Angel Baby

by Leslie Kelly

  “Well,” she conceded, “I suppose having all the financial records in one of those things has helped a little. The accounting office stays right on top of accounts payable and there’s no overlooking it if some government client gets sixty days behind on their payment schedule. So, I’m not saying they’re useless for everyone.”

  Claudia suppressed a grin at the woman’s grudging tone. Perhaps Sylvia could be brought around after all. It was very possible her reluctance about using a computer was because of her own insecurities. Claudia suddenly felt a pang of pity for the older woman, silently vowing to try to help the Sarge in whatever way she could.

  Smiling agreeably, Claudia left Sylvia's desk and went back to her own office. It wasn't huge, but it was nicely furnished. Best of all, it had a door. In Pittsburgh, she’d had a five by seven cubicle, and had bumped her knees on her filing cabinet whenever she tried to walk out from behind her desk. She had often imagined that if someone were looking down from above, she and her co-workers looked like mice in a maze in those unending cubicles.

  Crossing her office, Claudia grinned as she got to work. Asking Sylvia for permission had really been a formality; Claudia had already dug the three p.c.’s out of the storage room and set them on a work table in the corner of her office. One wasn’t too outdated, and had a decent size hard drive. Another had the best modem. And the third she’d use to scavenge extra memory.

  Within an hour, Claudia had put together a decent system and carefully moved it to her desk. Glancing toward the phone jack, she realized she’d need to run some cable, and would have to crawl under the desk to plug the components together. Kicking off her high heeled white pumps, she sat down on the floor and backed under the desk so she could reach up to the back of the computer, hoping Sylvia wouldn’t come into her office, see her rolling around on the floor, and decide to start disliking her even more.

  Chase had been informed by Sylvia the minute he arrived at work that his new computer programmer was “scavenging” and “pirating.” A few interesting images popped into his head...Claudia wearing tight black leather and other pirate paraphernalia, but he quickly dashed them as he made his way to her office. The door was not completely closed, so he walked right in. But he didn’t immediately see her.

  He was about to leave when he heard a muffled, “Get in there, you darn thing.”

  Frowning, Chase glanced around the corner of the large desk and suppressed a grin when he saw two very shapely legs, attached to a curvy set of hips, sticking out from under it. His amusement quickly faded as she bent her leg higher causing her short green skirt to ride up on her creamy-skinned thigh.

  “Ah-hem,” he choked out, wanting to be sure she knew she had an audience.

  The legs jerked suddenly. From under the desk he heard a muffled, “Ouch!”

  Claudia slid out, rubbing her forehead with the palm of her hand. She scowled at him and said, “You startled me.”

  “Did you bump your head?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “Did you break the desk?” he asked her, maintaining a deadpan expression.

  Claudia stared at him for a moment, then his lips twitched and he smiled.

  “Very funny,” she retorted as she stood.

  He noted that she took care not to allow her skirt to slide up any closer to her panty line than it already had. Lord have mercy.

  “Have you ever heard of worker’s compensation?”

  “Oh, no,” he groaned, “don’t say that. Not even in jest. I already had OSHA climbing all over me because someone called in a bogus report that my equipment operators weren't certified."

  Curious about what she’d been working on, Chase walked closer to the desk and peered at the computer system she’d set up. He recognized the "scavenged" pieces on the work table, realizing what Sylvia had been talking about.

  About to compliment her on her work, he turned to face her, catching her staring at him intently. She stiffened, then shifted her gaze. Gesturing toward the desk, she stammered, “I hope you don’t mind. I wanted to get right to work. Since no one was using these machines....”

  Chase let her get away with turning his attention from her obvious perusal. But he was very much aware of the smoky look in her eyes and the color which rushed into her pale cheeks. He paused for a moment, as her words trail off into a short, awkward silence, then waved a dismissive hand.

  “Of course I don’t mind. This is what I hired you for. Although, next time you need to do some wiring, I suggest you ask for some assistance...or at least wear a pair of jeans to work.”

