“You don’t know any such thing, Counselor.”
His hand closed around her upper arm and as he looked down at her, his features gentled. “Yes, I do, honey. You’ve never had that look of love on your face. It hasn’t happened yet.”
Sierra’s brown eyes widened. “You know how a woman in love looks?”
Suddenly he laughed and patted her cheek. “Is that a trick question, Sierra?”
She started to laugh with him, but the lighthearted moment quickly ended as another knock sounded on the front door.
Frowning, Alex glanced toward the front entrance. “Are you expecting someone?”
“No. It’s probably a darn salesperson. Maybe you should go to the door, Alex. They don’t like to deal with men.”
He flashed her a confident smile. “Sure. I’ll get rid of him real quick.”
While Alex went to answer the door, Sierra decided to go into the kitchen and make a pot of coffee. She was halfway there when Alex turned away from the door and called to her.
“Sierra, I think you need to come here.”
“Coming.”
She joined Alex on the threshold and was surprised when she looked out onto the wide porch to see a teenage girl holding a newborn baby in a plastic carrier.
“Miss Sierra?” she asked in a small voice. “Is that you?”
“Yes.” Sierra pushed the screen door open and stepped onto the porch for a better look at the timid teenager. “Is that you, Ginger?”
The young woman with short, chestnut hair and very pale skin nodded. At the same time Sierra recognized her from one of the families she’d visited as a social worker. Ginger Rollins. Her father had abused her mother and the courts had issued a restraining order against him. Now the mother was doing her best to care for three children. It was the same old refrain that Sierra saw over and over in her line of work. Only this time it was complicated even more by Ginger being pregnant with a child.
“Is something wrong? Has your dad moved back in the house?”
Ginger nervously shook her head. “No. I—see—I’ve had my baby. A boy.”
Sierra stepped forward and peered down at the tiny infant. A fuzz of light, reddish-brown hair covered his head and although his eyes were closed in sleep, Sierra could see he was a handsome child with a sweet little bow mouth and a nose that was just big enough to look boyish.
“He’s adorable, Ginger,” Sierra exclaimed with a glowing smile for the baby. “You must be very proud.”
“Yes, Miss Sierra. I am.”
Sierra looked up at the girl’s anxious face. “So what can I do for you, Ginger?”
Blushing, the teenager looked down at her baby and Sierra felt her heart jerk with sorrow. Mother and child both needed so much help if they expected to make it in this world. And where would they find it? Certainly not from her family, she thought sadly.
“I was wondering if you could babysit for me? Just for a little while,” she added hastily. “You see, my mom’s at work and I—need to go to the hospital. My aunt is there having some tests run and she’s pretty scared and all. I thought I’d sit with her and try to make her feel a little better.”
Sierra didn’t hesitate. She had the rest of the day off. Having a baby in the house might be the very thing she needed to shake the depression she’d been feeling today.
“Why, of course,” she told Ginger. “I’d be glad to watch him for you.”
Smiling with relief, Ginger pushed the baby carrier into Sierra’s arms. “That’d be great! I’ll go get his diaper bag from the car. I’ll be back in a second.”
“You’re a real sucker for a manly face, aren’t you?”
She glanced around to see that Alex had walked out onto the porch and was now peering over her shoulder at the baby.
“Well, I just couldn’t resist this little man,” she confessed. “Isn’t he cute, Alex? Look, he’s got a dimpled chin just like yours.”
Alex chuckled. “Oh, no,” he said wryly. “You won’t ever see a baby with my genes stamped on his face. Kids are a serious responsibility. One that I’m not up to.”
Sierra had never heard Alex say he was opposed to having children and she started to question him about his remark, but Ginger was returning with the diaper bag.
“Thank you, Miss Sierra,” the teenager said with a breathless rush. “Everything that you need is in there. And I’ll—be back as soon as I can.”
