Millionaire's Christmas Miracle (15 page)

He got out and, looking around, he realized it came from behind a heavy support column near the center. He crossed to the column and looked around the pillar.

A girl, a teenager, was sitting on the cold concrete, her head in her hands, crying softly. He hesitated, then went closer and tried not to startle her too much. “Excuse me?”

Her head jerked up, and she scrambled to her feet. Medium height, with long blond hair tangled around her face, she looked miserable. Her blue eyes were swollen from crying and her skin was blotched with spots of bright color. Green overalls worn with a yellow sweater made her look sallow, but as she pressed back against the pillar, Quint didn’t have to ask who she was. She’d come back for Travis.

“Sir, I’m real sorry,” she said in a soft Texas twang, and scrubbed her eyes. “I’m leavin’. I’m sorry.” And she would have taken off if he hadn’t stopped her.

“Don’t go.” She stopped. “He’s your baby, isn’t he?”

She paled at his words, to the point that he thought she might pass out. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about,” she muttered.

Amy had been right. The mother cared. She really cared, but she was a scared teenager who obviously hadn’t known what to do. “It’s okay,” he said. “I’m
not going to get you in trouble. In fact, maybe I can help you.”

She looked uncertain. “I don’t see how you can help me.”

“Trust me, I can.”

She seemed to collapse a bit, leaning back against the pillar and hugging her arms around herself. “I’m goin’ to go to jail.”

“No, you aren’t. I promise you that.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure. You’ve got my word on it.”

She sighed. “I knew when you got him, you were a nice man,” she said in a low voice. “And I knew that lady in there would be good to him. I watched her and she’s so kind. She’s like, real good with kids.”

She’d checked out Amy before leaving the baby. That meant a lot to Quint and to what he was thinking of doing. “What’s your name?”

She hesitated. “Shannon.”

“Shannon, just answer me one thing?”

“What?”

“Do you want the best for Travis?”

“Oh, yes, I do, but I can’t keep him. I can’t do it. I mean, I want to, but it’s…” She bit her lip. “I want him to be happy and safe, but I’m so afraid. I don’t know what to do. I can’t keep him, but I couldn’t stand it if he was hurt or somethin’. I’m so afraid of doing the wrong thing.”

At that moment, Quint understood something about himself, something basic and startling. He knew exactly why he was trying to walk away from everything
he loved, Amy and Taylor and Travis, and what there could be with the three of them. It wasn’t his age. It wasn’t him not wanting to do “the kid thing” again. It was fear. Plain and simple. Fear of loving them like a part of his own soul and knowing that he could lose them, of knowing that if he told Amy how he felt, it might not mean a thing to her.

Just watching the fear in Shannon’s face was like looking into his own soul. But he had choices and the power to make them work for everyone in a way that she didn’t. And his choice at that moment wasn’t just to walk away. His choice was to fight. Amy and the kids were worth a fight to the death.

“I need you to come with me,” he said.

“You promised I wouldn’t get arrested,” Shannon said, moving back a bit.

“You won’t. I want you to come in and talk with the lady who has Travis. She needs to meet you.”

She shook her head. “No, no, I can’t.”

“If you love Travis and want the best there is for him, you will.”

She looked at him, and he could almost see her thoughts, wondering if she could trust him, what she should do. Finally, she simply nodded. “Okay.”

He motioned to the back door to the center. “Let’s go.”

She went with him and he opened the unlocked door, letting her go inside first. He heard the crying as soon as the door opened, and he led the way toward the sound. Amy’s office.

Shannon was holding back, and he smiled at her. “Let’s go inside together.”

She could have bolted, but she didn’t. Instead, she went into the room. He took it all in, Amy trying to keep a crying Travis on her shoulder while she reached for the telephone. Then Taylor turned, saw him and came running for him, passing Shannon without a glance, launching herself into his arms. He lifted her, hugging her to him, and looked over his head at Amy as she drew her hand back from the phone. Slowly she stood, the crying Travis in her arms.

Everything made perfect sense to him. Life fitted into a sanity that wrapped him with the hope that he might not be too late, that maybe Amy could do what she said she couldn’t do. Maybe she could care enough for him to let him be with her. Maybe his love would be enough for all of them. Or maybe it wouldn’t be. But he wasn’t leaving until he knew for sure, one way or the other.

