Her Best Friend's Baby

by Vicki Lewis Thompson, Stephanie Bond

  “I truly have created a monster,” she said. “Morgan, a horse is a very expensive proposition. I don’t care how much money you make, it’s foolish to buy a horse that you’ll only lay eyes on a few times a year. The horse will get barn sour, and you’ll have made a huge investment and get a bad-tempered horse in the bargain.”

  “That’s why I need a house-sitter. Someone who would exercise the horse. I don’t mean you at this point. You should stay off horses for now, but after the baby’s born, you could—”

  “You really are serious about all this, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.” He regarded her solemnly. “I know you think I’m bonkers, and that it’s all because of Arielle’s death….”

  “That’s exactly what I think. Maybe instead of looking for baby furniture while you’re here, we should research the mental health professionals in the area.”

  “I can understand why you’d think I’m crazy.” He looked deep into her eyes. “But I’m not crazy, Mary Jane. I feel as if I’m getting a grasp on who I am, who I might have become, with different influences. A whole new world is opening up for me, and I’m having a hell of a time.”

  When he looked at her like that, her tummy started doing flip-flops. That look was what made her start thinking of kissing and…other things. She found this transformation of his fascinating and very, very sexy. “That’s great, Morgan, but I think you should wait on this horse business,” she said.

  He smiled. “I wasn’t planning to buy one this afternoon, if that’s what you’re worried about. I might even wait until after you have the baby. But I still like the idea of a house-sitter. The inside needs live plants and…and someone sitting in the window seat more than three or four times a year. The house shouldn’t be empty so much.”

  “Then maybe you shouldn’t have bought it,” she said gently.

  “Logically you’re right, but the minute I walked into that house I felt as if I’d come home. I had to have it.”

  “I know what you mean. I—” She paused as a group of teenagers came in and took over their favorite booth. She knew and liked these kids, and they’d expect her to wait on them. “I’d better go,” she said.

  “I’m glad I kept you sitting down as long as I did,” he said. “Will you feel up to looking at baby furniture after you get off?”

  “Sure.” Her tiredness seemed to have disappeared with the fairy-tale prospect of living in that house.

  “I’ll come back a little after three. We can talk more about this house-sitting thing then.”

  “Okay.”

  He moved his plate, looking for a ticket. “Shelby didn’t ever give me a bill.”

  “Shelby didn’t intend to give you a bill.”

  “But—”

  “Let her comp you,” Mary Jane said. “She’s glad you’re here helping me through this, and this is one way she can show you.”

  “All right.” He took some money out of his wallet and tucked it under the plate. “But the least I can do is leave a tip.” He gazed at her. “Take care of yourself until I get back.”

  “I’m not the one who bonked myself on the head trying to act macho.”

  He grinned at her. “Aw, shucks, ma’am. It’s only a flesh wound.”

  “I want a note from the doctor to that effect.”

  “I’ll see what I can do. See you soon.”

  Mary Jane watched him leave the diner and waited until she was sure he was headed over to Maitland before she took the order pad out of her apron and started toward the group of teenagers. She would give her eyeteeth to live in that house. She had a sneaky suspicion he knew that.

  A HORSE. Morgan realized how inventive he could be when it suited his purpose. Ever since he’d decided to buy the Slattery place he’d been trying to figure out how to get Mary Jane to live there. She belonged in that house. He’d seen that from the first moment they’d stood together in front of that fantastic fireplace.

  A house in the Hudson Valley was all wrong for her, but this place was perfect. Her light-filled, passionate personality fit the personality of the house. He’d come up with the house-sitting idea right away, but it had seemed like a flimsy pretense until the horse angle had popped into his head.

  Everything was falling into place. Mary Jane could live rent free in the house, which should allow her to cut back on her hours at the diner. He could help her move in before he left. Then maybe he’d be able to make it down a couple more times before the baby was born.

