The Baby Trail (Baby Bonds #2)

by Karen Rose Smith

  “This could be anyone,” he warned her.

  In that instant, she saw that Garrett didn’t want her to get hurt, didn’t want her to be disappointed. Like a thunderbolt, she also realized she was falling hard for this man, even though she knew she shouldn’t. Falling, not just because of the attraction, but because of who he was.

  Taking a deep breath, postponing examining her feelings further, she whispered, “Whoever she is, it sounds as if she might need someone’s help.”

  “You’d adopt the whole world if you could, wouldn’t you?” he asked seriously.

  “Yes, I would. Wouldn’t you?”

  Garrett didn’t answer her, just released her arm and knocked on the door.

  Gwen’s heart thudded. What were the chances that whoever was in this motel room was Amy’s mother? She thought of the baby, rocking her, cooing to her, snuggling her tight. If Amy’s mother was here, then what?

  One step at a time, she warned herself as she cast a glance at Garrett.

  As was usually the case, his face was expressionless. His body, however, held restrained energy she blamed on expectation.

  He knocked again, louder.

  When still no one came, he called, “Is anyone in there? If so, please open up. If you don’t, the manager will unlock the door for us.”

  His voice was authoritarian…official-sounding. If she were inside, would she open up or want to run?

  Gwen heard shuffling close to the door, the lock being turned, then someone pulled open the door a crack, only as far as the chain bolt would allow.

  Gwen was surprised a motel that was run-down like this even had chain bolts!

  A weak female voice asked, “Who are you?”

  Garrett answered calmly, “We’re looking for Amy’s mother.”

  When Gwen heard a gasp, and then a small sob, she nudged Garrett and he let her stand in the space he’d occupied. “Please open the door so we can talk to you. We want to help. I’m the one who found Amy. Are you her mom?”

  The sound of the young woman crying was wrenching, and Gwen knew Garrett just wanted to break off that chain bolt. She felt the same way. But they both waited.

  Gwen repeated softly, “We want to help you, really we do. Amy’s doing well. She was placed with a foster family. But if you’re her mom, do you really want her there? Don’t you want her with you?”

  Fumbling fingers unfastened the chain. Finally the door opened and they were staring at a young woman with tears coursing down her cheeks. Her straight brown hair was disheveled. She was starkly pale and her hazel eyes looked much too big for her face.

  Wearing baggy jeans with holes in them and an oversize T-shirt, she choked back a sob and put her fist to her mouth. “I can’t keep her. I don’t have any money and Justin left me here. I don’t think he cares about us at all.”

  Unable to help herself, Gwen stepped forward and wrapped her arm around the girl’s shoulders. The teenager was trembling, and Gwen didn’t like the pasty color of her face. This young woman had been through hell—definitely emotionally and probably physically, too—from the looks of her.

  “Let’s go over here and sit down.” She gently guided the girl to the bed. Over her shoulder to Garrett, she directed, “Get my bag, will you?”

  A look crossed his face that said he wasn’t used to taking orders, especially not from a woman. He also, obviously, didn’t want to let her alone with the girl. But he turned and strode to the SUV.

  “What’s your name?” she asked as the teenager sank onto the bed as if she had no energy to hold her up.

  “It’s Tiffany.”

  Still keeping her arm around the girl, Gwen tried to put her at ease. “I’m Gwen. And I’m a nurse.”

  “I know who you are,” Tiffany whispered.

  Tiffany’s face looked familiar, but where Gwen had had contact with the girl wasn’t important now. “Will you let me check you over?”

  Instead of answering, the girl asked a question of her own. “Are they going to put me in jail?”

  “I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Gwen responded truthfully. “We’ll have to sort it all out. Do you want to give up Amy?”

  “No! But I don’t have any choice. My mother threw me out. She wanted me to have an abortion. So did Justin. When I told him I wouldn’t, that I had no place to go, he wasn’t sure what to do with me, but he let me stay with him. I…” Her voice faded and she suddenly went even paler.

