The Baby Arrangement

by Moyra Tarling

  “That sounds like a great idea,” Jared was quick to reply. “How about this weekend?”

  “Oh! Well...that would be wonderful.” Maggie’s tone was hesitant. “But you should check with your wife first,” she said. “Having a new baby in the house takes some adjusting to. Believe me, I know.” She flashed Faith an understanding smile.

  Jared turned to Faith. “What about it, darling?” he asked. “Are you feeling up to doing a little entertaining?”

  Faith felt her pulse flutter in reaction to Jared’s casual endearment. “Of course,” she calmly assured him.

  “Good.” Jared immediately turned back to Maggie. “How does Saturday suit you?”

  Maggie’s gaze darted to Faith. “Saturday’s fine,” she replied tentatively. “But...”

  “That’s settled,” Jared declared, as he bent to lift Nicky out of his stroller.

  Beside him, Faith kept her smile in place. She had the distinct impression Jared had issued the invitation to see how she would react, but if she’d surprised him with her easy acceptance he didn’t show it.

  “Great! I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Paula,” Maggie said, and with a wave she moved off.

  Faith retrieved the grocery bags from the back of the stroller and followed Jared into the house. Once inside, he immediately turned to face her, his gaze piercing.

  “Before you say anything,” Faith said, quickly jumping in, “I’m sorry we weren’t here—”

  “Really!” Jared interjected, his tone disbelieving.

  “I know I shouldn’t have gone with Maggie to the store,” she hurried on. “But there was no milk, juice or much of anything edible in the fridge, and only two tins of Nicky’s formula left. I thought we’d be back in time. I’m sorry,” she repeated earnestly.

  If he’d needed proof this woman wasn’t Paula, he’d just been handed it. He couldn’t recall Paula ever apologizing for anything. And to hear her apologize, not once but twice in the space of a few minutes, confirmed what he’d begun to suspect as they’d stood outside talking to Maggie.

  “You sound like you really mean that,” Jared responded. As he studied her features more closely, he noticed several subtle differences in her appearance he should have spotted before. Differences he admitted now he’d been too caught up in his own anger to see.

  Her hair was slightly longer and a darker shade of brown. Her lips were fuller, more sensuous, and he could see a smattering of freckles on her nose. But more telling by far was the look of sadness lurking in her eyes, a sadness that tugged strangely at his heart.

  Hadn’t DeMarco said something about Paula’s sister losing a baby? Such a tragedy would account for the sorrow he’d seen, and having had a child of her own explained why she’d handled Nicky with such confidence and efficiency.

  Jared remembered standing in the doorway of the bedroom in the house in San Francisco watching her change Nicky’s diaper and thinking to himself that she seemed an entirely different person altogether. He’d been right.

  “I do mean it.” The words reiterating her apology penetrated Jared’s distracted thoughts. Suddenly the realization hit him that this woman who looked so familiar was actually a stranger—and not the mother of his child as he’d believed.

  Confusion and anger warred within him, but he stifled the impulse to demand an explanation.

  Nicky began to squirm in his arms.

  “He’s probably hungry, and he definitely needs a diaper change,” Jared heard the woman say.

  He drew a steadying breath. “I’ll do it,” he responded, relieved to have an opportunity to have some time alone in order to come to terms with the startling turn of events.

  Upstairs, he undressed the baby and proceeded to change his soiled diaper. His thoughts were racing. Why had Paula enlisted the help of her sister? They were up to something, he was sure of it. This bizarre development seemed to confirm his suspicion that she’d changed her mind about giving him sole custody of the baby.

  His hands stilled for a moment and a chill ran through him. Gazing down at his infant son, he felt tears sting his eyes at the thought of losing Nicky. A pain the like of which he’d never felt before tore at his heart.

  Silently gritting his teeth, he renewed his vow to do everything in his power to keep his son here in Grace Harbor where he could provide him with all the love, stability and security he deserved.

  The impulse to confront the woman pretending to be Paula and demand she tell him what they were planning flared to life again. But he reined in his anger, deciding the best course of action was no action at all. He’d simply bide his time and play a waiting game.

