It Takes a Baby (Superromance)

by Holmes, Dee

  “Bet you never thought you’d be grateful you got stopped for speeding.”

  She shook her head. “To be honest, I’m more grateful for you and Lisa.”

  Booth let out a deep breath he wasn’t aware he’d been holding. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look a little shell-shocked.”

  Then she began to sag and Booth gripped her, drawing her into the security of his arms.

  “I’ve wasted time, Booth,” she said in a reedy voice. “I wasted opportunities to tell you the truth instead of hoping if I hid long enough it would all go away. Even that speeding ticket. I’d been so furious when he stopped me, because I was on my way back to get my sheet music. I threw the ticket into the glove compartment. Then when I sold the car in Pennsylvania, I took all the stuff out and tossed it into a box and never really sorted through it. I just found it.” She shuddered.

  “It gives you an airtight alibi, babe. I’ll go with you back to Wyoming to get this cleared up.”

  She looked up at him, her expression telling him how relieved she was that she didn’t have to return alone. “The sheriff killed Steve,” she said flatly.

  “He told you that?”

  “Yes. He and some others are involved in some cash-rich operation. Steve was in on it, too, but he talked too much, and so the sheriff shut him up by killing him.”

  “You said ‘cash-rich operation.’ Drugs?”

  “I don’t know. Max was the name of the man who destroyed my piano. No last name. Someone called the Rainmaker was also involved.”

  “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  “You know them?”

  “Max could be anyone, but the Rainmaker... Well, I’ve never had any contact with him, but I’ve heard of him. He used to be a lawyer who billed for more time than he worked. Served some minor jail time, then disappeared. Heard a report about a year ago that he was setting up a drug-import business from Mexico and looking to expand throughout the West. His real name was Nash Varney, but he liked to call himself the Rainmaker because of all the money he made—first for his law firm and then for himself. From what I’ve learned from the Wyoming state police, some kind of fly-in import of drugs had been going on, but the operation had closed down over the past few months. Apparently the Rodeo sheriff’s office had come under some criticism from citizens for not following up on tips about suspicious lights they’d seen. After Steve was killed, the focus all shifted to finding and arresting you.”

  Kathleen was staring up at him, her mouth slightly open, her eyes wide. “You know all this?”

  “Babe, I’m a cop. One of the privileges of being one is that I can ask questions, get answers and then take those answers to the next level. The state police out there are honest and professional, and they want to know about bad cops so they can get rid of them. They are not interested in putting innocent people in prison.”

  “When you say it, it all sounds so logical. But from where I was it was frightening. All I knew was that the police in Rodeo wanted to frame me to save the real killer. I didn’t know why until now.” Kathleen scowled. “And they would have locked me up without a backward look.”

  “Probably.”

  “So I was right to run.”

  “You should have confided in me. We could have gotten this straightened out weeks ago. If Faswell killed Hanes, then the Rainmaker had him by the short hairs. My guess is that the sheriff had to do what he was told or face the Rainmaker’s wrath—perhaps the guy with the ax who took out your piano.” Booth paused as she absorbed it all. “If the sheriff did as he was told and killed Steve, he’d be off the hook with the Rainmaker, but they needed someone to blame. You were perfect. They made Steve’s murder look like a domestic squabble that had turned violent. The Rodeo police painted that scenario and made you look desperate. You shot him and ran. It was almost perfect.”

  “All set up, even to the point of the Rodeo police testifying against me. I’d be convicted because I had no witnesses and the murder case would be closed. But it wasn’t really about anyone believing I did it. It was all about protecting some sleazy guy’s drug-running and distribution operation.”

  “You were the ideal patsy, babe. No family around. Very few friends, if any. Isolated, and with Hanes’s history of knocking you around, they had the most logical person—a wife who retaliated. What they didn’t figure was that you were too smart for them.”

  “More like too scared.”

  “Maybe, but also clever and careful and aware. You didn’t do things to call attention to yourself.”

  “Until I sent for my piano.”

  “Yeah. That kind of thing was the break they were waiting for.”

  She slipped into his arms, resting her head against his chest. “You know, it’s weird. Its arrival exposed me but also saved me.”

  “Saved you for me. And for Lisa.”

  She leaned back. “Booth, I’ve been so horrible to you.”

  “Yep, you have.”

  For a moment she looked worried. “But you know it was because I was afraid. You were a cop, and an honest cop wouldn’t hide a fugitive.”