  “Lay back,” Gwen suggested, helping her stretch out on the bed, taking the pillow and propping it under her knees. She lifted Tiffany’s wrist to check her pulse. When she glanced at the girl’s drawn face, Gwen saw her eyes were closed. “Stay with me, here.”

  When there was no answer, Gwen prodded again. “Come on, Tiffany. Open your eyes and look at me.” The teenager’s pulse was fast and Gwen calculated it while she checked her watch.

  With a rush of male presence, Garrett returned to the room and handed Gwen her bag. “Is she sick?”

  “My guess is she’s dehydrated and malnourished to begin with. I’m not sure what else is going on. How close is the nearest hospital?”

  “Billings.”

  After another look at the girl, he added, “I can have her back in Wild Horse Junction almost as fast as we can get to Billings. I can call ahead and have an ambulance meet us at the airport.”

  Gwen didn’t like Tiffany’s color or the clamminess of her skin. “Let me examine her. And see if you can find something to eat that isn’t all sugar. Water to drink, too.”

  She noticed the candy wrappers scattered on the nightstand, the empty cans of soda sitting on the floor.

  Opening her bag, Gwen took out her stethoscope. She was putting it to her ears when Garrett left the room.

  Chapter Seven

  Gwen paced the waiting area down the hall from Tiffany’s room at St. Luke’s Hospital in Wild Horse Junction. When Garrett came in, she stopped pacing.

  As he came to her, a concerned expression was etched on his face. “I saw a doctor is in with Tiffany. Are you all right?”

  She wasn’t. She was worried about Tiffany and Amy and the whole situation. However, she assured him, “I’m fine.”

  An ambulance had met them at the airport, and Tiffany had insisted Gwen ride with her. Garrett had had to take care of his plane and lock up the hangar for the night.

  “Did you have to wait long in the emergency room?” he asked.

  “Just long enough for a doctor to look her over and me to fill out papers. When they decided to admit her, I requested Dr. Phillips.” Marsha Phillips was her own gynecologist and one of the doctors in the practice she worked for.

  “Are you covering her expenses?” Garrett asked, his brows raised.

  “For now. Until we get some official forms filled out. I called Shaye. Family Services has to be aware we found her. And I also called Walter Ludlow.”

  “The lawyer?”

  “Yes. Shaye’s worked with him and so has Dylan. In fact he and Dylan are good friends. Tiffany’s going to need an advocate. Even if Shaye goes to bat for her, that might not be enough.”

  “You’re getting too involved,” Garrett warned her.

  “Too involved? Just what is that, Garrett? You heard Tiffany’s story as well as I did.” Gwen had kept Tiffany talking in the SUV on the way to the plane, not wanting her to pass out.

  “You’ve got to be realistic about this, Gwen.”

  “I am being realistic. She has no one, certainly not the mother who threw her out when she was pregnant. Even if we found her boyfriend, what kind of kid is he to take her to the apartment of some guy he doesn’t even know that well after she delivers and needs medical care? And when they get tossed out of there, dump her in some motel with no money and no way home?” Gwen was exasperated and felt as if she wanted to shake some sense into someone, mostly Tiffany’s mother who hadn’t acted as a parent should—supportive and loving.

  Crossing his arms over his chest, Garrett shook his head. �
��Only a boy with no sense,” he agreed.

  Gwen could only imagine how difficult the whole ordeal must have been for Tiffany…how scared she’d been. “As weak as she was, she didn’t have the energy to fight him. She wants to be a mother to her baby. She just didn’t see any way she could be.”

  “She abandoned her child.”

  “She did not abandon her,” Gwen protested hotly. “She left her with me. There’s a big difference.”

  While Garrett had carried Tiffany to the plane, Gwen had finally remembered where she’d seen her. Last March, Gwen had gone to Laramie and given a workshop to high school teachers about unwed mothers and how the staff could prepare them for motherhood. She’d also given a presentation for any junior and senior girls who’d wanted to attend—they could ask questions about anything. In the workshop, Gwen had shared realities about raising a child in the twenty-first century, about how important health care could be to these young women. Tiffany hadn’t asked any questions, but she’d been in that audience. Apparently she’d also read the write-up about Gwen that had appeared in the Laramie paper.

