Chapter 3

Gina tapped out an email on her laptop. She balanced Winnona on her lap with one knee and hit Send. She opened the progress report she was working on and got one paragraph written before Winnona started to fuss.

She lifted the baby onto her shoulder and patted the child’s back. She hunted and pecked with one hand and shushed Winnona while she mapped out the next section of the report.

She picked up her e-job where she left off since she moved into this apartment three weeks ago. Giles wasn’t happy about her spending all her time at home, but he couldn’t fault her work. He gave her better job success ratings than ever, but maybe he just wanted to flatter her.

Normally, taking care of Winnona didn’t interfere with her work, except for times like now. Winnona fussed more and started to cry. When this sort of thing happened, Gina took a break and returned to her work later. No big deal.

Winnona didn’t think it was no big deal, though. Whatever was bothering her exploded into a bigger deal than Gina ever saw. The crying turned to wailing. Gina tried to give her a bottle. No go. The wailing turned to bleating. Gina walked around the apartment and bounced Winnona on her shoulder. Forget it.

The bleating turned to full-volume screaming, and from there, it escalated to purple-faced thunder. Gina held Winnona close and did her best to comfort her baby. She tried all her old tricks. She put Winnona in the carry capsule and swung it around in a circle. When that didn’t work, she lay down on her bed with Winnona by her side. Dream on. She picked Winnona up and carried her out into the sunshine on the balcony. Winnona screamed to wake the dead.

Gina didn’t know what to do. She checked Winnona’s diaper. Clean as a whistle. She massaged her stomach. Winnona flailed and screeched louder than ever—if that was humanly possible. Gina wanted to cry, too. She could only keep moving around the apartment and pray for a miracle. Times like this made her cling to her baby for dear life. She ached to help this tiny person. If only she could talk to Winnona, she would do anything to relieve her distress.

As it was, she could only keep trying until the storm passed. Gina paced around the apartment. She tried Winnona in every position imaginable, but nothing helped. Winnona’s shrill screams stabbed into Gina’s ear, but she dared not put the baby down.

She went on her twentieth circuit of the apartment. If nothing changed quick, she would put Winnona in her front carry pack and go for a walk to the beach. That worked sometimes. Gina just passed her computer, which sat open on the desk. The screen went dark, and the screen saver came on. Gina hadn’t taken the next step when the screen blinked bright again. Her report showed up on the desktop, and the little black Skype window flashed across her view. The computer made a phone-ringing sound. Giles Pendragon Calling….

Gina stared at the dots trailing sideways. Oh, please, dear God, not now. She touched her mouse pad and clicked the red Hang Up button. The black window disappeared. Phew!

Gina started walking when the phone sound started again. She barely heard it over Winnona’s cries. Giles Pendragon Calling…. Gina’s heart froze. He couldn’t be calling her now—not now, of all times. She couldn’t. She hit the Hang Up button one more time and walked away.

That phone ringing sound cut straight through the noise ringing in Gina’s ear. Giles Pendragon Calling…..Didn’t that guy ever get the message? Not now, Giles. Get that through your head. She hit the Hang Up button one more time. She walked away without looking back.

This time, when the phone ringing sound caught her ear, she didn’t bother to turn around. She didn’t even approach her computer. Let him sit and spin. If he couldn’t get the simple message that she didn’t want to talk right now, let him stick it where the sun don’t shine. She wouldn’t hang up. She waited for him to give up and leave her alone.

He didn’t give up, though, and he didn’t leave her alone. He called her again and again. He could see she was online. She kicked herself for not changing her status when she had the chance. She got in the habit of taking herself offline at all times she didn’t have a scheduled call with him. Then he never got tempted to call her out of the blue, like now.

She glared at her computer. That clod! What was wrong with him? She would kick him in the nuts next time she saw him. That would teach him a lesson. She took another lap around the apartment. Winnona cried herself hoarse. Gina couldn’t hear the ringing sound anymore, but she saw the blinking dots when she came back to her computer.

She couldn’t talk to Giles right now. She couldn’t hear him even if she wanted to. What was she going to do? She could send him a quick message telling him now wasn’t a good time, but that would only make him curious. He would want to know what she was up to.