Amy was reaching to make the call when she heard something and looked up to find Quint coming into the office. Her hand froze in midmotion. Taylor was throwing herself at him, being scooped up and hugged, talking in babble that had “Pop” and “Spin” liberally scattered through it. And to his right was the miracle she’d wanted to happen. A young girl in green and yellow, with a pale face and eyes of deep blue, stood very still, never looking away from Travis.

She didn’t have to ask to know that the baby’s mother had come back. And she’d come back with Quint. Amy stood slowly, trying to comfort Travis, and the girl came toward them. She stared at the baby, but didn’t offer to take him. “He…he cried for me, too, sometimes. Like, I couldn’t stop him,” she said in a low voice that was almost blotted out by the baby’s wails. “He was real good most of the time, but that crying just made my mama real mad.” Her hands stayed in the pockets of her overalls and she finally looked up at Amy. “He’s a good baby though, you know?”

“Yes, I know,” she said. “I’m Amy Blake.”

“I’m Shannon Douglas.”

The girl couldn’t have been more than seventeen or eighteen years old, and she was so far out of her depth with the baby that it broke Amy’s heart. “Honey, why did you feel you had to leave him like that?”

Shannon shrugged, her eyes welling up with the brightness of tears. “I couldn’t do it no more.”

“You don’t have any family?”

“My mama and me live in an apartment and it’s small and she works a lot, and she…she never wanted me to have him at all. But I couldn’t just…” She bit her lip. “I didn’t know what to do, and I was over near here with her trying to get the bus and I saw you and your little girl, and you were so nice.” She shrugged sharply. “The guy at the door said you ran this place, and you had one kid and you were a great mom, and I watched you a couple of times, and you stayed late. I didn’t just leave him, you know. I waited to make sure he was okay.”

Amy cringed when Travis let out a heartfelt cry, then Quint was there, silently taking him from her and she let him. He turned the baby over, got him in “the hold” and started pacing with him, jiggling him up and down. Almost immediately Travis quieted. There was a heavy sigh, then silence.

Amy looked back at Shannon who was staring at Quint with total disbelief. “How’d he do that?” she asked in a hushed tone.

“I don’t know,” Amy said. “He just does it. He’s a natural with kids. A real miracle worker.”

Quint glanced at her, then crossed to Taylor who’d
started kicking the scattered envelopes on the floor. Quint crouched with Travis in his hold and picked up an envelope with his free hand. He dropped it in the empty box with a flourish and said, “Oh, look at that. A perfect basket.”

Taylor looked at him, watched him drop a couple more in the box, then started doing it herself. Amy would have laughed if there was any humor left in her. Then Quint was standing by her, looking at Shannon. “The father’s not involved in any of this?” he asked her.

She looked sort of uneasy, then said, “I’m not real sure who his daddy is. And no matter who it is, they wouldn’t want nothing to do with him…or me.”

“Your mother won’t keep Travis for you?”

“Oh, no sir. She won’t do that. She’s got this boyfriend who can’t stand babies, and she—”

He cut her off. “You can’t keep him on your own?”

“No, sir. No way.”

“If I found someone wonderful to take the boy, would you be willing to have him adopted?”

Shannon hesitated, but finally said, “Yes, sir. That would be good, as long as he was taken real good care of.”

“You like Amy don’t you?”

“Oh, yes, sir.”

“What if she adopted Travis?”

Amy was horrified at his words. She’d take Travis home in a heartbeat, but she’d just admitted that she could barely take care of Taylor and herself. The past few days had clearly proven that she was in over her
head. She spoke quickly. “Listen, Shannon, I’ll go with you to people who can help you, who can make sure Travis gets the home he deserves.”

He stopped her without touching her, just by speaking. “I thought you loved him?” he said, looking right at her.

She could barely meet his look. “Of course I do. You know that. I want him to be safe and happy.”

“If it was possible for you to adopt him, would you?”

“That’s not even—”

“Would you?” he asked in a low, intent voice.

She looked into his hazel eyes and exhaled. “Yes, yes, yes, but I can’t. I can’t do it. I can’t make it work. I’ve tried and tried, but I finally realized that I can’t do it.”

“But you love him?”

She bit her lip. “Yes.”

“Answer me one more thing. Do you think you could ever care about another man?”

