Baby in Her Arms (5 page)
Authors: Judy Christenberry
Tags: #Romance, #Contemporary, #Historical, #Nonfiction, #Series
“Look, I’ll be back this afternoon, late. I have to pick up a witness. It’s just a couple hours’ drive. I’ll take the guy to court and come straight back here. No later than three or four, I promise.”
“I don’t know, Kate. Actually, I’m getting a little worried. He said he’d be back by three or four and it’s almost seven now.”
“He’s taking advantage of you, Maggie,” Maggie’s sister Kate protested over the phone. “Just because he did a job for Pop doesn’t mean you owe him anything.”
“I know. But I volunteered, and Ginny is such a sweetheart.” Maggie paused, trying to think of a way to explain to her sister. “If it were Nate, would you want me to abandon him?”
“Of course not, honey, but you worry me. You’ve always cleaned up my messes when you should’ve let me suffer the consequences.”
“You didn’t complain when Sister Mary Agnes couldn’t figure out who’d papered the convent when I swore you were with me.”
Kate chuckled. “I know. You were so saintly, she couldn’t believe you’d lie.”
“She was always too harsh in her punishment, or I would’ve told on you myself.”
Kate chuckled again. “Don’t give me that tough talk. I know how soft your heart is.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Maggie agreed with a sigh. “But Kate, Ginny really needs me. She... she calls me Mama.”
“Oh, Maggie, see, that’s what I mean. You’re not her mama and it’s going to hurt when you have to leave her. I don’t want you hurt.”
“This may be my only chance to be called Mama.” That was the core of Maggie’s heartache. She wanted a family, a child. But she never attracted men, or, for that matter, met men other than those she worked with. And she would never date someone in her own office.
“That’s a ridiculous statement,” Kate protested.
Maggie could hear her sister’s famous temper in her words. When Kate was riled, it was best to stay out of her way. “Now, Kate, I’m just facing facts.”
“If you’re ready to change your life, I’ll introduce you to some men. There are lots of executives in Will’s company. I’m sure—”
“You’ll find someone who will marry the boss’s sister-in-law as a favor? No thanks.”
“Maggie! Why do you say things like that? I’m sure any number of men would fall in love with you on sight if you’d just let them.”
Maggie had long ago accepted that she was not as beautiful as Kate. She chuckled. “Yeah, it’s hard to walk because so many of them are prostrated on the floor around me. Come on, Kate. I’m not you.”
“Of course you’re not. You’re better. You’re sane, rational, careful—”
“All sexy things that attract men.”
“Maggie, you’re not being reasonable.”
“I know. How’s Susan?”
The change of subject frustrated Kate, Maggie could tell by her huffing and puffing, but she couldn’t resist talking about the young woman who they’d recently discovered was their sister.
“She’s doing okay. Her sister graduates from high school at the end of the month. I thought we should all go out to eat together to celebrate. I want to find the right present. Want to go shopping with me?”
“Sure, as soon as Ginny’s settled. Did you give Susan her rightful share of the profits from the diner?”
Kate chuckled. “Yes, and she had the nerve to grill me about whether I was padding the profits to help her out.”
Susan was a proud young woman, determined to manage to raise her half siblings by herself. Kate and Maggie had to work to get her to accept anything from them. “I wonder where she gets her hardheadedness from?” Maggie teased.
“Probably from you, sister, dear. Or I suppose we can ultimately blame Pop, since he passed his stubbornness to all of us.”
“Not me. Pop always said I was the changeling because I didn’t have red hair, remember?” Maggie reminded her.
“Oh, Maggie, that was a silly joke. Of course you take after Pop.”
Maggie didn’t have a comeback for her sister’s obvious lie. Ginny saved her, however. “I hear Ginny awakening, so I’ll have to go,” she told Kate.
“All right, but if that Josh doesn’t show up soon, you call me. And when he does show up, I think you should walk out and leave him to clean up his own messes.”
Maggie gave a noncommittal response and hung up the phone. After spending almost forty-eight hours with baby Ginny, she knew she couldn’t walk away from the infant unless she knew Ginny would be well cared for.
“Here I am, sweet girl,” she called out as she reached Ginny’s room. The baby had pulled herself to her feet and was holding on to the top rail of the crib, tears glistening on her cheeks and a smile on her face.