  Downstairs, Faith busied herself putting away the perishable items while warming a bottle for Nicky. She couldn’t blame Jared for being angry, but there had been something disturbing about the way he’d looked at her, almost as if he’d been trying to see inside her soul.

  It was obvious Paula’s marriage to Jared was rife with problems. Why else would she have run off days before the baby was due? And since her return, he hadn’t objected when she’d taken up residence in the spare bedroom, nor had he attempted to reconcile with her. But from what she’d seen of Jared, he cared deeply for his son, and it was entirely possible that behind his anger, he still cared for Paula, the mother of his son.

  Faith knew from her own brief but painful experience with marriage that it wasn’t always a bed of roses. She could only hope Paula would come to her senses and for the sake of the two most important people in her life, put her own ambitions on hold and salvage her marriage before it deteriorated beyond repair.

  “Here we are.” Jared’s voice sliced through Faith’s wayward thoughts. “Nicky must be starving. He’s been trying to suck his fist.”

  “Do you want to feed him?” Faith asked, testing the warmth of the milk on the inside of her wrist.

  “I’d love to. But I have to get back to the office.” Jared replied, his tone wistful.

  “I thought...I mean, aren’t you—” Faith broke off, feeling her face grow warm.

  “No, I’m not taking him to the office with me, if that’s what you’re trying to ask. He’s had quite enough upheaval these past few days.”

  Faith swallowed the lump of emotion lodged in her throat. “Thank you,” she managed to say as she reached out to take Nicky from him.

  Jared relinquished his hold on his son. Though he was still trying to come to terms with the knowledge that this woman wasn’t Paula, one thing he was sure of, Nicky’s welfare had always been her primary concern.

  On reflection he realized that he should have known something was amiss when he’d confronted her outside her house in San Francisco. But he’d been so elated at finding his son he’d railroaded right over her objections.

  Leaning forward, Jared dropped a kiss on the top of his son’s head. “I’ll be back around six.”

  “We’ll be here,” Faith assured him, her voice a husky whisper, as the spicy scent of his aftershave swarmed her senses, catapulting her pulse into overdrive.

  With a nod, Jared turned and walked away.

  Faith drew a ragged breath. For the briefest of seconds she’d had the foolish notion Jared was going to kiss her. But even more outrageous was the ache of disappointment washing over her because he hadn’t

  Nicky let out a wail, effectively drawing her attention away from the emotions churning inside her.

  After giving her young nephew his bottle, Faith tucked him into his crib and, needing to distract herself, retrieved her sketch pad, charcoal and pencils from her knapsack and ventured outside onto the sundeck.

  She stood at the railing and looked down on the neglected garden. A thick carpet of red, gold and rust-colored leaves from the birch and maple trees outlining the property littered the grass below.

  Rhododendron bushes, a favorite of Faith’s, were scattered around the yard, and Faith wondered what color their blossoms would be come spring.

  The sun was already making its slow descent, peeking intermi
ttently from behind a gathering of gray clouds. The October temperature had dipped to the low fifties, adding a crispness to the air that held the promise of winter.

  But the chill was soon forgotten as Faith’s gaze focused on the panoramic view beyond the garden. Over the tops of the trees she could see an endless row of sand dunes and beyond them, stretching toward the horizon, a silvery wide band of ocean, shimmering and glinting in the fading sunlight.

  Faith opened her sketch pad, and soon filled several pages as she recreated the images before her. Oblivious to the cold temperature, she became so absorbed in what she was doing she didn’t hear the telephone when it started to ring. The strident noise broke through her concentration and with a panicked gasp she closed her sketch pad and hurried inside.

  “Hello?” she said breathlessly.

  “Where were you?” Jared’s deep resonant voice was tinged with both anger and relief.

  “Out on the sundeck.”

  “Isn’t it a little cool for Nicky to be out there?” he asked.

