Slowly, Anya nodded. “I know. I just wish he’d told you…” her voice trailed off as she realized there was something she could do. Rafe was a businessman and he’d spoken as if his company was fairly large. He was bound to show up if she entered his name in the Google search engine.
Tonight when she got home she would do just that. She would not stop until she found Rafe again.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Thank God.
As soon as Rafe stepped outside the door of the hospital room, leaving his mother and brothers with his father, he walked over to an empty seat in the waiting room and slumped into it.
It had been a false alarm. Now he could breathe a sigh of relief. He’d seen his dad and he was going to be all right.
Reaching his hand up he raked his fingers through his hair, remembering the shock of hearing that his father had been rushed to the emergency room with a heart attack. That Sunday had been the worst day of his life. It started out terribly wrong as he pondered the way he’d handled the situation with Anya and then, just when he’d decided to call her and straighten things out, he’d gotten that call, the one that made his stomach plummet.
Immediately he’d arranged a flight out of Germany and then he’d called Anya to tell her he had to go. At least he’d tried, two times from the apartment, once on the way to the airport and even from the plane. But every time, no answer. It was as if, for her, he’d ceased to exist.
But he would give it another try. Now that his father was out of the woods he could think again and the first person he thought of was Anya.
He dialed the number to her cell phone and this time, although it was almost ten o’clock at night in Bremen, she picked up on the second ring. He didn’t even get a chance to greet her.
“Rafe, are you all right?” she asked, her voice concerned and breathless. “Claire told me what happened. How is your father?” The questions tumbled out in a rush and Rafe could tell she was distraught.
“He’s fine,” he said, quickly reassuring her. “It was a false alarm. Everybody thought it was a heart attack but when they rushed him to the ER the doctors found it was acid reflux. He’s resting now. He’ll be okay.”
“Mein Gott,” she whispered, “I was so scared for you. And I wanted to call you. I found a US phone number but I only got your office. They weren’t…too friendly.”
Rafe sighed. Best to come clean. “I’m sorry, Anya. They’re a bit defensive. You wouldn’t be the first woman to call the office asking for me.”
“And I can guess why.” Now her voice took on a slightly harder edge. “At what point in our relationship were you going to tell me you’re a billionaire? I had to go on Google to find that out?”
Rafe grimaced. He hoped Anya wouldn’t make a big deal out of this. “That’s not important,” he said, his voice firm. “Do you know what’s important? The fact that you’re a stubborn little…” he paused. He’d almost called her a little cuss again but he knew that would only distract her. “You’re a stubborn little girl I owed a spanking from way back and now I owe you another one for not answering your damn phone. Do you know how many messages I left you?”
“I know. I’m sorry.” Her voice was suitably contrite. “I didn’t check the messages until Monday, after Claire told me what happened. It was because I was so upset with you. That was childish of me. I’m sorry.”
“Not as sorry as you’re going to be when I get back,” he said, his voice terse with his unveiled threat. “I don’t like the idea of you living alone, what with crazies like your neighbor’s husband running around town. Like it or not, as soon as I get back you’re living with me.”
“Living with you?” She repeated the words like she was confused. “But I have a house already.” Then she paused and when she spoke again her voice was low. “Are you moving in with me?”
Rafe gave a hiss of exasperation. She was usually a sharp-witted girl but now she was being so slow. “Anya Petersen,” he said slowly, “what part of ‘will you marry me’ don’t you understand?”
She gasped. And then she shrieked into the phone, making him jump. “I’m going to kill you,” she screeched. “Just wait till you get back. Is that the way you propose?”
Rafe grimaced again. “Sorry, Anya. That’s just my way, I guess. When I get back to Germany I’ll get down on one knee and do it right.” Then he chuckled. “Heck, I’ll do it right in the middle of my classroom full of babies, if you want. For now, though, just understand that you will be marrying me when I get back.”
“It sounds like you’re under the mistaken impression that you’re in charge.” He could hear the laughter in Anya’s voice.
“I am in charge.”
“No, you’re not and when you get back I’ll prove it. I have this hold where I put my fingers just at the base of your throat and-”
“Woman, will you just shut up and tell me you’ll marry me?”
That only made her laugh out loud. “How can I shut up and speak at the same time?”
Rafe shook his head then heaved a sigh of utter frustration. “Anya, Anya, Anya.” He sighed again. “Anya, will you marry me?”
“Of course I will, Rafe.” Then her voice turned sly. “As long as you admit that I’m the one in charge.”
Rafe sighed yet again. “Yes, Anya. You’re the one in charge.”
“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” She chuckled into the phone. “But there’s one more thing.”
“Yes, Anya,” he said, resigned to more of her foolishness. “What is it?”
“You still owe me two spankings and I expect you to deliver.”
Now that, he could handle. “With pleasure,” he said. “I can hardly wait.”
EPILOGUE
One year later Anya was big, bulging and beaming. Whoever said pregnancy was hard work didn’t know what they were talking about. She’d never felt better or more energetic in her life. She had a wide smile on her face as she sat with friends and family in the living room of the house Rafe had bought them right there in Bremen. Rafe, ever the caring husband, had arranged a surprise baby shower so that the people they loved could share in their joy.