“Is he yours?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“But you think he is, don’t you? I can see the fear in your eyes.”
Is that what he felt at the prospect of this being his child? Fear? Maybe. But he’d describe it more as the feeling of being sucked back into living someone else’s life instead of his own. “He might be mine. I don’t really know.”
“Who is she? The mother, I mean.” She hitched her head back and studied him, glasses low on her nose. “And don’t go saying you don’t know. If you think this child might be yours, you must have an idea who his mother is.”
He let out a breath. He might as well not even try to keep secrets from Missy. She was nothing if not perceptive, even if she was a little overbearing. “I think it might be a woman I dated before I came out here.”
“Name?”
“Honey Dawson.”
She looked down at the baby and smoothed her hand over the blue blanket. Her fingertips lingered on the cootchie-cootchie embroidery. “I take it his name is Troy.”
He shrugged, although Missy wasn’t looking at him to notice. “I need to try to reach Honey, find out what’s going on.”
“And you want me to take care of the child while you make the call?”
Again he felt guilty for asking, but he didn’t withdraw his unspoken request. “It will just take a few minutes.”
She waved him away with the back of her hand. “Go ahead. He’ll be just fine here with me.”
He eyed the little guy’s contented sucking and the gentle way Missy cradled him. Troy would be fine, all right. Reed just wasn’t sure about himself. Or about Honey. She never would have abandoned her child. Not after the was she was deserted by her own mother, without a name, without any idea of where she’d come from. No, something had happened. Something that had made her desperate enough to travel all the way to California and leave her baby with him. And the more he thought about what it could be, the more worried he became.
BOBBY WRAPPED HIS FINGERS around the hot foam cup and pretended to watch the sea lions along with the rest of the tourists. From his new vantage point, he’d seen an older woman disappear into Tanner’s sailboat. And from the corner of his eye he now watched Tanner himself emerge.
The guy must have taken a very short boat trip, and Bobby wanted to know why. If only he could just walk up to Tanner and ask.
In the past hour he’d traded his rifle for a more concealable 9mm, had a nice chat with the maid who’d lied through her teeth about when Honey had left for the pier this morning and picked up the caffeine he craved. What he hadn’t been able to get was satisfaction.
If Honey had already come and gone, before Reed Tanner had reached the pier this morning, he wanted to know why. It sure wasn’t with the purpose of talking to her ex. She must have left something for him.
Bobby needed to find out what.
Tanner paced across the deck, a cell phone clapped tight to his ear. Calling someone. Honey? The police? Child services? Bobby couldn’t answer. But he had all morning to wait and watch. And as soon as he got the chance, he would take a look inside that boat.
REED PUNCHED THE CELL phone’s Off button and restrained himself from throwing the thing over the boat’s rail. He’d tried every number he had for Honey. Her cell. The landline she’d apparently disconnected. The restaurant where he’d learned she no longer worked. It was as if she’d fallen off the face of the earth.
He had only one number left to try.
The phone on the other end picked up on the third ring. “Yeah. What do you want?”
From the hostile tone of Jimmy Bartow’s voice, Reed figured he must have caller ID. “I’m looking for Honey.”
“You should know where she is better than I do.”
“Why is that?”
A heavy pause stretched over the line. “Didn’t she come to see you?”
Suddenly the air felt thin, as if he could gasp and gasp and never get enough oxygen. Reed had figured only Honey would embroider a blanket with cootchie-cootchie-coo. He’d recognized her handwriting on the note. He’d thought he’d accepted the prospect that since Honey had left the baby, that meant the baby might be his. But somehow hearing all those things confirmed hit him like a boot upside the head.
“Tanner? Where’s Honey?”
“She was here.”
“Was? What did you do?”
The accusing tone of Bartow’s voice didn’t surprise him. He had no idea what Honey had told her buddy Jimmy about their breakup, but it couldn’t have cast Reed in a good light. Not that Jimmy had ever liked him. Jealousy will do that to a man. “She came to the pier, but she left before I arrived. I didn’t get to talk to her.”
“Is she on her way back to Dallas?”
“I don’t know.”
“If you have a decent bone in your body, you’ll stay away from her.”
“I need to talk to her, Jimmy. That’s all. I don’t want some kind of reunion.”
“You don’t deserve her. You never deserved her.”
What was he supposed to say to that? Reed hesitated. Should he mention the baby to Jimmy? An uneasy feeling shifted deep in his gut. No. If this child was his, it wasn’t any of Jimmy’s business. He needed to talk to Honey first. “If you hear from her, can you tell her to call me?”
“Go to hell, Tanner.” The line went dead.
“Nice talking to you, Jimmy.” Reed slapped the phone shut. Somehow he doubted Bartow would pass along the message.
“How did it go?”
Reed started at the sound of Missy’s voice. For such a large woman, she was as light on her feet as a cat burglar.
She mounted the steps, the baby against her shoulder, the blue blanket pulled up around his head, shielding him from the wind. “That well?”
