by Laurie Paige
“I’ll pick up something in the cafeteria.”
“Something healthy. Ned says you need to eat lots of fruits and vegetables.”
She paused at the curb and gave him a questioning look. “Ned who?”
“Ned Bartlett. My valet and good friend. I spoke with him last night. He’s delighted about the child and was quite adamant that we should return home soon. He’s a worrier and likes to keep an eye on things.”
“I see.”
Max knew she didn’t, not really, but he let it pass. Instead he gazed at her for one lingering moment, taking in the lovely picture she made in a pantsuit of deep bronze suede, a russet sweater and a scarf printed with fall leaves that repeated those colors plus added a bit of blue to go with her eyes.
“I’ll see you at four, if not sooner,” he promised.
“I work until five.”
“You told the doctor at the hospital that you had an appointment with him today. It was on the calendar in your kitchen. Four o’clock.”
“I’d forgotten,” she admitted. “So much seems to have happened since then.”
He nodded as she closed the car door and walked up the sidewalk. After waving when she glanced back, he waited until she was inside the lobby atrium of the Crosby building, glad that it required an identification badge to get past the security guards at every entrance. Then he headed for a meeting of his own.
An hour later he and Chuck sat down with the regional FBI chief, a dour man who was clearly displeased that a foreign head of state was in the country without advance notification. “This is somewhat irregular,” he said.
Max spoke before Chuck could defend their actions. “My passport is in order,” he informed the man coolly. “I’m here on personal business, not state affairs.”
“Ivy Crosby,” the chief stated. His smile was dry. “I read the tabloids.”
“And had us checked out after I contacted your office yesterday,” Chuck added.
“True. The State Department is busy with other things at present. They have chosen to respect your request for privacy.” The older man paused, then said, “Is there anything else I need to know about your visit?”
“Not that I know of,” Max replied.
The FBI chief stood. “I hope you’ll let me know when congratulations are in order.”
“Of course.” Max rose and shook his hand. “Thank you for your cooperation.”
Once they were outside, Chuck frowned. “I thought we were going to bring the FBI into the picture.”
“I’ve had second thoughts. Between us, Trent and his security men, we should be able to protect Ivy. If we have a couple of FBI agents hanging around, too, we may spook the enemy. Whoever that is.”
“So what’s the next step?”
Max checked the time. “I’m off to the hospital nursery to rock babies.”
Chuck cast a doubtful glance his way, then smiled as if waiting for the punch line of a joke.
“I am,” Max said, confirming his plans, then chuckled. “It’s part of the courtship. I think I need to know more about babies, don’t you?”
“Huh,” Chuck snorted and shook his head. “It must be love.”
“It will be,” Max assured him. “It will be.”
“You’re determined to make her fall for you. Is that the plan, Your Highness?”
“Absolutely.”
“Be careful you don’t get caught in your own sticky web,” the security chief advised, a knowing grin tucked into the corners of his mouth. He waved one hand in farewell and strode toward the rental car.
Max headed for the interstate highway, his pulse quickening at the thought of seeing Ivy. He mused over that, then shrugged. His father had explained that the impulses of youth were fleeting and that sex could lead one to false conclusions. A marriage, he’d said, was built a day at a time, like a castle, each stone adding to a strong foundation of trust and mutual respect that would last a whole lifetime.
Ivy had shown her trust in many ways, did she but know it. His trust in her was total.
At the hospital he parked in visitor parking and entered the lobby. There he found the usual confusing array of signs with directional arrows. He followed one that pointed down a corridor to the nursery wing after showing his ID to the security officer and mentioning his fiancée’s name.
Soon he stood before a window behind which were a dozen or so clear plastic baby beds with wheels on the legs. Most of them were filled with babies in various stages of awareness—some sleeping deeply, some looking around and two crying, sounding desperately angry at the world.
The side wall of the nursery had a large plate-glass window the same as the one he peered through. In the adjoining room, he spotted Ivy with a baby in her arms.
His insides clenched in a funny way. Aware of a foolish grin that he couldn’t suppress, he went to the door down the corridor and opened it. The baby on her shoulder slept peacefully. The one in her lap cried loudly.
“Hello. Would you like some help?” he asked.
The delighted expression on Ivy’s face was enough to make him walk over hot coals to see it again.
“Yes. Come in.”
He entered the small room, whose furniture consisted mostly of rocking chairs, and removed his suit jacket. “Tell me what to do,” he invited.
“Choose a chair. I’ll give you a baby.” She frowned thoughtfully at him. “If you’re sure you want to do this.”
“I’m sure. I figure I’ll need the experience.”
She hesitated a second longer, then lifted the crying child onto her right arm while holding the other with her left. She gave him the squalling one, then put the other in one of the rolling bassinets.
“Uh, what do I do?” he asked, no longer sure about this experiment.
“I’ll fix a bottle.” She returned the sleeping infant to the other room, then prepared a bottle for his.
As soon as he plopped the nipple into the open mouth, the baby shut up and started sucking vigorously.
“Ah, that’s more like it, old boy,” he said, pleased with his success.
Ivy gave a little laugh, then laid a cloth over his left shoulder and tucked it between him and the child. “In case she spits up,” she explained.
