Not Quite Mine (Not Quite series) (6 page)

Katie clicked her seat belt and rested her hand on Savannah’s tiny leg.

“They grow so fast,” the woman went on.

“Yes, they do.” Or so she’d heard.

The older woman paused and took in Katelyn’s frame. Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t look like you just had a baby.”

Her heart leapt. The woman’s observation wasn’t something she’d seen coming. “I adopted.” She said the first thing that popped in her head. Sticking close to the truth would probably be best anyway. Thinly veiled truth was better than a flat out lie. Many years of skirting the truth would come in handy to keep Savannah’s identity hidden.

Katie glanced over her shoulder and found Monica peeking over her seat. After sending a reassuring smile, Katie swiveled forward and tilted her face away from the people surrounding her. She wore little makeup and dark sunglasses in hopes of avoiding anyone recognizing her on the plane. If someone did notice her, they’d probably second guess who she was based on the sole fact that Katie never flew anywhere but on her daddy’s plane. Not to mention she was wearing sweatpants…workout clothes in public for God’s sake. Even the T-shirt she was wearing belonged to Monica and sported some of Savannah’s lunch.

Before boarding the plane, Monica and Katie had taken turns walking Savannah around, hoping that, when buckled in a car seat, she wouldn’t grow restless and call more attention to herself than necessary. A baby, especially one as tiny as Savannah, drew attention and more than one neck craned to get a glimpse.

The last of the passengers took their seats.

Grandma kept talking about her grandchildren, the soothing voice seemed to be putting Savannah to sleep.

Maybe the flight won’t be so bad.

The words no sooner fled her mind before the captain’s voice swam over the PA to welcome them aboard. Sadly, the intercom squeaked at a high pitch and jarred Savannah to a full-on wakeful scream.

Passengers turned toward her as Katie attempted to coax a pacifier into Savannah’s mouth. She wanted nothing to do with it. The plane taxied from the terminal and the noise of the engine helped cut some of the noise coming from such a small person.

The coy smiles and oohs and aahs over “such a tiny thing” swiftly turned to ugly looks and rolling eyes.

“Shh, it’s OK…” Katie couldn’t stop the pitiful wails any more than stopping the tide.

Grandma offered some encouragement. “Don’t worry. Babies cry. Everyone knows that.”

Still, every passenger within four rows honed their ugly stares on her.

So much for keeping a low profile.

As soon as they reached cruising altitude and the captain turned off the seat belt sign, Katie lifted Savannah from the car seat, laid her on her chest, and managed to calm her down. A little.

Half of the time in flight was soothing a fussy infant and dodging dirty looks. It took every ounce of decorum for Katie not to tell the people close by to mind their own business. Lashing out at them for their snide looks and not-so-quiet whispers about babies on airplanes would warrant more attention, not less.

With any luck, this flight would be the only commercial one Savannah would have to endure.

Even Grandma had hit her limit by the time they landed. Katie’s nerves sizzled like onions at the county fair. As soon as the diaper bag, handbag, and Savannah in her car seat were shrugged over a shoulder or an arm, and Katie was laboring across the tarmac to baggage claim, Savannah then decided to go to sleep. It was dark,
the peanuts on the plane not only didn’t constitute an in-flight meal, they also gave Katie indigestion. She couldn’t even enjoy a glass of wine. The thought of her drinking while a baby screamed in her lap felt irresponsible, even to her.

Monica caught up to her and asked how she was holding up. Katie nearly decked her for talking so loud. “She’s finally asleep! Keep it down.”

The noise of the airport and all the travelers wasn’t bothering Savannah one bit, yet somehow Katie knew that Monica’s inquiry would.

Monica’s jaw drew down as she peered over the edge of the car seat. “We didn’t hear her very much where I was.”

“You’re full of shit.” The whole damn plane scowled at her as she walked off.

“Babies cry. No biggie.”

