Sidney Sheldon's Chasing Tomorrow (Tracy Whitney) Read Online Free PDF Page B

must that be worth?”
    “It’s priceless,” said Jeff.
    Tracy frowned. “Nothing’s priceless. I mean it, I’m curious. How much would a private collector pay for something like that?”
    “I don’t know. A helluva lot. There’s more than a million pounds’ worth of gold there, even if you melted the thing down. But as an irreplaceable piece of history?” He shrugged. “Two or three million? I’m guessing.”
    Tracy whistled. “Wow.” She glanced around as the old biddies finished their plastic cups of tea and began to sit down. “Who are the granny brigade?” she whispered in Jeff’s ear.
    “They’re the volunteers. They’re going to run the exhibition. They help catalog the treasures, man the admissions desk and give guided tours. I’m about to give them an introductory lecture.”
    “Are you kidding me?” Tracy looked shocked. “You leave amateurs in charge of millions of dollars’ worth of gold?”
    “They’re well-informed amateurs,” said Jeff. “Hell, I’m an amateur.”
    “Yeah, but if someone grabs that vase and makes a run for it, at least you can run after them. What are this bunch gonna do? Throw their walkers?”
    Jeff laughed. “No one’s gonna steal anything.”
    Rebecca Mortimer wandered over. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said. Tracy noticed that her accent was cut-glass Oxbridge, and that she didn’t look particularly sorry. “But we really ought to get started in a minute. Jeff?”
    She touched his arm, only for a second. It was a tiny gesture, almost unnoticeable, but it implied a certain intimacy between her and Jeff that Tracy didn’t like. At all.
    “He’ll be with you in a moment,” she said coldly.
    Rebecca took the hint and walked away.
    “My, my,” murmured Jeff, sotto voce, an amused look on his face. “You really are jealous.”
    “It must be my hormones.” Tracy beamed back at him. “We pregnant women can get terribly overemotional, you know.”
    It took a few seconds for the impact of her words to sink in. When they did, Jeff swept her up into his arms with a whoop of delight and kissed her on the lips for a very long time. The assembled volunteers all turned to gawk at them.
    “Really?” said Jeff, finally coming up for air. “You’re sure?”
    “I’m sure,” said Tracy. “Four tests can’t all be wrong.”
    “That’s wonderful. The most wonderful news ever. I’ll take you out to dinner tonight to celebrate.”
    Tracy felt a warm wave of elation flow over her.
    Jeff walked over to begin his lecture and she turned to go.
    Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw the young intern, Rebecca, shoot her a resentful look.
    DINNER WAS WONDERFUL. JEFF took her to Como Lario in Belgravia, one of their favorites. Tracy ate the carciofi e radicchio followed by a perfectly tender scaloppine al limone. Jeff wolfed down his filet steak, despite barely being able to chew thanks to the smile plastered across his face. Tracy wasn’t drinking, but Jeff insisted on two flutes of champagne for a toast.
    “To our future. Our family. To Jeff Stevens Junior!”
    Tracy laughed. “Sexist pig. Who says it’s a boy?”
    “It’s a boy.”
    “Well, if it is, over my dead body are we calling him Jeff Junior. No offense, darling, but I’m not sure the world could cope with two Jeff Stevenses.”
    Later, in bed, Tracy slipped into her sexiest Rigby & Peller negligee, a tiny silk slip in buttermilk with white lace trim. “Enjoy it while you can.” She snuggled up to Jeff, running her fingers languidly through the tangle of hair on his chest. “Soon I’ll be the size of a house. You’ll need to use a forklift to move me.”
    “Nonsense. You’ll be the most beautiful pregnant woman on earth,” said Jeff, kissing her gently on the mouth.
    “Do you ever miss the old days?” Tracy asked him suddenly. “The adrenaline? The challenge? You, me and Gunther against the world?”
    “Never.”
    He said it with such sincerity and finality that