  As he climbed the steps up to Maitland Maternity Clinic’s front entrance, a sudden thought brought him to a stop. If he and Mary Jane hadn’t moved past their sexual attraction to each other by the time he came back for a visit, that could be a little awkward. Well, they’d have to move past it.

  Then another thought hit him. Assuming he and Mary Jane managed to put their relationship on a friends-only basis, she would want to start dating once the baby was born. If she was house-sitting for him, she would be within her rights to bring her dates to the house. He wasn’t wild about that idea. He wasn’t wild about her dating, period. But maybe he’d get used to it as time went by. He really had no choice.

  Moments later, as he stood in the waiting room at Maitland Maternity, he thought he already understood why the place had such a good reputation. The hospital was obviously busy, and the voices he heard were cheerful, but the underlying atmosphere was of calm competence. Maybe the pastel color scheme contributed to the feeling, as well as the soft music in the background.

  From where he stood he could see the entrance to a small coffee shop, another door leading into a gift shop and a third for the day-care center. But his principal interest lay down the hall where the labor, delivery and recovery rooms were located. Now that he was here, he was eager to see everything. He approached the receptionist, gave his name and asked to see Ellie, as he’d promised Mary Jane he would.

  “Is this about a position at Maitland, Dr. Tate?” the receptionist asked.

  A position at Maitland. The concept sent a quiver of anticipation through him. But that would be ridiculous. He’d worked his tail off to build up that practice, and it was worth a mint. A sane person didn’t throw something like that away for a salaried position at a clinic, even one as celebrated as Maitland.

  “No, no, it’s not,” he said. “I just wanted a quick tour.” He decided not to mention the X ray until he saw Ellie. Maybe she’d agree that he didn’t need one.

  The receptionist buzzed Ellie’s office. A moment later she smiled at Morgan. “She’ll be right down, Dr. Tate.”

  “Thank you.” A position at Maitland. It was unlikely there were any openings. And he couldn’t leave Chuck in the lurch like that. Except Chuck might not look at it that way. He could take over the entire practice, hire someone young and hungry to help carry the workload and be in a wonderful financial position. Come to think of it, Chuck might love the idea, so long as he had time to get everything set up.

  But it would be truly dumb for Morgan to consider it. He’d done the hard part, building the practice. Word of mouth had taken over, and before long he’d have to start cutting back on new patients. With the income he generated, he was looking at a cushy life-style for some time to come. Early retirement was a given. Nobody walked away from something like that.

  When Ellie stepped off the elevator and came toward him, Morgan almost didn’t recognize her. He’d met her dressed in pajamas at the slumber party, but she looked crisp and professional in her tailored suit.

  She smiled at him. “Morgan! What on earth did you do to your head?”

  “Fell off a horse,” he said with a sheepish grin.

  “Have you had anyone look at it?”

  “Me.”

  Ellie clucked her tongue. “If you’re like most doctors I know, you think that’s good enough. Before we start the tour, I want you to come with me and we’ll get a quick X ray.”

  Morgan almost laughed. “Mary Jane figured you’d say that.”

  “Mary Jane and
I go way back,” Ellie said. “We know each other pretty well. Come on, let’s get you taken care of.”

  “I’m sure it’s nothing.” Morgan walked beside her down the hall.

  “Nevertheless, it’ll be good to know for sure. I hear you’re buying the Slattery place.”

  He glanced at her in surprise. “Word travels fast around here.”

  She smiled. “In certain circles. I was glad to hear that you’d be a property owner, because it might give me more leverage in convincing you to come and work for us.”

  Morgan blinked. “Oh, I don’t—”

  “I know,” Ellie said. “You have a lucrative private practice in Manhattan, and we can’t match the kind of money you’re making. But after meeting you the other night I did some checking, and you have impressive credentials. If you hadn’t come in of your own accord, I was planning to have Mary Jane drag you over here. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t at least try to recruit you while you’re in town.”

