"Good morning."
"Your husband is not in the building. He left a few minutes ago."
She already knew that but gave no indication she did.
"Oh? That's disappointing. I'm assuming Ms. Carstairs is in the office."
"She is."
"I'll just go on up then."
"Your pregnancy becomes you." The one called Maxine was obviously the mouthpiece for the other three.
"Why, thank you. I feel fat and awkward, but that's just my opinion."
"You look beautiful."
"Thank you." With a wave, she crossed towards the elevator and could not help but wonder if she was just saying that because Courtney was the wife of the CEO. With a laugh, she rode the elevator to the top floor. As soon as the doors opened, the feeling of nostalgia hit her. And memories assailed her. She had come to work here, pregnant and frightened of the future, never dreaming that she would fall in love with the contrary man who ran the company.
"Mrs. Livingston!" The surprise and obvious pleasure warred on Ellen Carstairs' face as she jumped from her seat and came forward to greet her. "How lovely you look. And how pregnant."
"Eight and a half weeks and feeling every bit of it." She hugged the woman. "And it's time you revert to calling me by my first name. It feels weird you are calling me by my married name."
Tucking her hand through Courtney's arm, she guided her towards the desk.
"You're after all the wife of the CEO and I still call him by his surname. Sit please and let me make you some tea."
"I don't want to disturb your work or take you seat," she protested.
"Nonsense. It was your desk for a while. Chamomile okay?"
"Perfect." She turned her eyes to the screen. "Oh, you're working on the Bosely project."
"Yes. Your husband has big plans for that place." She brought the tea over and sat on a chair next to the one Courtney occupied and did not mind her going over the report. "What do you think?"
"He ran his idea by me last night and I told him that I love the fact that he's keeping the original structure. That hotel has been a fixture in the community for almost a hundred years."
"Precisely. Prewar building with a lot of history." Her sharp eyes noticed as the young woman rubbed a hand over her back.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes." Courtney forced a smile and tried not to grimace when she felt the shimmer of pain across her back. "Braxton Hicks."
"Mrs. Livingston. Courtney. I think it's wise if you go on home and put your feet up." She rushed forward in alarm when Courtney shoved back the chair and rose a little unsteadily. "It's just..."
The rest of the words died inside her throat. Both women stared at the man striding through the doorway.
"What the hell are you doing here, Courtney?"
"I was just leaving..."
He turned to pin the poor hapless Ms. Carstairs with a look that could bend steel. "You accommodated her?"
"I was..."
"I'm not a child." Courtney tried to appear dignified and affronted, but the pain that struck left her speechless and had her bending over.
"Courtney?" Forgetting his anger, he crossed to her in an instant. "Baby?"