“There’s no need for you to hurry your visit, Ginger,” Sierra assured her. “I hope you can help your aunt feel better. And your baby will be in good hands.”
With a sheepish smile, Ginger jumped off the porch and hurried across the lawn to the curb where a rattletrap, hatchback car was waiting.
Thoughtfully, Sierra watched the girl pull onto the street and drive out of sight. “Looks like I’ve been handed a job for this afternoon,” she said as she turned to go into the house.
Alex grabbed the diaper bag and followed her. “What’s the baby’s name?” he asked.
“Oh. I forgot to ask,” Sierra told him. “But since he can’t answer us, I guess it doesn’t matter.”
Her face glowing with excitement, she carried the baby over to the couch and placed him and the carrier onto the middle cushion. Alex sat down on the opposite side of the sleeping boy.
“He is cute,” Alex admitted as he closely studied the baby. “Kinda bald, but I guess his hair will grow. Are all babies like that? With just a little bit of hair?”
Sierra’s soft laugh was full of disbelief. “It amazes me that you’re smart enough to pass the bar exam but you don’t know anything about a baby.”
“I’m smart enough to know that they’re noisy and wet. And that so far I’ve been careful not to produce any.”
She leaned back from the baby and folded her arms against her breasts. “And why is that, Alex?”
He shot her a tired look. “Isn’t it obvious, Sierra? I’m not married. A kid needs a mom and a dad. Together in the same house. Instead of one living on the north side of town and one living on the south.”
Her eyes slid over his rugged features as she imagined what a son of Alex’s might be like. Strong, sturdy and handsome. He would raise a child of his with a firm but loving hand, just the way a father should be.
“Well, you’ve had plenty of offers for marriage,” Sierra reminded him.
With a mocking laugh, he stood up. “Marriage is just something to keep divorce lawyers rich. I don’t plan on contributing to their wealth.”
“One of these days we’re going to have to work on that cynical attitude of yours,” Sierra told him.
He grinned. “Yeah. And one of these days you’re going to learn to put some iron in that spine of yours.” With a cocky wink, he started to the door. “I’ve got to get to work. Have a nice afternoon, little mother.”
“I was going to make you some coffee,” she called to him. “Now you’re running off.”
Shaking his head, he stepped onto the porch. “We’ll do that some other time.” He peered back at her through the screen. “You just take care of your little guy, there. And forget about that other one. Hear me?”
Hear him? He’d been giving her advice for years. Maybe it was time she listened to the bossy counselor.
“I’ll try, Alex.”
Chapter Two
Sierra was so fascinated by the baby that an hour passed before she realized she’d been sitting on the couch simply watching him sleep.
After a few more minutes, she forced herself to get up and go to the kitchen and began making that pot of coffee. While she was waiting for it to drip, the baby began to let out soft, intermittent cries.
Back in the living room, she carefully changed the baby’s diaper and then fed him the formula that Ginger had left in the diaper bag. He went back to sleep soon after he drank a portion of the bottle and Sierra lay him on her bed so that he’d be out of the afternoon breeze wafting through the living room windows.
While the baby slept, Sierra coul
dn’t help wondering about the tot’s name and how Ginger and her mother were going to care for him when they now had five mouths in the house to feed. There were programs for the needy that would help. Sierra was going to make a point to go by the Rollinses’ house and make sure Mrs. Rollins took advantage of the aid. She also wanted to make sure that Mr. Rollins wouldn’t be coming around in a drunken stupor and swinging his fist at anyone who stepped in front of him.
Another hour passed and then two more. And though she was enjoying every minute with the baby, Sierra couldn’t help but wonder what was keeping Ginger. Four hours had passed since she’d dropped the child off and she’d not heard a word from her.
Deciding she’d better try to make contact, she called Red Rock General and asked them to page Ginger. After a long wait on hold, the switchboard operator came back on the line.
“I’m sorry, Miss Mendoza. The person isn’t responding. She must have left the hospital.”