“You are so adorable,” Maggie whispered as she picked up the baby and cuddled her against her chest. “And wet. Oh, my, looks like we have to change again. I think it’s time for your bath now.”
She rounded up everything necessary for the bath and soon had Ginny sitting in the kitchen sink, splattering water everywhere.
“I wish your daddy was here. He likes to watch you bathe.” She poured a little baby shampoo in her hands and cleaned Ginny’s curls. After she rinsed the baby’s head, with some protesting on Ginny’s part, Maggie lifted her from the sink and wrapped her in a baby towel.
“In fact, my angel, I think your daddy loves you a lot. But for some reason he’s afraid to admit it. So the next time he comes close to you, I want you to reach out for him. Okay? Show your daddy that you love him.”
She wished she could count on Ginny understanding. So far the baby had reached out to her over and over again, but Josh was another story.
“Maybe it’s because he’s not around that much.”
She carried the baby back to the second bedroom, dried, powdered and diapered her, then dressed her, inhaling her delicate clean-baby scent with satisfaction.
Back in the kitchen, Maggie put Ginny in the high chair, adding a bib in a vain attempt to keep her clothes clean. “I’m a little worried about your daddy. He hasn’t called or anything. I know he has an unpredictable job, but you’d think he’d remember he has a baby depending on him.”
She’d almost finished feeding Ginny when she heard a noise in the hallway. Was that Josh coming home? It was almost seven-thirty.
She stepped to the kitchen doorway just as the outer door swung open and a bloody figure stumbled through.
Chapter Five
“J
osh!” Maggie screamed.
osh!” Maggie screamed.
Josh slumped against the wall. “Look, Maggie, I know I’m late, but I can explain.”
“What happened to you?”
“Shh,” he said, holding a finger to his lips. Then he motioned for the man with him to enter the apartment. The witness Josh had set out to collect this morning, Sam Ankara, didn’t make a sound, but his gaze focused on Maggie.
Maggie, looking sane and normal, if a little disoriented, was a welcome sight to both men. Josh closed the door and locked it. Then he sat down beside the phone and dialed a number, holding up a finger to Maggie as she started to ask a question.
“Don? I need back-up. At my place. Right away.” After he hung up the phone, he looked at Maggie’s big hazel eyes, which were filled with concern. “I know I said I’d be back by three or four, but we ran into a few delays along the way.”
“Why do you have a bandage on your head? And blood on your shirt?” she demanded. Before he could answer, Ginny let out a shriek from the kitchen. Maggie ran from the room, but almost before Josh could relax against the leather chair, she returned, with Ginny in her arms.
“Well?” she asked.
“I was shot at. Sam, sit down, try to relax.”
“I don’t understand,” Maggie protested as the other man crossed the room and collapsed on the sofa.
“Sam, here, is an important witness in my client’s case. Someone doesn’t want him to testify.”
Maggie sank down on the wooden chair by the wall as Ginny batted her cheek with a pudgy baby hand. “You mean—someone tried to kill you?”
“Not me. Sam. I just got in the way.”
“Have you seen a doctor?”
“Yeah, I’ve seen a doctor, and the police. Everything’s taken care of.” Well, except for one or two things, but he didn’t want to mention them to Maggie right now.
“Have you eaten anything? There’s not a lot here, but—”
“We’re starving.” He looked at her hopefully. “And Don probably will be, too.”
Instead of heading to the kitchen, Maggie walked over to his side and picked up the phone. She dialed a number by memory and ordered four dinners, to be delivered. Hanging up the phone, she smiled at Josh, a smile that was half demure and half wicked. “That’s going to cost you.”
“What did you just do?”
“I ordered our dinner from Lucky Charm catering. It will be here in half an hour.”
He looked from her to the phone and back again. “You can do that?” As she nodded, he asked, “The pot roast I ate the other night?”
Again she nodded.
“You’re brilliant! Sam, you’re in for a great meal.”
Maggie had expected Josh to be irritated that she’d handled the meal crisis by ordering in. But she wasn’t going to be his servant. She was there for Ginny. Besides, she wasn’t much better as a cook than she was a nursemaid.