  “Nicky’s asleep upstairs. I only stepped outside for a few minutes,” she added lamely, then, glancing at the clock on the stove, realized she’d been sketching for almost an hour.

  She shivered, aware of just how cold she was.

  “I called to let you know I’ve invited two more guests to dinner on Saturday,” Jared said.

  Faith frowned. “Oh...who?” she asked.

  “Stephanie and Dave Perrin,” Jared replied. “I ran into them outside my office. You met them during the summer, remember?”

  “Ah...yea,” Faith lied as her pulse picked up speed. “H-how are they?” she inquired politely.

  “Fine. I think it would be best if we kept things simple. If I pick up a fresh salmon at the fish market on Saturday, we could have a barbecue.”

  “A barbecue?” Faith repeated, shivering anew. “Isn’t it a little late in the season to be eating outside?”

  “Who said anything about eating outside?” Jared’s tone was teasing. “If we barbecue a salmon, throw on a half dozen potatoes to bake, add a tossed salad and finish up with a cheesecake concoction from the bakery in town, dinner would be a snap.”

  Faith was silent for a moment. Jared’s menu was deliciously simple, yet quietly elegant. “Sounds greet. ”

  “Good,” Jared said, and Faith could hear the smile in his voice. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Wait!” Faith quickly jumped in. “It’s only three o’clock. Aren’t you going to call and check up on me again in an hour?” she asked, suddenly wanting to reestablish the old animosity, sensing at some point during the conversation an invisible threshold had been crossed.

  “I didn’t say I wouldn’t be calling,” Jared replied before quietly hanging up.

  Faith replaced the receiver. His call was thoughtful. During her marriage to Glen, he’d thought nothing of bringing home several colleagues for dinner without giving her any warning, expecting her to magically whip up a gourmet feast and serve it on a table decorated in a style fit for a king.

  But what she found most endearing was that Jared had actually planned the dinner menu, a menu requiring a minimum of work on her part. His gesture revealed a considerate man, one obviously willing to pitch in. One maybe even willing to forgive and forget past mistakes.

  Faith felt a hand squeeze her heart. Paula was lucky to have found a man like Jared, and again Faith hoped her twin would come to her senses. Not that Faith had anything against women pursuing careers. After all, she’d had a career of her own during her marriage to Glen. But if Paula succeeded in breaking into show business, her high-profile career would be much more demanding, leaving little time for her husband and son.

  Faith had to believe Paula would ultimately make the right choice, if only for Nicky’s sake.

  When Jared walked through from the garage around six o’clock, he was greeted with the delicious scent of chicken cooking in tarragon.

  Glancing down at the brown paper bag in his hand, he shoved it in the closet along with his coat. He’d assumed Paula’s twin would be like her sister in every respect. That’s why he’d stopped on his way home to pick up a take-out dinner from one of the restaurants on Main Street.

  He’d spent the afternoon trying to reduce the pile of paperwork on his desk, paperwork he’d neglected during the past two weeks. But his mind hadn’t been on the files—they’d been on Faith Nelson, Paula’s sister, the woman caring for his son.

  He’d upbraided himself a thousand times for not realizing at the outset she wasn’t Paula, and on thinking back to that first encounter, he realized she’d tried to tell him he’d made a mistake. What should have tipped him off was seeing the loving, caring way she’d tended to Nicky. And the way she’d challenged him about driving without a proper car seat. She’d acted like a tiger protecting her cub. More than a little baffled by her outburst, he’d found himself admiring the way she’d stood up to him, especially for a cause as important as Nicky’s safety.

  But while a part of him had applauded the changes he’d seen in Paula, he’d deliberately chosen to ignore them. He’d been afraid to acknowledge that his carefully drawn-up plans might well be in serious jeopardy.

  The sound of water running and a cupboard being closed brought his musings to an end. He headed for the kitchen, coming to a halt in the doorway.

  Faith stood at the sink with her back to him. Jared let his gaze drift over her, assessing and comparing. Although she looked remarkably like Paula, Faith had demonstrated none of the selfishness or superficiality inherent in her twin.