  “True, but an honest cop who was in love with the fugitive would have stuck by her no matter what she was charged with.”

  Her eyes widened. “In love? You’re in love with me?”

  “Uh, excuse us?” Mason Knight and his wife stood a few feet from them, obviously uncomfortable that they’d intruded. Kathleen stepped away from Booth, answering his main question about the Knights. “The grocery store. You’re the woman who stopped to admire Lisa.”

  “Actually, we were following you. Mason didn’t want me to speak to you, but I never could resist babies, and watching you with little Lisa, well, it reminded me of my own grandchildren.”

  “Della May?” Mason Knight addressed his wife. “I think they want to be alone, so let’s get the explanation made and head on out.”

  “You’re right. Go ahead. You tell them.”

  He stepped forward. “Your brother Clarke called us weeks ago and asked us to keep watch over you. Apparently he couldn’t stop worrying about you. We met Clarke when me and Della May were doing some consulting on a picture in Hollywood. Anyway, we agreed. Gave us a chance to look at some new surroundings and get paid at the same time, so we drove up here to Crosby. We made some inquiries and learned you worked at the Silver Lining. We tried to stay far enough away so no one would get suspicious, but then Della May approached you at the grocery store.”

  “Clarke sent you to watch over me?” she asked, making that question the only one that really mattered.

  “Yes.”

  “I thought you were sent by the people who wanted to frame me.” She swallowed hard.

  Booth stepped forward and offered his hand to Mason. “I owe you an apology, Mason, and I have to say this relieves my mind. You two were the pieces of this puzzle I couldn’t fit anyplace.”

  “Well, it’s all solved now.” To Kathleen, Mason said, “Call your brother. He’ll want to know that you’re okay, that you’ve found a new life here and that you’re happy.”

  “I will. Thank you.”

  Mason and his wife said goodbye, once again leaving Kathleen and Booth alone.

  “I want to meet your brother. This is a guy who thinks ahead and knows when to act.”

  “Yes, he does, doesn’t he,” she said, pride filling her voice. “Just like you.” She tipped her head to the side. “Before they came in you said you loved me.”

  He grinned. “You look as surprised as I was when I realized it.”

  “When did you know?”

  “Probably that day you came to the grocery store with me. Gladys pissed me off more than usual when she tried to make the relationship we didn’t yet have into something dirty. I hadn’t even thought about anything permanent, and she was already condemning us. But last night I knew for sure.”

  “But that was when you said you knew the truth about me.”

  “No, babe, when I knew the truth about us. If you didn�
�t care about us—Lisa and me—you would have never dug your roots in so deep here. Renting the carriage house, sending for your piano, taking the position Eric offered at the school—those aren’t the actions of a murderer hiding out from the law. Those are the actions of a woman who wants roots and a home and a chance to be happy.” He went on to tell her about the tabloids and making himself check out the story himself. “At that point, I knew there was more to it than Gladys’s newspaper stories. I also knew that whatever the truth was, you weren’t some husband killer. I knew there was a hole, and there was. The speeding ticket.”

  Tears brimmed in her eyes. “I’ve been so afraid to admit my feelings for you. Of course I adore Lisa. She’s so precious and wonderful. But you. You scared me and intrigued me, and I wanted you but I didn’t want to want you because I was so afraid—”

  Booth silenced her with a long, deep kiss. “Tell me you’re not afraid to love me.”

  “No, I’m not afraid of that. Not anymore.”

  He kissed her again, and together, arms around each other, they walked outside into the morning sunshine.

  EPILOGUE

  Two months later

  “SHH. I THINK THEY’RE COMING.”

  “I hope all the cars are hidden.”

  “They are.”

  “And everything is exactly the way Booth ordered it?”

  “Exactly.”

  It was mid-September, the air filled with the crispness of a beckoning autumn. The Rawlings family and friends were gathered at the carriage house awaiting the arrival of Booth and Kathleen.

  They’d returned to Wyoming, where Kathleen had cooperated fully with the authorities and been officially cleared of any pending charges in her husband’s death. The sheriff and those officers involved had been charged with conspiracy, bribery, assisting in an illegal operation, drug dealing and murder. Max and the Rainmaker had been arrested, and the abandoned airstrip used by the drugcarrying planes had been broken up to prevent further use. Kathleen’s statement about the conversation she’d overheard between Cory and the sheriff was supported by Cory, who cooperated fully. He wasn’t charged with any direct involvement, and in fact, was praised for coming forward about Faswell trying to fix the speeding ticket.

