Taking Tiffany by MK Harkins Read Free Book Online

details. Right now, with my mind frozen, I realized this was a bad planning strategy. My breath came in short spurts. The word “hyperventilating” came to mind. A paper bag. That’s what I needed.
    “Shit,” I croaked out.
    Jain’s eyes grew large. “Tiffany! You don’t swear!”
    “I do now. No, never mind. Pretend you didn’t hear that. Shoot. Okay? Let’s go…no, you stay here. I’ll get Braydon.” I was falling apart right before her eyes. For some reason, this didn’t seem to stress her out.
    She’d put her hand over her mouth and continued laughing. “If you’re like this, I can’t even imagine what Braydon will be like!”
     
    ***
     
    THANK GOODNESS BRAYDON and I reversed roles for the evening. While I fell apart, Braydon stepped up to the plate. He calmly called his personal assistant, Julie, and asked her to go to their home to retrieve Jain’s suitcase. He arranged for his driver to come pick them up, and they zipped to the hospital within fifteen minutes.
    Charlie cut his trip short because his father called with some business emergency, and Todd stayed behind to supervise the charity event to conclusion. That left Colin and I to wait, not so patiently, at Swedish Hospital.
    “Coffee?” I asked.
    “Sure. I think we’re going to be here a while. What was the last report from Jain’s nurse?” Colin asked.
    “Five centimeters. So, I guess that’s halfway?” It probably didn’t work that way, but I thought it would make Colin feel better.
    He laughed. “Sure, let’s go with that. That would mean the baby will arrive in about two hours.”
    I handed Colin his coffee and blew on mine to cool it down.
    “Life is so weird,” I said, in a rather philosophical mood.
    “What makes you say that?”
    “It seems strange that, this time last year, Braydon and Jain weren’t even together. Now look at them. They’re married and about to bring a baby into the world.”
    “They’ll be great parents.” He looked out the window at the night sky and took a deep breath, deepening the worry lines on his face.  
     “If it weren’t for you,” he said, “I don’t know if they’d be together now. So, that little human about to come into the world? He or she might not even be here if you hadn’t set Braydon straight.” He reached for my hand and held it.
    “Aw. That’s nice of you to say, but I can’t take the credit. They would have found their way back to each other eventually.”
    “Maybe. But that crazy Angela almost ruined everything. All because Braydon rejected her. Remember the great lengths she went to? She even forged documents, all to prove Jain was only after Braydon’s money. She’s one of the worst people I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet. Whatever happened to her? I heard she left the country.”
     “My mom still sees Angela’s mom from time to time. I don’t know if I’ve told you this, but she and I were friends from childhood because of our parents’ friendship. They all went to college together, and we were born within months of each other. For them, we were the perfect playmates. And it did start that way, until we turned thirteen.”
    “What happened?” He leaned forward with wide, inquisitive eyes. Colin loved a juicy story.
    “She changed. I didn’t help that both her mom and dad were too busy making money to acknowledge her presence. The Bartholomew’s own almost every oil refinery on the Gulf Coast.  Any time she wanted anything, all she needed to do was yell and throw a tantrum. Both parents would throw money her way to quiet her down. So, she became good at getting what she wanted. So much so, I think she couldn’t handle it when Braydon wouldn’t give her the time of day. And he rejected her in front of hundreds of people. Do you remember that night? I wasn’t there.”
    Colin chuckled. “Yeah. It was great. You should have seen Angela’s face when Braydon left with Jain—who she considered a plain scientist—over her. I thought she