“She’s too young to be traveling.” Katie repeated the words murmured between the lips of several women on the plane. Women who were obviously mothers. Mothers who obviously knew babies better than her.

“The biggest problem with babies traveling is illness. Lucky for you…” Monica grabbed one of five bags rolling on the conveyer belt in baggage claim. “…I’m a nurse and can clue you in if little Vanna here gets ill.”

Little Vanna, as Monica called her, was now sound asleep. Her hands would twitch when a loud noise sounded inside the huge building, but she didn’t wake. The strong urge to kiss her soft cheeks clutched Katie’s heart but she didn’t dare for fear she’d wake.

“We’re going to have to grab a cab,” Monica said after hoisting every bag to their side. “I wasn’t expecting to come home for a few days and my ride was busy.”

Katelyn sighed. Now this was something she could handle. And a smelly cab wasn’t going to disturb the peace of a sleeping
child. She handed the car seat over to Monica. “Wait here. I’ll get us a ride.”

Ten minutes later they were seated in the back of a stretch limousine with Savannah puffing little breaths through her pouty pink lips.

“Where to, Miss Morrison?” the driver, asked.

Monica rambled off her address before closing the clear window between them and the driver.

The limo was from the Ontario Morrison Hotel. Although Katie didn’t know the driver by name, she would by the time she showed up to the hotel, and she’d buy his loyalty one way or the other.

“He thinks the baby is mine, doesn’t he?” Monica asked.

Katie glanced at the back of the driver’s bald head as he pulled away from the curb. “He sees two women with a baby. I’ll say enough to throw him off. Don’t worry.” Laying the groundwork for an affair wasn’t as complicated as it was for hiding a baby. Katelyn’s thoughts traveled the tide to Dean. Now hiding the baby from him took a complicated weave of lies. Hiding Savannah from everyone else would take more time, more effort.

So why was she doing it? Why work so hard to keep a baby that wasn’t hers?

The sun had set and the lights of the suburbs of Los Angeles sped past the windows of the limo. Her entire life had been spent in limos and surrounded by other luxuries her father afforded her. She’d seen the world, twice. She’d dined with the rich and famous, skied the Alps, and sailed in the Grecian Sea. She spoke enough French to buy expensive clothes in Paris and order a decent meal there as well, but she wasn’t happy.

Seeing Dean at the wedding jump-started her emotions and reminded her of better times—times with him. As luck would have it, Savannah arrived and gave her something else to focus on other than her history with Dean. Something other than her failures.

Not a peep emitted from the car carrier. All that silly crying on the airplane wore the poor thing out.

The ride from the airport to Monica’s apartment passed in blissful silence and didn’t take long.

“Thank you, Gerald.” Katelyn sank the driver’s name into her memory by using it. “I’ll be staying with Monica tonight. Can you arrange for the rest of my things to be placed in the family suite?”

The family suite was one of the penthouse apartments at The Morrison. Jack had previously occupied it while he supervised the beginning stages of construction of his hotel. Now that he and Jessie were married, they would be staying primarily in Texas. Jack had bought nearly five hundred acres just west of their father’s ranch and, when he and Jessie returned from their honeymoon, they’d be deep into putting their own touches on the existing home situated on the land.

“Of course, Miss Morrison.” Gerald carried her other bags as well as Monica’s into the apartment.

Monica carried Savannah into a dark bedroom while Katelyn placed a hundred-dollar bill into Gerald’s palm.

The man glanced at the denomination briefly before it disappeared into his pocket. “I’ll be back on from three to eleven tomorrow, Miss Morrison. Let me know if I can be of assistance.”

Just like that, Gerald was in her favor.

“I’ll do that.”