  Letting his eyes wander down her rumpled skirt, Chase again paused to appreciate the shapely length of her legs. He watched her slip her feet into a pair of pumps, and when she had, saw that she was nearly eye level with him. He allowed his eyes to meet hers, and noticed she’d seen him staring. He didn’t apologize, any more than she had, though probably not for the same reason. Claudia had been embarrassed to be caught sizing him up. Chase wasn’t embarrassed…he was merely annoyed with himself for noticing, yet again, how incredibly attractive she was.

  Chase sat down in a chair near her desk, again glancing around the office. She’d brought in a plant, and a flowery desk blotter. A lime green suit jacket hung haphazardly from the back of her chair, and two framed photographs sat on the desk. One, of course, was of Sarah, dressed in a pink seersucker sailor suit. The other picture depicted three children, two girls and a boy, and Chase couldn’t resist picking it up to look at it more closely.

  “The girl in the middle...it’s you, isn’t it?” Chase asked as he stared down at the little girl who looked to be about seven years old.

  Smiling gently, Claudia nodded as she peered over his shoulder. “Yes, all two hundred freckles and scabby knees of me.”

  “And the blonde, is that Melanie?”

  “Good eye,” Claudia said, staring at him appraisingly. “How could you tell? She certainly doesn’t have those big empty holes in her smile. She wondered if her permanent teeth would ever come in.”

  "It’s the eyes. You two have been friends for a very long time.”

  “Since we were babies,” Claudia said as she edged closer to the desk, leaning against it.

  “Looking at this, it’s easy to see how much Sarah looks like you.”

  Claudia nodded slightly, saying, “Yes, but she has her daddy’s stubborn jaw. See?”

  Chase didn’t understand her for a moment, then what she’d said sunk in. Startled, he stared at the little boy in the picture. He looked about the same age as Claudia and Melanie, with a wide, closed-mouth grin, a cowlick, and a twinkle in his eye.

  “This is...”

  “Joe,” she supplied instantly. “My late husband.”

  Chase nodded slightly as he said, “You obviously knew him for a long time.”

  “He was my other best friend for as long as I can remember, the boy next door.”

  “I didn’t mean to pry,” Chase insisted. “I mean, from what you said the night Sarah was born, I assumed he was....”

  Not wanting to come out and say the word "dead" for some strange reason, Chase let his words trail off. A slight silence stretched between them. He nearly apologized for bringing up the subject, but stopped. Part of him was very curious about her late husband. What hell she must have gone through to lose him during her pregnancy.

  “He was struck and killed by a hit and run driver about six weeks after we moved to Philadelphia,” Claudia finally said.

  Chase closed his eyes briefly, imagining her heartache. “You moved there from this area, right?”

  “Yes, we grew up in Milltown,” Claudia said as she leaned against her desk. “We got married right after we both graduated from college, then stayed for a year to save some money. When Joe was accepted at a law school in Philadelphia about eighteen months ago, we moved there. I got a job right away, with the city, and was planning to support us both while he finished school. He was killed shortly thereafter.”

  “I’m
surprised you didn’t come right back home. Surely your friends and family were here.”

  Claudia nodded briefly. “Ryan and Melanie begged me to, and I probably would have. But the week after Joe’s funeral, I found out I was pregnant. I had to stay in my job. I needed the security and insurance.”

  “The week after...” Chase muttered, then gritted his teeth as he stared at Claudia. What painful memories. He could certainly relate to them. His own early life had been one painful moment after another. But that was different. He was a man—tragic circumstances supposedly made men stronger. At least, that’s what his mother used to say: ’whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’

  “That’s why I was so thrilled when Ryan told me about the job here," Claudia said as she moved to her office window and looked outside. "I’ve been wanting to come back for such a long time, but with Sarah to worry about, I couldn’t just pick up and move. I need to provide for her.”

