Autumn Wish (17 page)

Ms. Winston lowered her arm back to the strap of her bag. “Mr. Mallin, I’m here to speak with you about the child that has been left in your care.”

As her words registered, suspicion shot his attention back to the cop. “Why? And why are
you
here?”

“Officer Parker is here at my request. For security reasons.”

Sam’s stomach dropped, and he swallowed hard. “Security for what?”

Officer Parker rested his hand on his unbuttoned sidearm. “This is better discussed inside.”

Memories from what seemed another lifetime flashed in his mind. His gut instincts shouted not to let them in, but with Ella involved, he figured he didn’t have the luxury of telling them to go to hell. He raked a hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck as he stepped aside with reluctance.

The case worker nodded on her way past. “Thank you.”

Sam closed the door behind the cop, motioning them both to the couch. After a cursory glance around, the woman sat down and pulled a thin blue file from her briefcase. Parker strolled over to the playpen set up along the wall. His gaze combed every inch of the living room and whatever was visible of the kitchen through the island window.

“Please, have a seat, Mr. Mallin.”

Ms. Winston’s polite request drew his attention back to her, but he remained standing, arms crossed over his chest. “Not until you explain what this is all about.”

She cast a questioning glance toward the officer, who then came over to sit with her on the couch. When the guy raised his eyebrows in silent challenge, Sam deigned to sit on the edge of his recliner.

“Thank you,” she repeated. “We have been informed you are in custody of a child for whom you do not hold legal custody of.”

His spine stiffened.

“Can you confirm—”

“Hold on,” he interrupted. “Who the hell
informed
you of that?”

“That information is confidential,” Parker stated.

There weren’t a whole lot of people who knew the story. Nikki. Her family. His boss and co-workers. But it didn’t make sense that any of them would report him to Child Protective Services. Especially not Nikki after her reaction to his thoughtless comment that very first night. Eric Riley and the others had respected her choice to move into his guestroom. Sure, they’d made a couple unannounced visits, but had left seemingly reassured everything was fine. They had no reason to report his care of Ella.

“Making sure the child’s best interests are preserved is what is important here,” Ms. Winston added. “Now, are you caring for an infant who is not your biological child?”

“I’m not her father, but she’s family. Ella is my niece. I have a letter from my sister granting me custody.”

“I’ll need to see that.”

Parker shadowed him while he retrieved the letter from a drawer in his kitchen and handed it to the case worker. His nerves frayed as he sat while the woman read the document. His teeth started to ache, and he unclenched his jaw.

“An Affidavit of Guardianship takes care of the custody question, and normally family members caring for children isn’t something CPS would become involved with, but that is not the only reason I’m here.” Ms. Winston shifted the papers in her lap and looked up. “Concern was raised that you are too involved in your personal life, and Ella may not be receiving adequate care while you’re busy with...other things.”

“Other things like...?” Okay, he had been working on Nikki’s house, but she’d watched Ella for every minute. He was one hundred percent positive she went above and beyond the definition of adequate care.

“To avoid being crude, why don’t we call it
dating
.”

Sam drew back in amazement. She meant sex. “Are you kidding me?”

She met his gaze and held firm. “No. I am not kidding you. Child neglect is something we take very seriously, Mr. Mallin.”

“
Neglect?
” White hot anger flashed from his toes to the tips of his fingers. Icy fear doused the flame when the full implication of the cop’s presence registered. Were they going to take Ella away from him? Could they, based on a completely false accusation?

When he shot to his feet, Parker straightened from where he’d leaned against the side of the couch. “Mr. Mallin, I’m going to have to ask you to sit down.”

“Wherever you got your information from, it’s dead wrong.” He switched his glare from the cop to the woman. “Since my sister left Ella with me, I’ve changed my entire life to make sure she’s well taken care of.”

She eyed the empty playpen. “Where is she now?”

The question shot a jolt of adrenaline straight to his heart. “With the babysitter.” Not that he actually knew
where
they were. Of all nights, why wasn’t Nik home tonight?

“And who is your babysitter?”

“Nikki Rowen. She worked at a daycare until she lost her job. She’s more than qualified.”

