by Holly Jacobs
Even babies.
Donovan once said she was gregarious and friendly, the perfect receptionist. Maybe. Though describing Amelia as gregarious might be accurate to his colleague, she’d never been overly friendly with Mac.
As a matter of fact, she’d been almost hostile.
She always picked at him.
Of course, he picked right back. Their banterish quarrels were well-known in the office.
Why did she always rub him the wrong way?
Mac realized the gas had stopped pumping. He replaced the nozzle, put the cap back on the tank and walked into the store to pay, still puzzling over Amelia and how she affected him.
Mia watched Mac disappear into the store. He’d been staring at her.
“What’s up with him, Katie?” she whispered.
There had been something in his voice as he spoke about Katie. Something that told her there was more to this situation than his wanting to find the baby a home. There had been an undercurrent of pain, of vulnerability, in his tone. She’d never heard anything like that before.
She knew that Larry did a lot of volunteer work. She’d always thought it was just a way for him to fulfill the firm’s requirement that each lawyer give back to the community by doing pro bono work. But now she wondered if there was something more to it.
Katie slurped enthusiastically at her bottle.
She’d been hungry. Very hungry if her speed at emptying it was any indication.
“Didn’t they feed you?” she asked.
Katie smiled without letting go of the bottle’s nipple. Milk bubbles formed at the gap.
“You are sweet,” Mia told her.
Katie gurgled her agreement just as Mac opened the door and got in. “Are you ready?”
“Sure. I’ll sit back here and let Katie finish her bottle before we get to the store.”
“Fine.”
It was almost a relief to be in the back with Katie. This way she didn’t have to deal with Mac looking at her.
It wasn’t as if she was shy, but he always made her feel as if he saw…
Well, she wasn’t sure what he saw, but whatever it was, it made her uncomfortable.
Almost as uncomfortable as her new questions about Mac’s motivations.
She looked at the baby and couldn’t help remember when her brothers were little. Her mother had let her feed them, just like she was feeding Katie now.
“You’re responsible for him, Mia,” her mother had told her. She’d been hardly more than a baby herself, but she’d taken care of first Marty, then Ryan.
After her father finally left, she tried to help her mother take care of the boys. Even though she was only a few years older than they were, she assumed more of a parental role than a sister’s.
But now that Ryan had graduated her job was done.
She could do all the things she’d dreamed about.
It wasn’t just a new car. She could travel.
Maybe even date.
Nothing serious. Mia didn’t want anything serious or committed. She wanted fun. She wanted adventure. She wanted to live out her dreams…if she could ever figure out what they were.
She sighed.
“You’re awfully quiet back there?”
She forced herself to put away thoughts of the past. It was better to concentrate on here and now.
“After all Katie’s screaming are you really complaining that it’s too quiet?”
“No,” he said with a laugh. “Listen, after we shop, would you come back to my house and help, just for a while? I have to get a crib and whatever else she’ll need for however long I have her. Everything will need to be set up and I’ll need help with her. I mean, I’ll take you back to the office once it’s all settled so you can get your car.”
“Sure,” Mia said, without thinking. “In for a penny, in for a pound.”
A couple hours later, the car was stuffed with multiple pounds of baby paraphernalia. Mac had bought out the baby store. Watching him mull over the merits of different baby monitors, trying to decide what size Onesies to buy…well, it had been cute.
And thinking the word cute as a description for Larry Mackenzie was just too strange for Mia. She just wanted to go home and forget this odd afternoon.
She was back in the front seat as they pulled into Mac’s driveway. Almost done, she thought with a sigh as he put the car in Park and turned off the ignition.
She studied his house. It wasn’t at all what she’d expected, though she couldn’t really have said what it was she did expect.
It was a neat, two-story brick home in Glenwood Hills, a lovely, older section of town. A huge tree stood dead-center in the front yard. In the summer it probably shaded the whole house. Right now, it stood like a snowy sentinel.
“Come on,” he said. “If you get Katie out, I’ll start unpacking the stuff.”
Doing so would probably take him a while. For a man who claimed he was giving the baby up, he’d bought more than what the baby would need for the next year.
A crib, a changing table, clothes, bottles, pacifiers, toys, stuffed animals, diapers—three different sizes because they weren’t sure what size she’d need—and formula.
“Come on, Katie,” Mia said as she unstrapped the seat.
“Here,” Mac said, tossing her the keys.
Mia carried the baby onto the porch, set the car seat down on the ground and unlocked the door.
“Switches are to your left,” Mac hollered.
Mia flipped the two switches there. One turned on the porch light, and one turned on a table lamp next to a dark leather couch. She kicked off her shoes and walked to the couch and set the car seat on it.
She studied the living room. The focal points were a huge fireplace and a piano. Did that mean Mac played the piano, or was it just for show?
He had a huge leather couch and a matching overstuffed chair with a knobby-looking afghan thrown carelessly over the back. And there was a picture on the wall. No, not a picture, a painting. It was an outdoor scene. A rustic-looking barn in a snowy setting.
