Christmas Protection Detail

by Terri Reed

  She hit the button that released the hatch to the back compartment where they’d stored their purchases from the general store and the bag she’d packed for herself. She hopped out and strode around to the back of the SUV.

  “Deputy Kaitlyn Lanz, this is Collin McBride and his wife, Margaret.” Nick gestured to the man and woman.

  “Collin.” Kaitlyn held out her hand. “We’ve met.” She smiled at the older woman. “Margaret, nice to meet you.”

  “Likewise, Deputy.” Margaret was a robust woman with silver hair pulled back into a bun. She wore slacks and a light-colored sweater beneath an apron. Her wary green-eyed gaze shifted to the baby carrier. “You really do have a baby with you. Nicolas, we thought perhaps you were joking.”

  Nick lifted the car seat higher. “No joke. This is Rosie. She and the deputy will be staying with us for the night.”

  “So you said,” Margaret replied. Her brow wrinkled. “Where would you like them to be set up?”

  “We’ll put Rosie in the sitting room next to me and make up the bed in the yellow room at the top of the stairs for the deputy,” Nick replied.

  Margaret’s eyebrows twitched as if the request was a surprise, but she nodded. “Of course. Let’s get inside where it’s warm.”

  “I’ll take care of assembling the crib,” Nick told Collin as the man hefted the large box in his hands.

  “Very good, sir,” Collin replied and headed inside.

  Margaret took a bag of supplies in each arm and followed her husband.

  “Shall we?” Nick asked as he grabbed one of the remaining bags in his free hand and carried the baby up the front staircase.

  Retrieving the last bag and her duffel from the SUV, she locked the doors and hurried to follow him. She glanced up at the curved stone turrets at the corners of the grand structure that gave the home a fairy-tale castle, dreamlike facade. She hoped this didn’t turn into a nightmare.

  The foyer was as she remembered it. Cold marble floors, a wide staircase with a wrought-iron railing and walls adorned with paintings that would rival any museum. In the center of the entryway, a huge wooden table held a large vase filled with out-of-season flowers in a variety of spring colors.

  Not one Christmas decoration could be seen. The place would be a sight to behold with some greenery and ornaments. Instead, it was very formal and not homey at all.

  After handing off all but the bags containing their food, and the formula and bottles for Rosie, Nick led the way to the kitchen. While Rosie slept in her car seat, Nick laid out their feast. Sitting on a stool at the counter, Kaitlyn ate, aware that Nick had hardly looked at her since leaving the general store and he hadn’t spoken unless necessary. Very odd.

  Though, she had to admit, grabbing sandwiches had been a good idea. She’d been famished by the time they reached the Delaney estate. Nick seemed to be full of good ideas tonight. He was smart and more capable than she’d previously given him credit for.

  In the past year or so, she’d limited the amount of time they spent together because she wasn’t interested in his flirting. It made her uncomfortable, threw her off balance. And she didn’t like being uncomfortable or off balance at all.

  Even tonight, he’d started out like his usual self at the retirement/Christmas party. All flirty and pushing her buttons. But ever since he’d taken it upon himself to care for the baby, he’d behaved differently. The change was unsettling because it bent her expectations of him. When they’d arrived at the estate, he’d not once made any sort of flirtatious comment about joining him in his home. He’d been more concerned with the child.

  Best to keep her guard up until she could be sure the change in him wasn’t fleeting. She had no doubt that once the novelty of being a temporary guardian to little Rosie wore off, he’d revert to his carefree ways.

  She pushed her empty chip bag aside and crumpled up the wrapper from her turkey sandwich. Nick picked up her trash and threw it away. She watched him as he moved around the kitchen, tidying up after their impromptu meal. Little Rosie, strapped in her car seat, sat on the counter, fast asleep. But there was a definite odor coming from her direction. That was not going to be fun.

  “I think Rosie needs a clean diaper,” she commented.

  Nick nodded as he picked up the car seat and headed out of the kitchen. “Good thing there’s a video online that shows how to change a diaper. I was hoping Margaret and Collin would be of help, but as Collin pointed out when I called earlier, they never had children.”