Officer Parker began to nod, but the case worker’s eyebrows drew together in a frown. “Why did—”

The chime of the doorbell drowned out her words and made him flinch. His jaw clenched as he glanced toward the door.
Now
who the hell was here?

“Would that be her with the baby?” Ms. Winston inquired.

No. Nikki wouldn’t use the doorbell when he’d given her a key. Wary of more unexpected visitors, Sam crossed the floor and glanced out the window.

Sonofabitch
.

“Excuse me a minute,” he muttered over his shoulder before opening the door and slipping out onto the porch to face one of the neighbor women who’d brought him pie that first week.

“Hi, Sam. You never called, so here I am—”

Her voice rang in his ears as if she’d shouted through a bullhorn. He quickly pulled the door shut.

“—for my dish.”

“I’m sorry, but now is not a good time.”
Worst frickin’ time ever
. “If you stop by tomorrow, I’ll be happy to give you the dish back.”

Long eyelashes as dark as her black hair batted over a pair of pretty brown eyes. Shit—he couldn’t even remember her name. All he knew was she wasn’t one of the married ones.

“Did you enjoy the pie?”

“Sure.” He reached for the door handle, hoping she’d get the hint. “Who doesn’t love cherry pie?”

She stuck her lip out in a pout. “It was apple.”

“Apple’s good, too,” he assured her. “Listen, ah...?”

“Missy.”

“Right. Missy. Again, I’m sorry, but I really can’t talk right now.”

“Tomorrow?”

He nodded just to get rid of her, fighting the urge to physically guide her off his front porch. She smiled and started down the stairs as he opened the door to step back inside.

Missy spun around and called out, “See you tomorrow, Sam.”

With his jaw clamped tight, he shut the door and turned to face the two officials watching and listening from his couch.

“Date?” Emma Winston’s pinched eyebrows matched her disapproving voice.

“No,” he ground out. “She’s a neighbor who brought me a pie when I first moved in. That’s only the second time we’ve met. She just wanted her dish back.”

She scribbled on her notepad as he approached the recliner again. He thought he saw Parker’s mouth twitch, but when he shifted his gaze, the cop was as solemn as ever. Good, because he didn’t find a damn thing funny about the whole frickin’ thing.

“And how many other women are in Ella’s life?”

He narrowed his gaze at the brunette. “You know, I don’t appreciate you coming into my house with all these accusations based on what some person who obviously doesn’t even know me told you.”

“Mr. Mallin, surely you can understand we only have your niece’s best interests at heart. It’s unfortunate her mother is not around, but exposing a child to a revolving door of strange women does not provide for a stable home life.”

The sound of the back door forestalled the torrent of words that flew to the tip of his tongue. Nikki entered the kitchen, Ella perched on one hip, the stroller dragging behind. She glanced toward the living room and a big, welcoming smile lit up her face as she brushed her windblown blond hair from her eyes.

“Hey, you’re home early.”

The case worker’s words echoed in his head.
Best interests of the child. Stable home life
. Him by himself, added to the rap sheet the woman must’ve seen if she’d requested security for this visit, probably wouldn’t measure up in her prim, judgmental opinion.

He attempted to stabilize his racing pulse by filling his suffocating lungs with as much oxygen as possible. It didn’t work. How could he fix his past to make sure Ella wasn’t taken away? How the hell did a person redeem themselves from a list of offenses like drunken disorderly, aggravated assault, and resisting arrest in a matter of mere minutes?

He hadn’t had so much as a parking ticket on his record in over eight years, but the cop sitting next to Emma Winston convinced him that consideration was low on her list.

Nikki carried Ella into the living room after removing both their jackets. She pulled up short when she saw his visitors. His gaze remained fixed on her. With her wind-blown hair, casual sweater, and faded jeans tucked into a pair of calf-high boots, she defined the Girl Next Door. Not only beautiful, but reliable and trustworthy.

Best interests of the child. Stable home life.

The only stable home life he’d ever witnessed from afar involved two parents. A dad
and
a mom.

Taking the baby in his arms, he turned to face the case worker and Officer Parker. “
I
also have my niece’s best interests at heart, Ms. Winston. This is Ella, and I’d like you to meet Nikki Rowen—my fiancé.”

Chapter 18

Fiancé?

