CHAPTER Two
Monica lifted the car seat and brought the baby into the penthouse.
Katie’s hands trembled as she flipped over the envelope.
“Get that,” Monica told her while pointing outside the door.
Sitting on the hallway floor was a large plush diaper bag with sheep printed all over the exterior.
Grabbing it, Katie shut the door behind her and stood next to Monica. Both of them stared down at the baby as if neither of them knew what it was.
“Who would leave their child on your doorstep?”
She had no idea. “I’ll call down to the doorman and ask if anyone has entered or left the building with a kid.”
“Good idea.” Monica sat beside the baby, careful not to wake her while Katelyn crossed to the phone and called downstairs.
“Good evening, Miss Morrison.” The cheerful voice of the graveyard shift doorman didn’t sound alarmed. In contrast, her heart was pounding in her chest and her voice was anything but calm.
“Hey, Alex. By chance has anyone come up in the last ten minutes or so?”
“Only you and Miss Mann. Why? Is everything OK?”
No, everything was definitely not OK. “Are you sure there hasn’t been anyone you didn’t recognize come in tonight? Anyone with kids?”
Alex’s tone turned tight. “No one that wasn’t expected. You sound a little worried, Miss Morrison. Would you like me to send up security?”
“No. No, we’re fine. I thought maybe…” Oh, boy, what could she say? “Good night, Alex.”
“G’night, ma’am.”
“He didn’t see anything?” Monica had listened to the conversation.
“Nothing.”
“How can that be? They practically asked for my firstborn when I came…” Monica glanced at the infant. “Oh, bad joke. They seem so on top of things here.”
“It’s not the first time someone has gotten past security.”
Katie pushed aside the magazines sitting on her coffee table so she could sit and stare at the child. The porcelain, perfect skin and fluff of pale hair on the top of her head were so beautiful. Unable to stop herself, Katie reached out and ran her finger along a tiny cheek. The smooth texture sent a zing up her arm and added to the rapid beat of her heart.
“We need to call the police.”
Alarm spiked inside Katie’s head. “Why?”
“Katie, someone abandoned their infant on your doorstep. We need to notify the authorities.”
When mothers abandoned their infants, they did it on church steps or hospitals…or worse, garbage cans or public bathrooms. Katie’s eyes inched away from Monica and glanced at the envelope clutched in her hand. She’d almost forgotten about it.
She ripped it open and removed two pieces of paper. One looked official, while the other was a handwritten note.
Dearest Katelyn,
Please read this letter before giving my child to complete strangers to raise within a broken system. I’m not a star-crazed kid pushing her unwanted baggage on someone with money, or a nut who will come back into your life screaming foul play. I am a mother whose heart is breaking as she writes you this letter in a desperate attempt to make you understand.
I am unable to raise my daughter, to love her, to guide her in life. No one is more sorry about that than I am. You can do what I can’t, Katelyn. I’ve seen to it that no one will question who her mother is. All you have to do is take her.
Savannah was conceived with love, albeit one sided, and deserves a mother who can give her everything. I know things about you that I probably shouldn’t. I know how much you want a child of your own, how impossible it is for you to do so. If you open your heart to my tiny miracle, she’ll win you over before dawn. Her father isn’t ready for her, but if my instincts are right, he will be one day. And when he is, the two of you will give Savannah the loving home she needs.
I’ve arranged everything. No one will question the parentage of Savannah, and even if they did, I believe you’ll find a way to keep her.
Please…I beg you.
Love her, Katelyn. If the day ever comes, tell her I loved her, too.
There wasn’t a signature. No name to give to the woman who had written the letter.
Katie glanced at the second paper, which was a birth certificate. Her back teeth ground tight and her head started to pound.
The words “Closed Adoption” stood out in bold print. Under “Child’s Name” was “Savannah Morrison, no middle name.” Under “Mother” was “Katelyn Marie Morrison.” Katie shifted her eyes to the space for the father’s name and found it blank.
She blew out a long, shaky breath.
“What does it say?” Monica sat anxiously waiting.
There would be no need to hide anything from her new sister-in-law so she handed over the papers. As Monica took in all that the letter said, Katie stared down at Savannah and allowed her heart to open a tiny crack. Who was Savannah’s mother, and how did she know Katie’s deepest secret?
“Holy shit.”
Understatement of the year.
“Do you have any idea who the mom is?”
“None.”
“What about the dad? Sounds like the mom thinks you know him.”
Katie rubbed the back of her neck and tried to stop the nagging feeling of dread. “I know a lot of guys who aren’t ready to be a father.” No reason to tell Monica everything. Until Katie knew more about the mother and the reason for Savannah ending up on her doorstep, she’d keep quiet.
“How can someone do this?” Monica repeated the question a few more times as she stood and paced the room. “And what did she mean when she said that it’s impossible for you to have your own kids?”
Savannah puffed out her tiny lips in her sleep as if she were sucking on something. Monica’s question registered. “I can’t have children.” Saying the words aloud always hurt, which was why Katie never did.
“Are you sure?”