She stared at him, the words there between them, but they made no sense. “What?”

“I don’t mean love, I just mean caring, being okay with another man. Is that possible for you?” She could have sworn that he looked afraid for a moment, a pure fear in his eyes, then it was gone and he repeated, “Is it possible?”

“Quint, stop it. Don’t do this.”

He didn’t move. “Listen to me, very carefully. What if I’m in love for the very first time in my life? What if I totally loved you and Taylor and Travis?”

She barely believed her ears. She wouldn’t believe
them. She couldn’t go through that pain again, of hoping, then knowing that it was all wrong. “You…you have to…”

“No, let me finish,” he said, his voice lower and slightly unsteady. “You don’t have to love me. I’ll make this very easy for you. All you have to do is let me take care of the three of you. I came back to Houston thinking I might stay. And now I know for sure. I’m selling the place in New York and, if you’ll let me, I’ll be here for all of you. Just be with me and let me share your life. Amy, I want you to take away this loneliness and let me live.”

She let his words settle in her heart and soul and tears came, silently slipping down her cheeks. Taylor was there, pushing between her and Quint, and Shannon was saying, “What’s goin’ on here?”

But all she saw was Quint, blurred and so incredibly dear to her. She tried to speak, but nothing would come. Then his free hand touched her cheek, the ball of his thumb brushing at her tears. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he breathed unsteadily. “I’m rushing this. I’m no good at this, I told you that before. And as old as I am, I don’t think I’ll ever get good at it. The truth is, I thought I knew what I wanted, I really did. But I was dead wrong.”

She covered his hand with hers, and could feel herself shaking all over. “Oh, Quint.”

“Lady, if you’ll just take me on, I’ll love you enough for both of us. That’s a promise. And the kids…I love them. You’re the mother Mike should have had, the woman I should have fallen in love with back then and had children with. But we’re here and
now, and alive at the same time. And that’s all that matters to me. Just let me love you.”

She tried to speak and had to clear her throat before she could make the words come. “You…you could love the three of us?”

“I do love the three of you. I’m not sure I can do six or seven more kids, but one more wouldn’t be all bad.”

Amy felt something in her, that life that had begun for her when she and Quint had made love, filling her with hope and joy, something that felt almost alien to her.

He was very still, and she realized he was looking at her hand. “The ring?” he breathed.

“I put it away to keep it safe, but I’m not wearing it anymore.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, his voice low and unsteady.

“I’m sure,” she said. “Just as sure as I am of the fact that I’ll let you take care of the three of us, but only if you’ll let me love you for the rest of my life.”

“Oh, lady,” he breathed, then leaned toward her, Travis and Taylor between them, but he managed to kiss her quickly and fiercely before Taylor pushed hard on both of them. “No. Pop!” she said.

Quint looked down at Taylor. “I don’t have any popcorn,” he said.

“Pop,” she said, lifting her arms to be picked up.

Quint shifted a finally sleeping Travis to Amy, then picked Taylor up in his arms. “Okay, as soon as I can find some, it’s yours,” he said.

Shannon was looking from adult to adult. “I don’t get all of this,” she said.

Quint looked at Amy, smiled, then turned to Shannon. “We want to adopt Travis. We’ll love him and care for him, and you’ll know that he’s safe. Will you let us do that?”

“Are you her husband or somethin’?”

Amy felt a twinge at the wording, but one look at Quint and she was okay. Everything was okay with Quint by her side. “I will be soon, very soon,” he said.

“You two…”

“We’re getting married,” Quint said, glancing at Amy long enough for her to nod, then he looked back at Shannon. “I’ll get a good attorney and we’ll do this right. And I want you to be okay, too, Shannon. We’ll try to help you as much as we can.”

Taylor touched Quint on the cheek, making him look at her. “Pop?”

“I don’t have any popcorn,” he said.

“I think she’s calling
you
Pop,” Shannon said.

Amy looked at Quint and Taylor, then realized that Shannon was right. She’d been crying for Quint for two days, not for popcorn. “Shannon’s right,” she said.

Quint looked at Amy, his expression touched with shock, then pleasure. “Pop?”

“Huh,” Taylor said, poking him in the chest. “Pop.”

He moved closer to Amy, putting his arm around her and pulling her tightly to him. “Pop it is,” he murmured.