  Following him up the staircase, she asked, “They didn’t help raise you and Ian?”

  “No. We had a string of nannies over the years, but none stayed for long. The McBrides came into the Delaney employ when I was ten and Ian thirteen. A few years before my mother’s death.”

  Her heart lurched. “You lost your mother young.”

  He paused on the landing at the top of the staircase. He stared at her for a moment as she reached the top of the stairs also, then nodded. “Yes. She was fragile. She had Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It wasn’t caught in time to be cured.”

  Though Kaitlyn didn’t know much about the disease, she could only imagine what the family had gone through. Her heart hurt for their loss. “I’m sorry. That must have been hard.”

  There was a flash of pain in his eyes before he turned toward the door to his right. “This will be your room.”

  She pushed open the door to reveal a large bedroom with a four-poster bed and an en suite bathroom. The walls were a pale yellow and the bedding had a cheery daisy motif. Her duffel bag sat waiting at the foot of the bed and looked out of place in the elegant room. There were high windows with lace curtains and a small desk suited to a female. “Very pretty. Whose room is this?”

  Nick took a breath as if bracing himself. “This house is an exact replica of our estate in Massachusetts. My father had every room furnished and decorated exactly the way it was back East.” He glanced into the room and then met her gaze. “This was my mother’s favorite room. It hasn’t been used since this place was built.”

  “That explains why Margaret was surprised when you said I’d be staying in here.”

  “Very observant of you,” Nick said. “We keep all the rooms guest ready, even though we rarely have anyone stay here. The last time we had guests was when you, Chase and Ashley stayed last spring.”

  She remembered that night vividly. Her fellow deputies, Chase Fredrick and Ashley Willis, had ridden their horses from the woods to the estate, pursued by the minions of a crime lord who had been intent on silencing Ashley because she’d witnessed a murder. Thanks to Nick’s hospitality, they’d remained safe through the night and each had been given a bedroom on the main floor.

  Rosie began to fuss. “Okay, sweetie,” Nick cooed. “Let’s go figure out how to change your diaper.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Kaitlyn said. For some reason, she was loath to be alone. Or, rather, to leave him alone with the baby. Yes, that was it. He would need her help. Not that she knew how to change a diaper, but still. She excelled at following directions.

  Nick opened the door to a small room that had a dark wood desk and a wall of bookshelves filled with leather-bound volumes, as well as hardback fiction books. The boxed crib leaned against the desk, and the other purchases they’d made were neatly stacked on the window’s bench seat.

  A door stood open that led to another bedroom, obscured in shadows. Kaitlyn’s eyebrows hiked up. “Is that your room?”

  Setting the baby carrier on the floor, Nick nodded. “Yes. This way I’ll be close by if Rosie needs anything.”

  Kaitlyn wasn’t sure how she felt about going anywhere near Nick’s inner sanctuary. But then she realized that if he tried anything funny, she could flatten him in an instant. Though she knew he wouldn’t. In the whole year she’d known him, he’d never done anything inappropriate.

  Just the flirti
ng, which caused her no small amount of alarm. Mostly because of the way her blood would race and an answering attraction would ignite. She shook her head. She needed to get a grip. She was here because of the job and that was all.

  Nick took off his sport jacket and hung it over a comfortable-looking leather chair in the corner next to a reading table and lamp. For some reason, the cozy corner grabbed hold of Kaitlyn’s insides and gave a sudden twist. She could picture Nick sitting there reading. What were his favorite books? Did they share any of the same tastes in literature?

  She glanced at the hardback fiction collection and noted several authors she liked to read. Funny, she’d never considered they’d have anything in common.

  He pushed up the sleeves of his dark green sweater, then picked up the changing pad he’d purchased and laid it out on the desk. He contemplated the baby. “She’s sleeping so peacefully. I think we’ll wait to change her diaper until she wakes up.”

  “Good call.” It seemed right to let the baby sleep. But what did she know? While her friends had been babysitting to make money, she’d been giving riding lessons.

  She looked around for something to do and her gaze landed on the crib. “Let’s put the bed together.”

