Keeping Katie (A Mother's Heart Book 1)

by Patricia Keelyn

“Are you okay?” he asked.

  Maura turned to him and smiled sadly. “It seems you’ve had to ask me that a lot lately.”

  Alan took her hand. “I’ve been worried about you.”

  “Yes, I know.” Maura wove her finger through his. “I know I’ve been a burden, moping around here …”

  “You have a right.”

  “Do I?” For the first time since she’d turned Katie over to the Sanchezes, Maura believed she saw things clearly. “Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez love Katie, too.”

  “Yes, they do.” Alan nodded. “But they’re her grandparents, not her parents.”

  “And what about Roberta?” Maura asked. “No matter how badly I want Katie back, I can’t help feeling sorry for Roberta. And I don’t like trying to prove her an unfit mother.”

  “You’ve seen how she acts around Katie,” Alan said gently. “She hardly acknowledges the child’s existence.”

  Maura sighed, knowing it was true. “She’s a child herself.”

  “Exactly.” Alan lifted a hand to run a finger down Maura’s cheek. “And Katie needs a mother.”

  Maura turned and met his gaze, seeing a world of caring in his eyes. “I love you,” she said. “I don’t know how I would have gotten through all this without you.”

  “You would have managed.”

  Maura shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  Alan smiled and dropped his hand. They sat quietly for a while as the light faded around them.

  “Alan,” Maura said, breaking the silence, “I want you to know that whatever happens with Katie—”

  Alan squeezed her hand. “It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything.”

  Maura turned in her chair to face him. “Yes, I do. I want you to know that I’m going to be all right. When this is all over …”

  “When this is all over, I’ll be here for you, no matter what happens.”

  “Yes,” she said. “I know. And whatever happens, I’ll always love you.”

  After weeks of frustration, events took on a new momentum. With each passing day, Maura’s hopes of regaining custody of Katie looked better. Roberta’s lawyer had objected strenuously to the psychological evaluation, but to no avail.

  Then the report came back, and all of Jacob’s claims proved true. Not only was Roberta too immature to raise a child, but according to the report, she’d actually told the psychologist that she wanted nothing to do with Katie. She considered the child a burden, and it had been her parents’ idea all along to sue for custody.

  That might have been the end of it right there if it hadn’t been for the Sanchezes’ influence and money. As it was, their lawyer only managed to drag the decision out another week. The judge demanded a closed session with Roberta Sanchez to make his own evaluation. And when he came out, he dismissed the case.

  Maura Anderson maintained custody of her adopted daughter.

  The morning they brought Katie back was the happiest day of Maura’s life. She stood at the window watching, waiting to see the car that would return her daughter to her. Alan seemed as anxious as she was. It was almost as if, now that the crisis was past, now that he no longer needed to be the strong one, he could release his own emotions.

  When the car pulled up outside, they were out the front door before the engine had been shut off. Mrs. Sanchez opened the car door and Katie sprang out.

  “Mommy!” she yelled, and threw herself into her mother’s waiting arms. Maura cried and laughed as the child planted mushy kisses all over her face.

  “I missed you so much,” Maura said through her tears of joy. “So much.”

  Katie giggled and gave her mother one final hug before squirming sideways to climb into Alan’s arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head against him. Closing his eyes, Alan held her tight, and when he opened them, Maura saw the soft shine of dampness in his eyes. She stepped into his arms and he drew her into a three-way embrace.

  “Can we go home now?” Katie asked.

  Maura and Alan laughed. “Where do you mean, sweetie?” Maura asked, not sure where her daughter considered home. “Back to our old house where we lived with your daddy?”

  Katie shook her head. “No, back to Grandma Rita and Tod.”

  “Well, I don’t know,” Alan said. “I was hoping you and your mom would come live with me. I have a house just a little ways from Grandma Rita and Tod.”

  Katie seemed to consider this new situation for a moment. “Would you be my new daddy, then?”

