a woman—she clouds the issues with emotion.”
Personally Alek had no trouble remembering Julia was female. “Not all women have been betrayed the way she was,” he said. “I understand her fears, but at the same time I want her to believe what I say because she loves me and knows me well enough to realize I’d never do anything to hurt either of you. Until she does, there’s nothing I can do.”
“I don’t know what Julia believes anymore and she doesn’t either,” Jerry said after a moment. “I talked her into giving the matter a week.”
“A week,” Alek repeated. “Nothing can happen in that short a time. The paint won’t reach the market for another two to three weeks at the earliest.”
“Unfortunately, there’s more than that to consider from her point of view,” Jerry said.
“She’s miserable,” Alek added. “She doesn’t eat properly, she’s working herself to death and she’s sleeping poorly.” In truth he wasn’t in much better shape himself.
He loved Julia, but he couldn’t force her to trust him, he couldn’t demand that she believe him. She would have to come to those conclusions herself. In the meantime he was left feeling helpless and hopeless, and worst of all, defenseless. She was judging him solely on her experience with another man, one who’d hurt and betrayed her.
“I thought Stanhope was out of our lives once and for all,” Jerry was saying. “I should’ve figured he’d be back since we’re on the brink of a major product breakthrough. We should’ve been prepared.”
“No one could have known.”
“I should have,” Jerry said, his lips thinning with annoyance. “Only this time Roger knows he doesn’t have a chance of stealing anything, so he’s undermining our trust in each other.”
The marketing people rushed in with their displays. Most of what they’d be reviewing was geared toward television and radio advertising. The magazine ads had been done a month earlier and would be coming out in the latest issues of fifteen major publications.
The advertising executive glanced at his watch. Alek sighed. Jerry did, too. Everyone in the room was waiting for Julia.
“Virginia, please, I have a meeting with marketing.”
“But I’ve got Dr. Feldon’s office on the line. If you could wait just a few minutes.”
Julia looked pointedly at her watch while her assistant haggled for the first opening in Dr. Feldon’s already full appointment schedule.
“That’ll be fine, I’ll make sure she’s there. Thank you for your help.”
“Well?” Julia said when Virginia hung up.
“Five o’clock. The doctor’s agreed to squeeze you in then.”
Julia nodded. She wished now that she’d put her foot down about this appointment issue. A doctor wasn’t going to be able to tell her anything she didn’t already know. She was suffering from stress, which, given her circumstances, was understandable.
“You won’t forget now, will you?” Virginia called after her as Julia headed for the elevator.
“No, I’ll be there. Thank you for your trouble.”
“You do what Dr. Feldon says, you hear? We can’t have you getting sick every afternoon.”
Julia grinned. The never-married Virginia was beginning to sound like a mother. “I’ll see you in the morning,” Julia said. “Why don’t you take an early afternoon?” she suggested. “You deserve it for putting up with me.”
Her assistant looked mildly surprised, then nodded. “Thank you, I will.”
Every head turned when a breathless Julia burst into the conference room. “Sorry I’m late,” she muttered, sitting in the chair closest to the door.
The marketing director smiled benignly and walked over to a television set that had been brought in for the demonstration. “I thought we’d start with the media blitz scheduled to air a week from this Thursday,” he said as he ins
erted a DVD.
Julia couldn’t help being aware of Alek. His eyes were on her from the moment she’d entered the room. She expected to feel his anger; instead she felt his love. Tears clogged her throat. It would’ve been less painful if she’d found him with another woman than to learn he’d been talking to Roger, no matter what his reason.
“Our ad agency tested this twenty-second commercial and is very pleased with its effectiveness.”
The figure of a man and a woman came onto the screen. The husband was on a ladder painting the side of a house. The woman was working on the lawn below, painting a patio table with four matching chairs. Two children played serenely on a swing set in the background. The music was a classical piece she recognized but couldn’t immediately name. The announcer’s well-modulated voice came on but Julia couldn’t hear what he was saying.
The room started to spin. The light fixtures faded in and out as though someone was controlling a dimmer switch. She thought she heard a woman cry out but even that seemed to be coming from far away.
When she regained consciousness, Julia found herself on the floor. She blinked up at the ceiling. Alek was crouched over her, his arm supporting the back of her neck. His eyes were filled with anxiety.
“What happened?” she asked.
“You fainted,” Jerry said. He was kneeling beside her, holding her hand, patting it gently. “I’ll say this for you, Julia, you certainly know how to get a man’s heart going. You keeled right over.”
“Where is everyone?”
“We had them leave. Alek and I will review the commercials later.”
“I don’t understand it,” she said, struggling into a sitting position. “One moment I was perfectly fine and the next thing I knew, the room started whirling.”
“I’ll get her some water,” Jerry said.
He left the room and Alek slid his arm behind her back, helped her into an upright sitting position and held her against his chest. She braced her hands against his ribs, intent on pushing herself free.
“No,” he said, kissing her temple. “You can mistrust and hate me later, but for right now let me hold you.”
“That’s the problem,” she whispered. “I believe you.”
“Right now, we won’t speak of this again. You’ve worked yourself into a state of collapse.”
“I don’t know what happened here, but I’m sure it’s nothing important. I’ve just been overstressed, that’s all.”
Jerry returned with the water. “Why is it I’m always getting you water?” he joked, handing her a paper cup. “You’d think I’d gone to college to be a water boy instead of an attorney.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, pressing her hand to the side of her head. “I didn’t mean to create such a commotion.”
“Should we take her back to her office?” Jerry asked, looking at Alek.
“No, I’ll take her home.”
“If you don’t mind, I prefer to make my own decisions,” Julia stiffly informed them both. They made it sound as if she were a piece of furniture they couldn’t decide where to place.