Her mind whizzed through the possibilities. When you came down to the simple facts, he was still her boss. She had to talk to him. He might want to tell her something important. How could she talk to him with this mayhem going on?

She thought fast and grabbed Winnona’s carry capsule. She stuck Winnona in it and set the capsule on the floor. She rocked it with her foot, but it did no good, just the way Gina knew it wouldn’t. She took a deep breath and punched the green telephone button.

The ringing noise stopped, and the screen shivered. Then Gina heard the yelp of Winnona’s voice feeding back through Giles’s microphone. Gina winced, but she had to go through with her plan.

The viewing window appeared with Giles in it. He was in his office. He wore his hair slicked back over his ears and that crisp egg-shell gray suit she liked so much. He looked magnificent with his broad shoulders jutting out beyond his leather chair.

He screwed up his face in pain. His voice squelched across the airwaves. “Ms. Kemp? What is that noise?”

She moved her mouth close to the microphone and bellowed as loud as she could. “It’s some neighbor’s kid having a tantrum. Let me call you right back.”

His face cleared, and he nodded. Gina swallowed the lump in her throat and hit the Hang Up button. Dear God, please oh please let this work. She gathered up Winnona and hurried to the kitchen. She stuck a bottle in the microwave and zapped it for fifteen seconds. All the time, she offered silent pleas to the great Babysitter in the Sky. Oh, please. I’ll do anything. Please let this work. Let this be the time. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and the hour of our death, Amen.

That last little bit came back to her out of her distant parochial past. This must be a desperate situation or she would never have remembered it. She snatched the bottle from the microwave and hustled back to the computer. She positioned Winnona in the crook of her arm and touched the bottle to the baby’s lips.

Like magic, Winnona opened her mouth and latched onto the nipple. Gina’s heart thumped out of her chest. It was working. It really was working. She balanced the bottle with her other hand and hit the call button. The dots started blinking, and the phone started ringing.

Winnona kept her eyes closed and sucked. Blessed, heavenly peace returned to the apartment. The viewing window reappeared with Giles smiling from ear to ear. “Did you kick the crap out of him or something?”

Gina gave a nervous laugh. “I think his dad showed up. How ya doing?”

Giles swiveled in his chair. A little humor always put him at ease. The longer Winnona stayed quiet, the more Gina relaxed. That was a close one.

Giles chirped, “You’re coming into the office tomorrow.”

Gina’s head snapped up and her breath caught in her throat. “What?”

“You’re coming in. We’ve got a big contract meeting with Southern Mining, and they won’t negotiate with anyone but you.”

Gina let out her breath. She knew this day would come. She had to face this along with everything else. She strained every nerve to keep her voice steady. “All right. What time?”

“Eleven-thirty in my office.”

“You bet.”

He cracked a grin. “Wear that tweed miniskirt I like and don’t wear any panties.”

Gina cringed. “We’re negotiating a contract, not my panties.”

His cheeks glowed. She knew exactly what he was thinking. “We’ll get the contract in the bank, and then I’ll take you out to lunch.”

Oh, of course. Lunch. How could she forget about lunch? Lunch with no panties on under her miniskirt. Of course. She knew all about that.

“Look, Mr. Pendragon. I don’t think I’ll be able to make lunch. I have a prior commitment.”

“Cancel it. You’re going out to lunch with me instead.”

“I can’t cancel it.” I can’t cancel it because I’ve got a two-month-old baby at home that’s never been left without her mother. I wouldn’t be able to sit still through lunch anyways.

He leaned closer to the screen. “Just be there. If you want to wear panties, I won’t fire you.”

He clicked off before she could answer. Gina sank back in her chair. Winnona finished the bottle and sighed in her sleep. The baby settled into Gina’s arms. Gina set the bottle on the desk and gazed down at her sleeping infant.

How could she leave this tiny life, even for a few hours? She would be a nervous wreck all through the meeting, and she would race back home the minute it ended. She wouldn’t give Giles a second glance when she had Winnona to rush home to.

Gina wrapped a blanket around the sleeping bundle. “What are we going to do with you?”