Babies And Badges (American Baby)

by Laura Marie Altom

Noah groaned, leaning the back of his head against the wall with a thud. “She at least made a positive ID, right?”

  “Yeah. She said she’s pretty sure if she saw ’em again she could pick them out of a lineup.”

  “Well, seeing how it’s not likely we’re going to have a lineup round here, why don’t you get hold of Barbara Jenson—the high school librarian, then see if she can get you last year’s yearbook. Maybe Delores can spot them in there.”

  “Good thinkin’, Sheriff.”

  Yep, that’s why they pay me the big bucks. “Let me know if you find out anything more.”

  “Will do.”

  LATER THAT AFTERNOON, Noah was just leaving the station after having helped Barbara Jenson flip through yearbooks—she’d refused to work with anyone but him—when he had the misfortune of literally running into Nurse Helen.

  “Excuse me,” she said, finally looking up after having been digging through her purse. “Oh—it’s you.”

  “Brrr,” Noah said. “Who turned on the snow?”

  “Looked in the mirror lately?”

  Noah hardened his jaw. If he’d ever needed confirmation of his decision to steer clear of all women, Nurse Helen was it. “Why do you hate me?” he asked, not even sure why.

  She laughed. “You played me, Noah.”

  “Played you?”

  She looked away. “That’s what I said. Need to stop by the hospital to clean out your ears?”

  He sighed. “How did I play you?”

  “Let’s see,” she said, one hand on her hip, the other on her chin. “There was that time you asked me to be your date to the elementary school carnival.”

  “Yeah, so? I was working the child fingerprint booth, and thought you might want to come along.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh please, like you didn’t deliberately ask me there so that I could see how great you are with kids?”

  “Um—no.”

  “All right then, how about all those times you said you preferred staying in to double dating with Munchie and Connie?”

  “You know your friend Connie’s laugh gives me hives.”

  “Oh, it does not,” she said with a sour look. “That’s not even medically possible. The way I saw it, you wanted to stay home watching movies all those nights to try us out as a comfortably married couple.”

  Now Noah was rolling his eyes. “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. We were watching movies and knocking back a few pizza rolls and chips. How do you get trying on marriage out of that?”

  “You’re impossible,” she said. “I can’t fathom what Cassie sees in you.”

  “Who says she sees anything? Unlike you, she doesn’t think about nothing all day but the almighty institution of marriage. And also unlike you, she doesn’t have a problem with just being friends.”

  “Friends? That’s what you think you are?” Now Helen was back to laughing.

  Noah shook his head in disgust. “I’m outta here.”

  “Good!” she shouted after him as he climbed into his county-issued ride. “I wouldn’t want my opinion of you raised by thinking you were actually capable of sticking around long enough to complete a conversation!”

  “WE SHOULDN’T BE IN HERE,” Cassie said Saturday night in Noah’s bed, snug with Hope asleep in her arms, Noah beside her, cradling Noelle.

  Outside, rain pelted the windows, and after occasional cracks of lightning, thunder rolled.

  “Why not?” he asked, using the remote to change the TV channel. Because from his point of view, after that nasty run-in with Nurse Helen, there wasn’t anyplace in the world he’d rather be. He landed on a show with lots of fog, flickering lights and eerie music. “You like ghost shows?”

  She scrunched her nose. “I’m not sure. It’s been a while since I’ve seen one.”

  “You’re in for a treat.”

  “Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

  He shrugged. “I got enough sleep this afternoon.” He reached over to tug a lock of his friend’s hair. “Besides, you and the girls are short-timers. I want to spend all the time with you I can.”

  “That’s sweet, Noah, but not necessary.”

  “What if I told you I’m not doing it to be sweet, but selfish?” With the backs of his fingers, he grazed her cheek.

  “I’d tell you you definitely need sleep because you’ve started talking crazy.”

  For the longest time he just looked at her, and while a commercial for The Clapper came and went, Cassie lost herself in Noah’s deep brown gaze. If only they could freeze themselves in this perfect moment in time. No conflicts, no worries, just the four of them, content together, sheltered from so many different storms.

