Not Quite Mine (Not Quite series) (22 page)

Monica’s heart thudded in her chest. It was as if a house of cards were standing in the direct path of a cat’s swishing tail and she couldn’t get to the cat before it knocked the cards over. She scrambled in front of him again, blocking his path to the hall. “I’ll call Katie myself. Tell her you’re looking for her.”

“Black Orchid. I’d know the scent anywhere.” He was rambling about perfume and moving around her.

She pushed in front of him again.

He smiled, placed his hands on her shoulders, and moved her to the side. “It’s Katie’s perfume. I know because I’ve bought it for
her before.” Dean lifted his finger and waved it once in front of her face. “Stay!”

She did. She didn’t mean to, but she couldn’t stop watching the slow-motion action of him opening the door to Katie’s room.

She heard him draw in a breath and let it out slowly.

A hundred lies formed.
I’m babysitting for a friend. I have a roommate that wears Katie’s perfume.

Dean sauntered into the bedroom and peeked into the small bassinet.

His gaze shifted from Savannah who was just opening her eyes to the interior of Katie’s room. The closet space was limited and Katie’s clothes hung on hooks and on the curtain rod. A mountain of shoes took up one corner and another was filled with baby essentials.

“Oh, God!” Katie shrieked behind Monica.

Monica turned to stare at the panicked face of her friend. “I tried to make him leave.”

The only sound in the room was that of the breath escaping the occupants.

A storm brewed under the surface of Katie’s skin. She met Dean’s confused stare and held still.

Her game was up. No explanation large enough would keep him from knowing that she was living with Monica. And why.

No one spoke. No one moved.

Savannah let out a wail and all three of them turned to her.

Katie shoved past Monica and had to step over Dean’s foot to get to the baby.

“It’s OK, baby girl. I’m here,” she cooed. The instant Savannah was in her arms she quieted. Katie flung a burp cloth over her shoulder and positioned Savannah so she was looking over her shoulder.

Savannah hiccupped a few times and Katie rocked. “Shh, it’s OK.” Gathering her courage, Katie turned toward Dean and met his stare.

They said nothing.

“I think I should go.” Monica finally spoke. “Unless you want me to stay, Katie.”

“No. It’s OK. I’m OK.”

Monica sent her a sympathetic smile before turning to Dean. “You behave.” She wiggled a finger in front of his face as he had done hers.

Monica slipped from the room and out of the apartment.

Katie moved around the room and prepared to change Savannah’s soiled diaper. Dean had backed up to the doorway and watched in complete silence.

Several weeks of practice granted her speed and agility with the task. Within a couple of minutes, Katie had Savannah back in her arms, before she walked past Dean and into the living room. Katie folded Savannah into the swing and turned the knob. Savannah attempted a smile and contently enjoyed the rocking motion.

Without explanation, she washed her hands in the sink and moved to prepare a bottle. Just because Savannah wasn’t screaming for it, didn’t mean she wouldn’t ask soon if it was delayed for long. The domestic chores and silence gave Katie a little time to think. Her heart had finally slowed to a normal pace and the situation felt less dire.

“She’s yours, isn’t she?” Dean asked.

“Yes. No. Well, not quite mine.” That had to be the most screwed-up answer to a question ever.

“Which is it?” Dean’s question was soft.

Katie placed a plastic liner into a bottle and filled it with formula. A pot was already on the stove to boil so she turned it on. “Legally she’s mine. At least as far as we can tell.”

“I don’t understand. How can you not know?”

“It’s complicated, Dean.”

Dean turned toward the living room and watched Savannah on the swing. “She’s grown. It’s Savannah, right?”

“Yeah.”

Dean removed his cowboy hat and tossed it on table. It was his way of saying he wasn’t leaving any time soon. “I could use a beer.”

Katie opened the refrigerator and handed him one.

He finished half of it in one swallow. His shoulders slumped and he blew out a long-suffering sigh. “She’s why you’ve been so worn out, why you’re not at the hotel?”

“Yeah. Monica let us stay here until we work things out. I couldn’t exactly parade an infant around without everyone knowing about her. Daddy would blow a gasket and Jack…I don’t even know what Jack would do.”

“I don’t get it. You need to start at the beginning, darlin’, cuz I’m lost. You have a baby that may or may not be yours. When I looked for you at the hotel, they said you were out…late at night. They rambled off a list of names trying to come up with mine. Is everything a lie?”

I had to lie.

Guilt for her deception made her fidget. “I’ll tell you everything, Dean.”

“Why do I hear a
but
in your voice?”

“
But
you need to promise me you’ll keep this between the two of us. For now anyway.”

His eyes narrowed again. “Are you in trouble?”

“No. Nothing like that. Promise me, Dean. Before I tell you anything you have to promise you’ll keep silent.”

He placed his empty beer bottle on the counter and covered her hand with his. “I promise, now spill. What the hell is going on?”

The entire time Katelyn told her crazy-ass story she moved about the room fussing and feeding Savannah. She fed, burped, and cleaned up the baby’s mess without so much as a frown. Katie didn’t even seem to notice the patch of wetness that missed the cloth and soaked into her dress shirt.

