Read Baby Benefits for Free Online

her cell phone. Not her personal cell phone, but her always-on, always-had-to-answer-it work cell phone.
    She’d developed a strict rule about not talking to Derek during dinner with her family, but otherwise, she was accessible twenty-four hours a day. Since they hadn’t yet sat down at the table, she pulled the phone from her pocket, glancing at the number as she did so. She didn’t recognize it, but was relieved to see the New York area code. The last thing she needed was to talk to Derek right now.
    “Raina here.”
    “Louraina Huffman?” asked a disdainful woman’s voice.
    “Yes.”
    “The Louraina Huffman who’s Derek Messina’s assistant?” The voice seemed to imply that maybe some other Raina Huffman had swiped the phone for nefarious purposes.
    “Yes,” Raina repeated.
    “Well, then, I’ll need you to get a hold of him. I’ve been calling for the past day and a half and haven’t reached him. It’s been most inconvenient.”
    Raina nearly chuckled, despite her grim mood. Whoever this lady was, she was clearly put out. Somehow it just lightened her spirits knowing that some pretentious woman in New York was having a hard time with Derek, too.
    Keeping her humor to herself, she said in her most professional voice, “If you’ll just leave me your name and number I’ll pass them on to him immediately.”
    “This is Kitty.”
    She couldn’t place the name, so she asked, “And you are?”
    “His fiancée.”

    He’d known very few people in his life whose strength of will matched his own. Isabella, apparently, was one of those rare individuals.
    Not that fortitude, perseverance and pure mule-headedness were bad qualities in a daughter. He just wished she hadn’t aimed them all at him. Or that she’d do so more quietly.
    By nine-thirty, after less than six hours alone with Isabella, he’d given in and called Mrs. Hill to take over. The only thing worse than Mrs. Hill’s cloying sympathy when she showed up at his house was the smug expression on Isabella’s face. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear she was gloating.
    This minor setback only fueled his determination. She was his daughter. He would make her love him.
    However, despite his resolution to win her over, Isabella still seemed set against him. And apparently she’d convinced Mrs. Hill, as well.
    This morning, when he’d told the nanny she could go home, Mrs. Hill had practically smirked her disbelief. She’d left him three different numbers he could reach her at and offered more than once to check back in come nightfall. As he’d watched her leave, grim resolve had settled in his belly. Last night, he’d given in to his own insecurities and called for backup, but tonight would be different. After all, he had Raina coming to the house to work her magic.
    Isabella, well fed after being given a bottle by Mrs. Hill, was bouncing happily in some kind of spring-loaded seat on the living-room floor. For the moment, she appeared satisfied to play with the toys ringing the seat, but he knew from yesterday afternoon’s experience that things could go from peaceful to piercingly loud with little warning.
    He was just glancing at his watch when the doorbell rang. Even though Raina had a key to the house for emergencies, she always rang the bell. He found her on the other side of the door with her arms crossed over her chest, her foot tapping like mad.
    “You have a fiancée?” were the first words out of her mouth.
    “What?” he asked before her question even sank in.
    “A fiancée,” she repeated slowly, as if he were mentally impaired. “As in a woman whom you are planning to marry.”
    “Oh, Kitty.” Truth be told, he hadn’t given Kitty much thought over the past two days. He hadn’t exactly forgotten about her, but his intention to call her had fallen by the wayside when faced with Isabella’s tantrums. Telling Kitty he had a daughter would be hard enough. Explaining why that daughter seemed to hate him was more than he