The Baby Wore a Badge

by Marie Ferrarella

  Erin nodded, deliberately masking her own thoughts on the matter. “The very same.”

  Calista laughed shortly. “Well, you can tell Rose she doesn’t have anything to be nervous about. All she has to do is show up and breathe. From what I hear, Nick’ll take it from there and do all the talking. And I do mean all. The man really does like to hear the sound of his own voice.”

  There was no point in pretending that this was a good thing. Erin surrendered the charade.

  “Well, she has to start somewhere,” she said helplessly.

  At least she hadn’t been the one to arrange this, Erin thought. Nick had asked Rose out and her sister-in-law, responding to some sort of newly instituted panic that she was liable to be alone for the rest of her life, had jumped at the chance.

  Picking up on the less-than-thrilled note in Erin’s voice, Calista’s inner optimism suddenly rallied and rose to the surface.

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she told the other woman encouragingly.

  Blowing out a breath, Erin nodded again, more to herself than to Calista. She needed to deal with what was, not with what she wished would be. And Rose needed to learn how to take baby steps. Whatever her sister-in-law might be thinking about her future with Nick, this was really just a practice run, getting her prepared for when a more suitable man came along.

  “And you’ll be there tomorrow?” she asked Calista.

  Calista smiled and nodded, ignoring her own butterflies when she thought of seeing Jake Castro again. “I’ll be there tomorrow. What time do you want me to show up?”

  Erin quickly calculated optimal time for everything to take place. Corey would be available around five-thirty or so. “Six o’clock okay?”

  Six was when she left the mayor’s office. She really didn’t want to ask for a half-hour time-off so soon into her internship. “Six-thirty would be better.”

  She wasn’t inflexible. “Fine. Six-thirty,” Erin agreed.

  There was just one more thing Calista wanted to know before tomorrow night. “You are going to tell your brother about his ‘guys’ night out’ before I get there, right? I mean, he’s not going to be surprised when I just show up on your doorstep, is he? I wouldn’t want the guy thinking I’m stalking him.”

  When they were growing up, Jake was the brother beset by females, all eager for his attention. All in all, Erin was fairly sure that by now, Jake was accustomed to having a woman turn up on the doorstep, looking for him.

  “Don’t worry, I’m telling Corey about it tonight and I’ll have him twist Jake’s arm. He won’t say no to Corey,” Erin assured her. She could see that Calista was wondering why she wanted to get rid of both her husband and her brother for the evening because Rose’s “big date” didn’t really affect either one of them. “I don’t want either one of them hanging around while Rose gets ready. You know what brothers are like. She doesn’t need to be teased unmercifully about this. She’s already nervous enough as it is. I just want her to be as confident and poised as she can be under the circumstances.”

  To Calista, it was a case of much ado about nothing, but she kept that to herself. Anything else she might have said would have to wait. Fowler came shuffling in from the back just then and peered at Erin, scowling.

  “You still here?” It was more of an accusation than a question.

  Erin shifted, turning toward the door. “I was just leaving, Mr. Fowler,” she informed him. With effort, she pasted a wide smile on her face for Calista’s sake. She didn’t want the old man taking Calista to task because she’d overstayed her welcome.

  If she thought it might get her on Fowler’s good side, she’d wasted her time. It made no difference.

  “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” he retorted, pointing a bony finger toward the door.

  Most of the time she could just turn a deaf ear to the old man’s rudeness, but when it was aimed at someone else, it really irritated her. Walking Erin to the door, she debated that perhaps it was time for her to start looking for another job. It was just a matter of time before she couldn’t hold her tongue around Mr. Personality. Eventually, she was going to put him in his place.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow night,” Calista promised. She saw pity in Erin’s eyes as the woman glanced toward Fowler. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what Erin was thinking.

  “Maybe the mayor can give you a raise,” Erin suggested in a whisper as she crossed the threshold.

  “That would really be nepotism,” Calista said with a laugh.