  After Tiffany had her baby in her boyfriend’s apartment, there’d been so much blood she’d been weak afterward. He told her they couldn’t care for Amy. He couldn’t care for Amy and they had to do something. Tiffany had remembered Gwen. She’d told Justin there was somebody in Wild Horse Junction who would take Amy and know what was best for her. That day he had seen Gwen in her backyard after work. After she’d gone inside, he’d found the sliding door was unlocked and had set the baby in the sunroom. Apparently he’d watched to make sure Gwen found Amy, then high-tailed it out of there. After getting something to eat and a few supplies in Wild Horse, they’d driven north and stayed with a friend of Justin’s. When he kicked them out they’d checked in at the motel. Tiffany was still weak and sick from the delivery, and Justin didn’t know what to do with her. When she’d awakened on the fourth morning, he’d left without her, leaving a note saying he couldn’t take her with him because he couldn’t afford her medical care and she’d slow him down.

  “You called Shaye and I can understand that,” Garrett said with a frown. “But the lawyer? Who’s going to pay his fee? How’s that girl going to take care of a baby when she can’t take care of herself?”

  “Men!” Gwen lifted her hands in exasperation. “All you think about is money, black-and-white and a straight road without any curves in it. If you don’t want to be involved in this, that’s fine, then walk away. Your job’s done. But maybe I can do more. Maybe I can help Tiffany keep her baby. Maybe I can even give them a place to stay.”

  That blew the neutral expression from Garrett’s face. “You’re not serious.”

  “I’m very serious.”

  “Do you have any idea of the responsibility you’d be taking on?”

  She almost laughed at the irony of the question. “I understand responsibility, Garrett. After all, I took care of myself and a grown man for years.”

  Garrett dragged his fingers through his hair. “This is different.”

  “Yes, it is. I think I’m a good judge of character and I believe Tiffany just needs a chance. She’s a smart girl. Before the doctor came in to examine her, she told me about the extra courses she’s taken in summer school. Not because she had to, but because she wanted to. She has computer skills and secretarial skills, and she just needs a little help and a second chance.” For some suddenly illogical reason, tears came to Gwen’s eyes and she turned away from Garrett, blinking and willing the emotion to subside.

  One of his large hands capped her shoulder. The other one took her elbow and nudged her around.

  She couldn’t look at him. She just couldn’t. Looking into Garrett’s eyes made her want to cry even more and she wasn’t a crying woman.

  His voice was soft and tender as he murmured, “Gwen,” and took her into his arms.

  “I’m fine,” she mumbled against his chest.

  “I know you are.” His jaw rested on top of her head.

  “I’m just worried about Tiffany’s health and whether the sheriff is going to arrest her or not. I wish Walter would get here.”

  “And on top of all that, it’s the end of the search. We found her.”

  Was that part of the problem, too? Garrett’s part in this was over and Gwen knew he was going to walk away? He didn’t want to be involved with her and why should he stay involved with Tiffany?

  She didn’t want him to walk away. She wasn’t just falling for Garrett Maxwell, she’d fallen. Too soon, too fast, too hard.

  Pulling away from him, she looked up and was afraid too much of her emotions shone in her eyes.

  “Gwen,” he said again. There was pain and reluctance and regret in his voice.

  Thank goodness he didn’t have a chance to tell her he was going back to his own life.

  Two men walked into the waiting room. One was Sheriff Thompson and the other was Walter Ludlow.

  Garrett leaned close to her ear. “I’ll take the sheriff, while you fill in Ludlow. We’ll make this happen if you think Tiffany deserves it, but I hope you know what you’re doing because your life is never going to be the same.”

  At that moment, Gwen saw her life changing as a good thing.

  Stepping away from Garrett, she extended her hand to Walter Ludlow and smiled.

  Garrett sat in Gwen’s driveway waiting for her to finish with her home health-care visits. He found himself impatient for her to return home and was unsure why. Because of the idea he had? He had to be damn sure it was something he wanted to do.