  “I think that could be arranged.” Alan met Maura’s gaze and smiled. “What do you say, Mom?”

  Maura laughed out loud. “It sounds like a great idea to me.”

  “Then let’s go home.” Alan leaned over and kissed her gently. Then, turning to Katie, he added, “What do you say, princess? Are you ready?”

  Katie nodded vigorously and hugged his neck. “Yeah. Let’s go home.”

  EPILOGUE

  The doorbell rang, and Maura slipped away from the noisy group of children to answer it. When she saw who was outside, she smiled. Tommy Simmons stood on the porch holding a square box wrapped in bright pink paper.

  “Howdy, Mrs. Parks.”

  “Tommy, what a nice surprise.” She moved back to allow him to step inside. “Katie will be thrilled that you’re here.”

  “I can’t stay,” he said, tossing a glance over his shoulder at the truck that waited outside. “I promised Joey I’d help him make his deliveries today. But I wanted to bring this by for Katie.”

  “Wait a minute. I’ll get her.” Maura returned a few minutes later with Alan and Katie in tow.

  “What is it?” Katie sprang toward the box that Tommy had set on the floor.

  “Open it and see, silly.” Tommy crouched down on the floor next to the little girl.

  Katie turned, wide-eyed, to her mother, enjoying the drama of the unexpected present. “What could it be?” A soft scratching brought her attention back to the box, and she quickly untied the ribbon. When she lifted the lid, a wet brown nose inched over the top.

  “For me?” Katie leaned down and pulled the small brown bundle into her arms. The puppy squirmed and licked her face.

  “Since you’re five now, I figured it was time you learned how to take care of something,” Tommy said. “That is, if it’s okay with your mom.”

  Katie turned pleading eyes toward her mother. “Can I, Mommy? Please.”

  Maura pursed her lips and pretended to think about it. “I don’t know. What do you think, Dad?”

  Alan dropped an arm around his wife’s shoulders and leveled a serious look at his daughter. “You’ll have to feed her.”

  “I will.”

  “And take her for walks.”

  “I promise.”

  “She’ll be your responsibility.”

  “I know. Oh, please. I’ll take real good care of her. I promise.”

  “Well …” Alan paused before giving in to the huge grin he’d been holding back. “Sure, she’s all yours.”

  Katie let out an excited screech, and, with the puppy caught in one arm, she threw her other arm around Tommy’s neck. The boy turned beet red and nearly lost his balance. They all laughed, and Katie took off for the back porch to show off her latest and favorite gift.

  “I think you made a hit,” Maura said to Tommy, who was just recovering his composure.

  Alan planted a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “It was a great idea. And you picked out a good one.” Tommy had approached Alan last week about the puppy, and Alan had assured him that Katie would be delighted.

  Tommy grinned. “She really liked it, didn’t she?”

  “She sure did,” Alan agreed. As they walked toward the front door, he asked, “How’s your pa doing?” Bud Simmons had spent six months in an alcoholic rehabilitation center in Seattle. It had evidently been a long haul, but he’d come home a sober man.

  “Real good. He and Mrs. Cellar sure have been spending a lot of time together.”

  Alan ch
uckled. “If the rumors around town are true, looks like you and Joey might have a new mom soon.”

  Tommy grinned from ear to ear. “I sure wouldn’t mind.” While Bud had been in Seattle, Tommy and Joey had stayed with Jean Cellar. “Mrs. Cellar sure can cook a whole lot better than Joey.”

  Alan laughed again, and Maura gave Tommy a quick hug before letting him out the door. Once again, he blushed, but allowed the gesture. Then he hurried out the door, turning to give them a quick wave as he climbed into his brother’s truck.

  Maura sighed and closed the door behind him.

  It seemed like ages since she and Alan had taken Katie back to Miami. In fact, it had only been thirteen months. So much had happened. So much that she was grateful for.

  Alan moved up behind her and circled her waist with his arms. “How about if we sneak upstairs?”

