by Anna Lowe
Her chest ached just thinking about it. Some people, like Lourdes, were dealt all the bad cards in life. Others, like herself, got all the aces and kings.
“She didn’t try to contact anyone?” Dell demanded.
Anjali sighed. “Honestly? I think it was all too much for her. One second, she would cry that Quentin was gone. The next, she would insist he would come back soon.”
Dell stared at the floor, giving her the distinct feeling he could relate to that.
“Lourdes begged me for a place to stay, saying she was on the run. Something about having trouble with an ex-boyfriend. A different guy.” Anjali frowned. She hated to make Lourdes sound like a slut, but what could she do? Quentin was a brief respite in the tornado of Lourdes’s love life. Every other guy Lourdes had ever hooked up had walked all over her.
Anjali took a deep breath because the next part was the hardest to utter aloud. “That was two weeks ago. Lourdes and Quinn came to stay at my place. She said it was just for a little while. But one night, I came home from work, and Lourdes was gone. Quinn was in the bed, and there was a note.”
“A note?” Dell growled.
She winced. Yeah, Lourdes had been that far gone. What kind of person left a baby alone?
“It said, Please take care of her. I’ll be back soon.” Anjali squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “But it wasn’t soon. Lourdes was gone all night and all of the next day. When I finally went to the police…”
“Oh God,” one of the women murmured.
“Suicide.” Anjali’s shoulders drooped. “Or so the police said.”
Dell crooked an eyebrow.
“Her note had a PS that said, If anything happens to me…” Anjali gulped.
“Jesus,” Connor, the big one, muttered. Well, they were all big, but he was the tallest by an inch or two, and there was something about his mannerisms that said he was in charge. “What then?”
Dell touched her shoulder gently and echoed Connor’s words. “What then?”
Anjali swallowed away the lump in her throat. “Lourdes said to bring Quinn to her dad if anything happened because only he could take care of her.” Anjali sniffed. “I guess she wrote that at one of those times where she didn’t have it straight in her head. But I remembered Quentin saying he had a brother, so I tracked you down.”
“You tracked us down?” Connor sputtered.
The men exchanged incredulous looks as if they knew how hard it had been. Nearly impossible, in fact.
She waved her hand. “It wasn’t easy. But when I tracked down Quentin’s commanding officer and told him there was a baby involved…”
That was a bit of a fib, because she’d only gotten as far as the general’s assistant, who’d stonewalled her at first. But when Anjali had explained about the orphaned baby, the woman was all heart. Within three days, she had called back with news of Dell’s whereabouts.
Wendell O’Rourke, the nice lady had confided over the phone. I bent just about every rule in the books to get this information, so don’t breathe a word, all right? Here’s the address. But, sweetheart… The woman had trailed off, suddenly unsure. From what I hear, Dell’s not like his brother. He might not be the best one to trust a baby with.
What that meant, Anjali had no clue. But that was all she had to go on. There wasn’t a phone number, just an address, so she’d booked the first flight to Maui.
“And the idea is to give the baby to Dell?” Connor asked, looking incredulous.
Anjali’s mouth opened and closed. Back in Chicago, it had all been so clear in her mind. She would get Quinn to her nearest relative and then return to work — ASAP. But now that she’d spent a few long days — and endless nights — caring for Quinn, her heart was getting different ideas. Was she really ready to hand the baby off to a complete stranger and fly away?
Her eyes drifted to the ocean, where a long line of orange light streaked across the water. The sun was low, almost touching the horizon, getting ready to set.
“Dell?” the other man — Tim — scoffed. “Seriously?”
The skepticism in his voice matched the looks everyone shot in Dell’s direction.
“Hey. What are you saying?” Dell protested.
Everyone shuffled quietly in place, and Quinn looked up with wide, trusting eyes.
“A baby is a lot of work,” Cynthia pointed out.
Dell’s brows knotted. “I can handle a lot of work.”
Anjali studied his messy hair and flip-flops. Could he?