Katelyn closed the door behind Gerald and turned on her heel. The entirety of Monica’s small two-bedroom apartment would fit inside the living room of the penthouse at the hotel. A kitchen counter separated the cooking space from the living space. A sofa bed filled the room with a reclining chair to its side. The only updated furniture was a midsize flat screen mounted on the wall. It was hard to believe that Monica had shared this apartment with Jessie and her
son for several years. Her imagination wouldn’t have to work hard for long. Until she figured out exactly what Savannah’s future held, the two of them would live here most of the time.

Monica closed the door to the spare room. “She’s sleeping so I left her in the car seat. First thing tomorrow you’re going to have to buy a few essentials. Jessie didn’t keep any of Danny’s baby things he outgrew since there’s not enough storage space.”

“Shopping I can handle. What I really need is a sitter.”

In the kitchen, Monica ran a kettle under the faucet before turning on the stove to boil water. “Mrs. Hoyt lives down the hall. She sat with Danny when my schedule collided with Jessie’s. I’ll call her in the morning.”

“Seriously?”

“She loves babies and could use some extra money. Her husband passed away a few years ago and her fixed income barely does it, from what I can tell.”

Katelyn leaned a hip against the counter. “It all feels so easy.”

Monica laughed aloud. “Easy? Oh, sister, getting a sitter and a crib is the easy part. Juggling a job, the staff at the hotel who need to think you’re living there when you’re not, and dodging baby questions from the people who know you…that is gonna take some serious work. Not to mention that pint-size living, breathing, demanding infant. You can kiss off those stilettos and silk pantsuits for a while and embrace your T-shirts and jeans. Raising a kid is hard, grueling work. The hours are long and the pay is shitty.”

Monica’s words would have scared off a lesser person. Not Katelyn. She squared her shoulders and put her best Morrison foot forward. “My father didn’t raise a quitter. Savannah is not quite mine…yet. One way or another, I’ll find her mama and the meaning behind the message in her letter. When that happens, I’ll either hand her over or give her the Morrison name permanently.”

The steam from the kettle started to whistle and Monica quickly turned down the fire.

From down the hall came Savannah’s pathetic cry.

“That’s your call, Mommy. It’s time to see what all that Texas determination can do.”

According to Miss May, Katelyn and Monica left the hotel with enough baggage to last a month. Dean ascertained that information after leaving two messages on Katelyn’s home answering machine. Messages he wouldn’t have bothered with if Katie had left her usual response on her machine. It wasn’t unlike her to leave Texas for weeks on end for extended trips abroad. This time, however, she didn’t leave the typical explanation…“I’m drinking wine in Italy. Call you when I fly home.”

No. This time Katelyn left no such message on her personal line and Dean thought the worst. He knew something wasn’t right. He didn’t relax until Miss May revealed that, although Katie left rather abruptly, she at least disappeared with a friend.

Dean talked with some of Katie’s friends, none had recently given birth, or even knew anyone who was expecting. So who did Savannah belong to? And why was Katelyn so determined to keep the baby’s identity from him?

On a hunch, he called The Morrison in Ontario and asked if Katie had checked in. Sure enough, the staff had seen her and expected an extended stay.

“Can you leave a message for Miss Morrison, please?”

“Of course, Mr. Prescott.”

“Inform her that she’s not to step foot on the site until I arrive in town.” If her only business in Ontario was to help Jack with his
hotel, she would ignore his demand…if she were keeping something from him, she would avoid confrontation. At least he thought she’d react that way.

“Excuse me?” The receptionist had heard him. Chances were she didn’t want to relay his words.

“Not one foot. I’ll be there Monday afternoon. Have her call me.”

“Does she have your number?”

He hadn’t forgotten hers. “Yes.”

The receptionist disconnected the call and Dean stared at the phone in his hand. What put the fire under Katie’s butt and made her run?

He made a quick call to the airline and moved his flight up a full day. Even then, she had two full days in California before he arrived.

Jack always had a sixth sense about his sister’s well-being and Dean was determined to keep an eye on her. From what he’d seen so far, he agreed with Jack. Something wasn’t quite right about her.