Karma had a way of slapping her in the face. “I’m sure.” Since her own mother couldn’t be a good mom, life decided to take the option away from her, too.
Monica sat beside her on the coffee table and grasped her hand. “I’m so sorry.”
“Me, too.” And she was. More than Monica could ever imagine.
Both of them turned to face Savannah and stared. The thought of putting her into the arms of a police officer, who would then place her into a home where people took in unwanted children for a price, raced through Katie’s mind.
What if she didn’t do that? Right in front of her was a miracle Katie could never have on her own. She knew that one day she’d look into adopting, maybe even a surrogate birth. Hell, she’d be a mother already if life hadn’t killed that dream.
Bundled up in a neat little package was a dream realized. A dream that money really couldn’t buy.
Savannah wiggled in her sleep, the movement had both Monica and Katie leaning closer. Within seconds, the infant started to blink and open her beautiful blue eyes.
Katie felt her breath coming in short pants. She was so amazing. So perfect. Savannah stretched her arms wide and opened her mouth in a yawn bigger than she was. Then a high-pitched squeak erupted from her mouth.
Katie reached for the buckle and unsnapped it. Savannah watched Katie as she pushed the blanket away and wrapped her arms around the baby for the first time.
“Watch her head,” Monica instructed.
“Right.”
Careful to support Savannah’s neck, Katie lifted her onto her lap. Her tiny arms swam in the pajamas she wore. Little legs kicked Katie’s stomach with a tiny pat. She leaned down and kissed Savannah’s forehead and drew in the fresh, clean scent of her skin. Everything about her was so new. “When was she born?”
Monica picked up the birth certificate and said, “Two weeks ago today.”
Savannah’s hand curled around Katie’s finger and gave a squeeze as if to say, Don’t let go.
“You’re going to keep her, aren’t you?” Monica’s question didn’t have an ounce of judgment in it.
Katie shook her head no, then yes. “Her mother must have been desperate to leave her at my door. I think I should try to find her, find out what her letter meant.”
“And keep Savannah while you’re looking?”
“The police would put her in foster care. I can take better care of her than someone desperate for the money the state gives them.”
“What if you don’t find the mom?”
“Someone left a baby on my doorstep at one in the morning. There are cameras all over this complex.”
“In your foyer?” Monica glanced toward the front door.
“At least one, plenty more in the lobby, the main hallways…elevators.” There had to be someone with a baby caught on film.
Savannah squirmed and sputtered out a cry. Katie’s attention went back to the child in her arms. “Are you hungry?” she asked in a voice a full octave higher than her normal tone. What was it about babies that had people talking in voices that weren’t their own? “I’ll bet your mommy has something in this bag for you to eat.”
Monica’s hand dipped into the bag and removed a bottle and a container full of formula. “I’ll get this ready. Why don’t you see if she needs her diaper changed?”
As Monica stood to work her way to the kitchen, Katie stopped her. “I’m doing the right thing, aren’t I?” The question was foreign coming from her lips. Katelyn Morrison, millionaire and heiress to half of her daddy’s estate, had always run through life completely confident in everything she did. Yet with the package weighing less than ten pounds sitting in her lap and starting to fuss, she felt clueless about her next move.
“I have no idea.”
“What would you do?”
“I’d call my sister and ask her advice.” Monica and Jessie were very close. Up until Monica finished nursing school, she lived with Jessie and helped take care of Danny. They had struggled for money every day of their lives, but they loved each other, depended on each other.
“I don’t have a sister,” Katie stated the obvious.
Monica shook her head. “You do now. I say we sleep on it. If Savannah is going to let us sleep, that is. We’ll figure this out together.”
“OK.” They could do this. Katie reminded herself to kiss her brother when he returned from his honeymoon. Marrying Jessie was the smartest thing Jack had ever done. Monica was quickly turning into a true friend.
Dean reduced himself to stalker status. Outside of Katie’s penthouse suite, he waited for Monica to exit the building for her morning run. He’d extracted the information about her exercise routine during the previous evening so he could corner Katie alone.
Jack’s concern for his sister squeezed a nagging trigger inside Dean’s head. A trigger he wished weren’t there. He had to know for himself that his ex wasn’t in any real trouble. Dean told himself it was for friendship’s sake. Hell, it was his friendship with Jack that had kept Katie and Dean apart for a small lifetime. And when their affair fell apart, Dean couldn’t even drink through the pain of the breakup with his best friend, because his best friend had no idea about the relationship.
Still, in the year and a half that he and Katie hadn’t spoken outside of obligatory time together getting ready for Jessie and Jack’s wedding, Dean had watched and kept up with Katelyn Morrison’s life. What he could see from afar, that is.
The papers grasped onto every torrid and newsworthy turn in the heiress’s life. Dean knew that when she’d broken off with him, she’d rushed back into the arms of an old lover, proving that she’d never felt the same for Dean as he had for her. Looking back, he knew he’d rushed into a relationship with Maggie, and their breakup was probably for the best. What was wrong with him that women didn’t want to stick around? He’d pondered that thought for months until he simply turned his back on happily ever after. Sure, Jack made it look like fantasy material with Jessie. But Dean was done with long term anything when it came to the female gender in general. No-strings mutual affairs he could handle.
