The Baby Barter

by Patty Smith Hall

  “Well, I figured this news would be worth taking you away from reports on parking tickets and petty theft.”

  Mack filed the report in his desk drawer, then turned and grabbed the next one off the stack. “One of your clients get caught doing something illegal?”

  Red leaned back into the chair and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “If you don’t want to hear about Sarah’s birth certificate, I certainly won’t tell you.”

  That news brought Mack up short. “What do you mean? Mrs. Williams hasn’t come back home, has she?”

  “No, but she did send Judge Wakefield all the particulars of the baby’s birth so the necessary documents could be filed. Wrote in her letter that she’d sent you a copy, too, seeing how there was a dispute over the identity of the baby’s mother.”

  He hadn’t received any correspondence from Mrs. Williams. Reaching for a stack of mail Nell had brought in earlier, Mack shuffled through the envelopes, then went through them slowly in case he’d missed something. When he’d completed his search, he turned back to Red. “She must be mistaken. I haven’t gotten anything from her.”

  “It’s possible it arrived last week. It didn’t get filed with the court until today, according to Mr. Lemmon.”

  Last week. Could it be in the stack of mail Judson Marsh had given him the day of the wedding? He’d been so occupied with Thea and the baby, he’d plumb forgot. Mack pushed back his chair and hurried over to the small closet where he stored his coat. Shuffling through the hangers, he came across the jacket he’d worn the day of the wedding and reached into the pocket, coming out with a stack of envelopes along with bits of rice and confetti from the wedding lunch he and Thea had shared with their friends.

  “Well, did you find it?” Red asked.

  Mack untied the string binding the letters and shifted quickly through the stack. Second from the bottom, a small envelope in Mrs. Williams’s nondescript handwriting stared up at him. “It’s here.”

  All the answers he’d been looking for in the last month sat at his fingertips. Sarah’s parentage. Thea’s claim. But now, instead of being evidence he sought, Mack felt a stab of the pain at the possibilities the answers might reveal. If Thea lost her certainty that Sarah was her niece, she lost her last hope of making peace with the memory of her sister. Not that it mattered to him. In his heart, Sarah was as much Thea’s child as if she’d given birth to her. Burdening Thea with a new loss would hurt her too much, and her pain had become his own.

  I’m in love with Thea.

  Mack let the admission settle over him, amazed it had taken him this long to admit what his heart had been trying to tell him from the first. Of course he loved her, had loved her ever since she’d worn her hair up in those adorable pigtails while they were still in high school; admired the generous, loving woman she had become despite the sorrows she’d borne.

  “Well, what are you waiting for? Open it.”

  Mack glanced over at his attorney. Red would never understand his reasoning, but then he wasn’t paid to understand Mack’s every move, now was he? “I’m not going to open it.”

  Red sat up. “But you’ve been waiting for a month to find out the truth, and now that you have it, you’re not going to read it?”

  What Mack felt for Thea, for Sarah, the relationship he shared with his Savior. Those were the only truths he needed to know. Mrs. Williams’s letter could only deliver news that either wouldn’t matter, or would cause pain.

  What about Thea? Shouldn’t she have a voice in this matter? Shouldn’t she make her own decision about knowing the contents of the letter? Of course she should. They had promised to base their marriage on trust.

  Mack scraped a hand across his jaw, shame rising inside. A hollow vow, considering he hadn’t confessed the anger he’d felt toward her since the night she’d left. If he wanted a chance at making this marriage real, he had to bring it out into the open, lance this old wound once and for all.

  Mack threw the rest of the mail on his desk, grabbed his coat off the back of his chair and rounded his desk, heading toward the door.

  Red jumped to his feet, his expression one of bewilderment. “Mack, what are you doing?”

  “I need to talk to Thea.”

  “Don’t you think you need to make a decision before bringing her into this?”

  “You can find your own way out.” Mack took one last look at his lawyer, then hurried across the room and walked out the door. It didn’t matter who had given birth to Sarah, only that Thea was her mother now and always would be.

  He’d made his decision.

  He was going to follow his heart.

  * * *

  Thea stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of the white marbled bank, the soft fall sunlight doing nothing to ward off the chill that had taken up residence in her bones over the course of the past two days. Tending to her mother’s scant finances had led to another dead end. The latest one was a safety deposit box. Momma had kept the key to it in her dresser drawer since before Daddy died. If Thea had hoped to find a life insurance policy or jewelry inside to help fund her mother’s care, she’d been disappointed.

  Another worry for Mack to deal with, Thea thought as she tugged on her black gloves, their color matching her mood. Her mother was her responsibility, not his. She’d find a way to cover Momma’s bills. Maybe the hospital knew of a doctor who needed a nurse. Of course, she’d have to consider Sarah’s needs, and she wouldn’t do anything until she talked to Mack.

  Thea tucked her purse against her side and glanced out over the square. The trees in the park had been shaken bare, a happy occurrence if the children running and jumping into the piles of red-and-gold leaves had anything to say about it. Two women sat together on a bench, each rocking a stroller, deep in conversation as if comparing notes on motherhood. The earthy fragrance of pumpkins from the corner market next door lightly scented the air.