Already off-kilter from the sight of her friend and former manager’s brother in uniform in Sam’s living room, Nikki’s smile froze in place when she heard Sam’s declaration. She lifted her shocked gaze from Shane’s in time to see Sam bending down to drop a kiss on her chapped lips. It was a replay of the grocery store, only this time she couldn’t even blink under the intense plea radiating from his eyes.

“I thought you said Nikki was your babysitter?” the woman on the couch said, her voice steeped in suspicion.

“She is.”

“Why didn’t you mention you were engaged earlier?”

“Um, ah...Nik hasn’t told her family yet, so...”

The fumbling explanation spurred Nikki into action. She didn’t know why he’d told the lie, but she’d gotten to know him well enough these past couple weeks to believe he had a good reason. Desperation darkened his gold-flecked eyes, and the police presence reinforced the seriousness of the situation.

She stepped forward with a bright smile that she directed at Shane. “Please don’t go saying anything yet, okay? If Mallory told anyone, it’d get back to my sister in no time.”

“Let me be the first to offer congratulations.” He came around the couch and took her hands to pull her into a hug. His pointed squeeze of her ring-less left hand was accompanied by a barely audible question against her ear.

“You okay?”

“Yes,” she whispered. She stepped and in a more normal voice, said, “Thank you.”

Sam’s speculative gaze shifted between her and Shane. “You two know each other?”

“We went to school together,” she explained. “Although he was a few years ahead of me. Shane’s sister Mallory was the manager at Sunny Days before the daycare closed.”

“I won’t spill the news,” Shane assured her. “But Ms. Winston will have to put it into her report.”

“And what report is that?” she asked the brunette, who’d also risen to watch the exchange with extreme interest.

“I work for Child Protective Services. We’re here investigating an allegation of possible neglect.”

At the mention of CPS, Nikki cut her gaze to Sam. He hugged Ella close as if he were afraid someone would try to pry her from his arms. No way she’d let anyone take their angel away if she could help it. Sam met her gaze.

“Apparently, someone has claimed I’m too busy running around with numerous women to take care of Ella.”

The ludicrous idea would’ve made her laugh if everyone’s expressions weren’t so grim. Sam’s crazy claim that they were engaged was beginning to make more sense, especially if his prior record was part of the equation. Obviously, he was desperate.

But who the hell would’ve—

A flash of realization settled like lead in the pit of her stomach as she turned to Shane. “It was Joe, wasn’t it?”

When he wouldn’t look her directly in the eyes, her guess was confirmed. As a play to get her back, it was a stupid move Joe was smart enough to know wouldn’t work, so she assumed he was seeking revenge for her rejection.
That jerk
. He’d left her, damn it. Messing up Sam’s life was just plain vindictive.

“What happens if the baby goes away?”
Sam murmured, repeating Joe’s words from that day in the yard. “
That sonofa
...”

He trailed off without finishing the curse. Guilt made it difficult for her to meet his narrowed gaze.

“We’ve already established the caller will remain confidential,” Ms. Winston stated with a hint of annoyance. “I’m more interested to hear, when is the wedding?”

“Ah...” Renewed alarm glittered in Sam’s gaze when it locked with Nikki’s.

“Ms. Winston,” Shane protested. “Obviously the engagement is recent if they haven’t even told Nikki’s family. They probably don’t have a date set.”

Thank you, Shane.
His defense demonstrated trust in Nikki and her judgment.

“Oh, I don’t doubt the engagement is
very
recent,” the woman agreed. “But let me be perfectly clear. Lying about something like this only makes me believe you have something you’re trying to hide. Makes me wonder if I don’t need to look into your background a little further.”

Nikki held Sam’s troubled gaze as her thoughts whirled. This was on her shoulders. Joe’s payback was her fault, and no way she’d let Ella or Sam be the ones to suffer.

She took a fortifying breath and moved over by Sam’s side to link one arm with his while rubbing her other hand on his bicep. “The wedding will be a week from Saturday.” His muscles flexed beneath her fingers, but she squeezed his arm and forged ahead in a clear, decisive voice she barely recognized as her own. “Since we both prefer a small ceremony with just family, we didn’t see any point in waiting.”