Maggie's Guardian (Harlequin Super Romance)

by Adams, Anna

  Maggie.

  Tessa hurried to meet them. She stopped at Noah’s side, the better to lean around him and view Maggie’s somewhat tipsy smile of greeting.

  Noah hefted the bundle strapped to his stomach. “I thought you and I might drop by Weldon’s office and explain about the Sloma kid.”

  Tessa kissed the baby’s forehead. “With Maggie?”

  Noah offered her a rueful smile. “Might as well use any leverage we have. He’s going to be angry we held back, and since I can’t think of a reason to blame him, I thought he might be calmer in front of Maggie.”

  “Do you care? I don’t think of you as someone who worries about what other people think.”

  “I’ll see his point this time.”

  She nodded. Noah remained a cop, sticking with his brother police. “I need to ask him if I can pick up David’s mail anyway.”

  “Do you want to carry the baby? You’ll be a less likely target with her in your arms.”

  She laughed shortly. “Thanks, but I suspect you’ll be his first concern—a lawman intruding on his turf—and believe me, nothing appeals as much as a man with a baby.”

  “Not to another man.” Noah looked ludicrously appalled.

  “Call it an extra bonus for me, then.” Grinning, she took out her cell phone again. “But I still think he’ll be calmer if you come bearing a baby.” She opened the phone and tapped in Jill’s phone number.

  “Who are you calling?”

  “The D.A. She promised to hold off on calling Weldon until I had a chance to warn Eleanor and Joe that he’d be looking into Joanna’s accident again. I’ll let her know we’re going to visit Weldon and that I’ll be a little later than I planned talking to the Worths.”

  Weldon was as furious as Tessa feared, but as Noah had predicted, Maggie softened his reaction. He allowed himself only one, “I knew she was using again” and even with that, he eyed Joanna’s child with empathy.

  “One other thing,” Tessa said as they turned to leave Weldon’s office.

  The police chief looked at her as if she were a week-old chunk of muddied snow that had stuck to his boot. “What now?”

  “I need to pick up David’s mail. He may have bills I should pay. It’s not part of your crime scene, is it?”

  “Do you have keys?”

  She nodded, holding up a ring. “We kept a spare set for each other.”

  “You have more on that than I have. I’ll need you to leave these.”

  Noah leaned down as they left the room. “Sometimes when he talks to you, I think I could help him form a more respectful attitude toward the public.”

  “Big talk from a guy with a baby strapped to his heart.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “I’m serious, Tessa. I’d like to take him apart when he goes at you.”

  “I could tell, but you said yourself, I should have spoken up earlier.”

  “What I say and what he says are two different things.”

  “You’re both arrogant enough.” She nodded to the deputy behind the front desk and pushed the door open to let Noah and Maggie pass through. “And I can take care of myself. I appreciate your protectiveness, but I wonder if you’re trying to make up for lost time.”

  He stopped on the sidewalk. “What if I am?”

  She met his gaze. Last night had changed things, but how much? They’d vaguely discussed the future, but already things were turning sticky between them.

  “I called Lucy,” she said.

  “I know. She told me.”

  “You don’t sound pleased.” She faced him anxiously. “Should I have waited?”

  “I’m glad you called her, and so was she.”

  “But something’s wrong.” She tugged at his arm, leaning into his body. “You don’t have to make up for the past, unless you want me to, as well. Let’s call it even and try to make a clean start.”

  “I thought we were,” he said. “You’re the one suggesting I shouldn’t worry about you.”

  She nodded hesitantly. “I’m sort of glad you care so much, but I don’t like feeling hemmed in.”

  He looked uneasy, as if he were on shifting ground. “Maybe I’m trying to care for you now with all the wrong moves.”

  “Your moves are okay.” She rubbed his shoulder, warming with memories of the night before.

  “I wonder.” Last night obviously didn’t occur to him. “It’s in my nature to stake out boundaries.”