  The perfect place to raise a family.

  “If only that was all I wanted,” Thea muttered as she shoved her purse under her arm.

  “You always talk to yourself like that?”

  Thea’s heart did a funny little flip, her standard response to her husband’s voice. She lifted her chin a notch. “Sometimes, when I get lonely and don’t have anyone else to talk to.”

  Her blunt honesty caught him off guard, and even left her feeling a little flustered. What had possessed her to confess that she got lonely at times? Mack, Marietta’s golden-haired boy, would have no idea what it was like to feel all alone in a world full of people with no one to talk to or confide in.

  But when she lifted her gaze to his, a shock ran through her at the hint of vulnerability in his eyes. Was it possible Mack felt the same loneliness? His parents were gone, and though he had dozens of friends, it wasn’t the same as having someone to count on, someone who cared enough about you to tell you when you were making a mistake, someone who loved you despite your flaws.

  They’d been friends once, and this past week had seemed to erase all the years they’d been apart. She was his wife, his partner. He’d never be alone again, not if she could help it. Thea slipped her arm through his and gave him what she hoped to be a flirtatious smile. “You’re looking mighty good for a man who just got over chicken pox not that long ago.”

  “Well, I owe that to the good care I received. In fact, the nurse who took care of me was so wonderful, I married her.” He leaned down and whispered as if they were sharing a secret. “And I finally got the last of the oatmeal out of my hair this morning.”

  “I’m glad to hear that, Sheriff.” Thea brought her gloved hand up to stifle the giggles. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until tonight. Have you heard from Ms. Aurora today?”

  “Sarah is fine, as always.” Mack pushed the brim of his hat back on his head, revealing more of his handsome face. “John and Mer
rilee are back from their honeymoon and stopped by Ms. Aurora’s to check on everyone. John even dropped your mother back at your house to pick up some things. He’ll go and check on her throughout the day, then take her back to Ms. Aurora’s this evening.”

  Worry flashed through her, then slowly dissipated. Ms. Aurora wouldn’t have agreed to this unless she felt Momma would be all right. “Has Momma been giving her any trouble?”

  He shook his head. “Not any that she mentioned. She seems to think your mother does better when she’s kept occupied, so she’s been helping with the twins.”

  “Ms. Aurora’s a wonderful woman to take Momma in for a few days but it’s got to be exhausting. Maybe I should go stay with her? Let Ms. Aurora get some rest.”

  Mack gave her an approving smile that warmed Thea to the tips of her toes. “That’s sweet of you, but John and Merrilee are staying with Ms. Aurora until their house is ready. They’ll help her.”

  “That’s good to know.”

  “Besides, we have other things we need to take care of.”

  “What exactly is it we need to do?”

  “I figure with Sarah recovered, Judge Wakefield will be pushing for the surgery again very soon.”

  There was a tone in his voice she hadn’t heard often. Irritation? Annoyance? “You’re not a big fan of the judge.”

  Mack glanced over her head, his eyes trained on a building behind her. Thea glanced over her shoulder to where the county’s courthouse stood. “He made this whole adoption situation more difficult that it had to be.”

  An interesting admission from this man. The Mack she’d grown up with never had a bad word to say about anyone. What had changed him? Something about Judge Wakefield bothered Mack more than a little bit. He needed to talk this problem out. Maybe she could be his sounding board. “There’s something more to it, isn’t there?”

  “More to what?”

  Now the man was just being evasive. “Why you don’t like the judge.”

  The muscles in Mac’s jaw tightened, and she could feel the sudden tension in the air. “I guess it just bothers me the way Judge Wakefield stonewalled me about adopting Sarah almost since the moment I filed the paperwork. As if he thought I wasn’t good enough.”

  “Why would you think that?”

  His humorless chuckle caused a pang of pain near her heart. “Because he gave me one reason after another why I wasn’t capable of raising a child, the biggest reason being that I’m a single man.” Mack’s lips flattened into a grimace. “He felt that a little girl needed a mother in order to be brought up properly. The judge thought I’d be cheating Sarah out of the family she deserves.”

  “But having a mother doesn’t guarantee you’re going to raise the perfect child. I mean, look at my sister.” Thea felt Mack watching her and glanced up at him. He’d stopped glaring at the courthouse and was watching her with that same stubborn protectiveness he always showed toward her when her sister was mentioned. Her heart overflowed with affection and tenderness. If only he could find a way to love her. “Still, the judge did apologize.”

  “When?”

  She playfully swatted Mack’s arm. “At our wedding, silly man.”

  “He did?” His blue eyes turned almost black, a pale light rimming the irises drew her deeper into his gaze. “I was kind of preoccupied at that moment.”

  Her heart fluttered to a wild beat in her chest. It almost sounded as if he didn’t regret this marriage to her, as if he was open to the possibilities a life with her could bring. Could Mack ever care more for her than the friendship they’d rekindled between them after all these years? Was it possible Mack might love her someday?

  No, her mother’s voice whispered through her. Why would a man like Mack, so good and decent, someone who could have anyone he wanted, pledge his life to someone like her?