“I work eighty-hour weeks,” she said quietly. “I run million-dollar marketing campaigns. But that’s nothing compared to taking care of a baby.”
What she didn’t admit was, in spite of all that, all it took was a smile from the baby to feel like she was on top of the world.
Anjali tried to ignore the warm rush in her heart and think rationally. Okay, so Quinn had grown on her over the past days. It didn’t mean she was going to drop everything and change her life.
Quinn yawned one of those precious little baby yawns, making all the women coo. Anjali hid her own yawn behind her hand, realizing how late it was. Maybe not on Maui, but back in Chicago…
Cynthia must have caught her at it because she said, “Where are our manners? You must be tired after such a long trip.”
Anjali wanted to protest that she wasn’t tired. But her eyes met Dell’s, and she couldn’t bring herself to lie.
“I guess I could use some downtime.”
That had to be the understatement of the year, because Lourdes and Quinn had turned her world upside down in the past two weeks. That and the fact that Anjali had put in a lot of late nights at work lately, getting to the office by seven a.m., leaving after ten at night.
More like eleven, she realized, thinking over the past month. Then she thought back some more and realized that was true of the past year, ever since she’d been promoted to deputy director of marketing. A whole year, and she could barely recall what she’d worked on. All she could remember was the stress, the endless meetings, and the long hours. Three things that felt completely out of place in this quiet corner of paradise.
She looked around. Working long hours in Chicago was easy because the city was always pulsing with activity. Anyone who moved slowly seemed downright lazy. But Maui was the kind of place where it didn’t feel like a crying shame to let time slip by. She could probably pull a chair up to the edge of the porch and rock herself all the way to retirement without regretting a minute.
She gave herself a little shake, trying to snap out of her inefficient state. But a bird glided by, following the contours of the plantation grounds, reinforcing that sense of peace. Brilliant pink bougainvillea wound around the porch railing, and the only sign of hurry was that of a bee shuttling from blossom to blossom. She blinked, trying to keep her eyes open.
“Listen, this is a lot to process,” Jenna said. “For everyone. How about we discuss this tomorrow?”
“Can we bring you someplace?” Connor asked. “I mean, do you have a hotel booked?”
She shook her head, glad no one from Gleason Associates was there to witness how many gaps she’d left in her hastily made plans. No, she hadn’t booked a hotel. She hadn’t thought past finding Quinn’s uncle. And now that she had, she had no clue what to do.
She flashed a weary smile. “I’m sort of improvising.”
Cynthia chuckled. “That’s parenting for you.”
Anjali looked down when Quinn gripped her pinkie. Parenting, huh? For years, her mother had been nagging her to find a good man and have kids. Lots of kids, like her younger brothers and their wives had. Of course, her parents had also pushed for her to bust her ass to the top of her class and to climb the ranks in her career. How she was supposed to combine those with having kids, she had no clue. So she’d concentrated on her work for starters.
The problem was, ten years had slipped by. The only people she met were from work, and none of the guys interested her in the least. They were all boring, as i
f shaped by the same cookie cutter. And since Anjali didn’t have time for anything besides work…
Her mother had tried to set her up countless times, but after a dozen blind dates, Anjali had given up. If fate didn’t bring her Mr. Right… Well, fine.
“God, she really does have his eyes,” Dell murmured, leaning in.
She has your eyes, Anjali nearly said, trying not to get lost in them. Dell’s irises were a gorgeous, golden amber, several shades darker than his hair. Deep, soulful eyes she wouldn’t have minded gazing into for a long, long time.
Warning bells went off in her mind, and she jerked her gaze away. The man was too handsome for his own good, and eyes that beautiful could make a woman throw caution to the wind.
Quinn smiled and gurgled, making Anjali’s heart ache.
Not your baby, she reminded herself. Soon, you’ll be back on your own.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and Anjali swallowed a curse. She had taken two weeks of emergency family leave, and yet a hundred new messages had already filled her inbox.
Dell scratched his head and looked around. “How about you stay here tonight?”
“Here?” Cynthia asked sharply.
