Will appeared at her side. “We need to get going, Scott.”
She nodded, not trusting her voice to speak.
He wrapped his arm around her and ushered her through the door and to the street. Will switched the car seat to his truck and helped Scottie strap the baby in. They rode in silence through the side streets to downtown. He pulled into a deserted parking lot a block west of the Omni Hotel. Scottie got out of the truck, removed Mary from the car seat, and slipped her into the baby carrier she wore beneath her trench coat. Crawling back into the front seat of the truck, she carefully fastened the seat belt around the baby.
“Remember the signals?” Will asked.
“Yes. All clear means I’m ready for you to pick me up, and 911 means we’ve got trouble.”
“Right.” He parked the truck on the curb next to the side entrance. “I’m gonna park somewhere close by so I can get to you a hurry.” He held his fist out to her. “You got this, right?”
She inhaled a deep breath. “I sure as hell hope so.”
“You’ll be fine. Keep your head tucked so no one can see your face, and whatever you do, don’t lock eyes with anyone. The elevators are right inside the side entrance.”
Scottie tossed the diaper bag over her shoulder and entered the empty lobby. Her eyes glued to the ground, she rode the elevator to the third floor and tapped lightly on the door of room 365. A woman Scottie recognized from television as Judith Sabin cracked opened the door but left the chain on. Her eyes grew wide with alarm at the sight of the bedraggled woman in front of her.
“I have information about your granddaughter,” Scottie whispered.
Michael Sabin appeared behind his wife, cell phone in hand ready to call the police.
Scottie opened the trench coat enough for them to see the top of Mary’s head. “I’m the camera lady. I have your grandchild.”
“Oh my goodness,” Judith said, immediately unlatching the chain and opening the door wide.
Scottie lifted the baby from the carrier and placed her in Judith’s arms. “Her name is Mary. At least that’s what I’ve been calling her. I don’t think your daughter… Melissa… well, I don’t think she ever named the baby. There’s no birth certificate, at least not that I know of.”
Judith cradled the baby in her arms, hugging her tight and covering her face with kisses, while Michael peered at Mary over his wife’s shoulder. His face softened and a warm smile appeared on his lips. “She looks just like Melissa did as a baby.” Raising his head, he looked directly into Scottie’s eyes. “I don’t understand. Why’d you wait so long to bring her to us?”
“It’s a long story.” Scottie gestured at one of two chairs in the corner of the room. “May I?”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” he said after scrutinizing her odd attire, from her designer boots to her Rastafarian wig.
He knew she was wearing a disguise, of course. If only she could reveal the real Scottie to the Sabins. She wanted so much to assure them that their granddaughter had been in the capable hands of an educated, intelligent woman.
“Please,” Scottie said to Michael. “Just give me a chance to explain. If you still want to call the police afterward, I totally understand.”
Judith lowered herself to the king-size bed opposite Scottie. “Come on, honey. We owe her this much, for keeping our granddaughter safe.”
He nodded once. “You have ten minutes.”
Scottie drew in a deep breath. “I’m the one who discovered your daughter’s body. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Judith brought her fingers to her lips and tears welled up in Michael’s eyes.
Scottie waited a minute for the Sabins to rein in their emotions. “It was never my intention to keep the baby,” she said, then described the events of the past week in great detail. She told them about finding the baby cradled in her dead mother’s arms, and her decision to take her to safety. “When the others deserted me, with no cell phone to call the police, all I could think about was getting the baby somewhere safe and into the right hands.”
She described that first miserable night when Mary’s tummy had a hard time adjusting to formula, and she told them about her visit from Mabel. “The old woman convinced me the baby was better off living with me. Your daughter had painted an unflattering picture of you to her friends, I’m sorry to say. I have no reason to believe it’s true, now that I’ve met you in person.”
“What did she say about us?” Michael asked.
“That her family was dysfunctional and the two of you abusive alcoholics.”
Judith shook her head in dismay. “That’s just not true. Melissa was our only child. We tried our best with her. Maybe we tried too hard. She couldn’t abide our strict rules. Our home became a battlefield over missed curfews and her poor performance in school. Her friends were all the wrong sort—drinking and drugs and promiscuous behavior. She ran off four years ago with a boy we didn’t approve of.”
Scottie raised her eyebrows. “Maybe he’s the baby’s father?”
“That’s not possible,” Michael said. “The young man my wife is talking about died of a heroin overdose a year later in Los Angeles.”
“That’s horrible,” Scottie said.
“Everything about that way of life is horrible,” Judith said. “We’ve been looking for Melissa for a long time. We’ve come into contact with several bands of homeless people in the process.”
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Michael said. “Why’d it take you so long to come forward?”
