Page 54 of Reunion With Benefits

Fourteen

Abby didn’t often get a summons to come to Derrick’s office in the middle of the afternoon. He called her or sent a message. That worked best since she had a calendar full of meetings and phone calls, but she pushed everything for this meeting.

Now that the school renovation project was a go, she had about a hundred deadlines to set and people she needed to corral. Not that she minded. This was her favorite part, setting everything down and seeing the hard work turn into something real.

That’s kind of how she thought of Spence. He’d stayed at her house for a string of nights. Settled in and looked right at home there on her couch. He’d even survived the baby talk this morning. She almost didn’t. Her emotions had roller-coastered all over the place as she watched his facial expression change. Surprise to panic to should-I-run. The good news is that last one only came in a flash then was gone again.

But they needed to know the truth in case they had to make plans. No more guessing. She had two tests in her bag. Tonight they would have the answer.

Her stomach flipped at the thought. She’d held it together so far, but she was pretty sure she’d be bent over blowing into a paper bag no matter what the result was. The anxiety growing inside her guaranteed that.

Speaking of the possible future daddy...she looked up right as she turned the corner to the hallway leading to Derrick’s office. Spence stood there. Tall and confident. The unexpected sight of him made her steps falter, but she quickly regained her balance.

“What are you doing?” She put her hand on his arm. Even thought about kissing him.

Despite the lack of traffic in this hall, she refrained from the public display of affection. It wasn’t really her thing. They needed to keep a work–home life separation anyway. Human Resources had suggested a list of things they should do and not do. French kissing in the hallway had to be on there somewhere.

“Derrick asked to see me,” Spence said.

Her hand tightened on Spence’s arm. She didn’t notice until his shirtsleeve bunched in her palm. “Me, too.”

He frowned at that information. “Maybe Ellie?”

The thought tumbled in Abby’s head. Her mind raced to the worst scenario. Just when she thought she’d stumbled on the worst, she came up with another. “Oh, no.”

“It’s okay.” Spence put his hand over hers. The warmth on his skin seeped into hers. “He wouldn’t be at work if something was wrong with her at home.”

“Right.” Derrick would burn marks in the carpet getting out of there and to Ellie. That’s who he was.

But Abby got back to walking, just in case. Even picked up the pace a bit.

They passed by Jackson’s office. His phone rang. The door was open but he wasn’t at his desk. Not an unusual occurrence since he seemed to answer to everyone in the building. People called him for help and advice.

Derrick’s door was open and she heard voices, both of them familiar. Carter mumbled something in an unusually serious tone. It was enough to get the worry churning inside her again.

Spence pushed open the door and they stepped inside. “What’s going on?”

“We have a problem.” Carter’s gaze slipped to her as he spoke. “Close the door.”

This couldn’t be good. Closed-door meetings sometimes meant nothing, but the look on Carter’s face—drawn and a bit pale—suggested this was big.

Spence shook his head. “What did Dad do now?”

Just the mention of him touched off a new bout of frustration inside her. Anger welled, ready to boil up and spill over. Eldrick had that effect on her and likely always would.

Carter continued to stare. A strange coldness washed over Abby. She was so used to his smile and joking. From the minute she met him, she’d been struck by his genuine warmth. Derrick had to work at it. Spence tried to hide his. Carter was open and out there...but right now, he held his jaw stiff enough to crack.

Derrick dropped a large envelope on his desk. It had been opened and there was a note on top and photos spilled out. “It’s not Dad.”

Now he looked at Abby, too. The joint force of Derrick and Carter’s angry attention only upped her anxiety levels. She handled stress fine but this crashed over her.

She mentally raced through every project, trying to think of what might have happened or gone wrong. It couldn’t be the possibility of a new baby because she doubted Spence would have told them without knowing for sure or talking to her first. And she couldn’t imagine either one of Spence’s brothers having this reaction.

No, this was something else. Something fundamental that drove right to the heart of their loyalty to her and trust in her.

She looked at the familiar envelope. She couldn’t place it, and then it hit her. The delivery at the family dinner. Jeff Berger, the big jerk.

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” Spence said as he took a step toward Derrick’s desk.

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