When The Lights Went Out... Read online

  WHEN THE LIGHTS

  WENT OUT…

  Judy Christenberry

  To: Jen, Lauren, Julia, Maggie

  From: Sharon

  Date: 10/01

  RE: Due Date: 7 months!

  Remember my dream man? The one I met when trapped in the elevator? Well, he's back—and he's our new client! The moment I heard his voice, I knew Jack Waterton was the man I'd—who'd— Well, the man from the elevator! For weeks I've been thinking of his strong arms and the kindness of his touch. And now we're working together! But I don't know if he remembers me yet—or knows I have a very special reminder of our night together…

  prologue

  Kane Haley leaned back in his chair, thinking about his luncheon appointment. He just had to take care of this one little chore and then he’d—

  A voice on the phone interrupted his thoughts. He’d been put on hold several minutes ago, and he’d been getting a little impatient.

  “Uh, I’m sorry, Mr. Haley.”

  “I don’t understand. You’re sorry about what?”

  “The—the sperm donation you made was accidently dispersed.” The man had rushed through that sentence.

  Kane's chair snapped into an upright position as he took in the meaning. Slowly, he said, “By dispersed, you mean some woman took—some woman is having my baby?” His voice grew louder. “Some—who?”

  “We can’t tell you that, but it only happened because the woman was an employee of your company, and that’s why the clerk thought your sperm was what she wanted. And—and we’re sorry for any inconvenience.”

  “Any inconvenience? Any—damn it! Give me the woman’s name.”

  “We can’t do that, Mr. Haley. We’d be sued.”

  Kane didn’t care if they were sued. Hell, he might sue them himself. He’d given the sperm because his best friend, Bill Jeffers, had discovered he had cancer. He was to begin radiation treatment and wanted to save his own sperm for the future. Kane had gone with him in support, and the counselor they’d visited with had suggested Kane donate sperm also to be held in case his friend’s sperm shouldn’t work.

  He’d just learned his friend’s wife was pregnant— the natural way—and he’d decided to ask the sperm bank to destroy his own donation.

  Too late.

  “When did this happen? Surely you can tell me that?”

  “It—it was recent, but I can’t give you any more information than that. Thank you.”

  Then he was listening to a dial tone. He slammed down the receiver. What now? What was he going to do? Should he ask Maggie to—no, he didn’t want to explain this problem to her. Maggie was his incredibly efficient assistant who was as strict with him as she was with herself. He couldn’t see himself confessing to Maggie that he’d been careless with his sperm!

  Okay, so he’d have to handle this himself. He’d— he’d look at the women among his employees and find out who was pregnant.

  And ask them who the father was?

  He couldn’t ask a question like that. No, he had to have a reason.

  After a knock on his door, Maggie entered. “Are you going to lunch?”

  “Yes, uh, yes, but I—” Suddenly inspiration struck. “I have a question for you. Do we have any women employees who are pregnant?”

  She stared at him, then nodded and said, “Yes.”

  “I see. Do—do we offer any benefits to them?”

  She blinked, her cheeks turning pink. “We offer medical benefits.”

  “Ah. I was wondering if we should do more. Like—like create an on-site child-care center? I was reading an article about the benefits to a company that meets its employees’ needs.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. So—so tomorrow, I’m going to do some questioning of our pregnant employees. I’ll need a list of them.”

  “Very well.”

  “You can get me a list?” he asked, always amazed at Maggie’s efficiency.

  “I’ll do my best.” She laid some papers on his desk and turned to leave.

  Tomorrow. Tomorrow he’d find out who was having his baby.

  chapter one

  Sharon Davies approached the bank of elevators, pretending her life was perfectly sane, calm, happy.

  She had a good job with Kane Haley, Inc., a growing accounting firm in Chicago. She loved her work, she had a great family, the sun was shining… and this morning she’d taken a home pregnancy test.

