Mandy was grateful Jamie had been walking into the apartment building at the same time as she’d been getting out of the cab she’d shared with Damien from LaGuardia. It had given her the option to wave away Damien’s offer to carry her suitcase up and avoid more awkward goodbyes.
Jamie, bless her, had been oblivious, giving Mandy a big hug and grabbing her suitcase straightaway, chattering about thespring storm they were expecting as she waved Damien off with a smile. Mandy had managed her own tepid smile before letting Jamie lead her into the building. Damien hadn’t smiled at all.
“You look so awesome, Mandy! The weather must have agreed with you.”
The weather or the sex. One of the two. “I do feel much better.”
“Good. Hey, let’s order some takeout and you can tell us all about it.”
“Super.” This was the downside to having roommates. When you wanted to be alone and just have a good crying jag, they were there. Not that she had any right to be crying. There had been no surprises from Damien, and she hadn’t wanted any.
Maybe she was just tired.
Maybe it was hormones.
Mandy opened their apartment door and stepped inside, shivering a little. Sixty degrees and sunny was okay, but she had adjusted pretty quickly to running about in a bathing suit.
Caroline was on the couch, her glasses on her nose as she studied some papers in her hand. “Mandy! You look great. How was the trip?” Caroline looked behind her at Jamie and curled her lip. “But first I have to warn you, Ben was here.”
Oh, God.Mandy wrapped her arms around herself and groaned. “When?” She was looking forward to putting her feet up, eating herself sick, and sleeping straight through to tomorrow. She did not want to think about Ben.
Caroline tossed down what she was holding and lifted her glasses off. “Just ten minutes ago.” Her disapproval was obvious. “I told him you were just getting back from the Caribbean and would call him tomorrow, but he said he’d wait. He went across the street to the deli. He probably saw you come in and he’ll be back over here any minute.”
“Damn!” Mandy ran over to the mirror hanging in the hall. “I’m a wreck! I have plane hair.”
“Who cares what you look like?” Jamie sniffed. “I think he has a lot of nerve just showing up here without even calling first. Where has he been for the last three months?”
While that was true, it didn’t negate the need to look good when she saw him again. Obviously Caroline understood her plight better as she was whipping a comb and lipstick out of her purse on the coffee table.
Mandy had just patted, powdered, and finished puckering when someone knocked on the door. She was glad she was wearing a sundress and heels. “Do I look pregnant?” she asked as Jamie went to answer the door.
“No,” Caroline said.
“Good.” She wasn’t sure why it mattered, but she didn’t want Ben to see her as a pregnant woman. She didn’t want to see how he would react.
After letting Ben in, Jamie and Caroline discreetly took themselves off down the hall, and Mandy was left staring at the man who had fathered her baby.
She felt surprisingly little.
She didn’t remember him being quite so short, or his blond hair quite so thin on top. “Hello, Ben. How are you?”
“Mandy.” He came forward and kissed her cheek. “I’m fine, thanks. And I have to say, pregnancy agrees with you. You look fantastic.”
Well, it was something. She couldn’t help but grit her teeth, though. Had he been hoping she would look like hell as she pined over him?
“Thank you.” She stared at him expectantly. There had to be a point to this little visit, and she didn’t feel like being courteous in the meantime. Any feelings she had ever had for hispoliteness, his stability, his kindness, had all evaporated when he had told her he had no intention of ever seeing his child.
“Can I sit down?” Ben was wearing neatly pressed navy slacks and a white golf shirt. He patted his pocket and smiled awkwardly, almost as if he were nervous.
“Ben.” She sighed. Sleeping was sounding more and more appealing. “I just got home from a business trip. I’ve been on a plane for over three hours and stood in line at customs for almost two. I’m tired. What do you want?”
“My son just graduated from Fordham this past weekend.”
A pain started behind her eyes. That son was her child’s half brother and her baby would never even know him. “Give him my congratulations then.” She had never met Ben’s children, so she doubted Ben would tell him anything. She almost laughed at the inanity of her comment, but her mother had taught her manners, if anything.
“I will. And seeing him, well, it got me thinking. You’re having my child.”
Was that supposed to be a newsflash? Mandy decided her feet hurt too much to stand anymore. She sank onto the couch and kicked off her sandals. “That’s my understanding, yes.”
