She had complained that it wasn’t a good time to have a baby and she was too tired to get out of bed. Then one morning, she’d surprised him when she got up and began an exhaustive schedule of physical exercises that he’d later realized was a desperate attempt to end the pregnancy. And in less than two weeks of nonstop exertion, sleeping very little and eating less than a bird, she’d succeeded in causing herself to miscarry.
Zach took a deep shuddering breath. He still carried a lot of guilt over not recognizing what Gretchen had been up to and his failure to protect that baby. He should have paid more attention.
But it wasn’t going to happen again. The babies Arielle carried were depending on him and Zach wasn’t about to let them down.
Fortunately, Arielle seemed to view her pregnancy in an entirely different way than Gretchen. Arielle indulged her hearty appetite, took it in stride that she was going to gain weight and got plenty of rest. And not one time since they’d reunited had he heard her express anything but pure joy over the prospect of becoming a mother.
Kissing the top of her head, he closed his eyes. Although he’d never intended to marry or trust another woman to have his child, he anticipated everything working out this time around. There was every indication that Arielle was not only going to be a good, loving mother to their twins, she was the most exciting, intoxicating woman he’d ever met and having her in his bed every night was definitely going to be a huge benefit of marriage.
Oh, he knew that Arielle wanted the whole package—marriage, children and an enduring love that would see them through whatever life sent their way. But caring that much for a woman put a man at risk of losing his perspective and set him up to make a fool of himself. And that was one chance Zach just wasn’t willing to take again. As long as he didn’t allow love to enter into the picture, he’d not only be able to keep his children safe, he wouldn’t have to worry about losing his pride or his heart.
Satisfied that everything would work out, sleep began to overtake him. Although he couldn’t give Arielle the love she wanted, theirs would be a good marriage based on mutual respect and a sincere fondness for each other. As far as he was concerned, that should be enough to make them both happy.
After taking her shower and calling the preschool to arrange for her assistant administrator to take over for the rest of the week, Arielle waited until she heard Zach go into the bathroom and turn on the shower before reaching for the phone again. Deciding it was probably the only time she’d have to call her newfound grandmother without him overhearing the conversation, she sat down on the end of the couch and dialed Emerald, Inc. headquarters in Wichita.
She’d been thinking quite a bit about her unexpected run-in with Zach and the fact that it had been just a little too convenient to be a coincidence. She wasn’t sure how, but she’d bet Emerald Larson had had a big hand in the reunion.
Of course, she wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out Emerald had discovered Zach was the father of her babies. Arielle wasn’t quite sure how Emerald had managed it, but when she contacted her and her brothers to tell them who their father was, Emerald had admitted to Arielle that she knew all about her pregnancy and her inability to find the baby’s father.
“Good morning, Mrs. Larson’s office. How may I help you?” Luther Freemont answered in his usual dry monotone. Over the past few months, she’d spoken with him several times and if Emerald’s personal assistant ever put any kind of inflection in his voice, she hadn’t heard it.
“Hello, Luther, this is Arielle. I’d like to speak to Emerald for a few minutes. Is she available now or should I call back at another time?”
“Of course she’s in for you, Miss Garnier. Please hold while I put your call through to your grandmother’s private line.”
Within seconds, Emerald came on the line. “Arielle, darling, what a pleasant surprise,” she greeted, sounding truly happy to hear from her only granddaughter. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?”
“Hello, Emerald.” Considering that she’d only recently learned about the woman, Arielle wasn’t comfortable calling her “grandmother.” But they had formed a friendly, pleasant relationship and Emerald had made it clear that she was always available whenever Arielle needed to talk. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“No, dear. In fact, I was thinking about giving you a call to see how you’re doing with Premier Academy. Has the transition of ownership gone smoothly?”
“Oh, yes. It’s actually been easier than I anticipated,” Arielle confessed, smiling. “The entire staff has been very welcoming and helpful.”
“Good.” Emerald paused. “And how are you doing, darling? I trust everything is going well with your pregnancy?”
“That’s one of the reasons I called,” Arielle informed. “I had the ultrasound yesterday.”
“And what is my next great-grandchild going to be—a boy or a girl?”
“It’s still a little too early to tell yet, but how do you feel about having another set of twins in the family?”
There was stunned silence before Emerald spoke again. “Twins? Oh, how marvelous. Have you told Luke and Jake yet? I’m sure they’re overjoyed for you.”
“I called them yesterday after I returned from the doctor.”
“How did they take the news, dear?”
“To say they were shocked is an understatement,” Arielle revealed, laughing. Now she could find the humor in her normally verbal brothers being struck speechless. “At first they were both a bit miffed that I’d waited so long to tell them, but they let that go in favor of wanting to know who the father was and how they could find him.”
“Oh, I’m sure they were ready to take the young man to task. What did you tell them, dear?”
“I didn’t have to tell them anything.” Arielle sighed. “I made the mistake of making the call with Zach sitting right beside me. He spoke up and admitted he’s the babies’ father. He told them we would be getting married this coming weekend.”
“You’re going to marry Zachary Forsythe, the hotel and resort tycoon?”
“No, I’m not.”
“I see.” Emerald paused, as if she knew she’d revealed a bit more than she should have. “However did you find him, darling?”
“You tell me,” Arielle prodded, knowing for certain that her grandmother had orchestrated their reunion. She hadn’t told her Zach’s last name.