Max peered at the child as it drank, a wave of undefined emotion wafting through him. Knowing it was a girl changed his perspective on the baby. From the strength of its furious squalls, he’d assumed it was a boy.
He acknowledged his somewhat sexist assumption with a smile. The baby stopped sucking and stared at him. Then its tiny mouth trembled before it widened into a milky grin.
Without pausing to think, he grinned back.
The baby grinned some more, then started sucking again, its eyes never wavering from his face.
“She’s fallen for you,” Ivy murmured, leaning over his right shoulder, her breath caressing his temple. “I haven’t seen her smile like that for anyone else.”
“I think I’ve fallen for her, too,” he admitted.
“She’s one of our crack babies. It’s a miracle she’s made it this far. She was so tiny when she was born.”
He caressed Ivy’s cheek with his. “The instinct for survival is strong. How old is she now?”
“Four months. The volunteers have rocked and sung to her almost continuously during that time. I think she’s going to be normal…”
Max glanced at Ivy as her voice trailed off, worry in her beautiful blue eyes. He realized she was thinking of the baby she carried. “Our child will be fine. You’re healthy. So am I. Our baby will be, too.”
He missed her warmth when she moved away. “Most babies are. It’s just that since I’ve been coming here I’ve seen complications crop up that no one expected. It makes one rather uncertain.” She sighed.
“Life doesn’t come with a warranty,” he told her softly as the child he held drifted into sleep. “We take it as it comes and work together to make something good.”
She brought in another baby and sta
rted it on a bottle. “I wish I had your confidence.”
“You trust me with your body,” he told her. “Someday you’ll trust me with your heart.”
Her quick glance was wary. “Will you trust me with yours?” she asked, then began to rock gently, not expecting an answer.
“I already do,” he said.
Their eyes met and held for a long minute before she looked away. Max shifted the baby a bit. The tiny girl opened her smoky-blue eyes, gave him another trust-filled smile and went back to sleep. His heart did an odd flip. He brushed the infant’s cheek with the back of one finger, marveling at how small she was, how perfect.
Ivy laughed softly. “Watch it,” she warned. “You are in danger of falling in love.”
“Not me,” he answered in the same playful tone she’d used. “Macho men are tough to the core.”
The opening of the hall door disrupted the moment. Max swung his head around, smoothing out the frown of annoyance as he did. Another man stood there.
“Uh, I was just passing by,” the stranger said.
“Everett,” Ivy greeted the other man warmly. “Do come in. You must have known we needed you today. Max and I are the only two who showed up. Sit down. I’ll give you this sleepyhead and try to soothe the screamer in there.”
Max managed a smile when Ivy introduced the accountant from the adoption agency that was next door and was connected to the hospital in some way. Chuck had mentioned the place.
“It’s called Children’s Connection,” Ivy said, finishing her explanation of Everett Baker’s position there. “I haven’t seen Nancy today,” she told Everett.
Max watched with interest as the man became flustered at the mention of the woman.
“I, uh, wasn’t here to see her,” Everett said.
He sat in a rocker and gingerly accepted the baby Ivy placed in his arms and the bottle along with it. Poor guy. He looked about as comfortable as a nervous missionary trying to convert a tribe of cannibals.
“This is my first time, too,” Max confided to the man while Ivy bustled into the nursery and retrieved a crying infant. “Smile at ’em. They seem to like that.”
Ivy returned and soon had her baby quiet. “Everett has volunteered to help us before. This is his second time.”
“Huh.” Max didn’t think the nerdy accountant had gained much skill from his first visit. Smiling at his charming, sleeping baby, he thought he must have a knack for handling them. Dogs and cats had always liked him, too.
At that moment, an odd noise came from the tiny girl. She opened her eyes, squinted as if concentrating on a difficult subject, then made several more suspicious sounds. An unpleasant odor filled the room.
“Ivy,” he said in alarm.
“I’ll switch with you.”
Max was relieved when she did. He continued feeding the other baby. He checked the wrist bracelet. A boy. Joshua.
“Hey, little man,” he said when the boy opened his eyes and stared at him. Max gave him a smile.
The baby’s chin wobbled, then he drew his legs up toward his chest. Next he thrust them straight and let out a yell like bloody murder. Max was so startled he nearly dropped both baby and the odd-looking bottle containing the plastic pouch of milk.
“What did you do, pinch him?” Ivy scolded a couple of seconds later. There was laughter in her eyes.
Max gladly exchanged the screaming Joshua with—he peeked at the name tag—Madison, Female. “What kind of name is that for a girl?” he asked.
The baby yawned and closed her eyes, totally secure in her tiny world.
Like the Grinch, Max felt his heart grow three sizes.
On her way to Crosby Systems shortly after one Ivy stopped by one of the superstores that seemed to be cropping up all over. She parked Katie’s car, which she’d borrowed since her sister was tied up in meetings, a good distance from the entrance doors so she’d get some exercise.
Walking through the pleasant September sunlight, she considered the warm feelings inspired by Max and the babies. It would be very easy to fall in love with him. He could “charm the devil out of his pitchfork” when he put his mind to it, as an elderly neighbor had once said about her father.
