Countdown To Baby

“Wouldn’t surprise me at all.”

“Is there anything in particular that’s got you scowling now or just a series of events?”

Vanessa made a face. “I’ve been dealing with a mess in the medical supply room. Everything’s rearranged. I couldn’t even find the Orcadol. Someone put all the bottles in the wrong place.”

Cecilia frowned and spoke quickly, “Orcadol is missing? Should we notify Detective Collins?”

Vanessa shook her head, making her enormous earrings swing wildly. She held both hands up in a calming and rather pleading gesture. “Lord, don’t get the detective all worked up again. I didn’t say anything was missing, just misplaced. The new security measures seem to be working well enough to satisfy even Detective Collins. The filing system, on the other hand, definitely needs some work.”

It still concerned Cecilia that Orcadol had been incorrectly shelved, but she told herself Vanessa had the situation under control. She was just oversensitive about the subject, she supposed, after what she had overheard between Collins and Mari. “I’m on my way to a consultation with Mari. It shouldn’t take too long. Want to grab lunch afterward and have a nice, long gripe session?”

“You bet I do. Find me when you’re free.”

Cecilia nodded and moved on toward Mari’s office. Mari looked up from her usual mountain of paperwork with a smile. Obviously, judging from her expression, she was having a better day than yesterday.

“Thank God it’s Friday,” she said as Cecilia took a chair beside the desk in response to a wave from Mari’s hand. “Those words have never seemed more appropriate than they do this week.”

“I know what you mean. Vanessa and I were just saying something to that effect. It’s been a madhouse around here.”

“Speaking of which—I’m sorry I ran out of here like a crazy woman yesterday.”

“I understood. You were worried about your brother.” Cecilia had pretty much been a crazy woman herself after that, though she had done her best to hide it.

Mari nodded gravely. “Yeah. I hate that motorcycle, and Geoff knows it. It’s a miracle he didn’t break his fool neck.”

Were you afraid I’d broken my neck before I fulfilled my bargain to you? Cecilia could hear the echo of Geoff’s resentful question in her mind, and it still irritated her.

“I’m glad he wasn’t seriously injured” was all she said to his sister.

Mari’s face softened. “Me, too. As annoyed as I get with him at times, I still love the guy.”

Cecilia was becoming increasingly concerned that she did, too. And that possibility terrified her almost as badly as Geoff’s motorcycle.

“Did you see him last night?” Mari asked casually. “He seemed anxious to let you know he wasn’t seriously injured.”

So maybe he had thought she’d been kept informed. It made Cecilia feel somewhat better that he had at least thought of her. She answered very casually. “Yes, he came by my place for dinner. He looked battered, but generally in good shape.”

“Bet he’s sore today.” Mari sounded more amused than perturbed. Typical sibling, Cecilia thought with a slight smile. Mari had “I told him so” written all over her.

There was a bit more compassion in Cecilia’s reply. “I’m sure he is.”

“So you and Geoff have been seeing quite a bit of each other during the last few weeks, haven’t you?”

Also typical big sister. Nosy.

“We’re friends,” Cecilia said with a light shrug. “He’s been at loose ends while he waits for the next business jaunt, and it turns out we share a fondness for pizza and the history channel.”

She had been making similar explanations so frequently during the past few weeks that it came naturally to her now. She hadn’t even had to stop to think about how to respond without piquing his sister’s interest.

Mari looked a bit disappointed by the prosaic response. “He does love the history channel. And he rarely finds anyone willing to watch it with him.”

“Same here. Now, about this new patient I saw yesterday…”

Confident that she had adequately deflected Mari’s curiosity—at least for now—Cecilia kept the conversation on business for the rest of the meeting.

She would leave it to Geoff to make explanations if a pregnancy test yielded positive results at the end of the month.

Geoff doubted that it was entirely coincidence that he ran into Eric Mendoza in the hallway of Bingham Enterprises Friday afternoon.