  She shivered, not necessarily because of the snow-kissed air. “You should get Maggie home, out of the cold.”

  After a second, he shifted the baby a little to the side and leaned down to brush Tessa’s lips.

  “Don’t pull away, Tessa.”

  “It’s in my nature to avoid staying where I’m not wanted.”

  “You were always wanted.”

  “I want to believe you, but I couldn’t tell then.” She kissed him, forgetting they were on the street in the middle of her new hometown. Maggie’s giggle broke them apart. Tessa leaned away, regretfully, wiping lipstick from Noah’s mouth. “I’d better go.”

  “You believe me now, Tessa? I’m trying to convince you I’ll stay involved.”

  “If you don’t find something more important to do, I’ll eventually trust.” Was it now or never with him? “If you can wait for me.”

  He kissed her again, reassuring her. With a brief sensual smile, he smoothed Maggie’s cap as the baby cooed at a fluttering piece of newspaper. “Where did you park?”

  “Behind the courthouse, but don’t come with me. It’s too cold.”

  “You aren’t going to David’s house alone. I’ll follow you in the car, and we’ll go in together.”

  “You aren’t bringing Maggie,” she said.

  “Then don’t go inside. Where’s his mailbox?”

  “Out by the street, but I thought I’d make sure nothing’s spoiled in the fridge, see if his pipes burst during the storm the other night.”

  “The fridge and the pipes were fine yesterday. Pull up, and take out the mail. Do not go in that house by yourself.”

  “Why would someone kill David and then hang around his house?”

  “I’m not trying to manhandle you, Tessa, but I can’t just go to your house and hope you show up later.” He stopped when Maggie slammed a mittened hand against his mouth. “And neither can she,” he said, his voice muffled.

  She relented. They both had a lot to learn about being together again, and she’d worried often enough about him not coming home that she got his point.

  “I’ll check the mail from my car. You take Maggie home where she’ll be safe.” She kissed the top of Maggie’s cap and then pressed a kiss to the corner of Noah’s tense mouth. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Call me when you pull away from the house.”

  “Okay.” He had a lot of rules. They might be sensible, but they still felt stifling.

  TO NOAH’S ASTONISHMENT, he managed to persuade Maggie to take a nap. With Keely, naptime had often been fight time.

  Eleanor and Joe were sharing lunch in the kitchen when he went downstairs. She’d put together a salad, and they’d warmed up leftover chicken to make sandwiches.

  “Smells good,” Noah said from the kitchen door.

  “Oh.” Eleanor turned. “We heard footsteps upstairs. I thought it was Tessa.”

  “She’ll be home soon. She had to—” He caught himself before he spilled Tessa’s guts. He wouldn’t mind explaining about Weldon and the D.A. and the new investigation that might include Joanna, but he didn’t want Tessa to think he was acting for her because he thought her incapable.

  She was anything but. He wished he had gone to court before, to watch her work. She was good. Confident.

  “Had to what?” Joe asked.

  “Pick up David’s mail and a few other things.” He poured himself a mug of coffee and joined them at the table.

  “What’s she going to do with David’s mail?” Joe asked.

  “I guess she wants to pay
the bills.”

  “Doesn’t it bother you that your wife was so close to another man?”

  Noah stared at Joe. “What are you talking about? You didn’t believe the gossip, too?”

  “Of course not,” Eleanor snapped, “but we didn’t like hearing it, either.”

  “As long as we all agree it meant nothing.” He stared them both down, more glad than ever that he was going to be around to back Tessa up. “Maggie’s a sweet baby.” He changed the subject. “She went right down for her nap.”

  “Being out in the cold probably made her tired,” Eleanor said. “You dressed her warmly?”

  “Head to toe. Only her face was uncovered, and she had that in my chest most of the time. She liked being out.”

  “But she’s probably not used to it. David had her in day care.” Joe coughed, a scoffing sound. “You know how that is. Why would they bother to take the children out into the fresh air?”

