Matchmaking Baby

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  Joanie winced as Emily splashed her in the face. She gently but quickly shampooed Emily’s hair. Emily continued to splash her mercilessly as she rinsed her hair. “I don’t think Emily is in the mood to be entertained.”

  Steve watched as Joanie finished washing Emily’s hands and face. Joanie’s blouse was completely drenched. It molded to the soft curves of her breasts. Water spots dotted her face and glistened in her golden hair. She looked deliciously tousled.

  “Could you get a towel please?” Joanie asked. Not taking her eyes off her unruly charge for an instant, she reached over to unplug the drain.

  Frowning at the water leaving the tub, Emily tried to replug the drain, but hadn’t the strength to work the metal lever.

  Steve held out a thick, fluffy towel. “C’mon Em, time to get out,” he said.

  “No!” Emily shouted cantankerously. She followed this with a sweeping splash of the remaining water, this one aimed at Steve. It hit him square in the face. Watching the water drip down his nose, and off his chin, Emily burst into giggles.

  Joanie leaned against the tile and laughed softly, too. “Your turn to be in charge,” she said to him with a wicked grin.

  “Emily,” Steve said gently but firmly, “it’s time to get out. The bathtub is no place to horse around.” He handed Joanie the towel and reached over to lift Emily out of the tub. Ignoring the way she immediately made use of an old toddler trick and went completely limp in his arms, he held her aloft so Joanie could wrap the towel around her middle. Once it was secured, he carried Emily into the bedroom and set her down on the bed. Joanie followed with clean clothes, diaper and baby powder.

  “Maybe we should just put her to bed,” Steve suggested. It was clear Emily was far too tired to know what she wanted. And the only cure for that was sleep.

  “No!” Emily shouted. Fully clad in her pajamas, she scooted toward the pillows of Joanie’s double bed. Her diaper-clad bottom up in the air, she pulled back the bedspread, then the sheets, and wiggled her way beneath the covers.

  Steve handed Emily her blanket and her teddy. Emily looked beseechingly at Joanie and pointed to the pillow beside her.

  “I think she wants me to lie down with her,” Joanie said finally.

  “I’m all for getting her to sleep any way we can,” Steve murmured cooperatively. He looked at Joanie, glad they were of one mind on this. “Maybe we just need to put her in a conducive mood to nodding off.”

  As Joanie stretched out on one side of Emily, her skirt hiking up over her knees, Steve reluctantly got up to leave. He hated to go, but figured the quieter it was, the better. “I’ll be just next door,” he said.

  Emily began to cry as Steve reached for the doorknob. She looked at him and pointed to the pillow on the other side of her.

  “So much for a fast getaway,” Steve concluded. “Seems Emily wants us all to go to sleep.” He looked at Joanie, wondering if she was being hit with the same deluge of memories he was. Judging from the sudden softening of her eyes, she was. “Do you mind if I join the two of you?” he asked.

  “Just dim the lights on your way over, will you please?” Steve switched off the lamp on the dresser. The bedroom was dark except for the soft yellow light streaming in from the bathroom. He stretched out beside Emily on the other side of the bed. The mattress shifted as he and Joanie got comfortable. Emily cuddled up between them, adjusting her blanket and teddy just so.

  “Sing ‘mit!” Emily demanded, grabbing a handful of Joanie’s blouse and another handful of Steve’s shirt as if to insure they wouldn’t go away.

  “Honey, I don’t know the ‘mit,” Joanie said softly, gently stroking Emily’s halo of golden curls, so like her own. “But if you want to sing it, I’ll hum along.”

  “Sing!” When they didn’t, Emily struggled tiredly to a sitting position and started to cry the loud racking sobs of a completely exhausted baby.

  “Maybe we should just sing anything.” Steve glanced over at Joanie with a shrug. “It’s bound to be soothing.”

