Opposites Attract

Jonquil "Jonni" DeVries had traveled on four continents, spent her Junior Year Abroad in Paris, and had not given a second thought to jetting to Manhattan for couture fashion shows.

She'd dined at chateaux in Provence and castles along the Rhine, and put in a dutiful appearance at her mother's Friday table at Galatoire's in her hometown of New Orleans.

Jonni had nibbled on Beluga's best, sampled the best satay Jakarta had to offer, and sipped the best champagnes France had ever corked.

But standing sock-footed in her kitchen, wrapped in a flannel bathrobe she'd found in a box set aside for the maid, Jonni knew she'd never ever tasted anything as delectable as the Cookie Dough Double Chocolate Chunk ice cream she spooned into her mouth at a pace that threatened to cramp her wrist.

She dipped her silver spoon crested with a scrolled "D" into the softening butter-fat delight. The clock in her kitchen ticked loudly, and Jonni realized she hadn't been paying attention to anything save her need to eat. In the time she'd been standing there, sunlight had invited itself into the broad windows of the spacious kitchen. Soon, another day would be upon her. She sighed, and a hiccup followed.

Sugar, she knew, was good for putting a halt to hiccups. So she took another bite. And another.

"Mommy?"

Jonni froze. She shot a guilty glance into the almost empty ice cream carton and turned toward the sound of her daughter's voice.

"Morning, pumpkin. You're up with the mocking-birds." Jonni hated for Erika to see her when she wasn't at her best.

"I couldn't sleep." Erika rubbed one sturdy little hand across her forehead, looking far more world-weary than a five-year-old should.

Jonni slipped the carton onto the counter behind her. It tipped, and the spoon clattered onto the floor.

Erika jumped.

Jonni crossed the room quickly and gathered her into her arms. "Let's go back upstairs."

Erika shook her head and wrapped her arms around Jonni's hips. She tucked her head against Jonni's tummy, and Jonni knew there'd be no budging her. Once her daughter made up her mind, that was pretty much that.

So she stroked her tousled blond hair, long silky strands that mirrored Jonni's own equally disheveled mane, and balanced her weight against the edge of the doorframe. Soon Mrs. McLever, the no-nonsense nanny David had hired just before his death, would be downstairs, calling Erika to her morning duties. Mrs. McLever had impressed upon Jonni and David the importance of a disciplined routine in a child's life. David had wholeheartedly agreed, and of course Jonni concurred.

David was her husband, after all.

Still, Jonni had felt it was a shame for a child to miss out on the whims and joys of abandoned playfulness. She and her twin sister had pretty much enjoyed the run of their stately uptown home. Her mother had wanted to restrain them to the upper floor, but Daddy had always interceded. Children should be children, he'd said.

Jonni experienced a twinge of guilt as his words echoed in her head. She clasped her daughter's head to her tummy and wondered how in the world she was supposed to know enough to raise her child on her own.

A wave of anger at her dead husband swarmed up within her, and she almost blanched at the heat that flushed her body. Damn him, she thought, careful not to speak out loud. And then she caught control and said a quick prayer of repentance. Over a year had come and gone; surely she could learn to forgive and forget.

Erika twisted her head up toward Jonni's and then patted a hand against her hip. There was so much padding there now, fat that Jonni had never before carried in her life, that she felt the touch distantly. She closed her eyes.

"Mommy!"

"Yes?" She opened her eyes, wondering at Erika's excited tone.

Now she was tapping against the bulge below Jonni's waistline.

"Mommy, am I going to have a baby brother or sister?" Her face alight in a way Jonni hadn't seen it in quite some time, her little girl looked up at her, awaiting her answer.

For the second time that morning, Jonni froze. Glancing down at the rounded shape of her once perfect size six body, she swallowed. And for once, there wasn't food in her mouth.

There was pride, or what was left of her own ragged allotment.

"No, pumpkin," she said slowly, aiming for a cheerful tone and failing miserably. A tear had appeared in her eye, and she dabbed at it before it could splash onto Erika's eager, upturned face.

"There you are, Miss Erika," barked the voice of Mrs. McLever. "And why are you not upstairs brushing your teeth?"

Erika buried her head against Jonni again. "Good morning, Mrs. McLever," Jonni said. "Erika isn't there because she's here in the kitchen with me."

"That's not on her schedule, you know."

"What's wrong with a little bit of spontaneity?" Jonni was surprised to hear her voice saying those words. Her life - at least until her husband's sudden death - had been planned.

"That is not our arrangement," the nanny said, tucking her skinny arms across her chest and practically tapping the toe of her black lace-up shoes.

"Well, I don't like it," Jonni said, meeting Mrs. McLever's glower head on.

"It's what Mr. David and I agreed on, and I know he'd want his rules followed."

Jonni put her hands on Erika's shoulders and said, "Sweetie, why don't you go in the den and watch TV for a little bit. Mrs. McLever and I need to talk."

Erika glanced from her mother to her nanny ...

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Opposites Attract by Hailey North
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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