The Baby Barter

by Patty Smith Hall

  Mack’s stomach churned. Winston Medcalf? The doctor who’d performed surgery on Sarah? When she’d almost died? “What did he have to say?”

  “Dr. Adams mailed copies of Sarah’s medical records over to Dr. Medcalf to keep him updated on Sarah’s progress.”

  “He’s keeping tabs on her?”

  Beau’s mouth twitched. “It’s not like one of your undercover sting operations. Doctors need to exchange information on patients under our care.”

  Mack guessed that made sense. “What did Dr. Medcalf have to say?”

  Beau leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “He feels Sarah has matured enough to give the surgery another try.”

  “No.”

  “Come on, Mack. Sarah was barely three months old the last time Medcalf had her in the operating room. She’s put on some weight, her lungs have matured a little bit.” He steepled his fingers together. “She needs this surgery. Putting it off will just complicate the situation later.”

  An ache radiated through Mack’s left jaw, and he unclenched his teeth. “She had a bad reaction to the anesthesia last time, and we almost lost her. What makes Medcalf think things will be different now?”

  “I don’t know. And that’s not to say Sarah couldn’t have another problem. But we’re racing against the clock now, Mack. If she doesn’t have the corrective surgery before her first birthday, the bones in her face will begin to set and make for a more complicated procedure in her future.”

  This was not what Mack needed to hear today. “But she’s still such a tiny little thing. Couldn’t we put the surgery off for at least another month or two? Give her a little bit more time to grow.”

  Beau dropped his chin to his chest, his fingers tightening into a knot. Whatever it was he had to say was hard on him, as if he had no other choices. When he finally lifted his head, he met Mack’s gaze with an honesty that came from years of friendship. “You don’t have a say in the matter, Mack. You’re not Sarah’s guardian.”

  No say in matters pertaining to Sarah? “But I’m in the middle of adopting Sarah, and Ms. Aurora, she’s her guardian. She won’t agree to this.”

  Beau shook his head. “She’s not officially Sarah’s guardian, not in the eyes of the law, and you...” He hesitated, as if the words hurt him to say. “We don’t know how long it will be before Judge Wakefield signs those adoption papers—or if he ever will.”

  Mack fell back against the chair, his body numb from the news. A thought occurred to him. “Someone has to give the okay for the surgery. They can’t operate without it.”

  “True, which is why the hospital got permission from Judge Wakefield this morning.”

  “Wakefield.” Why didn’t the news that the judge had gotten involved surprise him? Maybe because this mess smelled like something the judge would cook up. “Then I’ll go to court. Get an injunction to stop the surgery.”

  “You think the judge is going to sign an injunction to stop a court order he signed himself?”

  It did sound ridiculous when Beau said it like that. All Mack would do is poke the bear. And he couldn’t afford to make the judge angry with him, not with the adoption still up in the air. “What am I supposed to do then? What if something happens to Sarah? How would I live with myself if I sat back and did nothing?”

  “Have faith.”

  Why was it, when people don’t have the answers, they’d tell you to fall back on your faith? Lord, help me in my disbelief. Keep Sarah safe. Help her through this. “What you’re telling me is that there’s nothing I can do to stop this.”

  Beau shook his head. “All you can do now is be there for your daughter. Love her through it, and pray.”

  Mack drew in a steadying breath. “When have they scheduled the surgery?”

  “A week from tomorrow. Sarah will be in the hospital at least a month, longer if there are any complications.”

  Mack threw down his hat on the chair beside him and raked both hands through his hair. “You know I can’t afford to pay for that long a hospital stay, and I’d rather be skinned alive than allow someone else to foot the bill for my daughter.”

  Beau shifted to the seat right beside him. “I’ve been thinking about that. You’ve already paid for the surgery, right?”

  Mack gave him a quick nod.

  “Then the only bill you’ve got to worry about is for Sarah’s convalescence, and that can be pretty much done at home under the right circumstances.”

  Home. Back to Ms. Aurora’s. Why hadn’t he thought of that? It was the perfect solution. Ms. Aurora could handle taking care of the baby during the day while he settled in for the night shift. But what about the other children in Ms. Aurora’s care? They needed her almost as much as Sarah did now. Casting the extra work of caring for a recovering infant on the older lady wasn’t fair to any of them, and Mack couldn’t take time off to care for Sarah himself, not with his job already on the line.

  “You’re going to need help,” Beau stated.

  “I can’t ask Ms. Aurora. She’s got enough on her plate as it is.”

  “You couldn’t take Sarah back there, anyway.” Beau crossed his arms over his chest and stretched his back. “No matter how clean the woman keeps her home, those kids are walking incubators, bringing in who knows what kind of sicknesses. Even something as simple as a cold would complicate Sarah’s recovery. We need to keep her well until the stitches in her mouth are somewhat healed.”

  Then Ms. Aurora’s was out of the question. “My house, then?”

  “It would be the best choice. She’d be isolated from other children there, and you can monitor who comes inside. The only problem now is finding a trained professional who can come in and take care of her during the day, while you’re working.”

