The Finish Line Read online

  As he sat on her loveseat, - having stepped over her to get there - Hill thought about pestering her until he got his way. He thought of blackmailing her, and teasing her. What he didn't allow to formulate was the thought of 'ordering' her to get up off the floor and go get dressed. That would just be suicidal.

  Thoughtfully, he studied the blue cocoon at his feet. The idea of taking her to church with him had come this morning as he was getting dressed. He was by no means a regular, nor did he live like a saint, but his father had gotten 'saved' listening to a radio broadcast years ago, and church had become a weekly family event right up to his death. Even Hill's mother, a notoriously secular woman, had become a regular attendee while her husband was alive. The last time she had set foot in a church however was the day she buried her first husband.

  Hill had continued attending church once or twice a month because of the revelation his father had promised him would come one day. He went in search of that elusive truth that had made Hilliard Griffin II a devout and godly man, and a better husband and father than he had been before his conversion. He'd learned a lot from the daily devotionals his father shared with him in the back of their town car in the mornings while they had driven into the city for school and work. And, there were character building lessons he'd gotten from the Bible since Hill Jr.'s death. Most importantly, he had received unexpected comfort in coping with his father's untimely passing. Now that he had a family of his own in the making, religious faith was a value that Hill wanted to share with them. It had made his father the best man he could be; and though Hill had yet to receive the promised revelation, he hoped it would do the same for him. Unfortunately, it seemed like he'd picked the wrong woman to share the experiences of family and faith with. Anna didn't look like she'd be budging anytime soon.

  With the tip of his toe he nudged her thigh. "Hey," he whispered above her. But she'd already dismissed him - if he went by the light snoring coming from the cocoon. With a deep sigh of disappointment, Hill bent to gather her in his arms and took her to bed.

  "What are you doing?" was her murmured protest. "I'm too heavy."

  He kissed her brow, wanting badly to lay her down and climb in beside her, but knowing that this wasn't the time. "I'm taking you to bed."

  Her eyes were closed, but a brow rose. "I thought it was the woman that got tempted to taste the forbidden fruit when she should have been at church."

  After lowering her to the mattress, he braced his arms on either side of her, fascinated with the translucent mahogany of her lids. "I'm tempted, but I won't taste. I can see you're not going to wake up and go with me, so I'll tell you what I have to say and leave." She turned on her side away from him. So, he tugged her shoulder until she sprawled on her back again. "Are you listening?"

  "You are such a pain."

  "You'll soon find that you love my kind of pain," he promised. "Now, listen closely. I'm going on a short trip to England tomorrow. I'll be back here next Sunday morning at the same time, so no lingering at the Roll after work. We're going to church, and then to lunch. Got that?"

  "Sure. Whatever. Just go away."

  "I'll remember that promise, Anna."

  "Whatever." She turned back onto her side and was out for the count.

  Hill lingered just long enough to wash the dishes in the sink, and toss the colorful load of laundry beside her bedroom door into the washer. He hadn't done household chores since leaving college, but it seemed they were unforgettable skills. Then he took the time to painstakingly write out a note to her. He made sure to spell her entire name correctly as: A-L-E-Z-A-N-N-A. He reminded her that they had spoken and she had agreed to go to church and lunch with him the following Sunday, and promised he would pick her up. He listed all his contact numbers and the address of his loft in London. In his note to her, Hill mentioned everything but the word 'goodbye.' Before he left, he returned to her doorway and stood there looking in. The only things to indicate that a woman was under those covers was the outline of a selfish sprawl, and the messy knot of hair on top of her head.

  As he let himself out, he remembered to lock the door. Hill chuckled to himself. He must be making swift progress if she'd gone from brawling with him at the door to falling fast asleep while he prowled her home. Just a few more months and he'd have her right where he wanted her. In his bed, sighing his name.

  Hill had been gone a total of four days. Anna knew this for a fact because she kept checking the date on the calendar as if it could change with the passage of every five minutes.

  She'd succumbed to curiosity and Googled his name. Atop all the bios that were posted about him, was a recent photograph and article about his attendance at a society event in London. He was holding hands with a girl younger and prettier than Anna.

  The following Sunday morning, Hill arrived at Anna's home bearing a white box overflowing with Dutch tulips. Anna must have been waiting for him because she answered the door on the very first knock.

  "Good morning, beautiful," he greeted, a smile on his lips. He felt like he'd survived a drought. This past week was the first time in months that he'd missed a full week of her performances at the Roll. His preference was to listen to her four nights a week, but there were a few times where obligations had forced him to miss one or two shows. If she was his, he'd kiss her. He'd ask her for a melody or two - maybe four -, to make up for what he'd missed during the time that they were apart.

  While he was in London, Hill had gone about business as usual, as if his heart wasn't back in San Francisco with the woman who carried the best part of him beneath her own heart. He'd attended soirées, and dined with some of the top banking executives in the city. He'd wheeled and dealt, negotiated and decided. All the while his mind had been occupied with fantasies of making love to Anna the way she was now - all hot and passionate -, rather than the cool and remote woman she had been such a short eternity ago.