There was a thump on the door, and Mia remembered Mac was bringing in boxes. She ran and opened the door for him.
“Sorry.”
“No problem. I’m going to just haul everything to the guest room. Katie can use that for a room while she’s here.”
“Do you need help?”
“Let me get the little stuff first, then you can help me get the crib.”
“Okay.” She watched him make his way up the staircase to the left of the door and then turned her attention back to Katie. “Hey, you. Let’s get you unbundled.”
She unzipped the little sack that fit over the seat and acted as a coat.
“There you are,” she cooed as the baby burbled more happy little bubbles at her. “Oh, you’re going to melt some hearts, let me tell you.”
“Does she answer back?” Mac asked with a hint of laughter in his voice.
“No. Babies don’t generally talk at this age.”
“I thought you weren’t an expert.”
“I’m not, but you said she was seven months. I don’t think they really talk until they’re older than that.”
“Oh.”
“I’m going to leave her in the car seat until I’m done helping you. I don’t want her to get into trouble, and I might know she doesn’t talk, but I’m not sure if babies crawl at this age.”
She hurried to the door. The faster she helped Mac get the baby settled, the faster she could get out of here. This personal glimpse at Mac’s home was leaving her feeling…unsettled. She didn’t know why.
Somehow it was easier to picture him living in a sterile, bachelor pad, than this cozy little place. It felt warm, yet lived-in here. It felt…almost comfortable.
Homey.
Homey and Larry Mackenzie?
Now those were two thoughts she never imagined going together.
They carried the box for the crib into the guest room. Again, the room didn’t fit Mia�
��s mental picture of what Mac should have. It had a quilt on a double bed, and old family photos decorating the walls.
There was even a sampler.
Mia would have liked a chance to study all these bits and pieces of Mac, but she couldn’t figure out why she’d want to. His house might not be what she’d imagined it to be, but that didn’t mean Mac wasn’t the most annoying human she’d ever met.
“I’ll just leave you to it,” she said and hurried back to the baby. She freed Katie from the car seat while Mac went to work on the crib.
“I love your hair, sweetie,” she cooed, toying with a tiny little ringlet. “Men have a thing for redheads.”
“They like blondes too,” Mac said.
Mia looked up and saw Mac standing at the bottom of the stairway.
The man moved like a cat.
“What are you doing now?” she asked, ignoring his comment on blondes.
“Going for some tools. But I hate to have you lie to the baby. Some men do have a thing for redheads, but some of us prefer blondes.”
“I…” Mia didn’t know what to say to a statement like that.
If it was any other man in the world, she’d think he was flirting with her. But Mac didn’t like her any more than she liked him, so she was sure it wasn’t flirting.
“Stop lurking and finish up. It’s going on eight. I need to get home and you need to get this baby into bed.”
Mac glanced at his watch, as if he didn’t believe she could tell time. “I can’t believe it’s this late already.”
He walked through the room and into the kitchen. She could hear a door open and then the sound of his footsteps on stairs.
“What do you think of him?” she asked the baby.
Katie gurgled a response and stiffened.
“Oh, you want to stand up, do you?” Mia held the baby under her arms and Katie pushed herself up. “It won’t be long until you’re toddling all over the place. I wonder if you’re crawling yet?”
She looked at the pile of shopping bags Mac had brought in.
“I know we bought a couple blankets,” she told Katie. Still holding the baby, she dug through the bags and found one. “Here you go.”
She laid it on the floor and placed Katie on it. Then put a few of her new toys down as well, just a little out of reach. The baby crept right up to them.
“Well, look at that. You do crawl,” Mia said with a laugh, just as Mac came back into the room.
“She crawls,” she told him.
“Yeah?” He knelt down beside Mia, close, but not quite touching her.
“Watch.” She moved a few of the toys farther away and Katie immediately inched her way toward them.
They both admired her progress. His hand draped carelessly over Mia’s shoulder, as if he was using her to prop himself up. She snuck a peek. His eyes were glued to the baby’s movements, a slight smile played on his lips.
The moment felt special…almost intimate.
The thought shook Mia. So she leaned over and picked up Katie and wrinkled her nose.
“Have you ever changed a diaper before?” she asked Mac.
He clutched the toolbox as if it were a shield. “No, but that’s okay, you go ahead. I’ll just go set up her crib so we can take you to your car.”
“Oh, no. I’m supposed to help you get settled. What are you going to do when I’m not here? I don’t have to be an expert to know that babies need changing…a lot.”
Mac looked as if she’d told him he was about to face a firing squad. Mia couldn’t contain a small chuckle. “Come on, you need to learn.”
“I’ll just watch this time. Then I can figure it out later.”
“No, I’ll watch while you figure it out.”
“I uh…”
“Put down the toolbox and come here.”
Mac complied, but with obvious reluctance. Slowly, he sat on the floor next to her and stared at the baby as if she were some wild, dangerous animal.
Mia dug out a diaper and a box of wipes they’d just bought. “Here, start with these.”
Mac straightened his shoulders and looked determined. “I deal with complex legal issues and distraught clients all day. I can learn to do this.”