  The elevator door opened, and she didn’t move. Someone pushed her from behind. “Come on, lady, I got deliveries to make.”

  “Sorry,” she muttered and stepped to one side. “Go ahead. I’ll take the next one.”

  The messenger, along with several other people, entered the elevator. Then he looked at Sharon. “Come on, there’s room.”

  “No! No, I—I can’t.” She took another step back. He stared at her as if she were crazy. Maybe she was. Not many sane people could claim to have gotten pregnant in an elevator. That elevator.

  The door closed and Sharon stared at her image in the mirrored doors. She didn’t look like a loose woman. She was wearing a conservative gray sheer wool suit, a plum silk blouse with all but the top button closed. Her skirt was slim but of moderate length. Her shoes were low heels. She wasn’t trying to catch a man’s eye.

  She hadn’t been trying two months ago either. But she’d been late to work after a terrible morning when everything that could go wrong had. She hated elevators, but she certainly hadn’t been tempted to use the stairs to walk up sixteen floors. She enjoyed exercise, but she wasn’t crazy.

  Another elevator opened. Drawing a deep breath, she entered it, crossing her arms over her chest so no one would notice her hands shaking. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. Jack’s face filled her head, only today it didn’t have a calming effect.

  Her eyes filled with unshed tears. They popped open and she blinked several times to dry them. She wasn’t going to cry.

  The door slid open on the top floor, her floor, and she quickly stepped out. Pasting a smile on her lips, she greeted fellow workers as she hurried to her desk. She felt—safer behind her desk. It wasn’t as if anyone could see that she was pregnant… yet. The first thing she had to do, however, was make a doctor’s appointment.

  She was the only member of their department at work, so she grabbed the phone and dialed her doctor’s office. A couple of minutes later, she hung up the phone. Tomorrow morning at nine. At least that little errand was taken care of.

  She stepped to her boss’s office. Andrew Huffman was the closest thing to a father-figure she’d had since her own father had walked out on her mother, leaving his five children. Sharon was the oldest.

  The struggle that ensued, still ongoing, had reminded her every day that men—at least some men— couldn’t be trusted. Now, with her mother’s hard work and her own contributions, starting when she’d gotten a part-time job at fourteen, all her siblings were getting a college education.

  When she’d started at Kane Haley Inc., fresh out of high school at eighteen, she’d come to Andrew Huffman’s department. He’d encouraged her to learn and grow, using the company training as well as her night classes, to take on more and more responsibility.

  She’d completed her degree this August and Andy had been as excited as her. Now, she rapped on his door, knowing he’d be at his desk. He was nearing retirement age and worked from a wheelchair, but he had the energy of men half his age.

  “Come in.”

  “Andy? I have a doctor’s appointment for tomorrow morning, so I won’t be in until ten or ten-thirty. Is that okay?”

  “Sure. Is everything okay?”

  “Yes. Just something I need to take care of.” Sh
e certainly wasn’t going to tell anyone about it until she had her pregnancy confirmed by a doctor. She wasn’t sure if the home tests were really reliable. Or maybe she was just hoping.

  “Okay. I may have some good news for you next week. Your very own project,” he exclaimed with a boyish grin.

  She tried to look excited. “Really? Any details?”

  “Can’t tell you yet. But keep up the good work.”

  She retreated to her desk. She and Andy had talked about her heading up her first project. Without her degree, he couldn’t let her take that responsibility, but he’d promised she’d get the chance now.

  Yesterday, she would’ve been thrilled.

  Now she wasn’t sure she could handle it.

  The temptation to call Jen was hard to resist. One of her friends, Jennifer Martin, was the Health Benefits Manager. It was Jen who had inspired her to buy a home pregnancy kit. When Sharon had complained over lunch about fatigue and occasional nausea, Jen had commented that it sounded like pregnancy to her.

  Sharon had laughed, along with Jen, because Jen would know. She’d discovered her own pregnancy a month after her fiancé had died in a car wreck.