  “I’m not paying you to stand there, jawing the day away,” Fowler informed her, raising his voice so that people in the street outside could hear him.

  “No, you’re not,” Calista agreed, forcing herself to sound cheerful.

  Closing the door, she looked at her part-time employer. In truth, she felt sorry for the old man. He obviously had no friends and he alienated almost everyone he came in contact with. She had no idea how he even made a living. Since she’d started working at the shop, there had been only a handful of customers and maybe five sales. Of course, she was only here part-time, so maybe the bulk of the sales were conducted when she wasn’t around. For his sake, she hoped so. Otherwise, she couldn’t see how he would be able to manage to stay in business for any length of time.

  But that, she reminded herself, wasn’t any of her concern. Instead, she focused on the fact that she was going to be seeing Jake again tomorrow night, however briefly.

  The butterflies in her stomach returned, bringing friends.

  Chapter Four

  Jake really didn’t feel like going out for dinner that night. There were a number of rentals he’d circled in the newspaper that he wanted to review. Beyond that, he’d just planned a quiet evening getting in some bonding time with his daughter. This being a father thing was all still pretty new to him.

  But when Corey had asked him to go out and grab some dinner with him, Jake felt that he couldn’t very well turn down his brother-in-law, not when Corey and Erin had taken him in like this with open arms. At the very least saying no to Corey’s invitation could come off as being ungrateful.

  To win him over, Corey had even told him that he could be the one to pick the restaurant—as if he was familiar with the area, Jake thought.

  But, on the other hand, going out would serve as a mental diversion for him and right about now, he needed to be diverted. And he really needed to put pressing, serious matters out of his mind.

  Jake glanced at the letter he’d balled up and tossed on the coffee table earlier. The letter that had been tracking his whereabouts and had finally caught up with him here.

  Maybe he shouldn’t have left a forwarding address at the post office in New Orleans, he thought. But then, if he’d just up and completely disappeared, he might have been charged with kidnapping by the people who’d sent him this letter. He was certain that by now, Maggie’s parents had gotten themselves a lawyer to contest their daughter’s final decision.

  He knew that Mr. and Mrs. O’Shea maintained that Maggie hadn’t been in her right mind on her deathbed when she’d given custody of their little girl to him, especially because up until that point, she’d insisted that he have nothing to do with raising the baby, that the responsibility was all hers.

  But nothing in the world was going to make him not honor his late partner’s request. Hell, even if she hadn’t asked him to take care of their little girl, he would have been there to watch over Marlie. He couldn’t imagine himself doing anything else.

  He might not know what the hell he was doing, but those were just details. They’d work themselves out. The main thing was that Marlie was his blood, his child. He hadn’t thought the feeling would be so strong, but the moment he’d first laid eyes on her, it had been there, full-blown and vital. Marlie was his and he intended to do whatever it took to hang on to her. If that meant having to go into hiding someday, so be it.

  As a police officer, he considered himself exceptionally law-abiding, but this
was his child and there was no way on God’s green earth he was about to just turn her over to anyone, even her own grandparents. When she’d gotten pregnant, Maggie had told him stories about her childhood, about how almost fanatically strict her father had been, so much so that she ran away from home the moment she turned eighteen.

  Someone like that wasn’t going to get his hands on Marlie, Jake thought. The little girl belonged with him. And he was doing his best to become the competent father she deserved.

  Granted he was still tangled up in the learning curve, but he was getting there. Slowly but surely, he was getting there. He figured that by the time Marlie was in her teens, he’d have it all down pat. With any luck.

  “You probably won’t want to have anything to do with me by then,” he told the infant he was holding tucked against his chest with one arm.

  He could remember Erin when she’d been a teenager. She’d wanted to have nothing to do with either of her parents. Instead, she’d been hell-bent to try her own wings and be independent. There were arguments practically every day.

