The Baby Barter Page 6

  She felt his gaze shift to her. Could he see the pain that had consumed her in the days since she’d returned home, the fear that her only chance at a real family had died with Eileen? Or was he too centered on what losing Sarah would mean for him? His answer was to cover her hand with his, warmth to her cool skin, and she relaxed. “This thing with Eileen has really thrown you for a loop.”

  “I just...” She leaned her head back against the wall, her fingers threading automatically through his as if hanging on to him for dear life. “I don’t understand why my sister would do such a thing. We weren’t in touch for these past few years, but I’ve read her journal. She talked about how much she wanted a yard full of kids, babies she could love on.” And who would love Eileen back, Thea suspected. “I can’t see her giving her baby away.”

  “Maybe she realized she wasn’t ready for that kind of responsibility. Maybe she did it out of love.” Mack gently squeezed her hand.

  She’d like to think her sister was that unselfish, but Eileen had spent her short life desperate for the affection she never got from their mother. Thea’s love had never been enough for her—she had wanted more. Giving up her baby, a child who would grow to love her unconditionally, wasn’t something Thea could see her sister doing. “She could have left the baby with Momma. I could have asked for an emergency discharge and come home...”

  “And cleaned up the mess your sister made just like you always did?” Mack pulled his hand away as if he’d touched his fingers to a hot furnace.

  “You don’t understand.” How could he? Mack had always had parents who loved him, who thought the sun and the stars rose in his every movement. How could he begin to fathom what she and Eileen had endured, living with a mother who always found fault, who only made time for them when it was convenient for her? “I’m not saying Eileen didn’t make mistakes. I know she did, but I did, too, and when I messed up, Eileen tried to be there for me. Sisters help each other out.”

  “You were too easy on her. Eileen took advantage of your sweet nature. She always did.”

  Thea grimaced. Yes, she probably had. But she had let Eileen down, too, at the time when her sister needed her the most. “You don’t understand.”

  “I understand more than you think, Thea.” Mack leaned a hair closer to her, just enough to see his blue eyes darken to a stormy indigo, pinning her in place.

  Thea shook her head then caught herself. How could she explain her sister’s behavior without Mack learning the whole truth, that this baby was not Eileen’s first? That her own mother had been in cahoots with the likes of Georgia Tann, a woman who had browbeaten and threatened countless scores of women into give up their babies so that she, under the front of a charitable institution, could go on to sell those babies to the highest bidder.

  To admit what her mother had done, and the circumstances leading to it, would betray the little good that was left of her sister’s memory while revealing Thea’s own failures. She shouldn’t have taken the extra shift at work that night eight years ago, but she’d wanted to see Mack, work with him one more time before she quit to leave for college. If she had stayed home, she could have stopped her mother from ever going to the train station, before the exchange had been made with Georgia Tann.

  Instead, she’d made a promise to her sister that she’d bring the baby home. And then the only option Thea’d had was to jump on that train and follow Miss Tann to the ends of the earth if need be. But it had been for nothing, and Eileen had lost whatever hope she’d held on to with the disappearance of her son, a baby boy their mother had sold to keep scandal away from their doorstep. The baby boy Thea had failed to retrieve, breaking her promise to her sister for the first time in her life—leaving her too ashamed to come home for eight long years.

  Thea pushed away the awful memory. No. No matter how much Mack thought he understood her family’s situation, he couldn’t.

  Not in a million years.

  * * *

  Finding Thea here at the hospital hadn’t been what Mack had expected when he’d agreed to meet Beau for lunch. But these few moments he’d spent with her had given him time to get a read on her, to try to figure out what had brought her home after an eight-year absence. Only her reaction to his questions had confused him more. The woman held secrets close to the chest but her blue eyes revealed a storm of emotions that unsettled him, made him want to protect her from the pain and regret he’d found hidden in their depths. Why he felt this way, after the mess she’d left behind when she’d hopped that train out of town, after the damage she’d caused him, the loss of everything he’d ever hoped for, he couldn’t explain.