  The eerie ghost-show music came back on, and Noah tucked Noelle sitting upright against his chest. “There,” he said, “Now you can see all the action. Kids love ghost shows.”

  The moment had passed, save for the thick lump of wondering lodged at the back of Cassie’s throat.

  After she’d found out about Tom’s deceptions, she’d been so quick in assuming she’d never open her heart again. But what if she’d been too hasty? What if the right man made all the difference? Sure, she’d long ago proven herself capable of doing most everything on her own, but did she want to anymore? Wouldn’t it be much more fun sharing her life? Her babies’ lives?

  Peering her way, Noah said, “You need to sit Munchkin Number Two up to see the show. Look at all she’s missing.” On TV, a transparent woman wearing a filmy white dress floated down the curved staircase of an antebellum home.

  “Mm-hmm, this is sending quite an educational message.”

  “Darn straight. It’s teaching them to never stay in those creepy old musty-smelling bed-and-breakfasts when they go on vacation. Always go for the nice, safe, generic Best Western.” He crowned his speech with a quick kiss to Noelle’s curls.

  Cassie rolled her eyes, and after a few more minutes of watching the paralyzingly slow ghost show, she was blinking her eyes in an effort to stay awake. But it was no use. The rhythm of the rain had grabbed hold of her and there was nothing she could do other than snuggle already-sleeping Hope closer before resting her own head on Noah’s strong shoulder.

  AT ELEVEN, Noah’s alarm buzzed.

  Out of habit, he started to reach for it, but his arm wouldn’t budge. He looked down to see an angel peering up at him. Noelle, her blue eyes wide, and looking much too old for her supposedly young soul.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t sleepy?” he whispered after freeing his arm to squelch the alarm. “I’m always up for a party with a beautiful girl.” He inched her higher on his chest, wondering at the intensity of her stare.

  What was she thinking? Did she know who he was? Would she miss him when they were gone?

  “I’m going to miss you.” The tightness in his chest telling him just how much surprised even him.

  Above the still-falling rain, she made a cute gurgling sound he’d have liked to assume meant that, yes, she would very much miss him, but it was probably nothing more than escaping gas.

  Noah glanced at his namesake’s momma. At the impossible beauty radiating from her even in sleep. She was way out of his league. Her skin had this pampered glow, her hair a luster of the kind he’d never before seen. And even if all of those points weren’t major issues, his hang-up with relationships was.

  Say Cass was on her own, if they’d been dating, that would be one thing. But her having the girls transformed dating into a character debate. He wouldn’t offer this woman anything less than marriage, and seeing how he wasn’t ever planning on marrying again, that pretty much stopped the whole issue dead in its tracks.

  Noelle graced him with another gurgle.

  “Sorry, squirt,” he said, kissing her again on her forehead before giving her an extra firm hug, hoping she’d carry it with her for a lifetime, like he knew he would the feel and smell of her and her sister. How it was possible, he wasn’t sure, but in the short time they’d been together, he’d
grown to love these two girls.

  Love them as if they truly were his own.

  Shoot, who was he trying to kid?

  He’d loved those two from the moment he’d first set eyes on them. As for their momma…He wasn’t sure how he felt besides alternating between wanting her to leave town as soon as possible and never wanting to let her go.

  He traced the fine hairs on Cass’s forearm.

  Finding her skin chilled, he edged off of the bed, nestling Noelle beside her before drawing the fallen afghan over all three of his girls.

  Noelle’s eyelids were already drooping, so he crept away from the cozy threesome, spirits momentarily buoyed that he still had one more day and night with them before he’d most likely never see any of them again.

  Chapter Fourteen

  They’re gone.

  Monday morning, Noah sat perched on the edge of a marble bench in the bustling county courthouse hall. Though men and women teemed around him, never had he felt so alone.

  It was ten-thirty in the morning, and Jimmy was supposed to have picked Cass up at the house by ten, loading her car straight onto the trailer, then driving her and the babies home without passing Go.