  “Okay,” Joanie agreed with a soft sigh as she brought Emily back down to cuddle between her and Steve, “but it’ll have to be something I know.” And then Joanie started in again on “It Had to Be You.”

  His senses swimming at the magical lilt of Joanie’s voice, Steve joined in, their voices blending and harmonizing softly, soothingly, in the darkness.

  Twenty minutes and ten choruses later, Emily was fast asleep. They waited another five minutes, and then Steve signaled to Joanie that he was going to try to get up. Emily didn’t budge as he moved from the bed.

  Encouraged, Joanie tried it, too. Emily whimpered slightly as the bed shifted. In a flash, Steve leaned over and patted her softly until she quieted while Joanie crept from the room. Seconds later, after he moved the little bundle to the crib, he joined Joanie in the living room.

  “Thanks for staying with me this evening,” she said, sinking into a corner of the sofa.

  “No problem,” Steve said, watching as she curled her long, slim legs beneath her. He sank down beside her. “I was glad to help.”

  Joanie rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. “This evening has made me realize how much I don’t know about children. I was considering keeping Emily and raising her myself if Fiona doesn’t return for her, but this evening has made me doubt my capacity for being a full-time mom.”

  Was that why Joanie had abandoned Emily in the first place? Steve wondered, reaching over to rub the tension from her neck and shoulders. Because she felt inadequate? And her parents were not the kind of people she could turn to for help and advice, at least in any peaceful way?

  “I think you’re doing fine,” he said, realizing his anger at having been initially shut out of his child’s life was fading fast.

  Joanie lifted her head. In the soft evening light, her eyes were an incredible shade of blue. She seemed weary but deeply content, too.

  “Yes, but you seem to know just what to do. Like having us both lie down and sing whatever we knew to her, instead of the ‘mit, whatever that is.”

  Steve knew it was just dumb luck and sheer desperation that led him to suggest they sing whatever they knew, since they couldn’t decipher what song the child wanted to hear.

  “I really needed you tonight,” Joanie continued softly, trailing a light hand up his forearm, tracing the light dusting of hair.

  Steve’s heart swelled. This was the first time Joanie had ever confessed to needing him. Knowing that her needing him was the first step to her eventually loving him, he decided that there was only one thing to do. Make it the norm.

  “I was glad to help out,” he said. “So, anytime you have questions or need ideas on how to better handle Emily, even if I’m not around, feel free to seek me out.” If he didn’t know what to do, he’d darn well find out.

  “So now you’re a walking encyclopedia on toddlers?” Joanie teased.

  No, Steve thought determinedly, but I will be, just as soon as I get my hands on the right baby-care book. “Just remember I will always be there whenever, wherever you need me,” he said, lifting her onto his lap.

  Joanie put her arms about his neck. For a second she looked as if she wanted very much to commit her heart to him then and there. But as always, her natural wariness kicked in and her expression changed. “You don’t have to make promises to me, Steve,” she said. “Especially about Emily.”

  He shifted her position on his lap, taking her fully into his arms and gathering her soft body against the harder length of his. “Yes, I do, Joanie,” he whispered as their warm breaths met and blended. Because it would be the promises made and the promises kept that would bring them together in the end.

  Pausing only long enough to align their lips and noses, he bent his head to deliver a long, soulful kiss. And for once she didn’t draw away, but simply let him hold her. That, too, was another step in the right direction, he thought as he brushed his lips over her hair, enchanted by the softness and scent of the unruly c
urls.

  Her arms were tight around his neck, her head nestled on his shoulder, her thighs aligned warmly over his. With a soft sigh of surrender, she tilted her head back to look at him again. Her fragrance waltzing through his system, he brought his lips back down to hers, letting all that he felt, all that he knew, all that he wanted, come through in another long, passionate kiss. Desire seared through him as he felt her deep need. She might be saying they still had a lot to work out—and in truth they did—but he knew her mind was already made up, just as his was. They would make love again. And soon. And this time it would be even better, even more meaningful, than before.