  No, she wasn’t directly responsible for the car accident that had had such devastating consequences in his life. But he wouldn’t have been out in his car that night—driving too fast to get home after dropping her off at the train station, trying to beat the curfew the coach insisted on so he’d be able to play in that weekend’s big game—if she hadn’t come to him, desperate, needing a ride.

  If it hadn’t been for her, he’d have been safely at home rather than out on the road. He’d have played in the big game instead of spending that weekend in the hospital. He’d have gone on to college, instead of losing his scholarship after the doctors said the partial deafness in one ear was permanent. He’d have lived the life he’d always planned instead of giving up his dreams.

  He’d lost everything, all because he’d chosen to do a favor for a girl he’d thought was his friend. But what kind of friend would have left him behind so completely? He hadn’t heard from her the entire time she was gone, even though she must have known about his accident. Not one call, or card, or even apology in eight years. Those years of silence should have been more than long enough for him to harden his heart against her.

  But he couldn’t deny that he still had a soft spot for Thea, maybe because he knew how tough she’d always had it at home. Probably just being overprotective, the same way he felt when he’d sworn to protect the citizens of Marietta.

  And maybe President Truman plans to dance a jig in Marietta Square!

  Mack stood and paced to the opposite side of the waiting room, needing to put some distance between them. Hadn’t Thea taken enough from him? He touched the puckered skin just under the hairline at his ear. Nobody wanted a man who could barely hear, not even the armed services during the war, and they’d been desperate.

  And now Thea was back, and this time she might cost him his child. The woman owed him a straight answer as to why she’d come home, and this time she couldn’t run away.

  Before he could get the question out, Thea spoke. “I’m sorry I snapped at you like that.” She gave him a watery smile. “It’s just...with finding out about Eileen, and well, everything, it’s been a lot to deal with this last week.”

  Mack felt himself weaken. Poor woman. No doubt this was not quite the homecoming she’d hoped for. This situation with Eileen’s baby couldn’t be easy for her, either. “It’s understandable. This whole thing with Sarah has got me walking around on pins and needles. I’m as grouchy as an old black bear.”

  “Well, maybe not that bad.” Her lips twitched into a slight grin. “But almost.”

  He snorted out a short chuckle. That’s one thing he could say for the woman. She always knew how to stop him from taking himself so seriously. But this was a serious situation. All his hopes for the future, a future that included raising Sarah, were at stake. “I love that little girl, you know.”

  “I know. You feel like she’s your daughter.”

  Mack drew in a deep breath and waited. Surely she’d remind him that Sarah might be her niece and Thea intended to raise her as her own. But Thea remained quiet, as if acknowledging his love for the baby had taken what little energy she had left. He shouldn’t be surprised. Thea had always been sensitive to everyone’s feelings, especially her family’s.

  An
d now to his feelings, it seemed. It was a pity she couldn’t have been bothered to show more care eight years ago, when he really could have used a friend. He watched her as she fidgeted with the clasp on her purse. The dark blue suit dress she wore gave her an air of dependability and professionalism while the black velvet hat turned her skin a luminous pink that matched the tiny pearls at her ears. Her brownish-blond hair had been pulled back into a loose knot at her nape, tiny tendrils caressed the smooth skin of her neck making his fingertips tingle. Would the silky strands feel as soft they looked?

  Mack shook off the feeling. This was Thea, his old friend, the girl who’d robbed him of his future, and who had run away without a single glance back to the people who might need her. The woman who planned to steal his daughter.

  “Why did you come back?”

  Clutching tight to her purse, Thea lifted her head. “Excuse me?”

  Mack took a step toward her, then stopped. He’d get no answers out of her if he intimidated her. “You’ve been gone for eight years, Thea. In all that time, you never came home, not once. So why now? What brought you back here after all this time?”