  “Mmm.” Maura folded her arms over his and bent her head sideways, giving him access to her neck. “You don’t think a backyard full of five-year-olds is a little much for your aunt?”

  Alan found skin beneath her soft blond curls and planted tempting kisses along her nape. “Rita loves kids.”

  “Not that much.”

  “The Sanchezes will help.”

  “You want to bet?” Maura laughed, thinking of Katie’s sophisticated grandparents, who had flown in from Miami for the birthday party.

  “Okay, so they’re not exactly used to a bunch of savages,” Alan agreed. “What about Roberta? She could help watch them.”

  “And risk getting those fine linen slacks dirty? I don’t think so.”

  Alan moaned. “We could make it quick.”

  Maura laughed and turned in his arms. “It’s never that quick.” She found his lips and let herself be drawn deeper into his embrace.

  When she pulled away, he said, “You’re a tease.”

  “Yes,” she answered, “but a very, very lucky tease.”

  “Oh? How so?”

  Maura slipped her arms around his neck and nuzzled his cheek. “I can’t imagine. Unless it’s having a beautiful five-year-old daughter and the best husband in the whole world.”

  “Mmm.” Alan buried his face in her hair. Even after all these months, he couldn’t get used to it, the soft texture, the pale color, the way it fitted perfectly with her fair skin and bright blue eyes. “And the most handsome.”

  Maura laughed. “That goes without saying.”

  “Did I ever tell you how I love your hair?”

  “At least a million times.”

  “Dyeing your hair back to its natural color was one of your father’s better ideas.”

  “Oh yeah?” Maura said, snuggling deeper into her husband’s arms. “You didn’t like me as a brunette?”

  “Well, maybe.” Alan let his hands roam to her soft bottom, amazed that he still couldn’t get enough of her. He pulled her tight against his arousal, showing her just how much he needed her. “Are you sure we can’t go upstairs?”

  “Later.” She gave him a final kiss and, taking his hand, stepped out of his arms. “Come on, we’ve got a party to go to.”

  Alan stood firm, not letting her draw him toward the sounds of noisy children. “Later, you have to go to the clinic.”

  “Ah,” she smiled seductively. “You remembered.”

  “How could I forget?” Then, with an exaggerated sigh, he pulled his wife back into his arms. Shortly after returning to Wyattville, Maura had gone to work for Doc Readon at his clinic. “All work and no play makes Maura a very dull girl.”

  Maura rubbed herself against him while brushing her lips across his. “Am I getting too dull for you?”

  Alan moaned aloud. “Say it.”

  “Say what?”

  “You know. Say it.”

  “You mean …” Maura rose on tiptoe and whispered into his ear, “I love you.”

  “Yeah.” Once again, he buried his face in her soft cloud of hair. “My three favorite words.”

  The End

  Continue reading for an excerpt from the next book in the A Mother’s Heart series:

  Once A Wife.

  ONCE A WIFE

  Even the weather had betrayed her.

  The day should have been dim, with gray wintry skies. Instead, cold clear Wyoming sunshine streamed through the dingy second-floor window where Sarah Colby stood watching the parking lot below. Leaning forward, she pressed her forehead against the icy glass, letting it soothe her fevered skin. She closed her eyes, welcoming the momentary relief, wishing she could as easily ease the ache in her heart.

  She thought of her son, Drew, sleeping soundly in his crib behind her. How could she leave him? Or face the future knowing she would never again take him in her arms, never feed him, never care for him? But that was the problem, wasn’t it. She couldn’t care for him. Not the way he needed.

  Now there was another baby to consider. The unborn child she’d kept secret. What kind of life could she give either of her children if she stayed?

  Sarah turned from the window and moved to her son’s crib. Soundlessly, she reached down and brushed her fingers across his silky dark hair. He looked so perfect. You couldn’t even tell he was sick.

  But she’d learned that looks could be deceiving. Juvenile diabetes, the doctors had said. A disease that would affect him for the rest of his life. She’d never even heard of it until a couple of months ago.