  Morgan was beginning to wonder if he had a concussion, after all. In spite of all the reasons he shouldn’t consider what Ellie was suggesting, he was beginning to seriously think about it. Maybe he did need to have his head examined.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  BY THE TIME Mary Jane finished her shift at Austin Eats and Morgan hadn’t arrived, she began to worry that he really did have a concussion and Ellie had recommended he go for more tests. She decided to wait a few more minutes, and then she’d call Ellie.

  It was the changing of the guard at the diner. Sara had gone home and Joe had taken over the cooking duties. Shelby had temporarily left Georgette in charge of the counter while she ran some errands.

  Business was slow, and Lisa, the teenager who waited tables four afternoons a week, had launched into the story of her big date the night before. Mary Jane was so busy keeping an eye on the front door that she barely heard a word the girl said.

  “And he so wanted to go out again,” Lisa said. “And I was all, why do you want to go out again? We, like, fought the whole time.”

  “That doesn’t sound like much fun.” Mary Jane watched the clock. A couple more minutes and she’d call Ellie’s office to find out what the situation was with Morgan.

  “It was a hideous evening,” Lisa said. “The only thing is, he’s way cute. Oh, darn, there’s that weird couple. I hate waiting on them. They creep me out.”

  Mary Jane recognized Janelle Davis and Connor O’Hara. Janelle claimed to be the mother of the baby left on the steps of Maitland nine months ago, and Connor O’Hara was apparently the father of the little boy and Megan Maitland’s nephew. He hadn’t known about Janelle’s pregnancy, and now he wanted to make it all up to her and get married. Mary Jane had her doubts about the whole thing, especially considering that Connor was allowing his aunt to finance the wedding. It didn’t seem like a very manly thing to do.

  “If the stories they’re telling are true, they’ll become a fixture around here, so we may as well get used to them,” she told Lisa. “And they’re customers, so you’d better go take their order.”

  “I don’t trust them. And that guy is, like, middle-aged, but he keeps checking me out and acting all studly. Gross.”

  Mary Jane had the same reaction to the couple Lisa did. On the surface they were nice looking and dressed well, but something about them was a little off. Mary Jane wasn’t usually suspicious of people, but in this case she couldn’t help it.

  Janelle seemed to be well on her way to proving she was indeed the mother of little Chase. But Chase was a valuable kid to be connected to, and as far as Mary Jane was concerned, Janelle and Connor seemed far too eager to assume their place in the Maitland family.

  Before she’d become pregnant, Mary Jane might not have been so sensitive to another woman’s mothering style. But now she was, and Janelle didn’t strike her as the motherly type at all. Besides, from what Beth and Ellie had said, Janelle was having an amazingly tough time coming up with birth records. Mary Jane knew red tape was a reality, but she wondered if Janelle could be stalling.

  Megan Maitland, the matriarch of the family, was treating Janelle and Connor like royalty, that was for sure. She’d planned a big June wedding with all the trimmings, and Mary Jane figured the huge rock on Janelle’s left hand had been bought with Maitland money, too. Everyone in the Maitland clan was buzzing about what could turn out to be the social event of the year.

  Through her friendship with Ellie and Beth, Mary Jane had known Megan Maitland for a lot of years, and the woman wasn’t stupid. She wanted to be welcoming to her long-lost nephew and the mother of his baby, but she was obviously keeping a firm hold on that baby until Janelle came up with some official documents. Mary Jane would be surprised if anyone pulled the wool over Mrs. Maitland’s eyes for very long.

  JANELLE LOOKED nervously toward the kitchen as she sat in a red vinyl seat opposite Petey. “I don’t like coming in here, Petey,” she said quietly.

  “Watch yourself. You’d better keep calling me Connor while we’re out in public like this.”

  “Okay, Connor. You’re sure she’s not on duty right now?”

  “Look through there into the kitchen.” Petey ran a hand through his thick hair. “There’s an old guy back there. She’s not on evenings this week. I’ve checked. I know her schedule better than she does. Anyway, they have the best lemon meringue pie in the city here.”

