“Okay, then I’ll ask. What’s going on between the two of you?”
“Nothing. After you met us at the door with the baby, she left because she said she knew I would never marry her.”
Mary smiled. “And apparently you let her leave because you have no intention of marrying her.”
“I have no intention of marrying anyone.”
“Then everything is the way it should be.” Mary rose from her seat. “Dominic, you and my daughter aren’t good for each other. You think she’s a tough cookie and in some ways she is. But she’s already had one heartbreak. She doesn’t need another.”
“I wouldn’t have broken her heart.”
Walking to the door, Mary said, “Of course you would. Not intentionally. But the second someone came along who suited your fancy more, you would have moved on. Unthinking. And Audra would have been standing as alone and vulnerable as she was at the back of that church waiting for David.”
“I don’t think anybody better than Audra could come along. There is no one better.”
Mary laughed and turned to face him. “If you believe that, you should marry her. But you don’t believe that. So leave it alone. Leave her alone.”
When she was gone, Dominic tossed his pencil to his desk. If he didn’t believe that, why did his heart hurt so much?
And if he did believe there was no one better than Audra, why couldn’t he say he loved her? Why couldn’t he see himself settling down with her? Marrying her? Growing old with her?
At ten-thirty that night, Audra grabbed a tissue from her desk and blew her nose, just as Belle walked in.
“What are you doing working! It’s ten-thirty on a Saturday night!” She began, but her scolding tone stopped abruptly when she took a good look at Audra. “Audra?”
Audra looked up. Her eyes red. Her nose running. “I can’t go home.”
Belle rushed into the room. “Oh, sugar! What happened?”
“Everything was going really well with me and Dominic. We actually had a date last night. But when we got back to his house, my mother was there with the baby…and everything got screwed up. I suddenly felt like I was settling, or he was using me and my mother is his household manager, so it just seemed like he was only playing with the hired help.” She tossed her hands in despair. “He’s never been in my apartment, but for some stupid reason or another every darn thing everywhere reminds me of him—”
“Honey, you are making absolutely no sense, but it doesn’t matter. The beauty of me living next door is that I can whisk you away to my quarters and take care of you.”
“Don’t whisk me away!”
“Okay, honey,” Belle said, leading her out of her office and to the small corridor that led to her apartment. “Nobody here wants to whisk you away. We need you.”
After Belle encouraged Audra to drink a cup of chamomile tea, she directed her to the guest suite of her townhouse and told her to shower. When Audra was done, Belle returned with a pair of her pajamas. “They’ll be big, but you’ll be comfortable.”
Wrapped in a towel, Audra took the pajamas. “Thanks, Belle.”
“And tomorrow we’re calling a meeting, and the girls and I can help you through this.”
“No!”
Belle started. “No?”
Audra turned her back so she could slide into the pajama tops. “Could we keep this heartbreak a secret?”
“I don’t see how you can.”
She took a breath, stepping into the pajama bottoms. “I already hinted to Julie that I intended to take a tropical vacation. A few days away should be enough that I won’t be crying when I return.”
“But everybody—”
Audra pulled back the covers on the bed. “Please, Belle. One public humiliation was enough. Let me do this one in secret.”
“Okay.” She tucked Audra in. “I’ll call my travel agent and get you a ticket. Where do you want to go?”
“Anywhere. And I’ve got an even bigger favor to ask you…could you call my mum? She’ll explain.”
***
The Sunday morning with Joshua was a total disaster. The moment the temporary nanny, whom Mary had somehow magicked out of thin air, picked up the baby, he didn’t just cry; he screamed. After the first fifteen minutes, Dominic couldn’t take it anymore. He forgot all about his pride and dialed Audra’s cell phone number, ready to humble himself. But his call immediately went to voice mail. He tried at least twenty times before noon, but every time his call went to voice mail.
Furious, he left the nanny alone with Joshua and strode into the kitchen. Mary and Joyce were going over menus. “Your daughter’s not taking my calls.”