Sierra’s heart sank. “Oh. Well, could you tell me if you have a Mrs. Rollins listed?”
“Sure. Just a moment.”
Sierra looked at the sleeping baby while she waited for an answer. Why would Ginger have stayed away this long? Why would she have simply left the newborn with her?
“Sorry, Miss Mendoza. There’s no one been admitted by that name. Is there another name she might be listed under?”
Sierra had no idea what Ginger’s maternal aunt’s name might be so she simply thanked the operator and hung up.
What in the world was she going to do now? she wondered, call child care services? No. Because the Rollinses’ home wasn’t exactly fit for a newborn, they would probably take him straight to a foster home, or even worse an orphanage until something could be decided about his future. She couldn’t bear the thought of this little guy being handed from one person to the next.
Worried now, Sierra began to pace the living room. While she’d been on the phone to the hospital, the sun had set and long shadows from the live oaks had settled over the front of the house. She switched on a lamp to chase away the gloom, then sat down next to the baby.
Maybe she should call her own parents, Sierra considered. But Jose and Maria couldn’t do any more than she was already doing. And anyway, they were always scolding her for taking on everyone else’s problems. They would definitely see “baby” as a huge problem. On top of that, her parents were usually at Red, the restaurant they owned, this time of the evening, eating or generally seeing that everything was running smoothly.
Sierra was acquainted with Wyatt Grayhawk, the sheriff of Red Rock. She should probably call him and report the baby as abandoned. But Wyatt was a tough stickler for the law and he would insist that the baby be taken to the proper authorities. She could already hear him saying that would be the right thing to do.
But every time Sierra looked at the baby’s sweet, innocent face, she felt a fierce sense of protectiveness. She wanted to make sure he was loved, not just cared for.
Alex! She’d call Alex, Sierra suddenly decided. He was her friend and a lawyer; he’d weigh both sides of the situation for her.
At the same time, in San Antonio, Pauline, Alex’s paralegal, marched into his office.
“Alex, what in hell are you doing? Your client just walked out the door. And he wasn’t just angry. He was furious. He slammed the door so hard as he was leaving I thought the windows were going to shatter.”
Leaning back in a large, black leather desk chair, Alex looked at his secretary who was leaning over his desk, waiting to hear a logical reason for the storm that had just blown from the office.
“It’s simple, Pauline. I wouldn’t take his case.”
The graying brunette shot him a droll look. “I gathered that much, Alex. I want to know why? The man has money. He could have paid some bills around here. You know his father owns that construction firm that’s building the fancy new row of shops out by the interstate.”
“I don’t care if his father is building a new mansion up at Crawford for the president. He’s guilty. And you know my rules about taking cases. If I’m not totally sure the person is innocent, forget it.”
Pauline straightened away from his desk and walked over to a coffeemaker situated in one corner of the small office. As she poured the brown liquid into a foam cup she said, “Well, it would be nice to stay on speaking terms with the electric company. We might need some light around here to get any work done.”
Alex was more amused than anything by his secretary’s comment. “I have plenty of candles at home. If need be, I’ll bring them to work.”
Pauline leveled a wry look at him as she carefully sipped her coffee. “It’s April. Texas is starting to heat up. What are we going to do for air-conditioning?”
Alex batted a dismissive hand in her direction. “Hand fans. You can buy one for a dollar or two.”
Pauline let out a mocking laugh. “Oh, that’d be real pleasant. What do you intend to do, sweat the truth out of your potential clients?”
“Very funny, Pauline. You know that we have plenty in the coffers to pay the electric bill. Don’t try to make me feel guilty that I decided not to represent that bum.”
Rising to his feet, he went over and poured himself a cup of coffee and added a measure of powdered creamer.
As he thoughtfully stirred his drink, Pauline said, “I always thought it was every person’s right to have representation in court.”
“Hmm. It is. He’ll just have to find it somewhere else.”