  “A trained professional? You mean like a nurse?”

  “Exactly!” Beau nodded. “Sarah needs someone who can recognize any problems that could come up. Infection, busted sutures, stuff like that. A trained medical professional who would make herself available day or night.”

  “Her?”

  “You’ll have more of a chance at hiring a nurse, preferably one who’s had some experience dealing with pediatric patients.”

  For some strange reason, Mack felt as if he’d just walked into a trap. “You have someone in mind?”

  “As a matter of fact,” Beau said, reaching into an interior pocket of his jacket and pulling out a folded sheet of paper. “I ran across this résumé yesterday and thought she’d be perfect for the job.”

  Mack unfolded the paper, glanced at the name at the top, then crumpled it into a ball. “You think I ought to consider hiring Thea as Sarah’s nurse.”

  “Look, I know it’s an uncomfortable situation, but her credentials are excellent.”

  Uncomfortable? Unbearable would be more like it. He tossed the wadded up sheet of paper back at Beau. “Then you know there is no way I’m letting her take care of my daughter.”

  “Hear me out.” Beau unfolded the tight ball and pressed the paper against his thigh, rubbing out the creases with his hand. “This is a tough surgery, and Sarah already had enough problems the first time around. It would seem to me you’d want her to have the most experienced pediatric nurse available to care for her.”

  “And that’s Thea.”

  Beau waved the crumpled paper at him. “She graduated near the top of her class and worked almost exclusively in pediatrics before she joined the Army Nurse Corps four years ago.”

  “And her references?”

  Beau shook his head slowly, as if in disbelief. “She’s even got one in there from General Patton.”

  Patton? It figured. Thea had never done anything halfway. When she’d decided to go to nursing school during her sophomore year of high school, she’d worked two jobs to stockpile money for school. But Thea livin
g in his house? Taking care of the child they both wanted?

  And it wasn’t just Thea. For propriety’s sake, he’d have to invite Mrs. Miller to move in, too. Though, come to think of it, it might be better to have the older woman living in town, where he and Thea could work together to keep an eye on her, and other people would be able to check on her. From what he’d heard and witnessed himself, the woman had been having trouble lately. She often seemed confused and somewhat dazed. It might just be loneliness and old age wearing at her, living alone as she had before Thea’s return. Or...it could be the first signs of a more serious condition. As the sworn protector of this community, he owed it to Mrs. Miller to make sure she was taken care of.

  “Look, I know it’s none of my business.” Beau folded up the paper. “But you’re not still holding a grudge against her about the accident, are you?”

  Mack’s chest tightened. “What are you talking about?”

  “Maggie told me about the accident. About how you were out that night taking Thea to the train station before it happened, and that’s why you were out on the road so late.”

  “That cousin of yours sure does like to shoot off her mouth a lot.”

  “Now, wait a minute, don’t go blaming Maggie. I pestered the truth out of her. I wondered why you didn’t join up with the military like everyone else and she let it slip that you couldn’t because of your ear.” Beau sucked in a breath through his nostrils. “She only told me because we’re friends and she thought I could help.”

  Phrased like that, it made Mack feel as petty and as immature as a seventeen-year-old kid. Mack glanced around the room, slightly ashamed of himself, though he wasn’t sure why. He’d done a nice thing to help Thea out and ended up losing his chance at a future. Surely he wasn’t to blame for any of that. “Help how? The doctors said there was nothing to be done to save my hearing in that ear.”

  “No, but I could listen. I know how much being a lawyer like your dad meant to you. It must have hurt when the college pulled your scholarship.”

  “Water under the bridge.” At least, that’s what Mack told himself. He’d made a good life since then, and though it wasn’t the one he’d planned on, he didn’t have a reason to complain. It didn’t matter if he was arguing a case in front of a jury or making an arrest. Keeping the town a safe haven in a rapidly changing world had always been his primary goal.

  “What I want to know is why are you blaming this on Thea in the first place?”

  Mack’s jaw tightened, dumbstruck by Beau’s question. “I wouldn’t have been speeding home, trying to beat curfew, if Thea hadn’t asked me to take her to the train station.”

  “You could have told her no.”

  He shook his head. “Thea didn’t have anybody she could depend on. That night, she was frantic. I couldn’t let her go by herself, even if she could have gotten a ride from someone else.”

  “So you made a choice.”

  Mack bristled at the smug look on his friend’s face. Yes, he’d made the choice to help Thea that night. It didn’t mean she shouldn’t take some responsibility for what happened, for the way she’d abandoned him afterward, leaving him to deal with the crumbling of his dreams without even a token of her friendship. “Just like I have a choice right now whether to hire her to take care of Sarah or not.”

  Disappointment flashed in Beau’s eyes then, just as quickly, fled. “If it were me, I’d want the best available care for my daughter.”

  Mack had never felt more between a rock and a hard place in his life. Of course he wanted what was best for Sarah, but why did that have to include Thea? He took the résumé from his friend. “If Thea’s so good, why isn’t the hospital hiring her?”

  “Every nursing position is filled at the moment.” Beau hesitated. “If the town council would decide to build a new hospital that could accommodate our growth, we wouldn’t have to send good nurses like Thea away.”