  “The box says no tools required,” Nick said with a thumbs-up gesture.

  Over the next hour, they muddled their way through assembling the crib. Kaitlyn had to admit it was actually fun working with Nick. He was all business. No flirting or impish grins to cause butterflies in her tummy. The weird thing was she kind of missed his playfulness. Silly, considering how annoying he could be.

  Nick assembled and attached the cute zoo-animal mobile to the head of the crib. “Perfect.”

  Next he made sure the baby monitor and receiver worked.

  Rosie stirred, squirming in her seat with little noises. Kaitlyn moved to the carrier and undid the straps holding Rosie in. For a second she hesitated to lift the little girl into her arms, but then she caught Nick watching her. If he could pick up the baby without mishap, then so could she.

  Carefully, she untucked the blanket and scooped the baby into her hands, lifting her from the carrier, careful not to jostle her overmuch. Rosie was so lightweight, yet Kaitlyn hugged her close as if she were the heaviest and most precious object on Earth.

  A shiver of something unfamiliar raced along her limbs, and her heart contracted in her chest with a tenderness that was unexpected and terrifying.

  “Lay her on the changing pad,” Nick instructed as he hovered at her elbow.

  “I got it.” Kaitlyn gently put Rosie on the pad. Keeping a hand on Rosie’s tummy, she turned to Nick. “Now what?”

  He grinned. “Time to watch that video on how to change a diaper.”

  Despite herself, Kaitlyn grinned back. “That would be wise.”

  Nick loaded the video on his phone and they successfully followed the instructions. They managed to change the baby’s diaper, as well as put a clean onesie on her. Then Nick, using directions off the internet, swaddled the baby in a new blanket and put her on her back in the crib. Kaitlyn had never seen this side of him before and found him quite endearing. But she didn’t want to be endeared. Letting anyone close was a risk she wasn’t willing to take.

  “Maybe we should put the other blanket on her, too. Rosie might like to have Lexi’s scent wrapped around her,” Kaitlyn suggested. “It helped to comfort my dog, Magpie, when she was a puppy.” The golden retriever puppy had been a Christmas present. Mom had taken one of Kaitlyn’s old barn jackets and let the puppy sleep on it as a way to comfort Magpie when Kaitlyn wasn’t there.

  “Good idea,” Nick said. “The blanket might make Rosie not feel so lonely and afraid. I’ve read that the sense of smell is closely linked to memory.”

  His tender gaze was disconcerting. She turned away and plucked the blanket from the carrier. The edge of an envelope stuck out from beneath the seat’s cushion. Dropping the blanket back into the seat, she lifted the envelope from the carrier.

  “What’s that?” he asked.

  “Not sure.” She held it by the corner. “It was stuck behind the cushion.”

  “Open it,” Nick said.

  Carefully slipping her fingernail beneath the flap, she opened the envelope and pulled out two pieces of paper. The first one was a handwritten note to Nick. She glanced up at him. “It’s to you.”

  “Read it.”

  She read it aloud. “‘Dear Nick, if you’re reading this, then I’m in trouble. Maybe even dead. I’m sorry to drop this news on you out of the blue. But you’re the only one I can trust. I know you’ll do what’s right. Please take care of her. I love her with all my heart. You are a good man. Lexi.’”

  They already knew Lexi had been headed to Nick for help. But why? And who had she been running from?

  “What is the other paper?” Nick asked, his voice strained as if he were holding back some emotion.

  Kaitlyn opened the trifolded paper and her breath caught. A birth certificate. She quickly scanned the document. Lexi Eng was named as the mother of baby Rosie Eng. But it was the name of the father that wrenched Kaitlyn’s heart.

  The name typed in the space for the father was Nicholas Delaney.

  Her hands shook and her stomach dropped. Nick was the baby’s father. It had his signature and everything. She turned the document around for Nick to see. Anger made her hands shake. “Care to explain why you lied to me?”

  “What? Lie?” Nick grabbed the paper and looked at it. There was puzzlement in his eyes as they lifted to meet hers. “This is fake. There’s no way this is an official document. Those require ID. I’m not Rosie’s father.”