  It wasn’t that their parents had been particularly strict—not anything like what Maggie had said about her father—it was just that Erin had been a stubborn mule, determined to have things her own way. He was fairly certain that Erin’s unruly behavior was why their father—and their mother—had prematurely gone gray.

  “You wouldn’t do that to me, would you, Marlie?” he asked out loud, looking down at the tiny round face. Cornflower-blue eyes stared back at him, wide and intense, as if the infant was hanging on every syllable that he uttered. She might have Maggie’s red hair, but she had his eyes, he thought, pleased. “You wouldn’t turn my hair prematurely gray because you wanted to stay out all night doing God knows what with God knows who, right, Marlie? You’re my good little girl.”

  “I don’t know, Daddy, I think you might look good in gray hair,” a high-pitched voice—obviously pretending to give him an answer as Marlie—said behind him.

  Caught off guard, Jake swung around, only to see Calista walking into the living room. She flashed an apologetic grin at him.

  He looked startled. Not when he’d turned around, but when their eyes had made contact. Why?

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to spook you,” she told him, crossing to the sofa where he stood. “I just couldn’t resist.”

  While he obviously knew it wasn’t Marlie talking—he thought she was special, but not that special—he’d assumed it was Erin who was pretending to answer him as his daughter. Seeing Calista standing there instead had temporarily thrown him off.

  He was about to ask her what she was doing here, but because this wasn’t his house, the question would undoubtedly come across as sounding rude and he didn’t want that.

  So instead he asked, “Are you here to see Erin?”

  “Well, this is awkward,” Calista said, more to herself than to him. She saw Jake’s eyebrows draw together over his electric-blue eyes in a silent question. Trapped, Calista had no choice but to explain what had prompted her comment. “Erin said she was going to tell you.”

  So far, this wasn’t getting any clearer. “Tell me what?”

  Belatedly she realized that she’d certainly put her foot into her mouth. Well, might as well make room for the other one as well, Calista thought philosophically.

  “That you and Corey are going out together for dinner.” She deliberately refrained from referring to the evening as a “guys’ night out,” thinking he might take offense at that.

  “I already know that. Corey already asked me to come with him.” He was still unclear what she was doing here. “But how do you figure into it?”

  And then suddenly, alarms went off in Jake’s head. There was nothing that he hated more than being set up on a “blind” date. Had Erin decided that he needed female companionship to get over Maggie’s tragic death and that this attractive little slip of a girl was going to be it? Was Callie—no, Calista—supposed to be his date?

  There was no other way but to put it to her bluntly. “Are you coming with us?”

  The question, coming out of the blue, stunned her. Was this Jake’s way of asking her out on a date?

  Don’t get carried away. Men like Jake didn’t beat around the bush; they asked directly. And they don’t ask women like you.

  She was pretty sure that to someone like Jake, she came across as a life-size Barbie doll despite her medium-brown hair. It was up to her to prove that she had far more substance than that.

  “No, I’m staying here and watching Marlie for you,” she explained simply. She made eye contact with the infant, thinking how much the baby’s eyes looked like Jake’s. “Aren’t I, Marlie?” As if in response, a bubble emerged from the infant’s rosebud mouth. Tickled, she looked up at Jake. “I think that’s a ‘yes.’”

  He still didn’t understand. “Why are you watching Marlie?” he wanted to know. “Why isn’t my sister doing it?”

  “Because I’m going to be busy helping Rose get ready, that’s why,” Erin answered, walking into the room.

  After letting Calista in, she’d rushed upstairs to tell Corey to get a move on, then come back down to check on Jake. He’d obviously gotten his signals crossed, she thought.

  Jake turned to look at his sister. “Get ready for what?”

  She wasn’t about to undertake a long explanation. Rose was going to be here any minute. She wanted Corey and her brother to be gone by then. “Never mind, you just go with Corey and have a good time.”

  As if on cue, Marlie began to wail. “Here, give her to me,” Calista urged, taking the squalling infant from him.