Reed held out a hand to help Missy onto the boat’s deck. He didn’t want to expose the failures of his personal life to Missy, but he supposed it was too late for that. Besides, Missy was a force of nature. He couldn’t stop her prying any more than he could stop the fog rolling in over the bay. And who knew, maybe she could help. “She’s not answering her cell phone. But according to a friend, she’s here in San Francisco.”
Holding the baby against her shoulder, Missy patted his back through the blue blanket. “I might have an idea about how to find her.”
“I’m all for ideas. God knows, my brain is dry.”
“First I have to know something. You still have feelings for this Honey?”
He stifled a groan. He should have known any idea Missy had would come in the form of romance counseling. She’d been trying to set him up with a niece of hers for months. So far, he’d escaped. “Listen, Missy, I know you mean well, but—”
“I don’t mean anything. I just asked a question. If you don’t have feelings for her, it should be pretty easy to answer.”
“I don’t have feelings for anyone except you, Missy. You know that.” He threw in a teasing wink for good measure.
She shot him a skeptical frown. “That’s only because you need me to take care of your baby.”
He opened his mouth to protest that it wasn’t his baby, then shut it without uttering a word. He had to straighten this out. He had to find Honey. Now. “I thought you said you had an idea.”
Missy shifted the baby into one arm and dipped a hand into the giant purse she always had slung over one shoulder. “Not just an idea.” She pulled out a plain-looking business card and offered it to Reed.
He peered down at the name. “J. R. Dionne?”
“A private investigator who’s done work for my family in the past.”
Reed looked up at Missy. He was so used to her trying to fix him up, he wasn’t prepared for her to give him a tip that was not related to finding his soul mate and settling down. A tip that was actually helpful. “Thanks.”
Missy nodded and looked down at the baby. “And if you hire J. R. Dionne, I’ll take care of this little guy as part of the bargain. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Mind? You’re kidding, right? You’d be saving my life.”
She held a finger in the air. “You hire J. R. Dionne, and I’m at your disposal.”
Reed nodded. He didn’t have a clue what stake Missy had in this private investigator, but he hoped the guy would work out. Reed might know nothing about babies, but he knew enough not to turn down free babysitting.
Chapter Three
Josie Renata Dionne had been sitting in her one-room office for less than half an hour when the best-looking man she’d seen this month pulled open the frosted glass door and peeked inside. “Excuse me, is this the private investigator’s office?”
“Yes, it is.”
He glanced at the wall to one side, then the other, as if looking for some kind of inner office door. Finding none, he turned his focus back to her and the nameplate on her desk.
Even though she’d been in business only a few months, one look at the guy’s face, and Josie could tell he’d expected J. R. Dionne to be a man. They always did. It often gave her a chuckle to see their thinly disguised shock morph into doubt. Half the time she expected such would-be clients to spin on their heels and march right back out of her office. Half the time, they did, despite her low rates and years as a police officer.
But this one was different.
The shock was there. The arch to the strong brows. The widening of the hazel eyes, eyes she suspected would change color depending on his mood. But instead of doubt following the surprise, he smiled.
What a smile.
Her heart gave a little stutter. She didn’t have a clue what to say.
“You’re J. R. Dionne?”
“Um, yes.”
“I should have known.” He pushed the door wide and stepped inside.
Dressed in jeans and a sporty jacket, he moved with a casual ease she couldn’t quite place. But wherever he’d picked it up, it was sexy as hell. She glanced at his hand. No ring. She pulled her gaze immediately back to his face. “Should have known what?”
“Nothing.” He met her gaze directly. Another thing that set him apart. Most men couldn’t get their eyes to focus on anything above her frustratingly ample chest. Back in her years as a cop, even the badge hadn’t distracted them.
He must be gay. “What can I help you with?”
“I need to find someone.”
“Who?”
“An old girlfriend.”
Okay, so maybe not gay. Just not available. She knew something was wrong with him. Something had to be. “When did you see her last?”
“Almost a year ago. I haven’t talked to her. I just learned she was coming to San Francisco to see me, but she never showed.”
Almost a year? Haven’t talked to her? That didn’t sound very taken. Maybe she hadn’t imagined the way he looked at her, the shimmer that had shot up her spine when he gave her that megawatt grin. “So you want me to find her?”
“Yes.”
“What’s her name?”
“Before we start, can I ask what your rates are?”
She pushed a rate sheet across her desk. So he wasn’t so wealthy that price wasn’t a problem. She could deal with that small flaw. She was starting to get greedy, anyway.
He picked up the paper and stared at it for an uncomfortably long time.
“Do you have any questions?” she prompted.
He looked up from the paper and focused on her with an intensity that made her nerves dance. “Can you start right away?”
“I just finished a big insurance case, so my calendar is relatively clear.” Who was she kidding? Her calendar was uncomfortably empty and so was her pocketbook. But somehow, money wasn’t the most attractive part of this case.
She bit her lip. She had to keep herself in check. As nice as her imaginings were, romantic relationships didn’t work out for her. Never had. Either the guy disappointed her or he got cold feet when it came to commitment, but it was always something. Before Mr. Gorgeous had walked in the door, she’d given up all hope of romance, and a hot smile wasn’t enough reason to reconsider.
