He smiled. “You don’t have to. The house is big, plus there’s the pool house. Besides, you’ll be busy with college and the baby. Your education is important, Noelle. I know getting pregnant screwed up your plan, but I want to make sure when we get divorced, you’re well on your way to achieving all you want.”
“I find it hard to talk about getting married and divorced in the same conversation,” she admitted. “I saw a couple of my friends yesterday and I’m going to ask you the same question they asked me. Are you crazy?”
“Not that I’m aware of, although I’ve heard the psychiatric patient is always the last to know. What are you worried about?”
She liked that he didn’t dismiss her concerns or try to convince her everything was fine.
“Nothing specific, just this isn’t anything I ever thought I’d do. I don’t know how I feel anymore. The baby isn’t real to me. I haven’t had any symptoms. Just what that stick told me.”
“Do you think the stick is wrong?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m guessing it’s right. We’re talking about getting married and I don’t even know how old you are.”
“Thirty.”
Okay. One question down, four thousand left. “What do you expect from me when we’re married? You have a cleaning service. Do I greet you at the door and ask you about your day? Have dinner ready? Is our marriage going to be more Brady Bunch or Married with Children?”
“How about The Simpsons? I think you’d look great with blue hair.”
She eyed him. The humor surprised her, but in a good way. “You don’t look anything like Homer.”
“I could try.”
“Please don’t.” Dev was handsome and elegant, in a James Bond sort of way.
“Noelle, we’ll make this relationship what we want it to be. I’d like us to be friends first. That’s going to take some time. If you want to cook, I won’t say no. I’m tired of take-out and frozen dinners. If you aren’t interested, that’s fine, too. I don’t have any rules.”
“But I like rules,” she told him. “I like things neatly defined.”
“An unexpected pregnancy has a way of changing the rules.”
She knew he was right. “What about decorating or entertaining?”
“You can change anything in the house except my study. I have the name of the designer I used. You can call her or pick someone else, or do it yourself. As for entertaining…” He hesitated. “Let’s get used to being married, first.”
“Okay.” She drew in a deep breath and tried to relax. “You know, you can change your mind about marrying me.”
He shook his head. “I’m committed to this, Noelle. Are you?”
Sometimes she felt she was doing the right thing and others she felt she was flirting with disaster. But she’d made up her mind and given her word and she was going to keep it.
“This is what I want,” she said.
“Then Marge and Homer Simpson it is.”
* * *
Noelle checked the purchase order against the packing slip, then compared both with the bill from the supplier. Part of her job included random audits on all the departments. The computer would generate a list of purchases or sales every month and she would walk through the entire process to make sure everything was the way it was supposed to be. She then wrote up a report for Katherine, her boss, who passed it along to Dev.
In the past, she’d never much thought about him reading her findings or critiquing them. All her feedback came through Katherine. But now all that was different—at least on her end. Did Dev notice the e-mails that came from her? Did he think of her differently now?
Not that she would ask, she thought humorously. There were already enough awkward conversations without her throwing one more into the mix.
Katherine, a tall blonde in her late fifties, paused by Noelle’s desk. “If you have a minute, could I see you in my office?”
“Sure.” Noelle saved her work on the computer and followed her boss down the hallway.
Katherine’s office was next to Dev’s and while smaller, was still bright and beautifully decorated. The muted colors blended with the dark wood furniture. Had Noelle wanted to stay in business, she thought that Katherine would be the perfect role model. The woman had started out working in shipping and had risen to be second in command to the president of the company. Nothing happened at Hunter Manufacturing without Katherine knowing about it.
Noelle sat on the chair opposite the desk and waited. Katherine smiled at her.
“Dev’s gone this afternoon,” she began. “I’m telling you that so you won’t worry about him interrupting us or hearing our conversation.”
Okay, so they weren’t going to discuss Noelle’s performance. “All right.” Then she realized that Katherine and Dev had been working together for years and it was very likely he’d told her about the impending marriage.
Katherine confirmed her guess when she said, “I understand congratulations are in order.”
Noelle shifted in her seat. What on earth was she supposed to say? “I know it probably seems fast,” she mumbled. What would Katherine think of her?
But her boss’s eyes remained kind. “Life has a way of making things interesting. Still, I can’t tell you how sorry I am to lose you.”
“I’m not excited about quitting, either,” Noelle admitted. “But under the circumstances, it seemed best.” Being Dev’s assistant’s secretary would be more than a little awkward once the marriage took place.
Katherine studied her intently. “I knew you were dating Jimmy. He was an interesting young man. Dev put a lot of effort into his brother.” She paused. “Jimmy was fun, but not necessarily someone you would want to trust with your future. Dev is a good man. I’ve known him since he was a teenager. You can trust him, Noelle. I wanted to wish you the best and tell you that I hope you’ll consider the possibilities.”
Noelle didn’t know what to say. Had Katherine guessed some version of the truth? It sounded like it. Noelle was confident Dev wouldn’t say anything without telling her first.
“I agree Dev is a good man.” That fact made all of this possible.
“He deserves someone to love him. There have been…disappointments in his life.”
Disappointments? More than Jimmy’s death?
It occurred to Noelle that she knew very little about the man she would be marrying. He took responsibility, he was kind, but who was he really?
Katherine smiled. “I think the two of you will be very happy together.”
“Thank you,” Noelle murmured and found herself wishing that were possible.
* * *
Under normal circumstances, Dev would consider himself something of a catch. He had a career, owned a successful business and whoever married him would never want for money. He thought of himself as a good person at heart, although there were plenty of flaws. Still, he’d never had a problem attracting or keeping women around.
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