  Thea walked slowly toward the crosswalk, not sure if Mack would follow, only knowing she needed to move. She had to make this marriage work for his sake as well as Sarah’s. Mack deserved so much more than being forced into a marriage with her.

  “Did I say something wrong?” Mack asked as he caught up with her.

  She should have expected he would follow her. Mack had never liked seeing her upset, even back in school. He’d always managed to tease a smile out of her or make her laugh after a rough night at her house. He was the only reason she’d made it through some pretty bad days back then. Thea shook her head. “No, it was kind of sweet, really. Like something Cary Grant might say.”

  One blond eyebrow quirked high on his forehead. “I’m betting that if Mr. Grant had said that, you wouldn’t have taken off as if your life depended on it.”

  “Probably not,” she teased, pressing a gloved finger to her cheek. “But then, he is quite handsome.”

  His face collapsed into a sorrowful expression but his eyes twinkled with playfulness. “You wound me, dear lady.”

  The laughter she’d worked so hard to suppress bubbled up in her throat. “I’m so sorry. That was rude of me to walk away from you like that.” She struggled to find the right words. “You don’t have to sweet-talk me.”

  “I didn’t know I was.” The laughter slowly drained from his eyes. “There was a lot going on that day. It was more an honest observation than anything.”

  “Oh.” Disappointment flooded through her. She was just being a romantic idiot, twisting Mack’s words to mean something they obviously didn’t.

  Thea had to contain the light shiver that ran the length of her spine when Mack gently touched the small of her back and guided her across the street. “We’ve already stood through two lights. Folks are beginning to notice.”

  They’d been standing there that long? Thea glanced around and noticed a couple of older ladies on the other side of the street stealing looks at them. The same kind of looks she’d gotten whenever she’d come to town with Eileen. Had they heard the false rumors going around town about her and Mack? Had they already tried her and found her guilty before she’d even been given a chance to clear his name?

  “Good afternoon.” Mack tipped his hat toward the ladies. “Nice day to get your errands done.”

  The darker-haired woman looked as though she’d swallowed her gum, but the silvery blonde gave them a friendly smile. “Yes, it is, Sheriff, and not too cold just yet. I can’t handle the cold. My arthritis, you know.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I remember.”

  The woman took a cautious step forward as though she thought Thea might bite. “It’s good to see you back on your feet. Zelda was just telling me you were under the weather a couple of weeks.”

  I bet that wasn’t all Miss Zelda was saying. Thea shouldn’t feel like this, but she’d had enough experience with people to know better. Thea shifted away from Mack but his hand remained firmly at her waist, almost possessive, as if he was staking his claim.

  “That’s true, Miss Helen. I was in bed with the chicken pox, as were all of Ms. Aurora’s children. Fortunately, we had a wonderful nurse to care for us while we recovered.” Mack gave her a grateful grin that made her stomach do little flips. “Ladies, I’d like you to meet my wife, Thea. Thea, this is Helen and Zelda Shirley. They moved down from Chattanooga to work over at the bomber plant.”

  “We did work at the bomber plant until the war department cut our shift,” Miss Zelda muttered.

  “Now, sister,” Miss Helen cajoled, then she turned back to Thea and Mack, an apologetic smile on her face. “We should be counting our blessings that this horrible war is finally over and that our boys are coming home.”

  “And our girls,” Mack added. “Thea here was an army nurse. Followed the troops onshore at Normandy.”

  That bit of information sent Miss Helen to twittering. “How exciting, and oh, how brave you must be! I guess a chicken pox epidemic is boring compared to what you must have seen.”r />
  “Both can be challenging.” Thea slid Mack a teasing glance. “It all depends on who your patient is.”

  Miss Helen glanced from one to the other so fast, Thea was sure her eyes must hurt from the exertion. “Well, it must have been exciting, seeing how the two of you are married now.”

  So, word of their nuptials had gotten around. How fast would word get around town if anyone ever learned the truth, that Mack had married Thea to adopt baby Sarah? What would folks say then? One more thing I have to leave up to You, Lord.

  “All I have to say,” Miss Zelda started, glaring at Thea, “is marry in haste, repent at leisure.”

  “Sister!”

  “Well, it’s true.”

  Miss Helen’s cheeks flushed a deep red. “You’ll have to ignore Zelda. She’s got the manners of a billy goat.”

  Thea could think of another barnyard animal the older woman emulated more. “That’s all right, Miss Helen. I believe in complete honesty.” Thea gave Miss Zelda her sweetest smile. “That way, I know exactly where I stand.”

  Mack choked on a chuckle beside her. Miss Helen gasped while Miss Zelda studied Thea for a long moment, then nodded, something close to respect glimmering in her eyes.

  “Ladies,” Mack said. “I hate to break this up but Thea and I still have an errand to run before we need to get home, so if you’ll excuse us.”

  Miss Helen nodded. “Of course, Sheriff. It was nice to meet you, Thea.”

  Thea smiled. “Nice to meet you, too.”

  As her younger sister walked away, Miss Zelda lingered, finally holding out her hand to Thea. “Pleasure to meet you, young lady. And thank you for serving your country the way you did. We appreciate it.”

  Thea took her hand and gave it a firm shake. “Thank you.”