  “Of course you do,” Chase murmured, staring at Claudia speculatively. He didn’t mention the fact that some of mothers didn’t feel that driving need. Didn’t bother telling her that in his experience plenty of mothers were loyal first to themselves, to their needs, their addictions. Their children were a seldom-thought-of inconvenience. Somehow, he didn’t think this soft, gentle natured woman would understand that.

  “I’m sorry you went through that, Claudia,” he said, not sure what one should say at such a moment.

  She lowered her head, looking at her fingers, and he nearly didn’t hear her reply.

  “So am I. Mostly I’m sorry Joe went through it. He was the gentlest, kindest person I’ve ever known. He deserved better than to be left in the middle of a city street to die alone.”

  This time, he heard the tears in her voice, and didn’t have to see them sparkling on her lashes. Chase wasn’t comfortable around crying women. He usually felt big, helpless and awkward. Something, however, made him get out of his chair and move to stand next to her at the window. He gently put his hand on her shoulder, awkwardly patting her, offering what little consolation he could. Claudia took a few deep breaths, closing her eyes tightly to try to hold back tears. After a few moments, she nodded slightly as she pulled away to grab a tissue from her desk.

  “Thank you, for being so kind...but I’m all right. Believe it or not, I stopped crying every day several months ago. The funny thing is, half the time I didn’t know if I was crying for Joe, the man I married, or Joey, my best friend who I used to catch fireflies with on summer nights.”

  “Maybe both?”

  “Probably both,” she nodded. “Enough depressing talk, okay? Sarah and I are fine, getting stronger every day.”

  Recognizing her need to move past her painful memories, Chase nodded abruptly. Ignoring the raw emotion still so evident in her eyes, he said, “That’s right. And that kid looks to be a real handful.”

  “You’ve no idea. I found her sitting on Melanie’s coffee table this morning.”

  Chase rolled his eyes, grinning at her. Some part of him still felt as if Sarah, and her mother, belonged to him, at least a little bit. He’d spent one amazing evening with them, had witnessed Sarah’s birth, and in some way felt bound to them as he had never felt bound to anyone else in the world.

  “So, boss, I meant to tell you, the spending allowance you’ve given me for hardware is a little thin. But, I think, with a little ingenuity, we should be able to get by. At least to start with.”

  "You'll have to" he said abruptly. "Until things improve with a few of the big projects we're working on, Paxton Construction is on a very tight budget."

  "You mentioned some of those problems when you interviewed me. Is there anything more I should know about?"

  Chase didn't really want to discuss all his financial headaches with his newest employee; Claudia might decide the last place she wanted to be working was a company with such a run of bad luck. And he was sure that's all it was: bad luck, and a little human error. The luck was something he couldn't do anything about, and with Claudia around to implement some electronic checks and balances, the lack of efficiency would be taken care of.

  Chase shrugged, saying, "No need to get into that now. But I would really like to hear your ideas. Have you made lunch plans? There’s not much in the area, but the Duck Bill Café down the street does make a decent BLT.”

  “Duck Bill Cafe?” she asked raising a skeptical brow.

  “I know, I know...doesn’t sound very appetizing, does it? But the owner thought it was a cute play on words. Apparently he was fond of telling his old drinking buddy Bill Winter, who owns the Wash-n-Go, to duck because his wife liked to toss plates around when the two of them stayed out too late.”

  Laughing out loud, Claudia shook her head, “No real duck, okay. I guess the Duck Bill Café it is. But no bacon, too much fat. Maybe a turkey on rye.”

  “I don’t think you really need to worry about one or two slices of bacon, Red,” Chase said as he cast another quick glance over her slender figure.

  “That's what you think. It took me six months to drop off that thirty pounds after my pregnancy.”

  “Thirty whole pounds, humh? I bet you lost twenty-eight of it the night she was born.”

  “Ha-ha,” Claudia replied, shooting him a dirty look. “And don’t call me Red.”

  Chase just grinned at her as he turned to leave.

  “Okay, whatever you say...Clod.”