  Standing in the doorway, she looked scrumptious even as she looked rebellious. Pregnancy was beautiful on her. He now knew why some men kept their wives in state. Satiny skin, glowing eyes, shiny hair flowing as if she'd never had a bad hair day in her life, it all boiled down to one stunning package. But, the sexiest thing about her was the neat mound of her ever growing belly that she had made no attempt to conceal this morning. For, in deference to the boiling temperature outside, Anna was dressed in a pink sports bra and pair of navy basketball shorts that she'd tucked comfortably under her belly.

  If only she was mine, he thought. As much as he wanted to, Hill knew that if he dropped to his knees and started showing some love to his first child while it remained in his mother's womb, he just might get a punch in the face from said mother.

  "How's Hal doin' today?" he asked provocatively, stepping around her to enter the living room.

  She did a double-take then, after a split second of wondering who Hal was, replied, "I don't know about Hal. You should probably ask that model you were with in England. Alex is doing all right though."

  So, she saw that picture, did she? For Anna to have seen anything about him in the tabloids, she must have looked him up. Considering that the photograph had been featured in one of London's society magazines that wouldn't be found on any shelves in an American grocery store, she must have been checking up on him. Perhaps she'd missed him. He had wanted to call her. Had actually picked up his phone every night he'd been away to do just that, but had decided he was already doing enough of the chasing. If she missed him, she'd call.

  "I brought you breakfast, and these." He handed her the flowers.

  Anna accepted the box, but was clearly upset by his gesture. "Hilliard-"

  "Just a 'thank you' will do. You might want to put them in some water before they wilt."

  "You're acting as if we're together or something-"

  "I'm acting as if I respect the mother of my child," he said, giving her a cold look from where he now stood in her kitchen. "Do you want me to stop? Because I can do that, you know."

&nbs
p; Her lips tightened. "As long as you understand that what happened between us is in the past."

  "Don't worry, Anna. I know you're locked down tighter than the bank's vault on a Sunday. Now, put those flowers away and come eat your breakfast. We've only got a half hour before we have to leave."

  "I'm not going anywhere with you."

  "Last week you promised me that we'd attend services together, then go out for lunch. You need to honor your promise."

  Her expression became mulish. "Promises made under duress are intended to be broken."

  "There was no duress involved in our conversation about attending church last week."

  "There is duress involved in you citing honor as a reason to compel me to go to a place I've avoided all my life." Her back was ramrod straight. "I have nothing to say to God. Therefore, I have no need to go to His house."

  Hill's face hardened like flint as he rested the bag he had been unpacking on the counter. "Faith is important to me, Alezanna. It is something my father shared with his family, and it is something I intend to share with mine. As long as you intend to have custody of my child, you will find yourself in church on Sundays. I don't care if you never pray a day in your life, but this is something you will teach my child. We will attend church together as a family."

  "Your child? Are you the one who's pregnant? Are you threatening me for custody? Do you think you'll take this child away from me because I decided I don't want to take it to your stupid church?" She came toe-to-toe with him.

  "Yes. If that's what it takes, then that's what I'm saying."

  "You must be out of your mind," she said, taken aback. "Or have you forgotten that I don't have to bring this child into the world? I and only I made the decision to keep this baby. Otherwise, he'd be just a flame that was burned out before you ever knew it existed. I kept this child. And I promise you, Hill: the day you forget it, is the day you'll regret it."

  Hilliard's face whitened. He stood there for long moments staring at the crazy woman who would say something like that right to his face. He should have known better than to threaten to take custody of the baby. It wasn't even what he'd meant; it just came out sounding like a threat. But, by the time he'd realized how his words might have been interpreted, it was too late. In his own messed up way, he was trying to let Anna know his intention of how they were going to raise this child and any future children they might have - because there was no parenting this child without loving the mother, difficult though she was to deal with. Sunday services was an important part of family life for him, but his family had become his life. The fact that the woman standing in front of him was… insane enough to even imply that the flame of his life might have been blown out without him ever knowing…

  Anna knew she'd gone too far when Hill's face became as white as a sheet. He was livid! But, there was no turning back now. He'd gone too far as well. Everything had gotten out of hand. Their relationship was toxic. It was as if they existed for the sole purpose of bringing out the worst in each other.

  Time seemed to stand still for a long while after she'd snapped at him, but the quiet ticking of the clock on the wall was consistent in its march. Hill took the first step. Rapidly, she backed away, pressing her back into the counter behind her.

  He glanced to her right where the knife rack sat with handles up and his lips tightened. "At least you didn't reach for a weapon this time." Then he continued his walk.

  It wasn't until he reached the front door that Anna regained her ability to speak. "Hill." His name was both a cry and a whisper falling from her lips.

  Hill stopped with his hand on the doorknob. "You wanted to get rid of me, Anna?" With his back facing her, he studied the largest pothole in the driveway outside. This rundown hotel was more like its owner than he'd ever expected. It might have once been magnificent. It was full of potential. But, the fact was, there would always be parts of it that would never accept renovations, repairs, and upgrades. "Well, ma'am, you now have what you wanted. Send me a note when the baby comes. Meanwhile, I'll have my lawyers draw up provisions for him or her." His head swung to the side as he looked at her peripherally. "And, you better think twice before you go crawling under any more cars Anna. Because, if anything happens to that child, I'm coming after you hard."

