The Baby Arrangement (The Daycare Chronicles 3)

Mallory wasn’t as undisturbed as she seemed.

“You going to have the cranberry-and-turkey salad?” he asked.

She nodded.

He let go of her hand.

And they ate lunch.

Chapter Seventeen

The second he’d seen a hint of the emotion boiling up inside her, he’d shut down. Mallory recognized the response.

And so she did what their friendship required. She ate lunch. As much of it as she could get past the lump in her throat.

Her babies needed nourishment no matter what they were facing. Most particularly considering what they might be facing. They could have more than the normal challenges ahead of them.

Braden chatted about the Mason situation. The pipes in question became the responsibility of the owner when they were so many feet from the street. And an insurance policy, acquired by Mason before Braden Property Management was in the picture, required a rider to cover them. Braden had gotten a quote from a plumber to fix the problem. And he and Mason had decided to cover the cost.

They were also adding the underground plumbing rider to all of Mason’s property policies.

She heard it all as she sat there, watching him. But she couldn’t help the worry and fear from taking residence in her mind, as well.

On their way out to their cars, she finally explained the test to him. “It was a genetic disorder blood test. It looks for chromosomal abnormalities. That can be anything from a lack that often leads to death within the first year of life, or ones which could still provide a perfectly normal life expectancy. It could be trisomy 21, Down syndrome, which could be high functioning or not. There are others. A lot of them mean some level of developmental delay. If the babies are identical, it will most likely affect both of them. If they’re fraternal, meaning they come from two eggs, it could go either way. The test seemed to indicate that it’s not the most severe. And the doctor specifically stated that she wasn’t particularly worried.”

She smiled at him. “I’ve weathered worse, Bray. I’m going to be fine, no matter what we find out.”

He didn’t look convinced. He walked her to her car, waited while she let herself in and then shut the door behind her.

When he still stood there, she rolled the window down.

“Call me,” he said. “When you hear, call me.”

She nodded.

She’d have done so anyway.

He was her friend and she needed his support.

* * *

Braden was on his phone before he’d left the parking lot, arranging to stay in San Diego for the night. He’d had a dinner meeting that evening in L.A. that had to be rescheduled, and appointments in the morning, but he was able to fill his calendar in San Diego for the rest of the afternoon and set up a couple of video calls for the next morning.

He’d established a system that would allow him to work from either location, and it was serving him just fine.

He called Anna and let her know his business in San Diego was taking longer than he’d expected. She didn’t ask if he’d be seeing his ex-wife while he was in town. He liked that about her. She didn’t get all up in the drama of a situation.

He planned a sit-down with William, glad to have some time to spend with the man who kept his life running on time and on target.

In the meantime he was able to book a cancelled spot with the new physical trainer in the gym on the bottom floor of his building.

Up until his former trainer had been arrested—for having kidnapped his son—Braden had trained twice a week. He needed to get back with it.

The workout was good. He kicked it, hard, and came out sweating so much he stank. Showering off in his office suite, he changed back into his suit and looked at his phone. Three thirty and still no call from Mallory.

He’d had the cell on and with him in the gym. He’d even left it on the counter by the shower.

He couldn’t plan his evening until he knew that Mallory wouldn’t need him for anything. Not that there’d be much he could do. He wasn’t a doctor. Or a miracle worker.