“You don’t need to make that face. It was already on your calendar,” Meg said, as her line rang and Lane went into her office.
“Meg Kelly.”
“Hello, Ms. Luciano.”
“I spoke with Mr. Coyle. I explained that with your cooperation, we have ordered paternity tests with another individual. Since he didn’t direct me to his attorney, I don’t think we have anything to worry about. But if you hear from him again, please call me immediately.”
“Thank-you, Ms. Luciano.” Meg hung up the phone, still wondering how the DNA test could show anyone else to be Abbey’s father. But as Ms. Luciano had said, Scott wouldn’t be bothering her again.
She sent a text to Jake. They’d only been dating four weeks, and the thought that he’d protect her and Abbey this way boggled her mind. But then her only relationship experience was with a controlling and abusive ex-boyfriend. Jake was gentle, patient, caring, and generous. Not to mention handsome as all get out. He was kind of a Hemsworth. (Actor brothers who were tall, blonde and totally ripped.) If she wasn’t careful, she was going to fall in love with her boss’s eldest son.
Lane made it through her meetings and packed up her office to leave. “Do you and Jake have plans tonight?” Lane wasn’t sure where to draw the line between being the boss and being the boyfriend’s mother.
“I’m sure we’ll talk later, but we don’t have plans to get together. Have you got some family thing going on,” Meg asked, as they walked toward the elevators.
“Jess has to go back to L.A. early. She has a big audition on Friday. I hoped we’d be able to talk as a family about wedding plans tonight.”
They rode the elevator together, Meg got out on the first floor and Lane took the elevator to the underground parking garage where her Mercedes hardtop convertible was parked. It had been a birthday gift from Ben’s uncles.
Her house was only about 15 minutes from the office. “Hey, guys, I’m home,” Lane called as she walked into her home office and dropped off her briefcase. She walked into the kitchen to find all three Parker Kids gathered around the breakfast bar.
“Hey. Let me go change. Then I’ll get dinner started and you can tell us all about your audition,” Lane said as she headed toward her room.
After Lane left the room, Jake looked at his siblings. “I heard from Meg. Daniella talked to Coyle. Sounds like he’s going to back off.”
“That’s good news,” Jamie said.
Jess’s cell phone rang. “Parrott Boy. Don’t you have rounds to do or something?”
Pauli laughed. “As a matter of fact, I’ve finished rounds. Do you have a date for the wedding this weekend?”
Jess stepped out of the kitchen into the family room. “There isn’t going to be a wedding this weekend. I’ve got an audition on Friday so they’re going to have to put it off. I have to go back to L.A. tomorrow.”
Boy, she really did play hard to get. He thought they’d bonded yesterday when she called him to help with the DNA testing. He was three hours away and was wracking his brain trying to figure out how he was going to see her again before she left. “Okay. When are you leaving? Do you have your flight information yet?”
God, she didn’t have time for Baby Bellini. She had gotten the script for the audition and she’d gone out and bought the first book in the Harts in Time series. She was auditioning for the role of identical twin sisters Kate and Kit Hart who were somehow thrust through time. Kate travelling 100 years in the past, Kit travelling 100 years into the future. It was sci-fi meets action, meets romance meets mystery, demanding as hell and the opportunity of a lifetime for an actor.
“I leave tomorrow night. I have a lot of lines to learn. Look, Mom’s here and we’re going to talk about the wedding plans. I need to go.” And she ended the call.
Jess went back into the kitchen and sat at the breakfast bar with her brothers. Lane was preparing meatloaf. It wasn’t your normal meatloaf. Sure it had hamburger and pork with an egg for binding and spices and ketchup, but after mixing all of the ingredients together, Lane rolled it out flat, grated cheese on it and rolled it back into a loaf closing the ends. She served it with scalloped potatoes and asparagus. Yes it would clog your arteries, but they all loved it. Lane had taken her ring off while she mixed the meats, ketchup, egg and spices together with her bare hands. Jess picked it up and examined it. It was at least 10 carats, much of the carat weight in a large square radiant stone, flanked by two baguettes on either side, with a tear drop shaped diamond in the filigree work in both the front and back. No doubt set in platinum. Ben had dropped a bundle on it. She knew he loved her mother and she felt bad that she was going to be the cause of them postponing the wedding.
“So, tell us about the audition,” Lane said as she mixed the meatloaf ingredients.
“It’s an amazing opportunity. The role is for twin sisters Kit and Kate Hart and it’s based on the Harts in Time book trilogy.”
“Oh,” Lane said, “I’ve read those. The books were riveting. I devoured them. It sounds like it could be a Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games kind of opportunity. I’m so excited for you.”
Ben had come in as Jess was explaining about the role.
“Break a leg, Jess. What time on Friday is the audition? We’ll keep our fingers crossed.”
Lane had put the meatloaf and the potatoes in the oven and everyone sat around the table to discuss wedding plans.
“Kansas has a three day waiting period between applying for and getting the license, so the soonest we could have gotten married would have been Friday, but the license is good for six months.” Ben held Lane’s hand as he talked. He looked at Jess. “We’ll have to work around your schedule after you get the role.” He looked back to Lane and squeezed her hand. “Just try to remember I’m an anxious groom. Any time we can get everyone together in the same place for long enough for Father Palmert to get through the ceremony works for me.” He smiled and winked at her. “The good thing, I guess, is you have a little longer to find the perfect dress. And I can drive the guys to Neiman’s Saturday so they can get measured for suits.”
He looked at the Parker brothers. “A man needs a good suit in his wardrobe. You never know when it might come in handy.”
Lane knew that meant a drive St. Louis for Brioni suits. She shook her head thinking about her sons in suits costing upward of $3000 each. The price tag of a single suit would probably be more than her own wedding dress and Jess’s bridesmaid dress combined. The difference of course was that the men really would be able to wear their suits again versus what brides had been telling bridesmaids for decades… “you’ll get a lot of use out of it later.” She’d never known a bridesmaid who wore the dress again.
She looked at Jess. “What time is your flight tomorrow?”
“My flight’s at 7:30.”
“I’m having my teeth cleaned at three o’clock and was hoping I didn’t have to reschedule.”
Ben laughed. “My appointment must be right after yours. I’m at four o’clock.” Lane and Ben used the same dentist. She smiled. Ben had made recommendations for so many things dentist, doctor, hair dresser, grocery store and mechanic when she’d first moved, and she’d followed every one.
“Good. Then Mom should easily be out before five o’clock. So, I should be Okay. Since I’m doing carry on, I could even be a little later. You know it usually doesn’t take very long to get through security at KCI. It sure isn’t LAX.”
The oven timer went off, and Lane got up and put the asparagus into the steamer and set its timer. When that timer went off, everything would be ready. Out of habit, she sent the kids to “clean up before dinner.” She was alone in the kitchen with Ben. He stepped behind her and putting his arms around her, he kissed her neck. She leaned back against him. He was right, there really wasn’t any reason for a long engagement. She turned around and kissed him.