“Here,” Dell growled.
For a second, everyone stared at him, and Anjali could see Cynthia’s eyes flare. Obviously, the woman wasn’t used to taking orders — at least not from Dell.
“And in the morning…” Dell went on.
A thousand alarms went off in Anjali’s mind as she looked at Quinn. In the morning – what then? Wouldn’t it be better to turn around and head straight back to her old life?
She wanted to leave. She had to leave. But when she opened her mouth to protest, No thanks refused to come out.
Dell scooped the air with his hand, searching for words. “We’ll figure things out in the morning.”
And somehow, Anjali found herself nodding. Which was crazy. She never operated on we’ll figure it out. Every aspect of her life had always been meticulously planned.
Then she gulped, remembering how Lourdes used to say surprises were the best parts of life. But surely, that didn’t apply to babies. And yet there she was, hugging Quinn closer, touching her silky hair, sniffing her soft baby scent.
The others exchanged hard looks, and Cynthia cleared her throat.
“All right. Anjali can use the guest room. Whatever there is to discuss…” Cynthia trailed off, giving Dell a look that said there would be a hell of a lot to discuss, and soon. “…we can discuss in the morning.”
Dell stood, offering Anjali his hand. No, wait. He was reaching for Quinn.
Anjali’s heart beat faster, and her throat went dry. Could Dell really be trusted with something as precious as a child?
Dell’s Adam’s apple bobbed, making her melt. He was nervous too. Vulnerable, almost.
Slowly, Anjali exhaled and extended her arms, telling herself it was just a test. Quinn reached for Dell as if she knew exactly who he was, and when he cradled her carefully against his chest and looked down at her, his eyes glowed.
Connor cleared his throat sharply, making Dell jerk his head up. Then he blinked a few times, and the glow faded. A trick of the light?
For a moment, Dell stared at Quinn, looking totally lost. But then Quinn kicked the air, and a soft smile spread across his face.
“Hiya, Quinn,” he whispered, playing with her foot. “Nice to meet you.”
Anjali held her breath. Everyone she’d contacted in tracking Dell down had warned her about him. But if they saw him now…
“Whoa,” Dell murmured, bringing Quinn to his shoulder. “She barely weighs anything.” His voice was full of wonder, and his eyes were wide. “Is she all right?”
Anjali snorted. “You try carrying her, her car seat, and half a ton of baby supplies on and off three different planes.”
Then her eyes caught on his bulging biceps. Even at rest, they were huge. So, yes. He could probably carry Quinn, the baby bag, and a grown woman. Easily. She flushed at the thought and tucked the end of the baby blanket into Dell’s arms. Their hands brushed, and it felt strangely reassuring — even intimate. Er, comfortable, she corrected herself. No wonder Quinn hadn’t peeped in protest. Of course, that was quite a chest to be nestled against.
Anjali cleared her throat and tore her gaze away. “There,” she murmured, stepping back once she was sure Dell had the baby firmly in his arms.
“Sorry. I mean, thanks,” he said. “For making such a long trip.”
Their eyes met. And not just met, but locked. They both leaned closer to each other like…like…
Anjali couldn’t have explained it if she tried. It was as if they needed each other, even if she couldn’t figure out why. Like they knew each other despite the fact that they’d only just met.
Which made no sense. Dell was nothing like his brother, and he was definitely not her type. Yet his eyes were practically swirling as he took her in, and she was holding her breath.
Then Cynthia waved briskly, and they snapped apart, each blinking like a deer in headlights that had just survived a narrow miss.
“You can get Anjali set up in the north wing,” Cynthia told Dell.
Anjali gave herself a little shake. Wow. She must really be tired to have zoned out like that.
Dell cleared his throat and scooped up the baby carrier with his free hand. “Right,” he murmured as if trying to focus. “Guest room.”
Quinn cooed and grabbed for his beard. Cynthia gestured, and Anjali followed with the baby bag and the rolling suitcase she used for business trips. Luckily, the guest room was just around the corner at the end of the long, wraparound porch.
