Page 60 of The Boss's Baby Affair

“I found Jilly’s journal and I’ve been reading her appointment book.”

He paused.

Candace waited, feeling puzzled at the withdrawal she sensed in him. On her lap, Jennie grew restless.

“Do you know that you’re not named as Jennie’s mother on the birth certificate?”

She frowned at the switch in subject. “You said that when I first told you I was Jennie’s mother. I thought you’d simply never seen it.” It had seemed typical of the remote, uninvolved father she’d pegged him to be. “That can’t be right.”

She didn’t like the way he was watching her, like a dark panther waiting to pounce on the first slip she made. She swung her legs to the ground so that she was perched on the edge of the lounger. Spreading the biggest towel on the deck in front of the lounger, she placed Jennie on it and handed her a teething ring. Immediately, Jennie started to chew.

“You had a midwife at the birth.”

“Yes—Jilly wanted the home experience, she thought it would give you and her a better chance to bond with the baby than a hospital birth, where your involvement would be minimal.” Candace paused. “She even said you’d decided not to be present because you would be overseas. Thinking about it now, you wouldn’t even have known about the birth, right?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t. Jilly told me she was three weeks off her due date, that it would be a good time to take a trip to meet three new suppliers…and on the way home I attended a gardeners’ conference. I thought there was still plenty of time.”

“Oh.” It put paid to another assumption she’d made. “It was fortunate for Jilly the timing worked out.”

“Yes.” He was still watching her, but the flat line of his mouth had softened.

Candace found she was breathing easier. “When you failed to turn up at Jennie’s birth, I started to grow truly worried about what kind of father you would be. I told Jilly I wished I hadn’t signed away my right to stay in contact with the baby after the birth. Jilly was quick to point out that she’d always made it clear that you didn’t really want to know about the surrogate, that you wanted to pretend the baby was Jilly’s. But I couldn’t understand how any father would want to miss such a momentous occasion.”

“It certainly wasn’t part of Jilly’s plan for you to stay in the picture. I discovered from my reading that Jilly bribed the midwife to list her as the mother on the birth certificate.”

“I never knew that.” Candace thought about it as she watched Jennie toss the ring down, then pick it up again and shove it back in her mouth. “But it makes sense. That’s why she wanted a home birth with a midwife?” Sadness swept her. “I would’ve been happier at the hospital, given that Jennie was my first child and anything could’ve gone wrong. But it was so important to her that I gave in.”

“Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

Even over the two yards separating them, she could sense his tension.

It was hardly a good time to confess the one aspect of her behavior she wasn’t proud of. It would be better to wait for a time when Nick was more open to discussion. Candace knew she was putting it off. When would there ever be an easy time?

She drew a deep breath and squarely met Nick’s indigo gaze. “Yes. Jilly gave me money.”

Nick’s almost black gaze bored into her. “You lied to me. You told me you weren’t paid for being a surrogate.”

“I wasn’t,” she said automatically. “You—I mean Jilly—paid for the medical expenses and she covered my other expenses. The one thing she did pay for that I didn’t want was the stay in the resort when the IVF was done. And she spoiled me with gifts when she visited during the pregnancy…I didn’t have the heart to refuse because it gave her such pleasure. But this payment was different.”

“How?” He gave a snort.

“It was a large sum.”

“Okay.” He nodded. “So when did she give you money? Did you call her?”

“No! I wasn’t ever supposed to make contact again.” Candace glanced down at Jennie again, remembering how the despair in the empty days after Jennie’s birth had sapped her. “After I’d given Jennie up, she called to see how I was.”

Then she lifted her gaze to Nick’s, hoping he couldn’t sense her inner shaking or recognize the fear and vulnerability. “I was a mess. Jilly came around to see me—she didn’t bring Jennie. When I first heard her car pull up, I hoped with a desperate yearning I can’t even begin to describe to you that she’d reconsidered, that she was prepared to relax the noncontact clause in the surrogate contract. But she was alone. I told her that my mother was in the hospital after falling off a ladder in the pantry. She was unconscious, and brain damage was suspected. I started to cry. I couldn’t stop. I didn’t know what I was going to do. You probably won’t believe me, but Jilly gave me comfort.”

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