She smiled up at Dave. “I’m guessing it’s a boy.”
There was no note tucked in with the baby as far as Dave could see. Instead he followed Charlie to an exam room with better lighting. She lay the sleeping baby carefully on the exam table and began looking him over. First, checking what she could with the sleeper on, and then she began unsnapping the pajamas. The baby woke then, disturbed by the feeling of being undressed and exposed. At the same time there was a knock at the outer door.
Charlie never looked up from her examination. “Could you get that? It’ll be the police.”
Dave went to the door and flipped the lock, letting in the other man, who was dressed in his uniform and was big enough that Dave figured most men in town would think twice before picking a fight. “Officer,” he greeted, holding open the door. “I’m Dave Ricker.”
“Is Dr. Yang in trouble?” The cop pushed into the reception area, his eyes sharp.
“No, no, of course not.” Dave shook his head. “Follow me. She’s in here.”
The officer followed Dave back to the exam room and brushed by him at the doorway. “Dr. Yang? Are you okay?”
She looked up, keeping one hand on the baby’s belly, as if anchoring him in place. “Hello, Todd.”
Dave watched as the burly officer’s hard gaze softened as he looked at the baby. “Well. Who have we here?”
“I wish I could tell you.” She met Dave’s gaze across the room. “Dave, this is Todd Smith. Come on in and tell him what happened, Dave, and I can finish up my exam. This little guy would probably like to be bundled up again.”
Dave stepped a little outside the door, the urge to cuddle the infant, to quiet his crying surprisingly strong. He watched as Charlie felt the little one’s tummy gently, her concentration focused solely on the baby. “It might be quieter out here,” he suggested.
He felt strange now that his arms were empty. He’d gotten used to holding the baby so quickly.
“You said your name’s Dave?”
He turned away from the sight. “That’s right. David Ricker. I’m renting a cottage in the area and work on the docks. Charlie and I were at the tree lighting tonight.”
“Together?”
There was an edge to Todd Smith’s voice that Dave recognized. That was another thing he was learning about small towns. People looked out for each other. He was actually really glad that someone had Charlie’s back. He got the feeling she felt she was mostly on her own.
“Not together together, if that’s what you’re getting at.” Though they would have been if Dave had had any say about it.
“Go on.”
“We were walking to the pub—we were going to meet some people there for a bite to eat. I thought I saw someone hanging around the manger, and then they went running off.”
Smith’s gaze sharpened as he looked up from his notepad. “You saw who left him?”
“Not exactly. I mean I did, but I just saw a person. I couldn’t tell you what they looked like. Young, maybe? Slight. Probably a woman. A girl.” He let out a breath.
“So you checked it out.”
“I did. When I looked in the manger, I couldn’t believe it. Who the hell would leave a baby outside, in a nativity scene, on a December night?” His jaw tightened. “What if we hadn’t been there? That baby might have frozen to death.”
Smith nodded. “Lucky for him you did see. Why didn’t you wait there? I would have looked the scene over.”
“It was cold. Considering the baby, Charlie wanted to come here where it was warm, and make sure he was okay.”
“That’s all right. I’ll call this in and go back over and see what I can find.”
Charlie came back to the reception room, the baby dressed again in his sleeper and wrapped in the blanket. “He’s a bit on the small side, but otherwise he looks well enough,” she decreed with a smile. The baby was burrowed into her neck, sucking on his fingers. “But he’s going to be hungry really soon.”
It looked disturbingly right, the way she was holding the child.
“I have to contact child services,” Smith said quietly. “He’ll have to go into foster care until this is sorted out.”
“Of course,” Charlie answered, while Dave’s gut churned. This poor little thing. Abandoned and then pawned off into foster care. It didn’t seem right.
Charlie’s hand was on the baby’s head now, stroking the fine, blond hair. “Listen,” she said to Smith, “why don’t we leave him under my medical care until morning? That’s soon enough, don’t you think? We’ve got a stock of diapers and emergency formula here. I can care for him until then, make sure there aren’t any other medical issues that weren’t immediately apparent. You’ll have a better idea of the situation by then too.”
“You’re up to it? Because this baby’s pretty little. There’ll be no sleeping through the night or anything.”