  Before she could respond, he was gone.

  Days. Weeks. Months passed.

  Hill had weaned himself from her voice cold-turkey. She'd glimpsed him that night he'd taken Barry to the Roll. Not wanting to take the chance that she might spot him in the crowd, he had avoided the place like it housed the plague. That didn't stop him from doing the occasional drive-by past the hotel.

  It still carried the same old broken sign, but it was obvious that Anna had worked like a dervish to make it profitable. The grounds had been landscaped, and the main building in front of the tower where she lived had gotten a new coat of paint. He couldn't tell from his drives whether or not any other changes had been made because the rooms stretched along one long column of building away from the streets. And, Anna had never invited him on a tour of the place. What he did know was that there were now around fourteen cars that used the parking lot.

  Anna. His lips curled at just the thought of her name. A more cantankerous woman he'd never met.

  Since the day he'd walked out on her, they had communicated strictly through his attorneys. She was due to give birth any day now. Certain that she wouldn't contact him until a week after Hal came into the world, he'd set a private investigator on her. That wasn't entirely true. He'd set a discreet guard on her because he'd wanted pictures of her, wanted to know what was going on in her life. So far, she wasn't doing anything extraordinary except offering space for rent in her building. She was getting a steady income now, but if she had only fourteen or so tenants, that would be nowhere near enough for her to keep the hotel in the long run. Sooner or later, she'd run out of money. He wouldn't be the one to remind her of that fact. Every time he said something to her, they ended up arguing-

  His door was rudely shoved open.

  "Sir, I-"

  "You coming?" Anna overrode Kevin's hasty apology for letting her interrupt his boss's musing hour.

  Lazily, Hill sat up in his chair. "Coming? Where?"

  She rolled her eyes. "The clinic. Where else? Do you think I came to take you to Magic Mountain?"

  "Why?"

  "I need your help to ride the merry-go-round." She cocked her brow. "Are you coming, or not?"

  "Kevin, see that the car is brought around." He was already on his feet. With a sense of urgency that was not lost on those they passed in the hallway, Hill led Anna to the elevator. Once they were inside the thankfully empty space, he asked, "Are you in labor now? Or are you just checking into the hospital early or something?"

  Her look was pained. "At first, I thought Alex was just getting a little aggressive, but once I realized what was happening, I came here. My water hasn't broken or anything, but my due date is tomorrow."

  "I'm glad you came, but you should have just called. I'd have met you at the hospital. How did you get here?"

  "I drove."

  "While you're in pain?" he gasped.

  "It's bearable."

  Hill shook his head. It was no surprise that she'd say something like that. She was the kind of woman who'd be on the hospital stirrups gritting her teeth instead of allowing herself to cry out. Honestly, over the past few months the thought had crossed his mind a few times that Anna might have a hard time giving birth since the only time she'd made love was that fateful night. But then, he'd rationalized that as confident as he was of his size, it was nothing compared to the size of a child. Making love to her repeatedly during her pregnancy wouldn't have had that much of an impact on her ability to deliver easily. In fact, the only thing frequent sex might have affected was their relationship. After all, she was looking all mellow and gorgeous now. Her whole attitude had been transformed, and she was more like the woman he'd imagined her to be than she had actual
ly been in the beginning. He couldn't even begin to dream of what it would be like to make love to her this way. Anna was always a stunner, but pregnancy really had a positive effect on her. If he'd been around every day for the past nine months, he might not have noticed the changes, but the sporadic times he'd been able to spend with her allowed him to see how she'd softened and blossomed. She still had a mouth on her, and an attitude that needed some serious work, but he much preferred the tenderness of her genuine smile to the polished brass she'd worn on stage ten months ago.

  The car was pulled up at the curb when they arrived downstairs. His sometimes driver, Levi, stood with the door open.

  "Anna, this is Levi. You need to tell him which hospital we're going to."

  She took the time to shake hands with the driver then rattled off the address to a birthing clinic. "Levi, if you don't mind, I really need a burger before we go in. Can you take the drive-through at Big Friday's? I need a…" The rest of what she said was lost on Hill as he marveled that she seemed to have this thing perfectly timed, that she wanted to hit the drive-through on her way to give birth, and that she was searching her wallet for cash while he was standing next to her. "And get whatever you want too. My treat. It's a day to celebrate. You want anything, Hill?"

  "Huh?"

  "That's alright. You can decide when you see the menu." Then she climbed into the car, leaving the two men standing on the curb looking at each other in bafflement.

  "Why are you going through the drive through?"

  "This kid could decide to wait all day before he pops out. I'm not about to go hungry while he decides."

  Nothing about her made sense to him. From what he'd seen, people always raced to the hospital when the pains started. And Anna was in pain. Every now and again little dents appeared at the corners of her mouth, but she kept on pretending that everything was cool. Moreover, from the way her cheeks had flushed a second ago, she'd realized - as had he - that this was the first time she was confirming that they were indeed expecting a son. Of course, he couldn't show his elation with Levi standing there.