  But Thea wasn’t going away. She’d as much as told Mack that during their sparring match just a few minutes ago in this very room. She had a family to care for. But how would she keep a roof over their heads and food on their table if she didn’t find a job to support them?

  “And there’s another good reason.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You could keep an eye on her. You know the old saying, hold your friends close and your enemies closer. If she’s serious about getting custody of Sarah, and you have her working for you, you’ll at least know what she’s up to.”

  Beau had a point. He’d know every move Thea made, where she went and what evidence she’d collected to solidify her claim. Guilt flushed through him and just as quickly abated. What did he have to feel guilty about? The woman threatened his family. He had to do this, for Sarah’s sake.

  And if he was going to muddle waist high in Thea’s affairs, he might as well go completely under. “Can I keep this résumé?”

  “Sure, but what for?”

  “I don’t hire anyone without checking out their references myself.”

  Beau broke into a wide smile. “So you’re going to hire her?”

  “Maybe.” If not, at least he might finally be able to find out more about what she’d been up to in the years since she left Marietta. Mack skimmed down the page, his gaze focused on the city where Thea had landed after leaving town, a bit startled by the answer he found. Why in the world would Thea go to Memphis when the nursing school she’d planned to attend was on the other side of the state?

  Chapter Five

  What was she going to do?

  Thea pushed what was left of her dessert around on her plate, her nerves too much of a jumbled mess to stomach even Miss Lucille’s famous peach cobbler. It had always been her favorite item on the Smith’s Diner menu but not today. She finally gave up, put her fork and napkin on the plate and set it all to the side, her thoughts firmly on the interview she’d had with Sally Eison.

  It had gone so well. At least, that’s what Thea had thought. The head nurse had seemed quite impressed with her battlefield experience as well as her time on the pediatric floor at Methodist Hospital. An offer of employment seemed like just a formality after the hour-long interview.

  But then there’d been no offer at all.

  Apparently all nursing positions were filled. Even now, the words robbed Thea of breath. There was only one hospital in Marietta for now, though Nurse Eison had shared that plans were in the works to build a larger facility in the next few years. A lot of good that would do her and her family. They’d be living on the side of the road by then.

  What was she going do? The next nearest hospital was a good hour away in Atlanta. Even if she considered taking a job there, it would mean a long commute every day, time she’d rather dedicate herself to Sarah’s care, once the child was in her custody. There weren’t enough hours in the day.

  “Miss Lucille’s cobbler not up to your likin’ today?”

  Exactly what I need right now. She stared up at Mack, his powerful, muscular frame blocking the sunlight, his face in shadows so she couldn’t get a clear read on his expression. “Well, are you here for round three or did you just stop by to gloat?”

  “I heard there weren’t any openings.”

  There was a note of sympathy in his voice, as if he were truly sorry a position hadn’t been available for her. The kind of sweet reaction Mack had always had, compassionate and caring. A good combination for a lawman.

  A man who, at this moment, was staring at her. “Is there a problem, Sheriff?”

  “Mind if I join you for a cup of coffee?”

  Her heart gave a funny kick under her rib cage, though why, she wasn’t sure. Probably because he’d already goaded her into one argument this morning and she wasn’t in the mood for another one, not right now. But that didn’t stop her from nodding her head toward the seat acros
s from her.

  “Thanks.” Mack pulled off his hat and gently tossed it to the other end of the table before dropping down into the seat across from her. The cozy little booth she’d asked for suddenly seemed too small, his broad shoulders taking up almost the entire length of the table. The kind of shoulders a girl could lean on, the perfect pillow to rest her head after a long day of nursing sick people or caring for a growing baby.

  Thea blinked. Where had those thoughts come from? She had enough on her plate without adding inappropriate feelings for this man to the mix. Thea leaned back into the vinyl seat. “You never answered my question.”

  Mack gave her a quizzical look. “What was that?”

  “Is there a problem?”

  “Well, yes. I mean, there could be.”

  A problem, and Mack was coming to her? That alone was enough to keep Thea glued to her seat. “What kind of problem?”

  “It’s Sarah.”

  Her pulse quickened, her chest suddenly tight, the feeling reminiscent of those first few moments before the ambulances arrived with a fresh batch of wounded men. Now, as she always did then, she needed to assess the situation. “What’s wrong?”

  He must have noticed he’d unsettled her because he reached across the table and covered her hand with his. “She’s okay.”

  “Really?”

  “I promise. She’s perfect.”

  Thank You, Lord! Thea closed her eyes and released the breath she’d been holding. If something happened to Sarah... Her eyes shot open. “Wait, if she’s all right, then what’s the problem?”

  “Well, um...” He hesitated as if trying to find the right words and for a brief moment Thea felt herself soften at the uncertainty in Mack’s expression. “I’m not really sure where to begin.”

  Thea motioned to the waitress who filled Mack’s empty cup, then refilled Thea’s. Once the girl had left, Thea reached for the creamer. “Well, I’ve heard the beginning is as good a place as any.”