  In Faith he’d seen only a genuine warmth as well as sincerity in everything she’d done. He’d been forced to place his trust in her, and she’d proved herself up to the test, leaving him to wonder how he could ever have mistaken her for Paula.

  But they were twins, he quickly reminded himself, and twins were known to share a close bond. They’d collaborated in a scheme to deceive him, and for the sake of his son, Jared knew he couldn’t afford to lower his guard.

  Faith turned from the sink, and Jared heard her startled gasp at finding him there.

  “I didn’t hear you come in,” she said, her smile tentative.

  “What’s for dinner? Something smells wonderful,” Jared said, noticing the hint of pink on her cheeks and the pulse jumping at her throat “Is Nicky in bed?”

  “Yes,” Faith answered, noting the flash of disappointment that came into his eyes. “But he’s due to wake up shortly. Dinner’s almost ready.” she went on, wishing she knew whether Jared liked to eat right away or preferred to unwind first by changing into something more casual.

  “Can I help with anything?”

  “Thanks, but everything is under control,” Faith assured him, warmed by his offer. Glen had rarely if ever raised a finger to help around the house.

  “Do I have time to pop upstairs and change?”

  “Of course,” Faith replied, flashing a nervous smile. “Check on Nicky while you’re up there,” she suggested.

  He grinned. “I’ll make it my first stop.”

  Jared rejoined her in the kitchen ten minutes later. Seeing him dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a white T-shirt, looking decidedly approachable and stunningly attractive, Faith felt her pulse pick up speed.

  “Nicky’s still asleep,” he told her as he approached the table and pulled out a chair.

  “Let’s hope we’ll be finished eating before he wakes up,” Faith commented, and began spooning a piece of steaming hot tarragon chicken onto a plate.

  “Thanks.” Jared accepted the plate she handed him.

  Faith served herself and sat down across from him. “You...ah, we’re lucky Nicky’s such a happy and contented baby,” she said, attempting to make conversation. “He’s not like—” She broke off abruptly, guiltily darting a glance across the table as she felt a blush warm her cheeks.

  “Nicky’s not like who?” Jared asked with a frown.

  “Would you care for salad?” Fait
h asked, pushing the bowl toward him. “Oh...just a minute, I forgot the dressing.” She leapt to her feet and crossed to the fridge, hoping once she returned to the table, Jared wouldn’t pursue the question. She’d blundered again. She’d been about to say Nicky wasn’t at all like Erica.

  “Thanks,” Jared said as she set the bottle of salad dressing in front of him. “Who is Nicky not like?”

  Her cheeks grew warm. “Oh...he’s not like some babies who suffer from colic and cry a lot. I read about it somewhere,” she added with a calmness she was far from feeling.

  Resuming her seat, she pretended an interest in the food on her plate, aware of Jared’s steady gaze on her.

  “Was it in one of those books on child rearing I brought home?”

  Faith kept her gaze averted and lied. “Yes,” she replied, intrigued by the notion Jared had taken an interest in the subject.

  “I read a few of them. But not one came close to describing the feeling I get every time I look at Nicky,” he quietly confessed. “I still can’t believe I have a son, that he’s mine....” His voice, filled with awe and pride, trailed off.

  Tears suddenly stung her eyes at the sincerity echoing through his words. If she’d had any doubts about Jared’s feelings toward Nicky they vanished forever. His love for Nicky was both powerful and intense. Faith felt more than a little envious of Paula, who’d been fortunate to many a man so deeply committed to family.

  For the remainder of the week the days fell into something of a pattern, a pattern governed for the most part by Nicky’s feeding and sleeping schedule.

  Jared insisted he take his turn of night feedings, though. Nicky was already beginning to sleep through. Each evening when he came home from work he’d bathe and feed Nicky and put him to bed, spending quality time with his son.

  Faith was relieved and pleased when Jared stopped calling home to check on her. Instead he’d call only occasionally, and then to ask if she needed anything from the store. His solicitousness toward her and the baby served to enhance her growing admiration of this man who was her sister’s husband.