Little Secrets: Holiday Baby Bombshell. Karen Booth

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       One

      With its French-milled soap, lavender-scented shampoo and soft lighting, the finely appointed bathroom in her Grand Legacy Hotel suite might’ve been the loveliest place Charlotte Locke had ever gotten sick. She closed her eyes, willed herself to stand from the cool comfort of the marble floor and fumbled for her toothbrush. Ten weeks pregnant and mint was one of the few things she found appealing. She scrubbed her teeth clean, straightened her skirt and jacket, and neatened her blond hair. Hopefully, that was the last of today’s morning sickness. She had work to do.

      Charlotte marched out of her room, determined. “Wish me luck. I’m off to Sawyer’s office,” she said to her aunt Fran, who was sharing the suite while in New York from London for Christmas.

      Fran tucked a strand from her white-blond bob behind her ear, then refilled her mug with room-service tea. Charlotte’s beloved papillon dog, Thor, nine pounds of snow-white and chocolate-brown attitude, was curled up at Fran’s hip. “You won’t need luck. You’re more than qualified to sell the Grand Legacy condos.”

      Charlotte sighed. Okay, no luck. But she wouldn’t mind some bolstering. How many times had she gone hat-in-hand and asked a family member for another chance? Too many. Charlotte slipped on her wool coat, a lovely shade of peacock blue, and buttoned up. “I’m glad you’re so confident. I think I stand about a fifty-fifty chance.”

      “You’re sure you aren’t going to tell Sawyer about the pregnancy? He’s your brother. I don’t see any way he can say no to you if he knows you have a baby on the way.”

      Charlotte shook her head. “I don’t want anyone’s charity. I’m asking him to trust me with millions of dollars of real estate. I don’t want to remind him that his little sister has a habit of making colossal life mistakes.”

      Fran scratched Thor behind the ear. “Everything happens for a reason. It just might not be clear to you yet what that reason is.”

      “I like your optimism, but being accidentally pregnant by a man who doesn’t love me is classic Charlotte. I’m trying to avoid all appearances of the old me.” Charlotte leaned down and kissed her aunt’s cheek, then grabbed her gloves and handbag and stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind her.

      Each impeccable detail of the Grand Legacy—the plush black carpet with ornate royal blue scrolls, the gleaming chrome-and-glass wall sconces, even the tasteful sign directing guests to their room—was a link to Charlotte’s past. The hotel had been in her family since the 1920s, long before she’d been born. Now it was solely owned by her brother Sawyer, a detail that displeased their father greatly.

      She pushed the button for the elevator. Every time she stepped on board, childhood memories of clowning around in the hotel with her brothers played in her head, like an old movie. The ones where she was youngest were the fuzziest, but the happiest. There had been many games of hide-and-seek in these halls, but only when her mother had been alive. As soon as she passed away, their father never wanted her or her brothers to spend any time at all in the hotel.

      “Good morning, Ms. Locke,” a bellman said as she emerged from the elevator.

      “Morning,” she said cheerily. Her heels clicked across the black-and-white marble lobby floor.

      “Stay warm out there, Ms. Locke,” the front desk clerk said.

      “I’ll try.” She pushed her way through the revolving doors and was smacked in the face with a rush of icy air that felt as though it had been shipped in from the north pole. The doorman hustled to show her to the car Sawyer had sent.

      “Thank you.” Charlotte juggled her wallet, a five-dollar bill and her gloves.

      “That’s not necessary, Ms. Locke.” He tried to hand back the tip. “Not from you.”

      “Of course it’s necessary. You work hard, and it’s the holidays.” She smiled, waved him off and slid into the back seat of the car.

      The driver knew exactly where they were headed—downtown to Sawyer’s office in Chelsea. Charlotte had already practiced her pitch several times—awake in bed last night, in the shower that morning. It wasn’t that Sawyer was intimidating. He was anything but. It was more that Charlotte hated to ask for yet another favor. She was already bracing for that look on her brother’s face, the one that said he was hesitant to give her responsibility. She’d done so poorly with it in the past.

      Charlotte couldn’t commit any more time or effort to feeling bad about her current situation. Now was the time for action. The car pulled up in front of Sawyer’s office, and she wasted no time climbing out and heading upstairs. Hopefully inertia would be enough to keep her going.

      Her brother’s admin, Lily, greeted her warmly. “Your brother is waiting. Let me take your coat for you. Remind me when you get out of your meeting and I’ll call another car for you.”

      “Thank you so much.” Charlotte smoothed her skirt, trying to ignore the trepidation in her stomach. This was her brother. Sawyer. Everything would be fine. She hoped.

      A broad smile crossed Sawyer’s face when she poked her head into his office. “There she is.”

      Waves of relief washed over her. Why she constantly worked herself into a tizzy over things was beyond her. She only knew it was her habit. “Hey, Sawyer. Thanks for meeting with me today.”

      “Of course. I’m glad you came in. I feel like I hardly had the chance to speak to you at the grand reopening party at the hotel.”

      “Sorry about that. All sorts of old friends were there.” Plus, pregnancy makes a woman all kinds of tired.

      “I’m just glad you’re back in town. It wouldn’t have felt right not to have you there.” Sawyer sat back in his chair. “Do you want to tell me what precipitated the surprise junket to see Aunt Fran in England?”

      Even though she’d prepared for the question, Charlotte blanched at it. So much had led to that trip. It started with the breakup from Michael Kelly, the man she’d fallen hopelessly in love with, the man who was unable to return the feelings. That had been bad enough, and then came the real powder keg—the pregnancy. She couldn’t tell her brother she’d gone to England for those reasons. Charlotte was always falling in love, and it was always getting her into some sort of impossible situation.

      “I just needed some time to really think out my long-term career goals. Fran is so good at listening and helping with advice.” She cleared her throat. “Plus, I’ll be honest. It was stressful to watch the way Dad was fighting you on the Grand Legacy renovation. I hate the family rifts.”

      “If I could’ve gone to England with you, I would have. Then again, that might have meant things wouldn’t have worked out with Kendall the way they have. So scratch that. I’m glad I stayed and fought through the Dad situation.”

      Charlotte smiled. She was happy Sawyer had found someone, and Kendall was a very special someone. Charlotte had worried for many years that their home life had left her and her siblings—Sawyer and their brother Noah—incapable of having normal romantic relationships. The fact that Sawyer had finally broken through that particular Locke family glass ceiling gave her hope that some day she’d do the same. Just not anytime soon—she was no longer looking СКАЧАТЬ