Seeing he’d made up his mind about the issue, Pauline said, “Okay. The bum was your last appointment for today. You’ve got a court date in the morning. Do you want to go over your opening argument?”
Alex shook his head. “No. I’m going to wait and let it all come from here.” He tapped the spot on his chest that covered the region of his heart.
“All right. Do you want to go over your notes with me?”
Seeing she was intent on staying busy, Alex gave in. “Sure. Get the things. It never hurts to know every little detail of the case.”
Pauline started out of the room to fetch the files, when the telephone rang. On her way toward the door, she stopped by one corner of Alex’s desk and picked up the receiver.
After a brief exchange of words, she held the phone out to her boss. “It’s Sierra.”
Alex’s brows shot up with surprise. Sierra rarely called him at work. And since he’d just left her house after lunch, he couldn’t imagine what she might have to say to him.
Pauline jabbed the phone at Alex as though he needed to wake up. “You know, Sierra, the pretty young Hispanic woman who comes by and sees you from time to time.”
Scowling impatiently at his secretary, he jerked the phone from her hand. “Yes, I know. And you can shut the door behind you!”
Pauline merely laughed as she left the room. Alex waited for the woman to close the door and then he sank onto his desk chair.
“Sierra, what’s up?”
Sierra seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at the sound of his voice. “I’m sorry to bother you like this, Alex. I realize it’s late and you’re probably getting ready to head home, but I just had to speak to you. You’re the only person I could think of to call about this.”
Picking up on the panicked sound of her voice, Alex leaned forward, his expression alert. “What is ‘this’?”
For some crazy reason, Sierra felt a ball of tears rushing to her throat. “It’s the baby, Alex. Ginger never came back to get him.”
“What do you mean, never came back? You haven’t heard from her?”
Sierra gripped the receiver. “No. I tried to contact her at the hospital, but apparently she wasn’t there. And now I have a sneaking suspicion the visit to her aunt was just a fabrication. Alex, I don’t know what to do!”
Alex rose to his feet. “Sierra,” he stressed with calm patience. “It’s simple. You’ve got to call the authorities.”
“No! I mean—not right now. Please, can you come over? I nee
d to talk to you about this.”
His first instinct was to yell at her, to order her to get off the phone and call the sheriff. But something about the desperate note in her voice stopped him. She’d just gone through a big disappointment with that Chad guy. And Alex had already given her enough rough treatment for one day. It wouldn’t hurt if a little more time passed before she had to deal with the authorities.
“All right, Sierra. Sit tight and I’ll be right over.”
Alex hung up the phone and as he hurried out of the building, he ordered Pauline to close up and go home.
As he drove the twenty miles back to Red Rock, he kept thinking about Sierra. Ever since their college days, he’d considered her a close friend. She’d been an attractive woman when they’d walked the Texas University campus, and Alex couldn’t deny that she’d grown even more beautiful these past few years. But he was smart enough to know that the two of them would never be compatible. She was too much of a Florence Nightingale and he—well, he had his own demons to deal with.
Sierra was walking the floor waiting for Alex to arrive when the baby started to whimper again. Taking a seat on the couch, she cradled him in her arms and then reached for the diaper bag sitting nearby. She remembered one more bottle being inside. Once that was gone, she’d have to see about getting more.
Whoa, Sierra. This baby isn’t yours. Don’t start letting yourself think in those terms.
Pressing her lips together in firm conviction, Sierra began to dig through the items in the baby bag. She pulled out a clean diaper and was fishing around for the bottle of formula when her hand came in contact with a piece of paper.
Pulling it from the bag, she could see it was a piece of lined notebook paper. The side facing her was blank, so she flipped it over and just as quickly reared back with shock. It was a short note:
Dear Miss Sierra,
I guess by now you’ve figured out that I’m leaving the baby with you. You’ve always been good to me and I know you’ll love him and take good care of him. You’ll give him the sort of home that I never could.
Fortune's Heirs: Reunion Page 36