  The plan was simple. All contingencies accounted for. So why was it Noah was having such a tough time finding air?

  He loosened his shirt collar, but it didn’t help.

  He knew damn well nothing would help other than seeing his girls again. Only that wouldn’t do him any good either seeing how he’d only want to see them again and again after that.

  After spending Sunday afternoon barbecuing and laughing and kissing, they’d fallen asleep in his bed again—the four of them—feeling more like a family than he ever had in his life. Knowing it’d hurt too bad to give them a proper goodbye, he’d kissed all three of them one last time on their foreheads, breathing in their smells, their very essences that would, God willing, stay with him a lifetime, since he couldn’t have the real thing.

  Then, tears stinging his damned cowardly eyes, he’d crept out of the house, locking the door behind him, never looking back. Not because he didn’t want to, but because if he had, he’d have run back inside and never come out again.

  Nope. Leaving them was the right thing.

  They deserved better than some coward like him who wouldn’t know what to do with the word commitment if it jumped up and bit him on the—

  “Here’s your coffee, Sheriff.” Briggs handed him a paper cup.

  “Thanks.”

  “You look like shi—”

  “Who asked you?”

  “Just thought I’d point it out. Bummed about her leaving, huh?”

  Noah shrugged.

  “Why don’t you ask her to stay?”

  “You mean to stick around and date me? Nah,” he said, thumping the back of his head against the polished marble wall. “Dating single moms has never been my thing. Bad karma.”

  “I don’t know,” Briggs said, sipping at his own coffee. “You ever thought about more?”

  “What kinda more?”

  “You know. Marrying her.”

  “Shouldn’t we be heading into court?”

  “The last case hasn’t even wrapped up.”

  “Yeah, well I’ll tell you what is wrapped up—this conversation.”

  “SORRY I’M SO LATE,” Kelsey said, leaning over to unlock the passenger door of her mossy green Sebring convertible. “Automatic locks got stuck. I had a devil of a time opening the doors.”

  “That’s okay,” Cassie said, climbing in. “Your mom and I got to know each other better while we were waiting.”

  “She’s been so excited about watching your babies,” Kelsey said, putting the car into gear and zooming down the street. “Here I’ve barely been married two weeks and she’s already piling on the pressure for me and Owen to get started on our family.”

  “She sure adores Sammy.”

  “We all do. I swear, sometimes I think Noah was more upset about losing her than he was me. She’s a real sweetheart—loves him. All kids do. Probably because he’s such a child himself.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Sorry,” Kelsey said, making a left turn. “As happy as I am with Owen, sometimes I still can’t get over what a big baby Noah is when it comes to commitment.”

  “Oh?”

  “I mean, looking back on it, it’s for the best we didn’t get hitched. Now that I see what true love is all about—what I share with Owen—I’d never want to go back. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe I found him.”

  Stopped for a red light, Kelsey fluffed her bangs while looking in the rearview mirror. “I used to laugh at people who claimed to have found love at first sight, but wham. That’s exactly what happened with us. From the minute I first laid eyes on Owen, I knew he was the one.”

  “For real?”

  “Absolutely. We met at this church thing I hadn’t even wanted to go to, but my mother dragged me along. So there I was, standing in line for roast beef and instant mashed potatoes, when I dropped my fork.” The light turned green and she turned the car right. “I knelt to pick it up, and on the way bumped heads with Owen. He kissed the bump. I’d known him forever as a casual acquaintance, but something about that moment, about the way he was so tender in making sure I was all right.” Glancing Cassie’s way, she held her hand over her heart. “That was it. From that moment on, we were inseparable. Kind of like you and Noah after the night he helped deliver Noelle and Hope.”

  Cassie gulped. “Have we been together so much that people have actually noticed?”

  “Uh, yeah. Come on, tell me true,” Kelsey said, stopping for another light. “I promise to keep it just between us girls. Do you like him?”