Cutting across a line of parked cars, Ivy noticed another car pull into the parking lot, going very slowly as if looking for someone.
A warning ran along her nerves. She’d seen a similar vehicle at the hospital with two men sitting in it. She’d assumed they were waiting for someone who was visiting a patient or seeing a doctor.
Ducking behind a pickup, she noted there were two men inside the dark, late-model sedan. Were they following her?
Silly, she scolded her runaway imagination. One of them probably had to get something for his wife.
Going inside the huge store, she picked up the boxed pasta platter and tongs that were the day’s special and hurried to the checkout line.
Two men in dark suits entered the store. They were talking in a relaxed fashion, but they were looking the place over as they walked. Again she felt a funny tingle along her nerves.
She recalled Max telling her that Chuck believed in following his gut instinct. Her gut felt very uneasy.
Taking a calming breath, she muttered, “Darn,” as if she’d forgotten something and left her place in line. A plan had already formed in her mind.
She headed for the garden shop, laying the pasta platter on a shelf of welcome mats before exiting the main building. Outside, in a fenced area that contained plants and yard furniture, she slipped on sunglasses and pretended to consider the redwood trellises. In reality she was checking the aisle she’d come down before going outside.
No sign of the two men. They were probably casing the store, looking for her. Or picking up diapers as instructed by their wives.
Feeling foolish, she walked past the cashier near the open gate, gave the woman a smile, then went into the parking lot. Keeping cars between her and the building as much as possible, she walked fast but didn’t run.
Relief filled her when she saw a large motor home pull across two parking spaces and hide her car from view. She crossed the open lane, dodged behind the motor home and unlocked Katie’s compact car with shaking hands.
The dark-blue sedan was still in its place when she drove carefully away from the store. She didn’t, however, see the men. Nor did she spot the car in her rearview on the way to Crosby Systems.
Ivy found Katie on the phone when she entered her sister’s office and laid the car keys on the desk. Katie smiled and waved her to a chair.
Inside the building Ivy felt safe. Thanks to a security system that didn’t allow anyone into the building without a guard’s scrutiny, she thought as she sank into the cushions.
“What’s happening?” Katie asked immediately upon hanging up the phone.
Ivy shrugged. “I’m not sure. I thought I was being followed.” She explained what had happened. “It’s probably nothing,” she concluded.
“An overactive imagination? I don’t know.” Katie was silent as she considered the possibilities. “This appears to be connected to Max, don’t you think? Nothing suspicious occurred until he arrived in town.”
An ill feeling swept through Ivy at the thought that he might still be in danger. She wrapped her arms across her tummy until the fear dissolved.
“So, you do care,” Katie murmured.
“Of course. I don’t want him to be hurt because of me. Because he followed me here,” she amended.
Katie pushed her glasses up on her nose, her eyebrows raised as she studied Ivy. “Is that all?” she asked softly.
“Yes,” Ivy said at once, then, “I don’t know. He isn’t the person I thought he was.”
“Who is?” Katie questioned sardonically.
Ivy leaned an elbow on the chair and propped her chin on her palm. “Being a prince is a lot different from being a businessman, though. Intrigues. Absurd tabloid stories. Your every move recorded.”
“Poor Max. I wonder how he stands it
. Life in a fish bowl must be terribly lonely. Especially when you’re the only fish in it,” Katie added softly.
“He said even royalty needed private moments.”
Moments to cherish, he’d told her. With her. With their children. And with friends. She sighed shakily.
“Of course.” Katie nodded as if she understood completely and totally agreed.
“So you think I should marry him?”
Katie studied her a long moment. “That’s up to you, little sister. Max seems honorable. I think you can trust him. But only you know your own heart.”
But that was the problem, Ivy mused later in her office. Her heart wasn’t very reliable. She turned on her computer and began reading the e-mails, bringing her mind firmly back to work-related matters.
At twenty of four, Max strolled into her office. She noted he had a photo badge, which allowed him to wander about the place without an escort.
“Your brother provided it,” he told her, seeing her glance at the ID tag.
“A good idea since you’re determined to make a nuisance of yourself.”
His laughter did things to her insides. She sternly quelled the desire to rush to his arms and kiss him until they were both senseless. “Let’s go.”
He was obviously amused about something as she directed him to the clinic near the hospital. He kept giving her oblique glances as he drove. Once, he shook his head slightly.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“Something Chuck told me.” He parked in an open slot at the medical clinic.
“About me?”
“About how evasive a woman could be if she set her mind to it.”
At the door to the doctor’s office, she stopped in her tracks. “Those men,” she said. “They were sent by Chuck, weren’t they?”
Max had the audacity to laugh. “You outwitted two of Crosby Systems’ best security detectives. How did you get out of the store?”
“Through the garden shop. It has a gate that opens on the parking lot.”
“When did you spot them?”
“I saw them sitting in their car at the hospital when I left. I thought they were waiting for someone. But when they arrived at the store where I stopped, I became suspicious. I mean, two men in business suits being at the same places I was without any apparent reason…” She shrugged one shoulder. “It didn’t seem likely.”