“I’ll be honest with you. In the past six days, I’ve grown quite fond of your grandchild. It’s an easy thing to do. You see, the past couple of years have been difficult for me.” She told them about her miscarriage as well as the stillbirth of her baby last spring. “I’m not making excuses for my behavior. I was vulnerable. When Mabel convinced me I was the best person to raise her, I took advantage of the situation. Lord knows why I listened to an old woman who’s been living on the streets for the past twenty years. Because I wanted it so much to be true, I guess.”
Judith reached over and patted Scottie’s hand. “The important thing is, you decided to give her back now.”
“And you just expect us to let you walk away without punishment? You committed a crime.” Michael said.
“I know it’s too much to ask, after what I did.” Scottie’s hand rubbed her flat belly. “You see, I’m pregnant again. I found out a few days ago. I don’t want my baby born in prison.”
“Where’s your husband in all this?” Michael asked, his eyes glued on the small engagement ring and wedding band on Scottie’s left hand.
“He’s not involved,” Scottie said, shoving her hand in the pocket of her trench coat, mentally reprimanding herself for forgetting to take off her ring. “Despite our problems having a healthy baby, he is very much opposed to adoption. He was out of town visiting relatives when I discovered the baby. He came home on Friday and moved out the next day.”
Biting back tears, Scottie took a deep breath to steady her voice. “Look, I understand if you need to turn me in to the police, but I want you to know I’m not a threat to you. Or to your granddaughter. I only want what’s best for her.”
Judith’s eyes pleaded with her husband. “I understand why this young woman made the choices she did. The important thing is, she did the right thing in the end. Nothing good would come from turning her in. Turning her in would mean only that another baby would be raised without her mother.”
“How do we explain the baby’s sudden appearance?” he asked.
“Perhaps you could play up the human interest aspect of the story by calling a press conference in the morning,” Scottie suggested. “Maybe offer Joyce Jackson the exclusive.”
Michael lifted the baby from his wife’s arms. He sniffed her skin and nuzzled her neck, then held her tight against his chest. “Whatever we decide to do, we’ll protect you just as you protected our grandchild.” He kissed the top of M
ary’s head. “I like the name you chose for her. I think we’ll continue to call her Mary.”
Scottie stood to leave. “The name Mary seems appropriate for a baby born in a makeshift shelter to a mother who loved her dearly.”
17
Scottie texted Will—Mission accomplished—as soon as Michael Sabin closed his hotel room door behind her, separating Scottie from Mary forever. What she didn’t say to her brother was how she felt, like all the life had gone out of her and she’d never be happy again.
She walked down the hall as fast as her clunky Hunter boots would let her. She rode the elevator to the lobby and exited the building through the same side door she’d come in. She looked one way then another before texting her brother the all clear message. He arrived on the curb less than a moment later. Scottie jumped into the truck and buckled herself in, waiting until they’d rounded the corner before yanking off the wig. Will reached over and gave her knee a squeeze, but he knew not to speak to her yet. She was far from ready to talk.
The tears burned at the back of her throat, but she didn’t cry. She knew she’d made the right decision. She’d felt the warmth and kindness in the hotel room, the compassion and understanding. Judith and Michael were loving people who would offer Mary a proper home. The mistakes they’d made with Melissa would only make them better parents for Mary.
“I’d kill for a glass of wine right now,” Scottie said, breaking the silence when the Omni was ten blocks behind them. “I don’t really want to go home.”
“I figured that.” Will made a quick U-turn and parked alongside the curb in front of the Village Cafe. “Will you settle for a glass of milk and a piece of pecan pie?”
She nodded, not trusting her voice to speak. Her brother knew her so well.
They located a booth by the window and placed their order with the sullen waitress.
“What have you told Brad?” Will asked when the waitress was out of earshot.
“Nothing yet. He’s at work.” Leaning back in the booth, Scottie pulled out her cell phone. “I guess I need to tell him something, though. Before he turns me in himself.” She texted Brad: I gave the baby back. No strings attached, or so it seems. This doesn’t change anything between you and me. You walked out on me when I needed you the most.
Scottie didn’t expect him to respond right away. If at all.
“I guess we need to update Mom and Dad,” he said. While they waited for the waitress to bring their pie, they exchanged texts with their parents—Scottie with her father and Will with their mother.
They lingered over coffee until the cafe’s two o’clock closing time. “I really don’t feel like being alone, tonight,” Scottie said on their way to her house. “Will you stay with me?”
“As long as I get to pick the movie.”
Scottie choked up when she saw the baby paraphernalia scattered about the family room. “This is so hard, Will. It’s not fair.”
“I know, Scott. And having all this stuff around isn’t going to make it any easier.” He helped her to the sofa, draped a blanket around her shoulders, and handed her the television remote. “Find a movie, something upbeat, while I pack everything up.”
While Scottie scrolled through the holiday movies on On Demand, Will gathered all the baby equipment and took it upstairs to store in the nursery.
“It’s a Wonderful Life isn’t exactly what I had in mind,” Will said when he returned to the family room, his arms loaded with pillows and blankets.