  “Of course I like him. Even though we’ve only known each other a couple of weeks, I feel like we’ve been friends forever.”

  “Friends, huh? That glow that comes over you whenever I mention his name doesn’t look much like friendship to me. And from what I’ve heard, he’s positively smitten with you and your girls.”

  “No,” Cassie said. “No, we’re definitely just friends. That’s why I’m going home.”

  “Because you’ve fallen for him and can’t bear the pain of sticking around if the feelings aren’t mutual?”

  Cassie shot Kelsey a look she hoped conveyed her wish that the subject be dropped. The fact that her feelings for Noah were so transparent was mortifying.

  “I’ve seen the way he looks at you, Cassie. I’ve seen the way he kisses you, too, and believe me, speaking as the current world record holder for the longest time spent dating the infamous Noah Wheeler, I can assure you, he never once kissed me with such—what’s the word?” she said, making another left. “Heat. Nah, that kiss yesterday afternoon wasn’t just heat, but fire. Trust me, the guy’s a goner for you.”

  “So you were in the yard? Watching?”

  “Just during the high points. Mom sent me and Owen over with a fruit salad for you two. She has a view of Noah’s backyard through her laundry room window and during the rinse cycle she saw the two of you out barbecuing.”

  Cassie groaned, covered her face with her hands.

  Kelsey pulled into The Dent Doctor’s parking lot.

  “You don’t have anything to be embarrassed about,” she said, easing down Cassie’s left hand. “Noah’s essentially a great guy—though not every misty-eyed member of our group agrees. I’ve tried explaining to the girls how his folks never got along all that well, and how he thought in his own marriage he could do things right, but when he and Darla split—you do know about his ex-wife, don’t you?”

  Fighting back tears, Cassie nodded.

  “Well, ever since they fell apart, he’s put up this wall that we never thought anyone would be able to break down. At least until he met you. Now…” She had her hand on her door handle. “Now, I’m thinking the two of you tying the knot is no longer in your control.”

  “Right,” Cassie said with a bitter laugh. “Mind telling me whose hands
it’s in?”

  “Simple,” Kelsey said with a broad smile. “Fate.”

  CASSIE FELT STRANGE once again being behind the wheel of her car. It looked brand-new, smelled brand-new, and if it weren’t for her smaller belly, she could have almost talked herself into believing her days in Riverdale had been nothing more than a dream, and that she didn’t feel brand-new herself. But she did, and no amount of dreaming could change that—as much as it hurt, she wouldn’t want it to.

  If nothing else, she owed Noah a thank-you for teaching her that maybe her life could be different—better. She didn’t have to stay locked in that cage she’d built around herself since learning of Tom’s deception.

  Pulling into the driveway of the house now more familiar than her own, Cassie turned off the engine and rested her forehead against the steering wheel.

  How was she going to leave this place? This man?

  Saying goodbye to Kelsey had already been surprisingly hard, but leaving what had become her home without even having given Noah a proper goodbye…

  Jimmy, parked at the curb with Noah’s Suburban, the trailer for her car already hitched behind, gave her a jaunty wave. “Hey there, Ms. Tremont.”

  “Hey, Jimmy.”

  He took off his NASCAR ballcap and used it to wipe the sweat from his brow. “Your car run all right?”

  “Like new.”

  His shoulders slumped. “I’m really sorry ’bout what happened. I never meant to—”

  “I know,” she said, patting his upper arm. “And anyway, it’s fixed now, so no more worries, okay?”

  “Sure. If you’ll trust me with her one last time, I’ll drive her up on the trailer.” His big, goofy grin brightened her mood.

  “Sure,” she said, dangling her keys. “Go for it—only this time, I don’t want to see you going much over three miles per hour.”

  “Gotcha,” he said with a wink, already rushing toward her car.

  Kelsey’s mom, Evelyn, came out the front door. “Is it that time already?”

  “Afraid so,” Cassie said, crossing the small lawn to climb the few porch stairs.

  “I wish you could stay longer. I thought you didn’t have to be back at your firm for weeks yet?”