Commitment and promises of tomorrow, no way.
So what the hell was he doing suffering the early morning heat of a Houston summer waiting for Monica to jog her skinny butt around a few city blocks? The question swimming inside his head had him pushing off the building and turning to walk back to his rented car. Then Monica swung out of the building, waving at the doorman as she rested her sunglasses on her nose.
As Monica took off in the opposite direction, Dean removed his sunglasses and made his way inside the elite high-rise.
Dean walked up to the reception desk, praying the staff hadn’t changed over the last year.
“Mr. Prescott, how nice to see you again.” One hurdle down.
“Hello, Miss May. I see you’re just as lovely as ever.” Miss May was on the far side of sixty…and even further from “Miss” status.
“You always were a tease.” She winked at him. “Shall I let Miss Morrison know you’re on your way up?”
Dean waved her off. “No need, she knows I’m coming,” he lied.
“Have a nice day, Mr. Prescott.”
Dean tipped his Stetson in her direction before moving to the bank of elevators. When he stepped inside, a green light went on indicating that Miss May had offered him access to Katie’s penthouse as she’d done many times in the past. At least when he wanted the staff to know he was visiting Katie. There were plenty of other times he’d made his way into the hotel penthouse without anyone knowing he was there. He and Katie had liked the game of being secret…at least in the beginning. Within seconds, he stood outside Katie’s door, his hand hesitating midway to the oak entrance to her home.
Suck it up, he told himself as he let his knuckles scrape against the wood.
A few seconds passed without Katie showing up. He knocked again, this time with more urgency. Just as he reached for the doorbell, the door flew open. “What?”
Dean stood back; his eyes ran down the length of Katie and took in her disheveled appearance. She was in a bathrobe, which wasn’t a surprise considering her playgirl lifestyle, but the way her hair was messed on top of her head, and the dark circles under her eyes, made him consider Jack’s words even more.
“Katelyn.”
Instead of opening the door wide, Katie shrank behind it and used it as a barrier between them. “What are you doing here?”
What was he doing there? “Jack wanted me to check in on you.”
Her gaze narrowed, suspicion laced her brow. “You saw me last night.”
“Right. But we couldn’t exactly talk there, could we?”
Katie hid a yawn behind her hand and shook her head. “I’m not sure what we have to talk about, Dean. I’m fine. Jack should mind his own business.” She glanced behind her shoulder and held the door tight as if to keep him from barging in.
“He’s worried about you and so am I. Are you going to let me in or are we going to have this conversation in the hall?” He was starting to wonder what she was hiding.
“Now’s a bad time.” She nearly whispered her words.
Realization dawned on him like a splash of ice-cold water.
“You’re not alone,” he said, feeling something inside him ache. Dammit, he had no business aching.
“No, it’s not…yes, that’s it. So, if you’ll excuse me.”
As Katie started to close the door, Dean stuck his foot out to stop it.
She was lying. Her left eye did this little twitchy thing when she was being untruthful. It was something that he’d noticed early on when they’d flirted with each other. “What are you hiding, Katie?” His voice rose in agitation.
“Shh!” She glanced over her shoulder again then zipped her gaze back to him. “It’s a bad time, Dean. Why don’t we meet up for coffee…later.”
“I could use a cup now.” Without invitation, Dean pushed back against the door, determined to see what she was guarding.
The living room of her penthouse was as he remembered. Nothing seemed out of place. He glanced around and noticed that Katie still stood by the door holding it open.
“What’s going on?”
Katie placed her hands on her hips and pinched her lips together. It was her ticked off look. One he knew too well. “Nothing. Now will you please leave? I haven’t even showered yet and I’m not ready to entertain you.”
She shouldn’t look sexy in the pink, fluffy robe with her hair scattered every way but down, yet she did. Dean despised that his body heated with the memory of him messing up her hair. A memory a year and a half old.
“I’ll wait here while you get ready.”
Dean sat on her sofa and lifted one ankle to rest on his opposite knee.
Katie pounded her foot. “I never realized how dense you were, Dean Prescott. I don’t want you here and if you won’t leave on your own, I’ll have security escort you out.”
Her threat was empty and they both knew it. Dean winked and removed his hat from his head.
“Dammit, Dean!” Her voice rose well above the whisper she’d been using.
As he started to laugh at her agitation, a foreign noise sounded from the direction of her room.
Katie eyes shot to her bedroom door and she went perfectly still, her face lost all color.
When the noise sounded again, her attention shifted back to him. Then she did something Katie never did.
She fidgeted.
Dean saw the moment panic set in and leapt to his feet, over the sofa, and beat her to the door to her room.
Her chest heaved against her robe as she fought for her breath.
Dean’s hand grasped the doorknob and her hand shot out to stop him. The contact sizzled unwanted and unexpected awareness throughout his body.
He stared deep into her eyes and saw the same heat he felt staring back at him.
When an infant’s cry shocked him out of his trance, he loosened his hold on the door and let Katie push him out of the way.
What the hell?