  He was full of surprises today, but who could blame him for resenting the son-in-law whose will had left Maggie to someone else? “You would have liked to have seen more of her?”

  “I’d like to have seen her spend less time in day care. She could have been with us more often.”

  “David’s been busy these past months. He had to shoulder the errands Joanna used to do around the house.” Eleanor sounded defensive again. “Besides, you can see he wouldn’t want to be away from his daughter.”

  As they both still hated being parted from theirs. Noah understood that bitterness all too well. He pushed his chair back and dumped his coffee into the sink. Glancing at his watch, he wondered why Tessa was late calling.

  “Excuse me,” he said. “I want to take a look at Tessa’s computer.”

  “What do you hope to find in there?” Joe asked.

  “I’m just going to look at the notes she made again.” Actually, the computer sat in front of the bay window in the living room. He could keep a casual watch for her from the desk.

  “Joanna always wanted us to buy a computer,” Joe said.

  “She thought we could talk each day through that electronic mail,” Eleanor said. “I wish I’d let her set it up for us now. She wanted to so much.”

  Nodding absently, Noah went back to the living room. He booted the machine but leaned into the window. Up and down the street, a few cars were parked. None moved, and Tessa didn’t pull up. He checked the time again, his stomach starting to clench. A few more minutes, and he’d have to call Weldon and then prepare to face Tessa’s wrath.

  While Eleanor and Joe began to clean the kitchen, he stayed at Tessa’s desk. But when he opened her word-processing program, he found an odd file name in the list of files she’d recently used. It was called “Financials D.”

  David’s financials?

  He hesitated a moment. Opening it would definitely be crowding Tessa. But hadn’t she asked him here to help find David’s killer? This might point him in the right direction.

  He couldn’t help himself. He clicked on the file’s title.

  A screen flashed up, listing income and outflow. Several checks for a “Mr. Sloma” and another entry for “Sloma, supplies” made him flinch. Why would David record drug and paraphernalia buys? And why would he buy drugs at all? Tessa insisted that only Joanna had the problem.

  Obviously she’d recently looked at this file, but she’d decided to keep it from him. If this was evidence, it was key.

  He stared at the screen, thinking fast. If David had been in trouble with the dealers both he and Joanna had used, his death was no longer a mystery.

  A slamming car door dragged Noah’s gaze to the window. Tessa climbed out of her car. Something about her expression pulled him from his chair. As she stared at an open letter in her hand, he crossed the room to open the front door.

  She looked up at him, her gaze intense. “I have to talk to you.”

  “Okay.”

  She lowered her voice. “Where are Eleanor and Joe?”

  He nodded toward the kitchen.

  “Maggie’s asleep?” Tessa asked.

  “For about twenty minutes.”

  “Come outside.”

  He grabbed his coat. As he pulled it on and shut the door behind himself, he remembered the gloves that must have fallen to the floor. He rammed his hands into his pockets.

  “What’s wrong? Something in that letter?”

  “I know I shouldn’t have opened it, and I never would have normally, but it’s a bill from an attorney I know, Simon Gould. He’s a family lawyer, Noah.” She glanced back at the house as if she expected a crowd of cops to pour out of it and arrest her.

  He stared, fascinated by the play of her long straight hair over her shoulders, but he couldn’t read her mind now. “So? I’m not seeing the problem.”

  “Family law. I specialized in family law until I came here. David must have consulted this guy on something he didn’t want me to know about.”

  “Maybe he felt you were too close. He had some private questions to ask someone else. Just as you wouldn’t ask a doctor who was also a family friend to treat some embarrassing condition.”

  “But what was so embarrassing?” She waved the letter and envelope. “I wonder if he wanted Eleanor and Joe to have custody if something happened to him.”

  Noah frowned. He was nearly as attached to Maggie as Tessa. The possibility of giving her up already hurt too much. “I guess,” he agreed, “but why?”

  “Because of Joanna’s death. He may have felt family was more important than Eleanor and Joe’s ages.”