Moving back to the chair by the wall, she allowed her gaze to travel to the stranger sitting on the sofa. He looked decent enough, but he was pale. Of course, knowing someone wanted you dead would be a little off-putting.
“What did the police say?” she asked.
“Duck faster,” Josh assured her cavalierly.
“Josh! That’s no answer. Are you out of danger now?”
“As long as we don’t show our faces in public, sure.”
“Won’t they follow you here?”
“No!” the man on the sofa protested. “They won’t, will they, Josh? You said I’d be safe here.”
“We weren’t followed,” Josh said, shooting a warning glare in Maggie’s direction.
Maggie got the message, but she had a few more questions, mostly about logistics. “So, in the morning, you’ll go to the trial and—”
“No. Today is Friday, remember? The trial won’t resume until Monday morning.”
Josh’s quiet response left Maggie with more questions than ever. “So Mr.—I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
“Sam Ankara. I’m an accountant.”
Maggie smiled. “So am I.”
Josh appeared startled, and Maggie realized they’d never spoken of her job. As she and Sam chatted about the problems in their line of work, Sam actually began to relax.
Finally Maggie turned back to Josh to discover he was leaning against the back of the chair, his eyes closed. “Um, Josh? Where is Sam going to stay? I mean, have you made him a hotel reservation?”
“He’s going to stay here,” Josh said without opening his eyes. “He’ll have to sleep on the sofa.”
“But wouldn’t he be more comfortable in a—”
“I can’t guarantee his safety in a hotel.”
“I won’t be any trouble, Mrs. McKinley. I’ll even help with the baby. I have three kids of my own.” The man’s earnest assurance, and the huge misconception that inspired it, left Maggie speechless.
Even Josh opened his eyes. But if Maggie expected him to contradict Sam, she was mistaken. He closed his eyes again and muttered, “Good.”
“Josh, could I see you in the bedroom, please?” Maggie snapped. She smiled at Sam, not wanting him to feel unwelcome. “If you’ll excuse us just a moment, something came up today that I need to discuss with Josh. There’s coffee brewed in the kitchen if you’d like some before dinner arrives.”
Still carrying Ginny, Maggie marched down the hallway. The baby rubbed her eyes with her fist, distracting Maggie from her intent.
“Oh, poor baby Ginny. It’s your bedtime, isn’t it? Josh, I need to put Ginny to bed first. Wait for me.” After looking over her shoulder to see him nod, she turned right into Ginny’s bedroom.
After changing another diaper and dressing Ginny in a nightie, she kissed the baby and tucked her into bed, turning on the musical mobile above her. “Night-night, Ginny.”
Leaving the baby’s room, Maggie stood in the hall a moment to gather her anger. Then she swung open the bedroom door without knocking, prepared to blast Josh McKinley out of his complaisance.
Only to find him asleep on the bed.
The bandage on the side of his head stood out even in the shadowy light of the bedroom. Probably he needed to rest. But Maggie couldn’t figure out what he intended to do. There was only this one bed and the couch in the living room. And she had no intention of sharing with either man.
Of course! She would take the sofa. The two men could share the king-size bed. With that settled in her mind, she returned to the living room and Sam Ankara.
“Josh?”
The soft voice scarcely intruded into his dreams. After all, he’d been hearing that voice murmuring sweet things ever since he lay down. “Come on, baby.”
“Josh! The food’s here.”
“Food?” That didn’t fit into his dreams.
“Yes, the food I ordered. I think you should wake up and eat. Besides, your assistant, Don, is at the door. At least that’s who he said he was. I didn’t think I should open the door until you checked him out.”
That information brought Josh awake. “No! You’re right. I’m coming.”
As he followed her from the bedroom to the living room, a thought struck him. “You let a deliveryman in?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Maggie, you shouldn’t have opened the door. It could’ve been anyone.”
“I looked. It was Joey.”
Without replying, Josh strode to the door. Through the peephole, he discovered Don and quickly opened the door, let in his assistant and relocked the door immediately.
“You weren’t followed?”
“No. I was careful.”
“Sam, this is Don Nichols, one of my best operatives. Sam Ankara, our witness. And—this is Maggie.” Josh didn’t know how to introduce her. He didn’t see any point in telling Sam or Don that Maggie wasn’t his wife.