  “But you signed it,” Kaitlyn pointed out.

  He shook his head. “No, I didn’t. That’s not my signature and they spelled my name wrong. There’s no h in my name.” He stalked to his sport coat and took his wallet out from the inside pocket, then extracted his driver’s license. “Here. See for yourself.”

  She inspected his license and discovered he was telling the truth.

  The relief coursing through her veins was disturbing. There was no reason she should have a reaction one way or another about his personal life. If he were truly the child’s father, it shouldn’t matter to her. However, unaccountably, it did. She was glad to learn he wasn’t. And what did that say about her?

  But who was Rosie’s father?

  * * *

  “I’m not in the habit of lying.” Nick turned away from Kaitlyn. He hated seeing the suspicion and wariness in her gaze. How could she think he’d lie to her? And why would he? If he’d fathered this baby, he’d own up to the fact. Yes, there had been times when he’d behaved recklessly and irresponsibly as a young man, but maturity had taught him the importance of responsibility and caution.

  It hurt that she thought so little of him.

  Returning his wallet to his coat pocket gave him a moment to take a breath and calm the inner turmoil. Her approval or disapproval shouldn’t affect him so deeply.

  “Why would Lexi name you as the father and go to such lengths as to make a fake birth certificate to perpetuate the lie?”

  Facing Kaitlyn, Nick arched an eyebrow. “Because, unlike you, she believed in me. She knows I have the means and that I would help her. For whatever reason, she didn’t want to name the biological father.”

  A V appeared between Kaitlyn’s blue eyes. “Or she was hoping to bilk you out of some money.”

  “No. I refuse to believe she would do that. She had a successful career as a graphic designer. Her fear and those men who tried to kill her were real.”

  He moved to pick up the blanket that Kaitlyn had left in the carrier and placed it gently over Rosie. The baby’s little brow furrowed for a moment and he held his breath, thinking he’d woken her, but then her breathing evened out and her little face relaxed.

  A welling of tend
erness and affection flooded his system. He reaffirmed to himself he’d do whatever necessary to protect this baby.

  With the baby monitor’s receiver in hand, he motioned for Kaitlyn to join him in the hall and closed the door to the sitting room. “It’s late. We should get some rest.”

  Kaitlyn’s lips twisted. “You do understand that I have a duty to find the baby’s father.”

  “Why? Obviously, Lexi didn’t want to name the father. There had to be a reason,” Nick stated.

  “I appreciate you wanting to do right by this woman and her child,” Kaitlyn said.

  “Do you?” At every turn it seemed more that she wanted to put a wedge between him and the baby.

  “Yes. But we don’t have all the facts here and I will find them,” she said. “If Rosie’s father is not fit to care for Rosie, then she’ll become a ward of the state and enter foster care. Finding her biological father is the right thing to do.”

  “And you have always done the right thing,” he said, even as he knew her words were true.

  The baby’s father had a right to know about Rosie. But if the man was abusive or a deadbeat, then Nick would make sure the man had no access to the innocent child left in Nick’s care. Nor would he allow Rosie to end up in the system, not when he could provide for her. He sent up a quick prayer that Lexi would recover soon and they could sort out this mess and discover why someone had wanted her dead.

  An earsplitting siren ripped through the house. Instinctively, Nick met Kaitlyn’s startled gaze.

  “Someone is trying to break in,” he shouted.

  She pointed to the room they’d just exited. “Stay with the baby,” she yelled. She pivoted and raced down the hall with her gun in hand, then disappeared down the staircase.

  FIVE

  Heart pounding with adrenaline, Nick lifted a prayer of protection for Kaitlyn as she headed downstairs to confront whatever threat had set off the security alarms. When she was out of sight, Nick rushed back to the room that was now serving as Rosie’s nursery. The soft glow of the night-light kept the darkness at bay. He lifted the crying baby from the crib. Her screams nearly matched the alarm in pitch. He held her to his chest, wishing there was some way to protect her young ears from the noise, but the assault to their senses was grating.