Not Quite Mine (Not Quite series)

by Catherine Bybee

  “You might want to check your facts. Jessie acted as if she knew something was going on.”

  “How would Jessie know anything?”

  “Jack…I think. The message was garbled and, to tell the truth, I don’t want to call her back. Seems Jack is worried about his friend Dean because Jack thinks you’re hanging on to some guy in Texas.”

  “There is no one in Texas.” Hadn’t been in a while.

  “Well Jessie seemed to think so.”

  “There isn’t anyone.”

  “Well someone is telling Jack differently.”

  Katie rubbed the back of her stiff neck. “Why would Jack care anyway?”

  “I don’t know…listen, I’ve got to go. I’m going to pretend the call messed up and I didn’t get it.”

  “How is everything there? Enjoying yourself?”

  “I love it, Katie. I can see myself doing this for a long time.”

  “Be careful.”

  “I will. See ya next week.”

  Katie hung up the phone and grabbed her purse a second time.

  Her phone rang again.

  “Did you forget something?” she asked, assuming it was Monica again.

  “I don’t think so,” the male voice said. “It’s Patrick. I take it you were expecting another call.”

  Katie set her purse down again. “Sorry ’bout that. I’m Miss Popular today.”

  “You are that. Listen…I need access to the security tapes or files of the hotel for the days leading up to Savannah being left at your door. I think I know how she got up to your room and where she might have been hiding after she dropped Savannah off.”

  “I’ll call and have them available. I looked at some of them the day after and didn’t see anything.”

  “Were you looking for a woman carrying a baby?”

  Savannah started to fuss in the infant carrier so Katie picked it up with her free hand and swayed her back and forth, calming her.

  “Well, yeah.”

  “If you were dumping a baby, would you walk in, set the car seat down, and then walk away?”

  Katie cringed at the word dumping. Savannah wasn’t dumped. “No. I guess not.”

  “Exactly. So, can you get me the files?”

  “Yeah…I think so. I’ll call the hotel.”

  “OK. The files should be digital so have them e-mail ’em to you and then you can forward them to me.”

  “Sure.” She jotted down the information he asked for and put a note on top of her laptop. “Anything else?”

  “Yeah…one thing. I met your brother yesterday. He wasn’t happy to see me.”

  Katie stopped rocking Savannah and set her down before she dropped her. “My brother?”

  “He was at your place. Seemed shocked you had a guy friend visiting. He bought that we were close, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s asked the staff here to look out for me and notify him when I’m around. I’m going to lay low here for a while.”

  Jessie! So that explained her frantic call. But it wasn’t uncommon for Katie to have a lover around. Why would Jack start asking about Dean? Unless…

  “Lay low. My brother is a direct link to my dad. And we don’t want him onto this…not yet.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  “That’s what I say…but, Patrick, we’re running out of time. The older Savannah gets, the harder it is to hide her. I need answers.”

  “I know you do. And I’m on the edge of a breakthrough. Hang in there a little longer.”

  “OK. Good luck.”

  She bypassed the grocery store and drove directly to Dean’s. His modest home sat along the foothills and gave a view of the vast expanse of cities that sat below the San Bernardino Mountains, otherwise known as the Inland Empire.

  After carefully unbuckling the car seat, Katie swung the diaper bag and her purse over her arm and marched her sleeping child up the steps of his home.

  She rang the doorbell and attempted to calm herself before he opened the door.

  He must have said something to Jack about them, or Jack wouldn’t be asking about Patrick and butting into her life. The last thing she needed now was her brother poking his nose where it didn’t belong.

  Dean opened the door, saw her, and beamed a smile.

  She frowned, cutting off his smile.

  “What a nice surprise.”

  “Shh, she’s asleep.” And he might not think seeing them was so nice once she let him know why she was there. Dean let them in out of the heat. Katie brushed past him, into the living room, and placed Savannah in the middle of the floor. She didn’t bother taking her out of the car seat for fear she’d wake.