  Jen didn’t know she was the inspiration, because she didn’t know about the elevator incident. No one did except her and Jack.

  If only she knew who Jack was.

  “Yes, the test was correct, Miss Davies. You are approximately eight weeks pregnant. Your baby is developing nicely. I foresee no difficulties. I’ll write you a prescription for prenatal vitamins and set you up for an examination schedule of every six weeks until you’re six months pregnant. It will be every two weeks then, until we’re down to the last month. I might change to every week then.”

  The older woman in the white coat beamed at her as she made notes on the new chart. “Now, who shall I list as the father?”

  Sharon stared at her. She’d been coming to Dr. Norman since she’d started working at Kane Haley, Inc., eight years ago. The doctor was on their company plan and was in the same building, convenient.

  “Uh, I’m not listing a father’s name,” she said calmly, folding her hands in her lap.

  “You don’t know who the father is?” Dr. Norman asked sharply.

  “I know who he is, but I don’t want his name on the records. It’s my baby and I’ll provide for it.”

  “Ah, a married man,” the doctor muttered, her lips flattening out as she pressed them tightly together.

  Was he? Sharon didn’t think so, but she couldn’t say for sure. When he’d held her in his arms, caressing her as they talked, sharing the most intimate parts of their lives, he’d told her about his wife and unborn son dying in a car accident. But the accident had been eight years ago.

  Maybe he hadn’t brought her up to date on his life because—because they were touching each other in an inappropriate way. But she’d been so frightened, so terrified of dying, she had wanted to crawl inside him and hide.

  “Miss Davies? Sharon? Are you all right?” the doctor asked.

  “Yes, why?”

  “You didn’t answer my question. I wondered if your family would— Probably you’re okay financially, since you have insurance, but birth is an emotional thing, as well. Will your family help you?”

  “Yes, my family will be there for me.”

  “I can’t help but recommend you notify the father, even if you aren’t together anymore. He has the right to know about his impending fatherhood.”

  Sharon stared straight ahead. Even if she wanted to tell Jack the results of their strange odyssey, Jack was all she knew. No last name. She wasn’t even sure she could identify him. Until the elevator got stuck, she hadn’t looked at him. Then, after half an hour, the lights went out.

  She knew his scent. A wonderfully male essence that made her think of a fall day and a sexy man, crisp yet tantalizing. She knew his voice, that sexy burr that comforted and excited her and made her forget the danger.

  Just not his name.

  “I’d like you to take birthing classes. You’ll need a partner.” When Sharon said nothing, she added, “You can go without a partner, but you’ll be more comfortable if you can enlist a friend. Everyone else will be in a couple.”

  “Yes. How soon will I start them?”

  “Not until you’re five months pregnant. Here is some literature for you to study, to get you started. If you have any questions, any at all, call the nurse. Okay?”

  The doctor stood, handing her the literature and a prescription.

  “Thank you, Doctor.”

  Sharon left, hiding the papers in her purse before she ran into someone from her office. She didn’t want the information to get out until it had to. Until her body changed so much she couldn’t hide it.

  The doctor’s office was on the twelfth floor. She took the stairway back to her company’s floors, fourteen through sixteen. The small cafeteria was on the fifteenth floor and served as the break room also.

  She stopped there instead of going straight back to work. Several of her friends waved to her and she hurried over.

  “Hi, Sharon, join us,” Maggie offered. She was the assistant to Mr. Haley himself, the owner of the company. But she didn’t act any differently than Sharon’s other friends.

  “Let me get some juice before I sit down,” Sharon said.

  When she returned to the table, Lauren Conner asked, “What happened to your usual diet soda?”

  “Oh, I’m fighting a cold and the doctor suggested less soda and more fruit juice.”

  “Good for you,” Maggie said. “I’m getting older and discovering everything you eat affects you. It’s gross!”