  But they had to wait until the time was right, he realized with regret, his own instinct for survival coming to the fore, and it wasn’t right quite yet.

  “I think I’d better go,” he said. Because if he didn’t, he would end up staying. And she might hate him for that in the morning. And they’d come too far today to lose it all on a whim.

  “Of course.” She nodded, pulling herself together. She withdrew from the coziness of his lap and stood, looking a little disoriented.

  Knowing exactly how she felt, he stood, too. His whole body throbbing with passion, he said a quick good-night.

  To his pleasure, Steve was aware of Joanie watching him, long after he let himself out of her quarters and strode away.

  Chapter Six

  Stopping briefly to say hello to the scattered groups of conventioning college kids, Steve made his way to Liz’s office. She was seated behind her desk, a mound of paperwork in front of her, a frown on her face.

  “This isn’t a good time, is it?” he said as she looked up. Liz looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.

  She tossed down her pen and waved him in. “Actually I could use the interruption,” she confessed as she sat back in her chair.

  “Problem?” Steve guessed, wondering if he could help.

  Liz sighed and rubbed her temples. “That’s one way to put it.”

  Steve waited, not sure he should press for further details.

  Apparently needing to unburden herself to someone, Liz continued, “I used to travel a lot and get bookings for conferences and tour groups while my grandmother ran Bride’s Bay. But since my grandmother has slowed down and really cut back on her hours, I’ve had to be at Bride’s Bay more and more. Hence, our conference bookings are not what they used to be. If we don’t remedy the situation before the season begins, we’ll be feeling the pinch by year’s end.”

  Steve dropped into the chair she indicated. He understood why she looked so stressed out. “Sounds to me like you need to hire a marketing director to help bring business in,” he said.

  “I’ve been thinking the same thing. Do you know of anyone who might be interested in the job? I know you majored in marketing and finance when you were at Duke…Have you kept in touch with any of your old classmates? We’d need someone right away.”

  The germ of an idea began to form. “Let me think about it and I’ll get back to you.”

  “Soon?”

  “By tomorrow morning,” Steve promised. “In the meantime, I need a favor. I want to purchase a how-to book, and all the gift shop has is a few novels from the bestseller list. Where would I find a store on the island that carries nonfiction?”

  Liz made a final notation on the computer printout before her, then picked up the pages of the weekly work schedule and pinned them to the bulletin board just outside her office door. “The book section in the village general store carries an extensive array of books, since many of our guests and local residents are voracious readers. I don’t know that they’d have what you’re looking for, but you might check there.”

  “How late are they open?” Steve asked, holding the schedule in place while Liz pinned it to the cork bulletin board.

  “Until nine this evening.”

  Steve glanced at his watch. “That only gives me fifteen minutes.”

  Liz returned to her office. She regarded him with calm interest and a raised brow. “It’s an emergency, I take it?”

  Maybe not to anyone else. “You could say that, yes,” Steve replied.

  “I’ve got to pick up a friend at the helipad in a few minutes, but I could drop you off at the general store on my way.”

  “That’d be great. Thanks.”

  “If you don’t mind my asking, what kind of how-to information are you looking for?” Liz asked as she led him outside to the white Bride’s Bay minivan and slipped behind the wheel.

  “Child care.”

  When Liz slanted him another curious glance, he explained, “Joanie has been turning to me for help and advice in caring for Emily. So far it’s been sheer luck that things have worked out so well. And I’m not one to rely solely on luck. I much prefer to go into a situation well prepared.”

  “Hence the plan to read up on the subject.” Liz smiled as she backed the van out of its parking space and headed down the drive toward the main road that circled Jermain Island.

  “Taking care of Emily and simultaneously romancing Joanie is a lot more challenging than I would’ve ever thought. I want to do right by them both. And I want Joanie to feel good about leaning on me for help.” I want her to see we can be a family, and a happy one at that. Steve glanced out the window as they passed the island’s dozen private estates, one of which was the Remingtons’. He couldn’t help but notice the For Sale or Rent sign on another one, with a particularly beautiful plantation cottage home.