“You can use the bathroom in the hall.” Cynthia pointed. “And you can use the upstairs shower in the morning if you like. Or would you prefer a shower now?”
Anjali looked around, still blinking. “Morning would be great, thank you.”
She forced herself to focus on her surroundings. The bed was a big queen covered with a beautiful Hawaiian quilt. Cynthia bustled in and out of the room, setting up Anjali with linen and towels.
“Where’s the baby going to sleep?” Dell asked, still holding Quinn close.
Anjali laughed. That, she had a solution for. She kneeled, pulled out the bottom drawer of the antique dresser, and placed it on the floor beside the bed. Then she filled it with several fluffy towels and patted the little nest.
“Like a little trundle bed,” Cynthia said with an approving chuckle.
Anjali nodded. “That’s how my parents started out with me. I don’t think they got a real crib until my brother was born.”
Dell chuckled, and Anjali turned to see him grinning down at Quinn, who was yawning again. Then he looked up. “Does she need formula or something?”
Anjali hid her own yawn. Luckily, Quinn had had a full bottle right after their flight touched down. “No, she’s fine. Hopefully, she’ll be ready to sleep soon.”
Dell furrowed his brow. “So what should I do?”
Cynthia laughed. “You tuck the baby in and hope she gets to sleep.”
Dell still looked confused, so Anjali came over and gently pried Quinn from him. For the space of a heartbeat, the two of them stood side by side, hands and bodies touching, neither in a hurry to move along.
Then Cynthia spoke, breaking the magic spell. “Anything else you need?”
Anjali took Quinn and stepped away from Dell. “I think we’ll be fine.”
Dell didn’t move, looking as if he was stuck between sheer relief and desperation to get the baby back.
Cynthia snapped her fingers and motioned to the porch.
“Come along, Dell. I’m sure they’ll appreciate some rest.”
The lines of his face hardened at Cynthia’s words, and suddenly, Anjali saw the soldier in him. A man with a code of honor, but one who didn’t take orders well. His fists balled as he glanced at Quinn, and he looked ready to stand guard over her all night. His shoulders straightened, and his eyes took on th
at glow again.
Anjali’s breath caught. Wait a minute. Was he looking at Quinn or at her?
“You’ll be all right?” he asked, ignoring Cynthia’s insistent look.
Anjali bit her lip, trying to figure him out. At first glance, she’d had him pegged as a Peter Pan type — the kind who refused to grow up. Now, he was the spitting image of his brother — all honor, all responsibility.
Quinn’s tiny fist opened and closed as if calling him back, but then she settled down and clutched Anjali’s finger instead. Anjali told herself exhaustion was responsible for the swirl of conflicting emotions she felt. Did she want Dell to stay or to go?
“We’ll be fine,” she assured him at last.
Dell paused in the doorway, and Anjali wondered if he felt the same thing. That stretch of a rubber band, that instinct to stay close.
“Good night,” Cynthia called in a clear hint.
Dell’s hand tightened around the doorframe. Behind him, the sky was pink and orange, alive with the colors of the setting sun.
Anjali breathed deeply, registering the sweet aroma of tropical flowers. Wow. She really had made it to Maui. Her journey’s end?
She nodded, telling Dell it was fine to go. “Good night,” she whispered.
His jaw moved, but no words came out, and a second later, he stepped into the shadows of the porch, whispering in a voice that could have been husky from any number of things.
“Good night, Anjali. Good night, Quinn.”
Chapter Four
Coping with a surprise baby turned out to be a lot like handling grief, Dell decided. The busier he kept, the less the crushing reality registered. Which meant he had done pretty well throughout the fifteen minutes it took to get Anjali and Quinn settled in the north wing of the plantation house. But as soon as he was done…
He sank down to the porch steps and held his head in his hands. Was this really happening?
Quentin, he wanted to yell. What the hell have you done to me?
But it wasn’t about him, he knew. It was about a tiny baby who needed a home.
It’s about her too, his inner lion growled, picturing Anjali.