  As she drove down the street, she saw him and waved. A few minutes later, he was standing in her living room, telling her, “I flew to Laramie and met with Tiffany’s mother. Mrs. Morrison is not the motherly type.”

  Gwen looked surprised. He’d surprised himself by confronting the woman.

  “What did she say?” Gwen asked, her cheeks reddening.

  “She said Tiffany’s eighteen and on her own. She’s not taking care of some bastard kid and Tiffany better not ask her for anything because she doesn’t have anything to give her.”

  “I can’t believe any mother would act that way…would be so hardhearted that she’d turn her daughter away.”

  “Believe me, it wasn’t an act. She doesn’t have much, Gwen, and what she does have, she wants to keep, not share with Tiffany. I got the impression Tiffany’s a responsibility she didn’t want to begin with, and she’s been marking time until Tiffany turned eighteen and she could legally wash her hands of her.”

  “Tiffany told me she never knew her father,” Gwen said softly, and Garrett realized she was already attached to the teenager.

  She went to the phone. “I’m going to call Walter.”

  Crossing to her, Garrett stayed her hand. The electric thrill of touching her again was immediate and potent, but he withstood it. “Are you really going to take in Tiffany and the baby if the judge will let you?”

  “Yes. It’s the only chance Tiffany has of keeping Amy.”

  “And you’re prepared for the fact that this could be temporary or permanent, that she could leave at any time, or she could stay forever?”

  “She won’t stay forever,” Gwen responded almost sadly. “Tiffany wants to be on her own, taking care of Amy. Right now she doesn’t have the means and doesn’t know how.”

  “And when she does have the means…if she learns to care for Amy, are you going to be able to back off and let her be the mother?”

  “Why so many questions, Garrett? I thought you wanted to be done with this.”

  He saw in her eyes that she thought he wanted to be done with her. He’d given that a lot of thought. He’d been awake most of last night, telling himself he was the wrong man for Gwen. Yet there was something that drew him back to her over and over.

  Maybe his life could use a change, too.

  “I spoke with Tiffany this morning before I left for Laramie.”

  Gwen’s astonishment showed. “What abou
t?”

  “I wanted to see if your assessment of her was correct. I wanted to find out exactly what she could do in the real world—as in getting a job. They’re not that easy to find in Wild Horse right now.”

  “I’m sure there’s some business that needs a secretary…some business that could use an office worker.”

  “There is. Me.”

  Stunned, Gwen’s mouth opened. She closed it and asked incredulously, “You?”

  Just as he’d lined up the practical reasons in his head, he listed them now. “Security businesses generate paperwork. Some days I can’t get any work done because of the calls I have to take and make. Last night when I got home, there were seven that had to be answered. I had no time to return them today. Not to mention the fact my files should be reorganized, my backup information needs to be labeled and stored and I have a stack of book work that has to be entered into the computer. Tiffany will look more adult and capable to the judge if she has a job going into the hearing, don’t you think? With me she could ease into work and even bring the baby with her.”

  “You’d want a baby in your house?”

  Her question let loose pain he’d held inside ever since Cheryl had lost their baby. “It will be okay. Besides, you’ll be on call if we need you.”

  Gwen was wearing a herringbone blazer, silk blouse and camel slacks. Even at the end of the day, she smelled flowery and fruity and all he wanted to do was gather her into his arms.

  As she stepped closer to him, her eyes were full of questions. “Why are you doing this, Garrett? I’m looking forward to taking care of Tiffany and her baby. I’m looking forward to having them be part of my life and part of my family. Are you just giving a needy teenager a leg up? Do you think this is going to be easy? Because it’s not. Babies cry. Tiffany will get frustrated—”

  “I lost the chance to have a baby around my house. Maybe I just want to see what it’s like. I’m not committing myself to being her father or even a big brother. I’ll be her employer.”

  Gwen moved even closer, raised her hand, and tapped the left side of his chest with her palm. “I think you put on a good act. I think you pretend to be a tough guy one hundred percent of the time, but there’s a big heart in you with lots of tender spots.”