  Nor had she had any idea about the expensive medicine he would need, or the constant care. She would have given her life for her son, but she hadn’t the means to guarantee his health. Without her, though, Drew would get everything he needed. He’d have a chance.

  She pulled away, resting her hands on the wooden rail. The feel of the polished surface beneath her fingers made her think of her husband Reece and the hours he’d spent restoring this old crib. It seemed so long ago, much longer than ten months. They’d been happy then, and so much in love as they’d awaited the birth of their son.

  They’d been so young.

  Sarah no longer felt young. She felt old. Decades older than her eighteen years.

  With one last look at Drew, she returned to the window.

  Reece should be home soon. That was, if he didn’t stop at Belle’s first, where no one seemed to care that he was two years shy of the legal drinking age. More and more lately, he’d taken to stopping at the bar with the other men from the construction crew. And no matter how many times she told herself not to nag him, they’d end up fighting afterward about his drinking.

  Today, she’d called the construction office where he worked and left a message that she was sick. That much was true. But it wasn’t her real reason for the call. What she had to do was going to be difficult enough. If she waited until Drew awoke, she’d never be able to go through with it. So Reece needed to come home. Now. If he’d gotten the message.

  He’d be here soon, she told herself. He had to be.

  Then she would leave this apartment, this town, and try to forget she’d ever been in Laramie, Wyoming. She’d already packed, two suitcases and a box of mementos, and loaded them in the trunk of her car. There was nothing left to do but wait. And think.

  You’re doing the right thing, Sarah.

  The words came back to her, floating through her thoughts, reassuring her. Words her mother-in-law had spoken in this very room not four hours earlier. Words Sarah needed desperately to believe.

  Outside, Reece pulled up in his sleek black Corvette, jarring her back to the present. He’d wanted to sell the car months ago—and God knew they needed the money—but she wouldn’t let him. The car was the only thing he had left of the life he’d known before marrying her, the life she was giving back to him today.

  As he climbed out of his car, Sarah caught her breath. It amazed her that, after all they’d been through, he still had the power to take her breath away. He’d been his hometown’s fair-haired son with his tall athlete’s build and his blond good looks. She’d never understand why he’d chosen her when he could have had any
one. But he had. And look where it had gotten him.

  By the time Reece stepped through the door, she sat waiting for him on the couch, her coat over one arm, her purse clutched tightly in her lap.

  “Sarah?” Reece looked at her, concern darkening his blue eyes. “Are you okay?” Without bothering to remove his coat, he crossed the room and laid his hand on her forehead. “God, you’re burning up.”

  His concern nearly crumbled her resolve. For a few seconds, she considered throwing herself into his arms and telling him everything—about his mother’s visit. And about the new baby. She wanted to lay her problems at his feet and let him sort through them. Just as she’d done more than a year ago when she’d told him about Drew.

  Instead, she stood and took a step away from him. She couldn’t lean on Reece anymore. He was too young to be saddled with a wife and a sick child—his mother’s words, but no less true because of their source. Reece deserved more. He should be in school, not working a minimum-wage construction job and frequenting bars with men twice his age. And for once, Sarah was going to do the right thing. With her gone, his family would step in and take care of both him and Drew.

  “I’ve got a touch of the flu,” she said, putting some more distance between them. “But that’s not why I wanted you to come home.”

  “You need to see a doctor.”

  “We can’t afford a doctor, Reece.”

  She saw the frustration cross his features, those perfect all-American features that set him apart from her own half-breed heritage. “I’ll give Doc a call—”

  “No. I’ll see someone on my own.”

  His expression clouded, and then, for the first time, he seemed to notice the coat she was holding. “Where are you going?”

  She gripped her purse tighter. “I’m leaving you.”

  “What?”

  She lifted her chin and toughened her expression. But it was hard. So hard. “I’ve had enough.”

  “Enough? What are you talking about?” He closed the space between them and grabbed her arm. “You can’t leave.”