  “That doesn’t make sense unless something changed. David didn’t get the letter seven months ago when Joanna died. It was delivered to him this week. He talked to this attorney recently.”

  Her haunted gaze wounded him. “It would make sense if someone threatened him. He’d be thinking about repercussions. Maybe he realized how much Eleanor and Joe want Maggie to be with them. For all we know, he may have changed his will to leave them as her guardian and me as the backup.”

  “We’re groping in the dark. Didn’t you agree to make sure they stayed close to her?” He cared too much. He couldn’t be objective. Nothing made a whole lot of sense about David’s death. “We have to talk to this guy.”

  “He won’t break David’s confidence. He can’t.”

  “But you know David’s executor can ask him to waive privilege. Who’s the executor?”

  “The attorney who set up his will.”

  “Why not you?”

  “I didn’t want access to his estate. I never really believed it would come up, but I assumed that if it did, I’d just petition the executor for anything Maggie needed.”

  “You know his name, though?” At her nod, he turned her back toward the house. “Let’s call him and then ask Gould for an appointment.”

  “I have to tell Eleanor and Joe that Weldon knows about Joanna’s drug use.”

  He felt for the older couple. “Do you think they knew?”

  Tessa shook her head, her face drawn. “Even if they did, I don’t believe they could have admitted it was true.” She leaned into him, and he put his arm around her. “I’d hate having someone make me look at losing Keely again, and you know they’ll relive her death. How many times have you gone over every minute of that morning we found Keely?”

  “We?” He glanced down at her in surprise. She really hadn’t blamed him because he’d walked into Keely’s room and found her by himself. “You were still in bed. I was the one who saw her first, the one who should have—”

  She pulled him around to face her. “I thought it was the same as if we both did.”

  “Not if you’ve been living with it for eighteen months.” Surprise widened her eyes, and that reaction stunned him.

  “I didn’t understand,” she said. “That day in the restaurant, I thought you were guilty the way I was—out of frustration, because I should have found a way to do something, but you’re serious. You think you should have been able to save Keely’s life. W
hy didn’t you tell me?”

  Words wouldn’t come at first. He didn’t know how to admit weakness when she needed him to be strong. But, as he remained silent, her face went blank and she pulled out of his reach.

  “I did tell you, in a way, as best I could.” He’d never admitted the depth of his guilt to anyone—and most of all, not to Tessa. “I couldn’t talk to you, because I thought you held me responsible. I couldn’t risk hearing you say the words out loud.”

  “Noah.” She lifted her hand to his face, and he noticed she’d lost her gloves also. Her fingers were cold against his cheek, but her gaze warmed him. “What you said at Jimmy’s Bistro—about not blaming me—I believed that, and I felt better for the first time in months. We both have to believe we couldn’t have saved her. It was a horrible tragedy, but it’s time we learned to survive.”

  Touched by her hell-bent expression and her offer of absolution, he pulled her hand to his mouth. “We made a mess of things when we should have taken care of each other.” He kissed her fingers with gratitude, trying to warm her with his body heat.

  “It’s not too late.” Her smile was a secret they shared, based on trust they’d begun to build. She turned toward the house. “I’d better go inside and talk to the Worths.”

  He caught her hand. “I found the file on your computer.” He didn’t wait for her to ask. “The list of payments to Sloma.”

  She stared at him, convincingly confused. “Payments? For what?”

  “For drugs, I guess.” He watched for her reaction, but she seemed as surprised as he. “Maybe that’s just what we’re supposed to think.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Has anyone else used your computer?”

  “David, occasionally. I don’t even look at the file list, but I would have thought all the other files I’d used—for Carlson and Eric and Mr. Swyndle—would have been more recent than the one you’re talking about if David created it. Do you think he might have been listing information he’d found on Joanna?”

  “I think we should let Weldon have access to your computer, and I’ll make sure he gets an expert in to examine the file.”

  “You don’t think someone broke into the house?”