  “So, you are in love with her?” Liz asked.

  “I know she’s the woman for me,” Steve acknowledged. And he’d realized it the first time their eyes had met. She’d known who he was and she hadn’t cared. The only thing that had mattered was the electricity flowing between them and the fact he’d been in Myrtle Beach for only one week’s stay….

  Maybe they would have rushed things, anyway, Steve thought. God knew their feelings for each other had been very powerful. But the added burden of knowing the time they had to make a connection was limited had made each stolen moment all the more precious.

  “And all those stories you told people this morning about there being nothing scandalous between the two of you in the past?”

  “They were all true.” As far as they went, Steve added silently. The scandal had been in what Joanie thought she’d seen when she came into his suite that last fateful night at Myrtle Beach.

  Liz frowned as she approached the village.

  “But if you are in love with her now, I don’t understand why you’re going to such pains to make people think the opposite.”

  Steve frowned, his unhappiness returning. “Joanie’s been upset about the gossip.”

  Liz slowed as she drove past the ship chandler and the gas station, the diner and the grocery. “I see.”

  Steve turned toward Liz as she parked in front of the general store. “I was trying to take the pressure for us to get together off Joanie. Unfortunately all my protests did was convince people that Joanie and I belonged together even more.”

  “Maybe you do,” Liz said with another smile.

  Steve couldn’t disagree with that.

  “Good luck with your search,” Liz said as he climbed out of the minivan.

  “Thanks,” Steve said. Joanie might have kissed him like she meant it tonight, but he still needed all the help he could get. He also needed time to be with her. There was only one way to arrange that.

  “FIND WHAT YOU WERE looking for last night?” Liz said the next morning when Steve showed up in her office, Emily in his arms.

  Steve nodded. He’d been up half the night, first scanning the baby-care book for information, then planning his presentation. Elise Jennings, who ran the Bride’s Bay business center, had taken his computer disk and printed and assembled bound copies of his proposal when her office opened that morning.

  “Did you come up with any names for the marketing job?” Liz asked as Steve settled Emily on the sofa beside him. She had a shape sorter
to keep her busy.

  “Just one,” Steve said. He handed over the proposal he’d pulled together on the laptop he used for writing his speeches.

  “You’re interested in the job?” she asked, amazed.

  Steve grinned, excited by the prospect of doing something new. “As you said last night, I’ve got the background for the job.”

  “What about your endorsement contracts?” Liz asked.

  “They’re about up. I’ve already decided not to resign.”

  “Your motivational speaking?”

  “I enjoy it, but after dozens of speeches to dozens of groups, I’m looking to cut way back there, too.” Steve leaned forward earnestly. “I want a new challenge, Liz. Give me six months, and if you’re not happy with what I’ve done, you can let me go, but in the meantime let me show you what I can do. And let’s start by looking at the proposal I pulled together last night to get Bride’s Bay’s bookings back on track.” They discussed that in detail for several minutes without interruption, Emily playing contentedly at Steve’s side.

  Finally Liz smiled. “This all looks great.”

  “Thanks.”

  She held on to the proposal. “You understand, of course, that only my grandmother can hire you.”

  Steve nodded. “When can I meet with her?”

  “I’ll set up something right away.” Liz glanced out the window, then turned back to Steve. “I’m sorry to cut this short, but I’ve really got to go.” She snatched a tube of lipstick from her desk drawer and threw a silk scarf over her shoulder. “I’ll set up the meeting with my grandmother and then you and I’ll talk later?” she said, already rushing out the door.

  “Sure,” Steve said.

  He gathered up Emily and her toys and headed out into the lobby. Joanie was behind the concierge desk giving detailed instructions to her assistant, Jerry. When she saw Steve and Emily, she smiled and stepped out from behind the desk.