He stood and walked toward her. She rose so they remained eye to eye...sort of.
"You deliberately kept this information from me when I offered you the job," he said.
"I didn"t mention it because I knew you"d freak out if you knew."
"I"m not freaking out. I"m p.i.s.sed off. How far along are you?"
"Four months." She glared at him. "Me being pregnant doesn"t change how good I am in the kitchen."
"As a chef, you"re on your feet for twelve hours a day. You can"t do that pregnant. How are you supposed to taste the dishes? Aren"t there certain types of fish you should avoid? What about wine?"
"I can taste both the food and the wine. One bite or one sip isn"t the issue. I"m perfectly capable and I"m doing a d.a.m.n good job, so get off of me."
He loomed over her. "You lied to me. You withheld material information. I can fire your a.s.s for that and we both know it."
She opened her mouth, then closed it. He had a point. If she"d been in his position and had learned an employee lied about something this big, she would escort them to the door without thinking twice.
"I"m the reason this place is successful," she said, deliberately lowering her voice. "I do good work. Yes, you can fire me, but then what? You think this place can survive losing its chef two weeks after opening?"
She stared at him, willing him to understand. "I have this all figured out. I can do the job and be pregnant. We"re in this together, Cal. Don"t get weird on me now."
"Don"t pretend we"re a team when you"re keeping secrets like this," he said. "Anything else you want to spring on me?"
"No."
"Fine. I"ll be back in a couple of hours."
"But we"ve just opened. It"s dinner."
"So? According to you, you have a plan. Deal with it." Then he turned and walked out.
CAL DROVE without thinking and he wasn"t surprised when he found himself in front of Reid"s place. He tossed his keys to the valet, then stalked into the crowded bar.
What the h.e.l.l was going on? Penny pregnant? He knew she"d always wanted kids-she"d made that clear enough times. But now?
He saw his brother behind the bar and waved him over. Reid spoke to one of the women serving with him, then walked out and joined Cal.
"What"s up?" he asked.
Instead of answering, Cal led the way to Reid"s office. He pushed inside, then closed the door when his brother had entered.
"You knew about the baby," he said, making the words a statement instead of a question.
Reid looked amazingly unconcerned. "So she finally told you, huh? I warned her you wouldn"t take it well. Looks like I wasn"t wrong."
"Not take it well? You"re right. I didn"t. What the h.e.l.l happened? Did you encourage this?"
Reid frowned. "Hey, slow down. Why does it matter to you that Penny"s pregnant? You let her go a long time ago."
"That has nothing to do with this." He didn"t care who his ex-wife slept with, or what she did with her personal life. He was just furious that she would go and get herself pregnant.
Reid leaned against the edge of his messy desk. "Look, it"s no big deal. Penny"s been thinking about having a baby for a long time. She"s always wanted a family."
Cal knew exactly just how long she"d been thinking about it. He didn"t even have to close his eyes to see her curled up next to him on the sofa, her hand on his thigh as she leaned close and whispered, "Let"s try again, Cal. Let"s have a baby."
"She hit thirty and realized she"d better get going," Reid continued.
Cal grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "Is it you? Did you sleep with her?"
His normally laid-back brother instantly stiffened. Reid"s hand covered his own in a grip that both punished and threatened.
"I"m going to give you ten seconds to take that back, then I"m going to wipe the floor with you," Reid growled.
"What makes you think you could?"
The two men glared at each other. Reid backed off first. He released Cal and raised both hands in the air.
"No one slept with Penny," Reid said. "It wasn"t like that."
Cal released him. "What do you mean?"
"There"s no guy. Penny went to a sperm bank. You know, one from column A, one from column B. She picked the sperm out of a computer list. Crazy if you ask me, but she didn"t." Reid poked him in the chest. "Why didn"t Penny tell you about the in vitro fertilization herself?"
Cal shrugged.
Reid poked him again. "You didn"t give her a chance, did you? You jumped to conclusions. Dammit, Cal, why do you always think the worst of people?"
"I don"t."
"Sure. You"re a regular ray of sunshine. You have to trust people to do the right thing. Penny would never get involved with a guy who would abandon a child, okay?"
Cal took a step back. He didn"t know what to say to his brother. Somehow Reid had gotten right to the heart of the matter. That"s what Cal couldn"t deal with-the thought of a man walking out on his own child. Because an adult would have choices-choices he hadn"t had at seventeen.
"You"re right," Cal said. "Good point. I, ah...thanks for explaining things."
His brother leaned back against the desk again and folded his arms over his chest. "You"re pretty screwed up, you know that?"
"Tell me something I don"t know."
"We all are. Thanks to Gloria." Reid shook his head. "That b.i.t.c.h. The things she made us do. Always threatening us. So many d.a.m.n secrets." He looked at Cal. "Penny wants this baby. She"ll be a good mom."
"That"s not the point."
"Isn"t it? Are you all jacked up because of Lindsey?"
Cal stared at his brother, unable to believe what he"d just heard.
"You know?" he asked, his voice harsh with shock.