  She gave a quick glance at her wristwatch as she bit her lower lip, pushed a tiny strand of hair behind her ear. Signs he took to mean Thea was nervous. She stood. “I must have misunderstood the head nurse about my appointment time. Or maybe she wanted to meet me in her office. That would make more sense.”

  The woman was going to make a run for it. How typical. Mack blocked her path to the exit. “Why is it so difficult for you to answer my question?”

  “Why is it so important that you know?”

  Why was it so important to him? For the sake of the baby, of course, but he knew that wasn’t the entire reason he’d pushed her for an answer. Maybe if he opened up a little, Thea would feel comfortable enough to answer in return. “You left without a word to anyone except for maybe Eileen, and if she knew where you’d gone she didn’t stick around long enough to tell anyone. I was surprised not to hear from you. I guess I thought we were friends back then.”

  He’d said too much, but once he’d started, the words had seemed to flow out of him before he could call a stop to them. What would Thea do now? Turn and walk away, or was she brave enough to answer his honesty with her own?

  “I missed my family.”

  “After eight years?” All right, so that had been kind of mean, throwing that fact out there, but if Thea had wanted to see her family, why had she waited all this time to come back home? “You could have come to Marietta anytime.”

  “No, I couldn’t,” she snapped, then she jerked back as if the words had stung her. “I didn’t mean...”

  The guilt in her expression tugged at him. What had he expected? Even puppies snarl when you back them into a corner. But her answer had intrigued him. What was this great sin she had committed that made her think she wouldn’t be welcomed back home?

  The door behind Mack opened. “Miss, have you seen...” The man paused. “There you are, Mack. I’ve been looking all over for you.”

  Beau. Sparring with Thea had made Mack forget all about his lunch plans. “You must not have been looking too hard.”

  The man had the decency to smile at the good-humored ribbing. Beau turned to Thea. “I’m sorry about that, Miss. Mack here is a great sheriff but he’s no Bob Hope.”

  “I don’t know.” Thea lifted her chin a notch higher, their gazes tangling as her eyes met his. “He can certainly hold your attention when he wants to.”

  The breathlessness in her response made Mack’s palms sweat. This Thea was wiser, more confident. Yet, there was still a vulnerability about her that made him want to protect her, be her shelter in the storms that raged around her.

  “You seem to know our sheriff rather well.” Beau gave him a sly grin. “You ashamed of your old friends or did you want to keep your beautiful lady all to yourself?”

  Mack rolled his eyes. Of course Beau would jump to conclusions. The man knew Mack had been searching for a wife, had even considered courting Edie Michaels until Beau had made it plain he wanted Edie for himself. But this woman? Mack had to set the record straight. “Thea is just a friend.”

  “Thea Miller?” Beau turned to study the woman in question with a more in-depth look. “Oh, my, it is you.”

  If Thea felt insulted, she didn’t look it. “I know I didn’t make much of a splash in high school, but I can’t believe you don’t recognize the girl who hung out with your cousin, Beau Daniels.”

  Beau squinted slightly then smiled, his eyes alight with recognition. “Maggie mentioned something about you being back in town. Of course, she forgot to mention how lovely you are.”

  Thea’s cheeks turned a delicate pink. “That’s mighty nice of you to say.”

  “I always believe in telling the truth.”

  Mack bit back a frown, an uncomfortable knot tightening in his gut. Beau didn’t have to be quite so charming. “How’s Edie doing? Still having problems this morning?”

  Beau nodded, his smile dimmed somewhat, concern shadowing his eyes. “As long as we keep her in saltine crackers, she seems to be okay. I’ve told her to stay at home and not worry about work for right now, but my wife can be as stubborn as a mule. I’ll be glad when she’s a little bit further along.”

  Thea stepped forward and laid a hand on Beau’s shoulder in a comforting gesture Mack had seen a million times from other nurses calming patients. Then why did the thought of her touching his friend, no matter how innocently, bother him to no end?