“Sorry. A tearjerker seemed appropriate for a night like tonight,” she said, but they both fell asleep before George Bailey could save his brother from drowning in the frozen pond.
Joyce Jackson’s chipper voice woke them at six thirty. “I’m standing in front of the Omni Hotel in downtown Richmond where a stunning new development has taken place in the missing baby case.”
Scottie and Will scrambled to sit. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Scottie saw baby Mary cradled in Judith’s arms.
“I’m here with Judith and Michael Sabin, the parents of Melissa Sabin whose body was discovered in Monroe Park last Thursday.” Joyce held her microphone in front of the Sabins. “I understand you had a visitor during the night?”
Michael Sabin nodded. “My wife and I feel so blessed this Christmas Eve morning to have our grandchild back with us, where she belongs.”
“Can you tell us about the events of the night that led to the baby’s return?”
“I’m not at liberty to discuss the details, only to say that my wife and I are eternally grateful for the young woman for taking such good care of our grandchild in the days following our daughter’s death.”
“So you’ve reported the incident to the police?” Joyce asked.
“There’s not much to report. The woman was dressed in disguise. Her identity remains a mystery. I’m convinced she never intended any harm to the baby, but was merely taking care of her until our daughter’s body was identified and the family notified.”
“Can you—” Joyce started, but Michael held his hand up to silence her.
“That’s all I’m prepared to comment on for now. We have a plane to catch. We are taking our granddaughter home for Christmas.”
Scottie fell back against the cushions. “Do you think they actually talked to the police?”
Will shrugged. “Hard to say from his vague answer, but I can’t see the Sabins leaving town before talking to the police.”
Her eyes traveled the room before landing on the Christmas tree, so bright and cheerful in contrast to the heaviness she felt in her heart. “What are we supposed to do, sit around here all day and wait for the police to show up?”
“Hell no.” Will got up and pulled Scottie to her feet. “Go pack a bag. We’re going out to the farm a day early. We can take the four-wheelers out, and spend some time with the horses. And I’m sure Mom could use our help getting ready for the party tomorrow tonight.”
“Don’t you have to work?” she asked.
“I have a few phone calls I need to make. Nothing I can’t handle from the farm.”
“You go on without me.” She pushed him away. “I’m not much in the mood for Christmas.”
“No one expects you to be in a good mood. Besides, it’ll do you good to have a change of scenery.” His eyes drifted to the ten-day forecast flashing across the screen. He pointed at the television. “Looks like more snow. We can make a snowman or have a snowball fight or sit by the fire all afternoon drinking hot”—he glanced down at her belly—”chocolate and watching movies.”
“See, I’m no fun to be with right now. I can’t even drink hot toddies. Ask one of your friends to go with you. What about that girl you took out the other night, the one who works at the Apple Store?”
“That didn’t work out so well. Turns out she’s smarter than me.” Taking her hand, Will dragged Scottie down the hall to the stairs. “We’ve never spent a Christmas Eve apart. Of course, it won’t be as much fun this year without Brad around to make fun of…”
When he tried to push her up the stairs, she grabbed hold of the railing, refusing to budge. “Speaking of Brad, I should probably stay here in case he comes home.”
“That is one thing you most definitely should not do.” They locked eyes in a battle of wills. When she looked away, he turned her chin back toward him. “Remember that Christmas Eve when Buddy got run over by the car?”
Scottie bit her lip, holding back the tears. “He almost died that night.”
“Right. Remember how hard we prayed for a miracle?”
Scottie remembered. “We spent the night beside him on the floor in front of the fire. When we woke up the next morning, he was wagging his tail and licking our faces.”
“We got our miracle that night. Old Buddy lived five more years after that.”
Scottie smiled. They had loved that yellow Labrador retriever more than any pet they’d ever owned. And they’d owned a lot of them over the years, living on a farm.
“That’s the thin
g, Scott. Miracles come in all shapes and sizes. You were Mary’s miracle, not the other way around. She was blessed to have you take care of her in her time of need. But the baby growing inside of you is your Christmas miracle, your gift from God.”
Scottie placed a protective hand on her belly. She was grateful to Will for his wise insights. Regardless of how Brad fit into her future, the baby she carried would forever be a part of her, her own flesh and blood that no one could ever take away.
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Author’s Note
I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to my beta readers—Alison Fauls, Cheryl Fockler, and Mamie Farley—for their valuable feedback and to my editor, Patricia Peters for her keen attention to detail.
I’d also like to thank my readers in Richmond and beyond for their enthusiasm and support of my work. Publishing a novel is a terrifying and humbling experience. I’m flattered by your willingness to read my work. Your kind words are the motivation that keeps me writing.
As always, I am grateful to my family for their love and continued support.
I am diligently working on a full-length novel starring Scottie and Will and the mysterious Guy Jordan. Currently untitled, this work in progress is a political thriller with suspense and romance and a whole lot of familial love. Look for a release date in late spring 2016.
Merry Mary Page 8