Amy looked at her daughter, then down at Travis and finally she looked at Quint. She saw her future, a wonderful future. And she knew the miracle that it had taken to fashion it for all of them. “Yes, Pop it is,” she said, leaning against him, letting him support her and loving him with all of her heart.

Valentine’s Day

T
HE DAY-CARE CENTER
was filled with people, adults and children, and the grand opening was a complete success. Heart-shaped balloons, pink streamers and paper hearts on the walls completed the festive feeling in the main room of the center. Just for Kids was officially in its new location, with more room, more supplies and more children than it had ever had before.

“It’s a success,” Quint said, coming up behind Amy who was standing to one side watching the scene with great pleasure. Her black cocktail dress with a cowled neckline had been a gift from Jenn, a “dress-up” outfit that seemed right for this occasion. Quint slipped his arms around Amy’s waist and kissed the side of her neck, the distraction immediate and wonderful.

She closed her eyes. “I was just starting to wonder where you went.”

“Did you miss me?” he whispered by her ear.

She could barely explain to him even now that when he wasn’t close, she felt as if she was lost. “Of course,” she said, covering his hands on her waist
with hers. Her solitaire he’d given her sparkled in the overhead lights.

“I see Charlie came to the party.”

She opened her eyes and looked over at the tree, to Taylor and Walker, Zane and Lindsey’s son, on the floor with the rat’s cage between them, trying to push popcorn through the mesh sides. “Taylor insisted. And Jenn thought the rat would add to the atmosphere.”

She looked over at Jenn, dressed all in pink, holding Travis and talking to Jackson Ford, a man Amy hardly knew. He had the title of Executive Senior Vice President at LynTech, but he’d been in Europe working for the company since she’d been here. Jenn was talking intently to him, leaning toward the dark-haired man in a double-breasted gray suit. “Does Jenn ever dress in plain clothes?” Quint asked, following her line of sight.

She laughed. “Sure, but when there’s a special occasion, she dresses for it. ‘Theme dressing,’ I think she calls it. It comes from her love of fabric and design, I suppose.”

Right then, Quint’s parents approached Jenn. His mother, a slender gray-haired woman who had passed on her smile to her son, put her arms out for Travis. The baby went to her without a murmur, and snuggled in. Quint’s dad, John Gallagher, an older version of Quint with snow-white hair and tanned, weathered skin, smiled at his wife and their newest grandchild, then turned and went over to Taylor.

He crouched by her, much the same way his son did, getting to her level and the next thing Amy knew,
Taylor was in his arms and, in one movement, up on his shoulders. She laughed and squealed, thrilled to have a “horsey” ride. Walker watched Taylor, then ran to Zane, arms out, saying, “Horsey, horsey,” and was on his daddy’s shoulders right by John and Taylor. Lindsey was watching the two of them, and Amy knew a simple truth—pregnant women glowed, even when they were only six weeks along like Lindsey. The woman who thought she’d never have her own kids had taken Walker as her own, and now she had one on the way.

Life had its little twists and turns. Amy was an example of that. She’d thought she’d never have love again, but now she was surrounded by it. She’d never thought she’d be here with Quint, feeling a happiness that knew no bounds. Never suspected that they would have had a wedding that was more a barbecue than a grand affair, at the ranch they were making their home. Or that she’d have a stepson who was seven years younger than her. Or be so complete with a man who had become her life despite the fact that both had fought it right from the start.

A real miracle on all counts.

“Come and get it!”

She looked up at B.J. coming out of the kitchen with Matt, the two of them holding huge trays with hot dogs and chips and juice. Matt didn’t look like one half of the CEOs at LynTech, any more than his wife looked like a spoiled rich girl. B.J. set the tray on the side table and started helping the kids get their food, explaining half were meat hot dogs and half
were tofu dogs. “Just wonderful things,” she promised each child.

Matt poured the punch, but looked up at his wife. “I’ll take one,” he said, and B.J. glanced at him. They didn’t touch, but the look was a connection that was so evident between them. Even Robert Lewis saw it, smiling at his daughter before he got back to work with Anthony on putting together the train set he’d donated to the center. The older man and the nine-year-old boy had bonded completely, and couldn’t have been more of a grandfather and grandson than if they’d been blood relatives.