Baby Comes First Read Online Free PDF Page A

He’d made such a habit of looking only at her
face, he’d seen nothing else. “I didn’t know she was married.”
    “She’s not.”
    His eyebrows rose. Ms. Hansen living with
someone? That might be the norm these days, but he’d thought better
of her.
    But of course all of this was irrelevant. He
asked, “Do you know how long she’s planning to take for maternity
leave?”
    “Oh, you’re concerned about how long she’ll
be gone.” The director clicked her mouse again. “I assume she’ll
take six weeks.”
    Six weeks and then back to work again? Luke
felt sorry for her new baby. He might be old fashioned, but he
thought a baby should have a mother at home to take care of it. But
maybe Ms. Hansen was one of those women who thought their career
was more important, and that babies were mere inconveniences.
    Then he remembered the way she had tenderly
held Ms. Gardner’s baby and dismissed the idea. She didn’t think a
baby was an inconvenience. She’d be a good mother.
    He left the Human Resources office, deep in
thought.
     

 
    CHAPTER THREE
     
    Hannah could tell that something was
different the moment she got back to the office. The door to Mr.
Jamison’s office was open, rather than closed, and he walked out to
greet her as she reached her desk.
    “How was your doctor’s appointment?” he
asked.
    “Fine,” she said warily, wondering what had
changed him. In all the months that she’d worked for him, he had
never asked her a personal question. She put her purse in her
bottom desk drawer and thanked Katie who had taken over for
her.
    Katie scurried away, obviously grateful for
the chance to escape, leaving them alone together.
    Mr. Jamison stood by the corner of her desk,
as if wanting to speak to her.
    “Do you have work for me?” she asked after a
moment of silence.
    “No, nothing urgent. Just that appellate
brief I’m drafting.”
    She waited. It wasn’t like him to be at a
loss for words. Usually he spoke a mile a minute, giving her
multiple directions at once.
    He cleared his throat. “When exactly are you
due?”
    Hannah blinked, surprised by his question.
But since she’d told everyone else who asked, she answered calmly,
“November twenty sixth, give or take a few days.”
    He nodded. “I see. Is your boyfriend excited
about the baby?”
    “Boyfriend?”
    “Perhaps I’m using the wrong term. Your
lover? The father of the baby -- Is he excited?”
    Hannah felt like pinching herself, because
this conversation was too bizarre. She must be having a nightmare.
But no matter how much she wished she could wake up into a more
rational world, she knew she wasn’t dreaming. “Why this sudden
interest in my pregnancy?” she asked, avoiding his question.
    He smiled, watching her intently. “I’m just
trying to be friendly, to learn a little more about you.”
    Hannah had never noticed how personable Mr.
Jamison could be, if he tried. Perhaps that was because he had
never bothered to be pleasant with her. He had always treated her
more like a piece of office machinery. As long as she did her job,
he paid little attention to her.
    But this must be how he connected with
jurors, persuading them to side with his client. “I appreciate the
gesture, Mr. Jamison,” she said coolly. “But I’d rather not talk
about it.” She sat down at her desk and stared at her computer
screen, hoping he would take the not-so-subtle hint and leave.
After a moment of silence, she glanced up and saw that he was still
there, watching her.
    His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “He’s left
you, hasn’t he?”
    Hannah gasped. Now she understood how he
could pull information from contrary witnesses on the stand. He had
an uncanny ability to read people’s expressions and make lightning
quick assumptions. But she was not under oath, and she was under no
obligation to tell him anything.
    Or was she? Was it fair to knowingly have
his child without telling him?
    Hannah set that traitorous thought aside.
She’d