  “You and your pie are gonna get us in trouble yet. The more she sees us, the more she’s liable to remember who she is. And once that happens, we’re toast.” Janelle glanced up quickly as a teenager way too perky for her own good came to take their order. “I’ll have black coffee and a piece of cherry pie,” she said quickly.

  “Black coffee and lemon meringue,” Petey said.

  “Coming right up,” the teenager said.

  Janelle thought the kid’s smile looked fake. Well, the brat probably hated her job. Janelle had sure hated service jobs, too. But those days were over.

  Petey leaned toward her and lowered his voice. “Look, maybe you’re right, Janelle. This while thing is getting risky. We’ve already raked in a lot, enough that we won’t have to worry about money for a long, long time. Let’s cancel out of this gig. Any minute now those idiot Maitlands are going to figure out that you don’t have any damn birth records for precious little Chase.”

  Janelle’s features hardened and she leaned back against the booth. “I may be getting a little antsy, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to give up on our chance at the mother lode. We’ve been over this a million times. If we can make it as far as the wedding, the gifts are just going to pour in.”

  “You’re so sure we’ll get cash, but I got my doubts, babe. I ain’t risking my neck just to get a goddamned silver gravy boat that once belonged to Great Aunt Beulah.”

  Janelle chuckled. “It’s not the gravy boat I’m going for, sweetheart. It’s the gravy. The Maitlands owe me big time—and I’m not leaving till I get my fair share.”

  MARY JANE finally decided to go into Shelby’s office and call Ellie when Morgan walked through the door all smiles, like a kid who’d just come in from the playground. From his cheerful expression she would have thought he hadn’t been to Maitland at all except that he had a new bandage on his forehead.

  She hurried toward him. “Are you okay? I was worried sick.”

  “Worried?” He looked confused. “About what?”

  “Your head! And your broken toe. Honestly, Morgan.”

  “Oh, that! My head’s fine. I knew it would be. And they retaped my toe, although they said my job was fine. Ford told me to hang on to the saddle horn next time.”

  “Ford Carrington?” Then she realized that Ellie must have introduced Morgan to Ford, who was Maitland’s top pediatric surgeon.

  “Heck of a nice guy,” Morgan said. “Turns out he went to med school with Chuck. They pulled a few pranks together, too. Now I have some things to blackmail old Chuck with. What a small world.”

  “
Sure is.” Except the world seemed huge when she thought of him living in New York and her living in Austin. She didn’t like to think about Morgan in his old office joking around with his partner. Forgetting about her. But fortunately Morgan was so excited about his visit to Maitland that he didn’t pick up on her sadness.

  “They have a fantastic setup over there, Mary Jane,” he said. “Top-of-the-line equipment, great staff. I met Abby, your gynecologist.”

  “Beth and Ellie wanted me to have the best, so they set me up with their big sister.”

  He nodded. “I’m glad. The whole family thing they have going on over there is something to behold. I had no idea that the clinic was truly Maitland Maternity. I guess that’s one of the secrets to its success. Anyway, Abby told me you’re coming along great. I know you’re going to love having the baby there.”

  She wondered if he’d be by her side. Despite his good intentions, he might not make it. “Aside from a few pesky labor pains, I’m sure I will.”

  “With the atmosphere they have in that clinic, I’ll bet even labor pains are easier. I can see why women come from all over the country to have their babies there. Oh, and Beth showed me through the day-care center. What a terrific setup. I got some ideas for the nursery.” He paused long enough to glance at her. “But first I need to ask if you’re still up for shopping. We don’t have to if you’re too tired.” He looked so hopeful that she’d want to go.

  And she did want to shop for the nursery. That would take her mind off the idea of him leaving. Besides, his excitement energized her. Obviously he was as happy with his work as she was with hers, and she loved seeing that side of him. “Sure. But it’s getting really hot and muggy out. I’d like to zip home and change clothes first.”

  “I’ll follow you. Then we’ll take the truck. Garrett said if we found things we wanted we could store them at his place until we get keys to the house.”