  Dean walked up behind her and whispered. “What’s wrong?”

  She swung around, hushed him again, then marched out of the room, and out of earshot of the baby. Once she made it to the back of the house, she met Dean’s eyes with her hands on her hips. “You told my brother about us. Didn’t you?”

  Dean blinked twice and kept his lips shut.

  “Dammit, Dean.”

  “I told him I wanted to see you…on a personal level.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m not sneaking around this time, Katie. If we’re going to give us a shot, and that means seeing each other outside the bedroom.”

  “Did you stop and think about what I want? The last thing I need right now is my brother sticking his nose in my business. What if he comes around or finds out about Savannah? Did you think of that?” she said in a ragged whisper, keeping her voice low.

  Dean’s jaw clenched and his arms crossed over his chest. “I didn’t know about Savannah when I spoke to Jack. I was only thinking of you and me.”

  She hadn’t considered that. She turned away and stared out the glass doors to the backyard.

  Dean moved behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She tried to shrug out of them but he held tight. “What happened, Katie?”

  “Jessie called Monica asking about us…you and me. She said Jack was worried about who I was spending time with. Jack hasn’t asked who I’ve been with for years. I knew something wasn’t right. Then Patrick called, said he ran into Jack at the hotel when he was looking for information on Savannah’s real mom. So Jack thinks I’m sleeping with Patrick while his best friend is trying to sleep with me. Great, huh?”

  Dean slowly wrapped his arms around her and leaned his chin on the top of her head. “I can call Jack, tell him you’re only sleeping with me.”

  She snorted out a small laugh and tried to find the humor. “It’s all becoming so complicated. I just want to find Savannah’s birth mom and make damn sure I can keep this little girl. Is that asking too much?”

  “No, it’s not. We’ll find her.”

  “If Jack finds out about Savannah, my dad will get involved. I want this all figured out before that happens, Dean. My dad thinks I’m as irresponsible as my mother. I don’t want to confirm that to him.”

  She felt Dean stiffen behind her. His words were soft in her ear. “You’re not your mother. Nowhere close, darlin’.”

  Her throat clogged with emotion as she spoke. “When the doctor told me I couldn’t have kids…a part of me said, Well, I’ll never have to worry about not wanting them after I have them.”

  “You’re not your mother.”

  Katie relaxed in his arms, took comfort from his broad frame. “Every day I worry that I’m going to look at that precious little girl and want her gone…out of my life. But then the thought frightens me.” A tear slid off her cheek and she sniffed. “I love her so much, Dean. I know it’s a cliché but I’d move heaven and earth to keep that baby safe. To do right by her.”

  Dean turned her around to face him, wiped her tears with his thumbs. “You listen to me, Katelyn Morrison. You are not your mother. If you ever doubt your own gene pool, then look to your dad. He stepped up when your mother walked out on all of you and he’d move the state of Texas with his bare hands to keep you safe. That love, that loyalty, stems from his
side. So don’t second-guess your heart.”

  “I don’t want to disappoint him…I don’t want to fail Savannah.”

  “Wanting to be the perfect daughter, after all the bumps you’ve given that man in his life, is almost comical, but I get it. If he saw you with your baby girl, he’d be so proud of you…of what you’re trying so hard to do. As for being the perfect mother, hon, I haven’t yet met a perfect mom. You’re going to make mistakes but none of them are going to result in Savannah needing a therapist’s couch when she’s an adult.”

  Katie gave him a half-baked smile. “Since when did you become so wise?”

  “I’ve always been wise. You just weren’t looking.”

  She chuckled and let some of the day’s tension drift away.

  Dean kissed her, slowly, and circled her with his arms. He tilted her head and deepened their kiss. As his tongue slid over hers, her body tingled and her mind went soft.

  Savannah.

  She stiffened in his arms and ended their kiss. “That has to wait,” she told him.

  “Oh, why?”

