The Baby Pact (Babies and Billions #5) - Holly Rayner Page 0,38

couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t be.

Zach’s father’s money—the money Zach had used to start his business—couldn’t have been stolen from the family of the woman he loved.

It just couldn’t.

Chapter 13

Rhea

Rhea’s doctor’s appointment was early Friday morning. Newly armed with sonogram pictures, she decided to play hooky from work for the day. She texted Tomas and Gregory to let them know she wouldn’t be coming in—though she didn’t tell them why—and drove to her parents’ house instead.

They would be surprised and pleased to see her, she knew, as they always were. Little would they imagine that this wasn’t just a routine visit, that she had something very serious to discuss with them.

I just hope they can manage to take it in stride.

Rhea didn’t think she was up for another chaotic scene like the one she’d experienced when she had tried to tell Zach the truth.

But her parents had always been supportive of her. Surely this would be different.

She pulled into the driveway. Her mother was sitting on the porch with a magazine, and she looked up as Rhea pulled in. Rhea saw a smile spread over her mother’s face.

To her surprise, she felt like crying.

She thinks it’s just an ordinary visit. She has no idea that all of our lives are about to change.

But maybe she would be happy. After all, she was going to be a grandmother.

Rhea got out of the car and went up onto the porch. Her mother stood and embraced her.

“This is a surprise!” she said. “Don’t you have work today?”

“I took the day off,” Rhea said.

“Your bosses are okay with that?”

“I am the boss, Mom.”

“Oh, honey, I know you are,” her mother said. “I only meant—”

“I know what you meant,” Rhea assured her. There was no need to split hairs with her mother over this. “And yes, they’re fine with it. I don’t take very many days off.”

“Well, come in. I know your father will be happy to see you.”

Rhea’s mother led the way into the house, and Rhea followed behind, her heart pounding at the thought of what she had to tell her parents.

Her father was in the living room.

“Rhea!” he said. “What are you doing here?”

“She came for a surprise visit,” Dana said. “Isn’t that nice?”

“But shouldn’t she be at work?”

“I’ve got work handled,” Rhea said, irritation seeping into her tone. “Can we just have a nice day together?”

“Of course,” her mother said. “I’ll go get us some lemonade and we’ll all catch up.”

When the drinks had been poured and everyone was seated, Rhea summoned her courage and told them her news. The reaction was about what she had expected, and far less dramatic than she had feared. After a few cautious questions about her plans and preparations, her parents allowed themselves to become demonstrably excited. They each hugged her and congratulated her, clearly overjoyed at the prospect of becoming grandparents.

“We thought your brother would be first,” Dana said.

Tom Wilson snorted. “Maybe you did. That boy will never settle down to anything.”

“Well, it’s not as if Rhea is settled down.”

“She’s much more levelheaded than Stephen is. Much more capable of making a responsible choice and following through.” He frowned. “Who is the baby’s father, by the way? Do we know him?”

“Well…”

There was no point in keeping it a secret. She was hopeful that Zach would get over his drama and decide to be involved in the baby’s life, and if that happened, there wouldn’t be any way to keep the truth of his identity from her parents.

“It’s Zach Danes. Do you remember him? We went to school together. You met him once, at my birthday dinner junior year of college.”

“Zach Danes?” Dana frowned. “Why is that name so familiar?”

“Hold on,” Tom said. “Not Lincoln Danes’ son?”

Rhea sighed. She had hoped they would have at least a few minutes before her father placed the name.

“Dad.”

“Rhea, didn’t I tell you at the time to have nothing further to do with that boy?”

“I didn’t speak to him for fifteen years after you told me that, Dad. It wasn’t like I ignored you.”

“So how is it that you find yourself in this situation?” her father asked.

“I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone,” her mother added.

“It was new,” Rhea said. “He’d recently moved back to Baltimore, and he looked me up. We had dinner and caught up on old times, and we started seeing each other, but we weren’t ready to tell anybody about it yet.”

“You knew I didn’t approve of him,” Tom said.

“But that was fifteen