  Both Lauren and Sharon laughed. They were midtwenties, but Maggie was thirty-three. Still not what most people would consider as over the hill.

  “I think you’ve got a few years, Maggie,” Sharon assured her.

  “I certainly hope so, but I need all my energy to keep up with Kane.”

  Jennifer Martin entered the cafeteria and immediately joined them. “Hi. Sorry I’m late. The big boss had some questions for me.” She looked at Maggie. “Did you know about this?”

  Maggie calmly continued eating a cluster of grapes. “You mean the child-care possibilities?”

  “Yes,” Jen said.

  Sharon immediately sat straighter in her chair.

  “On site? Child-care on site?” she asked.

  Both Jen and Maggie nodded.

  Lauren clapped her hands. “Jen, how wonderful for you! That will help a lot, won’t it?”

  “It would be wonderful,” Jen agreed. “When he asked me about it, I thought I must be dreaming.” Jen was more than seven months pregnant and had successfully hidden her pregnancy until recently. “Not that it will be ready right away even if he decides to go ahead with it, but it’s something great to look forward to.”

  “Kane certainly hadn’t considered the idea until the last day or so. He said he read an article,” Maggie told her. “I gave him a list of pregnant women this morning, but I didn’t put anyone on the list who hadn’t already announced her pregnancy.”

  “I didn’t let my emotions show, but I almost passed out with surprise,” Jen said with a chuckle. “He’s decided to form a committee to study the idea. Matt Holder and I are on it. A woman due in a couple of months and a confirmed bachelor! I hope whoever the other members of the committee are, they have some experience with babies!”

  “Well, I hope Kane won’t be on it. After all, he’s divorced and has no children, so he won’t have any experience either,” Maggie pointed out.

  “It’s pretty impressive that he thought of the idea, isn’t it?” Sharon said. “He’s a very good employer.”

  “Yes, he is,” Maggie agreed, warmth in her voice.

  They all suspected Maggie had feelings for her boss, but she’d never admitted to them, and none of them would think of asking her.

  Sharon had so much to think about. She finished her juice and stood. “I’d better get to work. I haven
’t been to the office yet since I had an appointment this morning.”

  “How are you feeling? Any better?” Jen asked.

  “Um, yeah. I drank juice instead of a soda. The doctor said I needed more vitamin C. See you!”

  She hurried away, afraid she’d blurt out things she needed to keep to herself. But in twenty-four hours, her life had changed so much, it was difficult to take it all in.

  “Everything all right?” Andy asked her as soon as she reported in.

  “Yes, fine. Did I miss anything this morning?”

  “Nope, just work, and we saved you some,” he added with a grin.

  Sharon smiled back and went to her desk, greeting the other members of the staff as she went. She was so fortunate to work in this department, Special Projects. Everyone was so cheerful.

  She knew it all stemmed from Andy. He always had a smile on his face. And who could complain about bills or the sniffles or whatever when their boss was in a wheelchair?

  That was what she had decided last night. So she was pregnant. She’d always wanted children, but she didn’t have any enthusiasm for marriage. So, now she didn’t have to worry about it. Fortunately she lived in an age when women didn’t have to force themselves into a marriage they didn’t want just because they’d been unfortunate enough—no, not unfortunate. She wasn’t going to think that way. There were a lot of women in the world who couldn’t get pregnant. She was one of the fortunate ones.

  The doctor might recommend telling the father, but she didn’t. After all, he’d left the hospital without contacting her. They’d been taken in separate ambulances to the nearest hospital after they’d been rescued. When she’d been checked and released, she’d asked about him. The nurse told her he’d already gone.

  He obviously had felt he didn’t owe her anything, and he didn’t want anything to do with her. That much was clear.

  She pulled out her work and swept such thoughts away. She had seven months to adjust to being a single parent. She didn’t have to devote today to such things.

  After lunch, she again had settled down to work when her phone rang.