  “I was running out the door to pick up more formula before Monica called me. Then Patrick called and I ran here. Savannah is going to wake up anytime and I’m out.”

  “Want me to go?”

  “No. I’ll go. Mind if I leave her with you? I’ll only be a minute.”

  Dean winked. “I can handle her. I do have a nephew, you know.”

  “I remember.” Katie gave him a peck of a kiss as she dashed out of the room. She gathered her purse and moved to the front door. “You’re sure?”

  “Go, worrywart. We’ll be fine.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “O.M.Geeee. Katelyn? Is that you?”

  Katie swiveled in the baby goods and feminine hygiene aisle to the sound of her name. In her path was one of the last people she’d ever thought she’d see in a grocery store.

  “Sasha?”

  Sasha Godier lived in New York and occasionally France. What the hell is she doing here?

  “It is you…” Sasha rushed forward in five-inch heels, which was a task in itself, and threw her arms around Katelyn’s shoulders. With heels, Sasha actually met Katelyn’s height. It helped that Katie was wearing a flat pair of shoes. And no makeup.

  Katie rubbed a hand over her face and hoped her longtime friend…er, acquaintance, didn’t notice her lack of polish.

  “What on earth are you doing here?” Sasha asked in a rush.

  “Helping…er, a friend. My God, it’s good to see you.” Katie’s response was automatic and completely insincere. She expected no less of Sasha.

  “You…you look positively…tired.” Sasha grasped Katie’s hands and offered a most stoic look of alarm. “Oh, God. Tell me your father hasn’t cut you off.”

  She would think that…wouldn’t she?

  “No. Nothing like that. You caught me at an awkward time. What are you doing here?”

  Sasha glanced around her and whispered. “I met someone.”

  “That’s great.”

  Sasha ran a hand down her skirt and stood taller. “It is…he’s amazing. Married, but amazing.”

  Speechless. There was no other response. “Married?”

  “He doesn’t love her.” Sasha tossed a lock of perfectly dyed black hair from her shoulder and released a nervous giggle. “He flies in and sees me. And it’s soooo close to LA. Don’t you think?”

  Katie bit her lip and avoided saying anything controversial. She and Sasha had partied in Vienna, and hit the best clubs in New York. They weren’t friends. Just…people who hung out. Plastic people who knew very little about the other. What Katie did know was that Sasha had always been looking for someone rich enough to help her escape her dysfunctional family.

  To hear she was hooking up with a married man wasn’t surprising.

  Actually, it was depressing.

  “Very close to the city.”

  They stood there, taking in the other in silence. “Well, I should go,” Katie told her.

  “Great seeing you.”

  “You, too.” Sasha kissed both Katie’s cheeks and let her swivel away. Out of the corner of Katie’s eye, she noticed Sasha grab an early pregnancy test.

  Katie peered down at the bottles of formula in her basket and forced herself to continue walking forward.

  It’s not your business.

  Take the baby and run, she wanted to shout at her could be friend. But she couldn’t do that. Shouldn’t do that.

  The cashier smiled as she rang up Katelyn’s purchases and bagged the formula.

  In her car, Katie grasped the wheel and realized her heart was beating too fast. The lie she was living was larger than Sasha’s…by a lot.

  Something needed to change.

  The answers from Patrick were coming too slow for Dean’s taste. He’d spent some time researching private detectives and found one who specialized in finding parents of adopted children. Dean took the opportunity of Katie leaving Savannah in his care to snap a couple of pictures with his cell phone. Not that a picture could help that much. She’d grown so much in such a short time, she wouldn’t look at all like she did the day she was born. As he saw it, all infants started to look alike.

  Savannah could easily be his niece or even Jack’s daughter for that matter.

  As if hearing his thoughts, Savannah slowly blinked her eyes open.

  Dean couldn’t stop the grin that spread over his face. She really was amazing.