  The café was as good as Chase had promised it would be, though Claudia refused to try a famous BLT. They sat at a corner booth, in red vinyl bench seats, at a bright Formica table. The place looked like it came straight out of the fifties, and Claudia liked it right away. So, apparently, did the regulars, who stared suspiciously from other tables.

  “Do I have mustard on my chin or something?” she finally asked after the waitress studied her thoroughly for the fourth time.

  Chase stared around the restaurant and the nosy patrons quickly turned their attention to their own meals. “No, it’s just this is an incredibly small town. Anyone new, especially a young attractive female, is bound to grab some attention.”

  “Oh. I guess I'd better get used to feeling like an animal in a zoo." Claudia sighed, stirring her iced tea as she resisted an impulse to make a face at a dour woman who’d been staring at her for the past twenty minutes.

  “I’m afraid,” he admitted, “that it might be more who you’re lunching with than anything else. I’m something of a town curiosity.”

  Claudia stopped stirring and raised a quizzical eyebrow at him. “You? I thought you were the town savior, building your business here and all.”

  He shrugged before taking a big bite of his sandwich. Claudia picked a little at hers, then gestured to the waitress for some sweetener.

  “I wasn’t born here,” Chase finally said. “And most people figure I’m still an outsider.”

  Claudia sensed there was a great deal more to the story, but she didn’t get a chance to question him more thoroughly. He immediately launched into detailed plans for the company. Soon immersed in discussing programs, networks, and software, Claudia realized Chase was fully committed to automating his business. She felt a keen sense of anticipation at the challenge that lay before her and could hardly wait to get to work.

  “I’ll warn you right now,” she said after he’d finished laying out his plans for Paxton Construction. “I tend to get very involved with projects I feel strongly about. Once you set me loose on this, it might be hard to rein me in.”

  She grinned at him, but instead of smiling back, he frowned forbiddingly. "Don't overstep your bounds, Mrs. Warren. You have a budget and I expect you to stay within it. I am in no mood to deal with any more overruns."

  Claudia wondered at his sudden change of mood. He’d been perfectly amiable all afternoon, especially during those tender moments when she’d told him about Joe. Now he once again seemed abrasive and hard. “And they say women have mood swings,” she muttered before taking a gulp of her tea.<
br />
  He sighed heavily. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “Like I said, things have been a little tough lately.”

  She nodded, immediately forgiving him for being snappish. He and his other staff members had mentioned the issues that had been facing Paxton Construction recently. Fortunately, though, he now had her on his side. And Claudia was going to do everything she could to repay his faith in her. Starting by making sure the business that was so important to him—and to so many other people, including Ryan and Melanie—got back on track.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Determined to bring something to Melanie and Ryan's table, Claudia made her way to Shelbyville's only grocery store after work Thursday. The small store had food staples, as well as a tremendous amount of charm, and was big enough for the locals to fulfill their basic weekly shopping needs. Any "fancy" items could be obtained at one of the bigger stores in Milltown, but for fresh produce, this little market was the best around. Claudia sniffed appreciatively at a fresh cantaloupe, smiling as she overheard the elderly butcher bragging about the quality of the beef.

  “Excuse me, are you the young lady with the baby?”

  Claudia nearly dropped the fruit as the voice intruded. Swinging around, she nearly bumped into her shopping cart. Standing next to her was a stylishly dressed woman who looked to be about seventy.

  “Were you speaking to me?” Claudia asked the woman.

  “Yes, dear. I’ve heard Chase has a new employee who needs a place to live.

  Claudia still wasn’t used to the small town gossip chain that allowed everyone to know everyone else’s business, and nodded her head in bemusement. “Yes...I mean, I have just gone to work for Mr. Paxton. I started a few days ago, and I have been looking for a small house to rent.”

  The woman nodded as a satisfied smile crossed her face. Claudia couldn’t help responding with a smile of her own, for the elderly woman looked so utterly pleased with her response.

  “Perfect. I have one. When do you want to move in?"