But man, she was having fun with the fantasy, and she couldn’t quite shake the hope that it might become more.
“I’d like to hire you, then.”
“Okay. Why don’t you tell me a little bit about your situation?”
“Like what? Oh, yeah, her name. Honey. Honey Dawson.”
“Honey? You’re kidding, right?”
He smiled and gave a little shrug.
“Her parents must have had some kind of taste.”
“No parents. She was found in Dawson County, Georgia. The social workers named her Honey for the color of her hair.”
She groaned inside. Talk about inserting foot in mouth. Being around good-looking men was dangerous, and this one was worse than most. He made her blood feel a little too bubbly, her tongue too loose. “I’m sorry for being flip.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Again with that smile. She felt tingly, maybe a little drunk. The last time she’d felt this off-center around a man was…never.
There had to be something not perfect about this guy, something she was missing. There always was. “Maybe you should tell me why you’re interested in finding Honey Dawson before this goes any further.” Had she just said that? Heat centered in her cheeks. Man, she was slick, wasn’t she? “I just don’t want to waste our time…or your money…if I can help it.”
He nodded. “I’m worried she’s in trouble.”
“Trouble? What makes you think she’s in trouble?”
He glanced at his watch, a sturdy number, more practical than flashy. “I think it would be easier to show you than explain. My boat is down at the wharf.”
“Your boat?”
“A catamaran. I provide cruises on the bay.”
This was looking up all the time. Since she still didn’t know his name, maybe she should call him Captain Gorgeous. She laughed to herself.
He frowned. “Is that funny?”
“No. No. I was just thinking earlier how much fun it would be to take a cruise. I’ve never done that.”
“If you’ll come with me, I can take you out after I show you what she left on my boat.”
Take her out. She liked where this was going. Still, there had to be something wrong. There always was. “What did she leave on your boat?”
“A baby.”
A shock traveled from Josie’s ears to her toes. “Excuse me? Did you say a baby?”
“Yup. A baby.”
A baby. Just the word started up that empty throb in her chest. “Your baby?”
“I…I don’t know. All I know is that Honey left him with me.”
Josie let her eyes wander over that dark, wavy hair one more time. She took in the bright hazel of his eyes, more on the green side now. She imagined touching the stubble on his jaw, tasting the warmth of his lips, falling asleep to the music of his voice and waking up to that smile.
Or waking up to the cry of a baby. A cry just for her.
She shook her head, jolting herself out of the fantasy. She needed to step back, not let her imagination go overboard. This couldn’t actually be happening. There had to be something wrong with this guy. “Could I ask you where you got my name?”
“A friend referred you. She said you’ve done work for her family.”
A bad feeling clamped down on the back of Josie’s neck. “Would her name happen to be Missy Donderfeldt?”
“Well, yes.”
She should have known. He had just the look she liked. Just the right build. And the baby…For a woman who’d been waiting to adopt as long as she had, the baby put him way over the top. This was matchmaking if she’d ever experienced it, and with Missy for an aunt, she’d experienced it a lot. “Tanner. You’re Reed Tanner. The one who has coffee with her every morning before she opens the shop.”
The pieces seemed to be falling into place in his mind, too. She could recognize it in the sardonic smile playing at one corner of his lips. “And
I’ll bet the J stands for Josie. You’re Missy’s niece.”
“She’s told you about me before?”
He nodded.
Of course she had. And she’d told Josie about him, too. She’d told her far too much.
What had her aunt been thinking? She knew what kind of a man Reed Tanner was. She’d told Josie the stories of how he’d moved to the bay area to run away from responsibility. To avoid settling down. And now Missy had gotten it into her head that she should set him up with Josie? Just when Josie was getting her life together? Just when she was inching closer to getting everything she wanted? “I’m sorry, Mr. Tanner. My aunt never should have referred you to me. I can’t take your case.”
He gave his head a little shake, as if convinced his ears weren’t working quite right. “You have to take the case.”
“I can give you another name. Someone reputable.”
“Is it the baby?”
The baby? Of course it was the baby. And her hormones and the fact that just being around him made her feel drunk. “It has nothing to do with the baby.”
“Your aunt has promised to take care of him. At least, she has as long as I hire you.”
Josie fought the urge to groan. So that was why he was so eager. Wait until she gave Missy a chunk of her mind. “The baby is fine. It’s not that.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
It’s being around you. She glanced down at her appointment book. “I just…don’t have time. I’m overbooked.”
“You didn’t think that was a problem when I came in.”
“I didn’t think your case would be so…involved then.”
“And you think it’s involved now? We haven’t even talked about it.”
“Abandoned children always make things more involved.”
He held up a hand. “Listen, Honey has her problems, but she never would have abandoned her baby.”
Oh, that made her feel so much better. Not. She massaged the back of her neck. She was coming down with a monster headache.
“I’m worried about her. I think she might be in some kind of trouble. I need your help.”
“That’s what the police are for. If you really feel she’s in trouble, you should call them.”
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