  Without waiting for her to fuss, he unbuckled her from the car seat and lifted her into his arms. She protested with a whine and, with one pat of her bottom, Dean understood her needs. He noticed a diaper bag left on his sofa and attempted to grab it while holding her. He fiddled a little before giving up and setting her down on the floor.

  Savannah’s shriek filled the room.

  “I’m hurrying, darlin’. No need to cry.”

  But Savannah didn’t listen. She went on crying and flailing her arms as if to emphasize her point about his delay.

  He found several diapers and a box of those wet wipe things moms used. Dean had seen Katie use a cushion for diaper changes and searched the bag for one.

  “OK, baby girl. We’ll get you out of that old one and into this new one, but you’re going to have to give me a little break. I haven’t done this before.”

  His words seemed to calm her a little. She blinked several times and hiccupped on her tears. He managed to unsnap the outfit and expose the damage.

  “Whoa! What is your mama feeding you?”

  A dozen wipes later, her tiny behind was clean and she was kicking her legs and smiling. “You like being naked? Is that what you want?”

  Savannah kicked at his hand. He laughed and snuck a clean diaper under her. “My carpet won’t hold up to the abuse,” he told her. “And your mama would tie me up if she came home and you were exposed. We can’t have that,” he cooed.

  It took him twice as long as it should have, but in the end, Savannah was clean and smiling as he talked to her.

  He left her safely in the middle of the floor on her back and ran the soiled diaper to the outside trash. When he made it back inside, he found her on her tummy and lifting her head.

  “Look at you.” He removed his cell phone from his pocket and crawled on the floor with her, taking pictures. “Did you do that all by yourself?”

  Savannah smiled, lost the strength in her neck, and bopped her chin on the floor. She cried at the shock. He walked her around the room for a while, but she kept crying. He moved to the backyard and let the early evening air wrap around them.

  That was where Katie found them less than twenty minutes later. Dean was pointing out different objects and plants with Savannah propped against him.

  “There’s your mommy. I told you she’d be back.”

  Katie stopped in the doorway and stared at the two of them.

  “What? Do I have baby powder on my face?” Dean asked.

  She shook her head and grinned
. “No. It’s just…”

  “It’s just what?”

  “I rushed and I didn’t need to. Look at you two. It’s sweet.”

  Dean leaned down and brought his lips close to Savannah’s ear. “Hear that, I’m sweet. Maybe I can score some points and keep my girls here with me tonight?”

  “Her bassinet is at the apartment.”

  Dean shrugged. “Let’s go shopping. She’s getting too big for the tiny bed anyway. Might as well get ready for the next phase.”

  “There isn’t room in the apartment for a crib.”

  “I have plenty of room here.” The words popped out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying.

  “Excuse me?”

  He settled into the thought of Katie and Savannah staying with him. “Stay here. You and Savannah. Move in with me.”

  Katie’s brows pitched together. “That’s fast, Dean. I mean, we’re just starting over. Moving in is huge.”

  Dean placed Savannah on his shoulder and walked over to Katie. “What better way to see if this is going to work, with all of us, than to have you stay here.”

  “I don’t know. It’s a major step.”

  “And staying with Monica in an apartment wasn’t a big move? C’mon. It doesn’t have to be permanent. We’ll take it one day at a time. Besides, Savannah rolled over a little while ago. She’s growing out of her tiny quarters whether a crib will fit in your space or not.”

  “She rolled over for you?” Katie’s eyes grew large. She reached out and took Savannah in her arms. “You rolled over? Oh, baby…I’m so proud of you.” She kissed Savannah several times.

  “I take it rolling over is a new thing?”

  “It is.”

  “I took pictures.”

  “You did?”

  Dean moved into the house, shut the door, and fished his phone out of his pocket. He showed Katie the snapshots of Savannah grinning and lifting her head.

  “Move in with me,” Dean said as he reached out and smoothed her hair with his hand.

  “An instant family could be disastrous,” she warned him.

  “Or it could be perfect. Since when do you shy away from a challenge?”