  From Wyoming, they’d gone on to Hollywood so Booth could meet Clarke and Kathleen could tell him officially that he was the best brother in the world.

  The return to Crosby and the carriage house had been Booth’s idea.

  “But there are only a few pieces of furniture,” Kathleen said as she climbed out of the Explorer.

  “Knowing my mother, she and Darlene had most of the stuff from my apartment moved while we were gone. Besides, the most important piece is there. The bed.”

  She grinned. “Hmm. Guess we can make do.”

  “For a hundred years or so.”

  She slipped her arm through his as they made their way up the path. Booth reached out and opened the door, gesturing for her to go first.

  No sooner had she stepped over the threshold than Lisa came running out, her arms outstretched. “‘Leen! ’Leen!”

  Kathleen lifted her into her arms. “Sweetheart, what are you doing here?”

  Booth groaned.

  Then everyone else popped up in quick succession and yelled, “Surprise!”

  “Oh, Booth, I’m sorry,” his mother apologized. “But she saw your car and she just got away from me.”

  Kathleen was laughing and hugging the toddler while greeting everyone else. Lisa wriggled to get down and Kathleen complied.

  A tall, strikingly handsome man with deep hazel eyes came forward and grinned. Kathleen had met Doug Rawlings before she and Booth had returned to Wyoming. When Doug had heard about the frame-up, he’d called a Wyoming attorney he’d known since college and arranged to have him represent her.

  Putting an arm around Kathleen and shaking Booth’s hand, he said, “It’s good to have you back home again. Both of you.”

  “It’s good to be home,” she said, her eyes glistening with wonder and happiness at such a show of support and love.

  Booth touched her back, urging her forward.

  She whispered, “This is all wonderful, but what’s the occasion?”

  “Look,” he murmured, turning her toward the room where her piano had been. “That’s the occasion.”

  Kathleen looked and blinked, sure that it was some kind of illusion. A brand-new dark mahogany grand piano stood in the center of the room, its keyboard gleaming ivory and black. The bench was pulled back, sheet music rested on the stand.

  “Oh, Booth,” she said, her hands coming up to her face.

  “It’s from everyone. They wanted to do it, and I told them you’d be thrilled.”

  She turned to the crowd, her eyes damp, her voice cracking. “What can I say? I’m simply overwhelmed.”

  Doug, Janet, Mavis, Darlene and Gail all stepped forward. “We love you, Kathleen, and we want you to stay and be part of our lives and part of Crosby.”

  Silence filled the room, but for a few sniffles and some throat clearing.

  Finally Kathleen said, “I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.”

  “There’s some sheet music on the stand,” Mavis said. “Would you play the song for us?”

  Kathleen took Booth’s hand and walked over to the massive instrument. She ran her hands over the wood before sliding onto the bench. Booth stood beside her.

  She reached up and opened the sheet, but instead of sharps and flats and chords, the words “Will you marry me?” were written in big letters.

  Kathleen stared, her throat so tight she couldn’t speak.

  Then she swung around and flung herself into Booth’s arms. “Oh, yes, yes, yes!”

  Booth held her, kissing her, looking deeply into her eyes. “Look, Lisa has something for you.”

  Kathleen glanced down. The little girl held a tiny box, and at her father’s urging she got the lid open and presented the ring.

  Everyone clapped and Lisa giggled. Booth took the ring and slipped it on Kathleen’s trembling finger.

  “You’re incredible,” she murmured to Booth, staring at the diamond solitaire.

  He leaned closer. “I have a question, though.”

  She raised her lashes and looked at him. “Hmm?”

  “How do we get rid of all these people so I can take you to bed and show you how much I love you?”

  “I think they all got the message.”

  And sure enough, they all excused themselves, with Janet Rawlings taking Lisa. “We’re having dinner at our house. If you two want to join us, you’re welcome. If not, we all understand.”

  In the quiet that followed once everyone had departed, Booth lifted Kathleen into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. And there in the sweetness of love and commitment, they found their own promising “forever.”

  ISBN : 978-1-4592-6388-8

  IT TAKES A BABY

  Copyright © 1998 by Nancy Harwood Bulk.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly Inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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  es, Dee, It Takes a Baby (Superromance)