Don nodded to Maggie, but Josh noticed his gaze lingering on her.
He cleared his throat. “We have a few problems to deal with. Maggie, would you look in the desk drawer in Ginny’s room and get some pens and paper?”
“Certainly. But why don’t you pass out the dinners and fix everyone something to drink while I do? We don’t want the food to get cold.”
The aroma of roast beef was assailing his nostrils and he hurriedly did as Maggie suggested. Maybe he’d feel better with some solid food in him, Josh reflected. Right now he couldn’t seem to get his thoughts off Maggie.
The food was as good as he remembered, and by the time Maggie returned, half Josh’s meal was gone.
“You like the dinner?” she asked, a smile on her lips.
Don and Sam both assured her of the food’s perfection. Josh nodded. Then he motioned for Maggie to join him on the sofa, where her food awaited her along with a cup of coffee.
“I can eat in the kitchen if you need privacy to talk,” she offered.
“No!” all three men responded in chorus.
“We’re not going to be saying anything you can’t hear,” Josh assured her. “Where’s Ginny?”
“Don’t you remember? I put her to bed when you lay down.”
“How you feelin’, boss?” Don asked. “Your appetite seems to be okay.”
“I was starving. My head aches a little, but not bad.”
“What are we going to do now?”
“I’m going to keep Sam here for the weekend. My place is easy to guard. Besides, I don’t think they’ll try anything until we move him. It’s easier that way.”
“Okay. What do I do?”
Maggie watched Josh’s employee. He seemed a little hard-edged but nevertheless friendly.
“I need you to go purchase a few items, then take up guard duty in the hallway. Since my apartment is the only one after the corner, we can stop anyone coming in. Get Pete to relieve you whenever you need it, and plan on doing that all weekend.”
“Okay. Make me a list, and as soon as I finish, I’ll do the shopping.”
“Maggie, can you make a list for the grocery store?” he said, glancing her way. He didn’t know whether she would protest being pressed into domestic duty or not.
She gave him a considering look, and he didn’t know what to expect. Finally she said, “I’ll fix breakfast and make sandwiches for lunch, and we can order in from the Lucky Charm for dinner. Is that okay?”
“Sounds good to me. Gentlemen, you won’t mind eating dinners like this one, will you?” he asked, knowing the food was incredibly good.
Both Don and Sam murmured their agreement.
“Then we’re set. Come Monday, our problems will be over.” There were, however, a couple of sticky points between now and Monday morning, Josh thought grimly. Like how they would get Sam safely to the courtroom. And where everyone was going to sleep.
He shot Maggie a wary look, but she was carrying her dishes to the kitchen and didn’t notice. Now that everyone seemed to think she was his wife, he figured they’d better share the bedroom. Better her than Sam for a roommate.
He only hoped she felt the same way.
Don returned with a toothbrush and several items of clothing for Sam, who had gone into the hall bath to wash up.
“Wouldn’t it be easier for him to use the master bath with you?” Maggie asked. “After all, he’ll be sleeping there.”
“Where?” Josh snapped, staring at her.
“In the bedroom with you, of course. I’ll take the sofa.”
“No, you won’t.”
Maggie stared at him. “Why not?”
“You’ll be in the bedroom with me.”
She leaped to her feet. “I will not.”
He stood, towering over her. He was a big man, and something about his size set her pulse racing. “Honey, you have to. Sam believes you’re my wife.”
“Then tell him I’m not.” She raised her chin and stared back.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t know Sam very well. You’ll be safer with me.”
She wasn’t ready to buy that excuse. “If he’s with you, he can’t be with me. Problem solved.”
“I may sleep very soundly tonight. The doctor gave me some pills. So I might not hear you if you called for me. It’ll be better if we’re together. It’s a big bed, Maggie. I’m not going to attack you. I won’t be up to it.”
“What kind of pills?” She remembered when Kate had broken her arm because of one of her adventures. Maggie had had to wake her sister up several times during the night to be sure she was okay.
“Pain pills.”
“For a head injury? Are you sure he knows what he’s doing? Did he caution you about waking up every four hours or something?”
He smiled. “Yeah. He said to have someone check on me a couple of times during the night. See, if you share the bed with me, you can do that without disturbing anyone else.”
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