  It wasn’t that he felt he could do anything better than this confident young woman his sister had brought to his attention; it was just that he was suddenly feeling very protective and parental toward his daughter. He didn’t want to just leave her like this. What if this wasn’t just a regular crying jag? What if Marlie was hurting for some reason?

  “I don’t know,” Jake hedged. “Maybe I should stay.” He turned to look at Erin. “I’m sure that Corey will take a rain check.”

  Suddenly Erin moved behind him. Placing her hands on his back, she began to push him toward the front door. Hard. “It’s raining right now, Jake,” she told him firmly. “Go. Just go.” It was an order.

  Surprisingly strong, Erin managed to make some headway with him toward the door.

  Erin had definitely piqued his curiosity. “You having some kind of an all-girl party here or something?” he wanted to know.

  “Right,” she quickly agreed. “I’m having an all-girl party and you’re not invited. Now go. Shoo.”

  “Someone’s having a party?” Corey asked as he came down to the bottom of the stairs.

  She was out of time and out of patience. Hands on her hips, she looked from one annoying male to the other. “It’s going to be your funeral if you two don’t get out of here.”

  Holding his ground a minute longer, Corey stood just shy of the threshold and looked at his new brother-in-law. “She always been this pushy?”

  “She has for as long as I’ve known her,” Jake deadpanned.

  Because he and Jake had just crossed the threshold and were standing outside the front door, it was all but slammed shut behind them. Corey laughed. “Subtle, isn’t she?”

  Jake merely shook his head in response. “Not that I ever noticed.”

  Corey led the way to his car. Generally laid-back in most matters, he still preferred being the one doing the driving when he was in a vehicle.

  “So,” he said as he got in on the driver’s side and waited for his brother-in-law to get in and buckle up before turning on the ignition. “You know where you want to go on this official ‘guys’ night out’ Erin’s sending us on?”

  Jake had given the matter a little thought and was pleased to have come up with a name. “Well, I’m kind of partial to barbecue ribs. What do you think of going to Lipsmackin’ Ribs?”

  He’d remembered that he’d driven by
the restaurant a couple of times while driving into town to run some errands and the establishment had looked rather inviting. He’d even caught a tempting whiff when he’d passed by with his car windows opened. Best of all, it was close by.

  Shifting slightly, he glanced at Corey, waiting for the other man to either approve or disapprove of his choice.

  Prompted by his sense of loyalty, Corey’s first inclination was to veto his brother-in-law’s suggestion. The restaurant Jake had just mentioned was one that was in direct competition with his cousin DJ’s place, DJ’s Rib Shack.

  When he didn’t say anything, Jake looked at Corey’s expression. His brother-in-law looked less than thrilled. “No good?” he guessed.

  “Oh, what the hell?” Corey said gamely. Maybe he could find out something to help DJ’s business. It never hurt to scope out the competition. “Might not be a bad idea to check it out, see what they’ve got.” When Jake looked a little puzzled, it occurred to him that Jake might not know what he was talking about. “My cousin owns a rib joint,” he explained. “You’ve probably driven past it. DJ’s Rib Shack.”

  Offhand, the name meant nothing to Jake. But he hadn’t exactly been playing the newly transplanted tourist. Now he understood why Corey had hesitated when he’d mentioned the other restaurant. “We can go there instead, if you’d rather.”

  With his type A personality, Corey was used to taking charge. But he didn’t want Erin’s brother to think he was the type to throw his weight around just because he felt he could. Because Jake had brought up the other restaurant, he wanted to be fair about this. And when all was said and done, it could work out to DJ’s advantage if he went here.

  “No, the place you mentioned’s a little closer and besides, like I said, it wouldn’t hurt to check out the competition for my cousin. Unofficially, of course,” he added with a wink.

  “Like industrial spies?” Jake asked. It seemed like the simple guys’ night out had turned into an exercise in low-level espionage.