Mia held back her smile as he diapered the baby with all the seriousness of a lawyer giving a closing argument.
“Now, just use those little tapes to hold it in place,” she said as he finished.
“It’s not tape, it’s Velcro,” he said as he finished with flourish. “There. One happily diapered baby.”
“Velcro?” Mia said. “Back in my day, it was tape. Now, I’m feeling old.”
He gave a little scoff. “You’re not old.”
“I didn’t say I was, Larry. I just said I felt old. Now, you, you’re old.”
He shot her a look. “You make me sound ancient.”
“Aren’t you?” she asked, grinning.
“Thirty isn’t exactly ancient.”
“Thirty. My, my, my.” She clutched a hand to her chest. “You’re almost beyond ancient.”
“And just how old are you?” he asked.
“Twenty-seven.”
Twenty-seven and finally ready to start living. She was going to fulfill all her dreams—as soon as she settled on just what they were. No matter what, she was free to pursue them all. She clung to the thought a moment and savored it.
“I can see how those three years make a difference.”
“A big, huge, difference.” She laughed.
He looked at the baby and said, “She’s crazy, you know that already, don’t you? Sure you do. I can tell what a bright girl you are, Katie-did.”
Katie gurgled her response.
“I think she said girls stick together, and you’re the crazy one,” Mia said. “But even though we doubt your sanity, you are officially capable of diapering an infant.”
“Thanks for the help,” he said. “After that diaper, I think I can handle anything.”
The baby gave a small whimper and Mia held out her hands. Mac handed Katie over without protest.
“Could you see if you could find her pacifier?” Mia asked, as she patted the baby’s back.
He unclipped it from the car seat and handed it to Mia. His hand brushed hers. It was just a small touch, so quick that if it had been someone else she probably wouldn’t have even noticed it.
But it wasn’t someone else, it was Mac. She noticed just about everything about him.
Most of it was annoying, she reminded herself.
But his touch…well, it wasn’t.
She gave herself a mental shake and clipped the pacifier to the baby’s sleeper. “You know, I’m sure it wasn’t a mother or father who came up with the idea for a pacifier clip, it was an older sister who got tired of hunting for them.”
“How much older are you than your brothers?”
“I’m three years older than Marty and five years older than Ryan. Ryan just graduated from college with his B.A. in education.”
“Good for him.”
“Yeah.” Suddenly it struck her that the conversation was moving dangerously close to personal and she quickly pulled back. “Mac, why don’t you go get that crib together. I really do have to get home soon.”
She was starving. She’d worked her way through lunch and it was way past supper time.
“Okay.”
He hurried out of the room and Mia felt relieved. First that weird reaction to his touch, then an almost personal conversation. They’d exchanged ages, and she’d talked of her brothers.
Chatting with Mac. It was just too odd.
She blamed it on low blood-sugar.
It was time to get home.
Amelia had called him Mac. He was pretty sure she hadn’t meant to, or even realized she’d done it, but she had.
He dropped in the bolt that held the crib’s side in place, wondering at the small glimpses he’d had of Amelia-the-person, not just Amelia-the-thorn- in-his-side.
He’d watched her cooin
g over the baby. Even now, a floor away, he could hear her.
She was singing something.
If you’d asked him yesterday, he wouldn’t have believed that not only would Amelia agree to help him, but that she’d be sitting in his living room singing to a baby.
He got up and dropped the mattress into the finished crib, then hurried downstairs to Amelia.
“The crib’s together and I think I can handle the rest, so anytime you’re ready.”
“Let me just finish giving Katie this bottle, then I’ll let you take me back.”
He sat down across from her. “Amelia?”
“Mia,” she corrected.
“Mia?”
“Yes. I’ve been Amelia for way too many years. I’m going back to Mia.”
“Mia.” He studied her a moment. “It suits you.”
He could have ignored her wish, gotten even with her for all the times she’d called him Larry, but looking at her, he saw that for some reason this name change meant something…something important. Even if he didn’t owe her—which he did—he wouldn’t squash whatever it was it meant.
“Mia,” he said again, “I just want to thank you for all the help. I mean—”
“Don’t worry about it. I figure that this means you owe me one, and I’ll be sure to find some way to make you pay.”
He chuckled. “I’m sure you will.”
She turned her attention to the baby, and Mac leaned back and simply watched her. It was a pleasant occupation.
If he’d met her at a party, he’d get her number as quickly as possible. He’d call, they’d date and he’d break it off before it got too serious.
Just like he was sure he didn’t want kids, Mac was sure he didn’t want a messy long-term relationship. He’d decided long ago he was better off relying on himself.
Despite his good intentions, he could want Mia Gallagher—at least for a while—if she was someone else. But he worked with her, and for some reason, she didn’t like him. Two good reasons not to allow this physical attraction to go anywhere.
But if things were different, then maybe.
“Mac, I said, I think she’s done.” Mia had the baby propped against her shoulder and was patting her back. “Anytime you’re ready, I’m set.”
“Oh, yeah, sure.”
Mia got up and put the baby in her car seat before rebundling herself in her layers.