Dean watched in utter fascination and attempted to wrap his mind around the story Katie told. Babies left on doorsteps and fabricated documents giving custody of a child to a stranger. The whole thing was out of a soap opera yet it was actually happening to someone he knew. Someone he cared about.

“I’ve hired a private investigator to locate the real mom. You met him. Patrick Nelson.”

“Patrick?” He couldn’t remember a man by that name.

“Ben Sanderson. You remember. Older gentleman.”

“The old guy. Right.” What a relief that was.

“He’s not
that
old.”

“Too old for you,” he told her.

She grinned for the first time since he entered the apartment. “Jealous, Dean?”

“Damn right. So let me get this straight. You’ve spent every night possible right here with Savannah and Monica and only a handful of nights crashing at the hotel?”

“Yeah.”

“No guys. You’re not seeing anyone?”

Katie rolled her eyes. “Like I have time. Oh, wait…this
is
a jealous thing. You were worried I’d been sleeping around?”

“That’s what you
wanted
everyone to believe.” He certainly had. Considering their past…her past, the lie was easily believed. Yet somehow, someway, he knew something was wrong, and Jack had been one hundred percent correct. Katie hadn’t been acting normal because nothing about her life was normal. The party girl everyone knew was at home playing house. Alone.

“I wasn’t,” she said plainly. “Well, except last night…with you.” She paused. “Listen, about last night—”

Dean held up a hand and stopped her. “No
About last night
conversations yet. We’re not done with this one. So you hired a PI and you’ve found out what?”

“Nearly nothing. I’m expecting a call from Patrick any day. We’re baffled. You and my doctors were the only ones to know about my inability to conceive so Patrick is digging into anyone who works in the doctor’s office. I’m not the first rich woman who’s had a baby left on her doorstep I’m sure. But this felt personal. Like the woman knew me.”

“But you don’t know her?”

“Not a clue.”

“Wow.” He was equally relieved and concerned. Relieved that Katie wasn’t sleeping around with another man, not to mention she had a damn good explanation for her odd behavior. He was concerned that the baby’s mother would show up and take Savannah away. Or worse, accuse Katie of taking her.

“Wow. It’s a lot to take in.”

“Tell me about it.” Katie glanced down at Savannah who was content to sit in her lap playing with a colorful rattle she could hardly hold.

Katie leaned down and kissed Savannah’s nose. “You’re the most precious thing ever. Aren’t you?”

Dean swallowed hard. He didn’t consider himself an emotional sap but seeing a woman with her baby made his heart swell. He’d thought of this moment well over a year ago when they’d learned of Katie’s pregnancy.

Then after the miscarriage, Katie acted distant…broke off everything between them. Watching her now, he asked himself if maybe everything Katie did then was a defense mechanism. Her way of coping with the loss. Here he thought she’d been a selfish child when clearly that wasn’t the case.

There was no mistaking the bond between Katie and Savannah. Deep in his heart he’d believed that, all those months ago, Katie was as into becoming a mother as he was about being a dad. Seeing her like this, with a child in her lap, made him remember their quiet moments, their honest moments.

“You’ll never let her go, will you?” Dean asked.

Katie shook her head. “Not without a fight.”

“So why look for the mother at all?”

Katie met his eyes and blew out a breath. “Wouldn’t you? If someone left a child on your doorstep, wouldn’t you wonder who the parents were? Not to mention the legal reasons.”

“If someone left a child on my doorstep, darlin’, I’d know the baby was mine. Or at least have a quick paternity test to figure it out.”

Katie rolled her eyes again. “You know what I mean. If you were a woman and didn’t know…wouldn’t you question?”

He never considered the female position…didn’t think it was possible for a man. “Yeah. I’d wonder.”

“So I’m looking. I owe it to Savannah and me. I don’t know what drove her biological mother to give her away and I can’t rest until I do.”

Dean scooted closer to her on the couch and Savannah turned her head in his direction. Her tiny hand lifted up and Dean offered her a finger. She clasped it and gripped him hard. There was no stopping the smile on his lips.

“What if you don’t find her?”

“I’ll cross that road when I come to it. No reason to invite trouble. That’s what Aunt Bea always says. I get it now. Savannah and I will figure it out together. And when the day comes that she asks about her real mom, I’ll be able to tell her I tried to find her.”

Dean knew more than most how much Katie missed having her mother. He rested his head on Katie’s shoulder and stared down at the tiny blue-eyed bundle. Savannah still gripped his finger and something even deeper inside of him.

“What can I do to help?”

Beside him, Katie released a deep breath. “Just keep her existence quiet for a little longer. Once Patrick has exhausted his search for the mom, I’ll contact a lawyer and make damn sure I can keep her. Then I’ll tell my family.”

Dean couldn’t remember a time in his life when he heard Katie so convicted. There was no kidding around, no unsure tone in her voice. Something told him that, if anyone shoved, she’d take the baby with a wad of money and split.

Mothers protect their children and all that.