Leaning against the back of a chair, she stood. She felt a bit unstable, but that dizziness quickly passed. “I’m fine. You two go about your business and I’ll go about mine.”
“Julia, for heaven’s sakes, would you listen to common sense? You just fainted,” Jerry informed her, as if she hadn’t figured it out yet.
“I know that.”
“Let Alek take you home.”
“No.”
“I think she’d feel more comfortable if you took her,” Alek suggested. “I fainted,” she told both men, “I didn’t have a lobotomy. Let me assure you, I’m perfectly capable of making my own decisions, and I’m not leaving my office until I’m finished with what I need to do.”
“Some of those decisions should be questioned,” Jerry snapped.
“Jerry.”
“Shut up, Alek, this is between me and my sister. She’s an emotional and physical wreck because of this mess and to complicate matters she decides to play detective herself.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Jerry, could we discuss this another time?” Julia asked pointedly.
“No. Alek has a right to know. Tell him.”
“Julia?” Alek turned to face her. “What’s Jerry talking about?”
She flashed her brother a scathing look. “It’s nothing.”
“Fine, I’ll tell him. Julia had the bright idea of calling Roger Stanhope herself and playing this crazy game with him. She said she knew about the meeting between the two of you.”
Alek’s gaze narrowed. “And what did Stanhope say?”
“You can well imagine.”
“I didn’t believe Roger,” Julia said. “I never did.” Jerry was right, contacting Roger hadn’t been the smartest thing she’d ever done, but she was desperate.
“What my sister failed to remember is that Roger isn’t stupid. She was fishing for information and he knew it, so he made up this ridiculous story about you trying to strike a deal with Ideal Paints.”
Alek released a one-word expletive.
“It’s driving her crazy,” Jerry continued. “She looked terrible when she came to see me this morning.”
Julia watched her husband. He was distancing himself from her, physically and emotionally, freezing her out.
“She must make her own decision and I must make mine.” Without another word, Alek turned and left the conference room.
“I wish you hadn’t said anything to him about my talk with Roger.”
“Why not? He had a right to know.”
Her lack of faith—and the fact that she’d acted on it—had hurt Alek. She’d seen it in his eyes and in the way he’d stiffened and moved away from her. Covering her face with her hands, Julia slowly exhaled.
“I have to go,” she whispered. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Julia’s head was pounding as she walked out of the conference room. She checked the time, wanting to know how long she had before her appointment with Dr. Feldon. The physician had been treating her family for the past fifteen years and knew Julia well.
She arrived at his office at one minute past five and was ushered directly into the exam room. His nurse asked her a series of questions.
“Basically, I’ve been under a lot of stress lately,” Julia explained. “This afternoon the craziest thing happened. I fainted. Me! I can’t believe it.”
After taking her temperature and her blood pressure, Dr. Feldon’s nurse asked for a urine sample.
Minutes later, she was joined by Dr. Feldon. His hair was grayer than the last time she’d seen him and he was a little thicker around the waist.
“Julia, it’s good to see you, although I wish it were under different circumstances. Now tell me what the problem is.”
The tears came as a surprise and an acute embarrassment. “I…I’m just not myself lately. There’s been so much happening with the company and I’ve been so stressed, and today I fainted right in the middle of a marketing meeting. I gave my husband and my brother quite a scare.”
“Yes, I heard you got married. Congratulations.”
She smiled weakly in response.
Dr. Feldon reached for a tissue and pressed it into her hand. “How are you feeling now?”
She had to stop and think about it. “A little woozy.”
“And emotional?”
She nodded, paused, then blew her nose.
“I’d say this is all normal, my dear. Most pregnant women experience these symptoms.”
Twelve
“Pregnant?” Julia repeated in a shocked whisper. “You mean all this, the nausea and the fainting spell, is because I’m going to have a baby?”
“No, I think the stress you’ve talked about is complicating the symptoms.”
“But I don’t have morning sickness.”
“A good many women don’t. Some have what you might call afternoon sickness instead. My guess is that you’re
one of those.”
“I should’ve realized.…” Julia began, wondering why she hadn’t recognized her condition herself.
“As you probably know I stopped delivering babies several years back. I can recommend an excellent obstetrician. I’ll have my receptionist make an appointment for you, if you’d like. Her name is Dr. Lois Brandt and my patients who’ve had babies delivered by her have been very pleased.”
“Yes, that would be fine.” Julia was both excited and surprised, although heaven knew she had no right to be. “How…far along do you think I am?”
Dr. Feldon chuckled. “My estimate is about two weeks.”
She nodded, knowing it couldn’t be much more than that, astonished, too, that her pregnancy could be detected so early.
“I’m going to prescribe prenatal vitamins and have you start watching your diet. According to those ridiculous charts the insurance companies put out, you’re about five pounds underweight. Don’t skip meals, and make an effort to eat from the major food groups every day. Plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables,” he emphasized.
Smiling, Julia nodded. Dr. Feldon made it sound as if she were pregnant with a rabbit instead of a baby.
She left the office a few minutes later, her step lighter. A baby. She was going to have a baby. Alek would—
Alek.
Her thoughts came to a skidding halt. This complicated everything tenfold. There was far more at stake now than before. There was far more involved. They’d introduced a tiny being into the equation.
Julia’s steps slowed. She wasn’t sure what to do or say to him, if anything. At least, not yet. He had a right to know, but Julia wasn’t convinced now was the time to tell him.
She returned to her condominium and let herself in. Two steps into the entry, she nearly stumbled over a large leather suitcase.
She heard movement in the master bedroom and walked down the hallway leading to it. Alek stood inside the walk-in closet, carefully removing his clothes from their hangers. Another large leather suitcase yawned open on top of the bed.
“Alek? What are you doing?”
He continued his work without looking at her. “It should be obvious.”