Free Rebecca's Little Secret by Judy Christenberry Page A

celebration with their friends about their baby, and I—”
    “Mrs. Greenfield is having a baby?” Chelsea asked.
    “Yes, and—”
    “But she’s too old!” Chelsea exclaimed.
    “No, she’s not,” Rebecca replied, for the first timeshowing impatience. “She’s only forty-three. I think it’s wonderful.”
    “It is,” Jeff agreed. “And we certainly don’t want to take you away from Vivian’s celebration. Why don’t I call her? Then we can pick another night for our outing.”
    “That would be nice, Jeff,” Rebecca agreed with a sweet smile. “I appreciate that.”
    Jeff went back into his office, glad things had worked out as they had. He called Vivian Greenfield. “Viv, this is Jeff Jacobs. We were trying to determine a date to take Joey to see Sesame Street on Ice. Rebecca was afraid this Friday might be your celebration for your baby.”
    “Oh, Jeff, thanks for checking with me. Yes, we were thinking about this Friday. Would that be a problem?”
    “No, we can try to get tickets for Saturday night.”
    “Oh, good. And can you and your fiancée join us Friday night? We’d love to have you. It would be nice if someone were here that Rebecca knows.”
    “We’d be delighted. Do you mind if I bring my new partner? He doesn’t know anyone in town and—”
    “Oh, yes, that would be delightful. I’d love to meet him.”
    “Thanks, Vivian. His name is Bill Wallace. I think you’ll like him.”
    “I’m sure I will. I’ll look forward to introducing him to Will, too.”
    Jeff came out of his office to find Chelsea stillthere, talking with Harriet and Bill. Rebecca appeared to be working. “Well, I talked to Vivian and they are having their celebration on Friday night, but we’re all invited. So I think we should move Sesame Street to Saturday night.”
    “We’re all invited?” Bill asked.
    “Yeah. Vivian is looking forward to meeting you and introducing you to Will. You’ll like him. He’s a P.I.”
    “I don’t want to intrude on a family event,” Bill said, still hesitant.
    “You won’t be. You’ll need to meet them, anyway, since they’re our clients. They’re genuinely nice people and it will be a good time. Right, Rebecca?”
    She looked up, but it was obvious she’d been following what he’d said. “They really are, Bill. They took me and Joey in and they treat us like family.”
    “But I thought you were family,” Chelsea said, frowning.
    “We are, sort of. Vanessa and I are blood sisters, but they didn’t have to be so generous.”
    “I bet they fell in love with Joey right away,” Bill said.
    “Yes, they did. And they spoil him rotten. But we were so alone until we moved down here, it’s very good for Joey.”
    “And you,” Jeff added softly.
    Rebecca gave him a sharp look. “Well, yes, of course.”
    “Has Will found any of your other brothers or sisters?” Chelsea asked. “Are there others?”
    “They’ve found our brother Jim. He’s serving in the Middle East right now. We’re hoping he’ll get home on leave soon. Our brother Wally died over there. They haven’t found David or my twin sister, Rachel.”
    “How strange to have a twin and not know where she is,” Chelsea said. “Why did your parents give you all up for adoption?”
    “They didn’t,” Jeff hurriedly said. “They were killed in a car crash and there were no other family members available, so the children all got split up and lost contact with one another.”
    “Oh, how sad.” Chelsea looked appropriately subdued. “I just never thought about something like that happening.”
    “Life takes funny turns, Chelsea. You have to be strong to deal with what happens—look how Rebecca has managed.” Jeff smiled at Rebecca even as he spoke.
    “Well, if I’d been Rebecca, I would have given up. I certainly couldn’t have managed on my own. That would have been too hard.”
    It was Bill who stepped forward to say, “You would have found a way to manage, Chelsea. I suspect you would