  “Maggie mentioned your wife was having a rough time,” Thea replied. “What is she? About two or three months along?”

  “The baby’s due at the end of April.” Beau gave her a hesitant smile. “I just hate that I can’t do anything to make her feel better right now.”

  “And being in medical school, you think you should be more prepared than most men?” She waited until Beau gave her a reluctant nod. “What you’re feeling is what every other man with an expectant wife has felt, and it’s okay. You know what you can do for her right now? Be there for her. Hug her when she’s not quite sure why her emotions are all over the place. Tell her how much you love her. And pray for her, and for the family the two of you are making together.”

  “Thank you, Thea.” The worry that had been in Beau’s expression since the day they’d announced Edie’s pregnancy eased slightly. “It’s easy to see that you’re very good at being a nurse.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

  Mack could tell by the color deepening in her cheeks that Thea wasn’t accustomed to much praise. Why was that? She’d always been one of the smartest people he’d known, her nose always in a book, her acceptance into the finest nursing school in the Southeast proof of all her hard work. Why did she seem surprised when someone complimented her?

  “Would you like to join us for lunch, Thea?”

  Mack blinked at the invitation. Great, he’d hoped to talk, get some information out of Beau, maybe question him about the town council’s decision to beef up the police department and where the decision might leave Mack. Now, with Thea tagging along, the conversation would be limited.

  “I appreciate the offer, but I’m supposed to meet with the head nurse in a few minutes, then I have a few errands to do before I go home. It was nice to see you again, Beau, and I hope your wife gets to feeling better soon.” Thea’s gaze shifted to Mack. “Sheriff.”

  Mack was grateful for Beau’s silence as Thea walked across the room, the sharp clip of her heels against the tile floor receding as she proceeded down the hall. It was only after he drew in a deep breath that Mack realized Beau was watching him. “What?”

  “I could ask you the same question, my friend. There was so much tension between the two of you when I came in, you could have cut it with a scalpel.”

  Irrit
ation slithered up Mack’s neck. “Leave it alone.”

  But his friend wasn’t one for listening. “You’ve been looking for marriage material and from what I could tell, Thea seems like a really nice girl.”

  Mack could hear the blood pulsing in his ears. “You’re out of line.”

  Beau droned on. “Pretty, smart and she has a career to fall back on.”

  “Would you shut your pie hole?”

  “And I happen to know you kind of had a thing for her back in high school.”

  That stopped Mack dead in his tracks. He jerked around toward his oldest friend in the world. “I never told you that.”

  “You didn’t have to. You made it plain every time another guy thought about asking her out. How many did you threaten to pound if they so much as got near her? Five? Six?” Beau’s mouth cocked up into a sly smile. “And here I thought you’d stayed friends because...well, a guy like you didn’t date a girl with Thea’s kind of background.”

  Mack had had enough. “Thea was and still is the complete opposite of what her sister was like. As you said, she’s a nice girl—and I’ll have words with anyone who says otherwise. I didn’t date her because we were good friends, nothing more. Okay?”

  “Okay. All I’m saying is she seems to be someone who would have the kind of caring nature that would be good for...say, the mother of a young girl.”

  Mack sighed. Almost the exact statement his lawyer had made a few days before. “You’ve talked to Red.”

  Beau nodded, his expression suddenly somber. “He did drop by. Said you might need someone to talk to about the adoption and the mess with the town council. But something else came up this morning, and I think we need to talk about it first. Back in my office.”

  Whatever it was had Beau worried. Mack couldn’t take much more bad news, not now. “Why don’t you just spit it out?”

  Beau glanced around the empty room, then motioned to a group of chairs in the far corner. Once Mack sat down, Beau seemed to transform from friend to one of the white-coated med students he’d seen around the hospital. Beau gathered his thoughts for a moment, then began. “Dr. Adams got a call from Dr. Medcalf over at the children’s hospital this morning.”