Connie’s lower lip trembled. She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “Boys,” she began. “I understand you can’t forget my actions, but if you could find it in your hearts to forgive me, your mother, I would appreciate it deeply. I know I’m asking a lot. I know you feel I abandoned you but . . .”
Simon jerked to life and stabbed a finger in Connie’s direction. “That’s what you did. Abandoned us. You want forgiveness? Tell us why you left.”
When Connie didn’t answer, Papi jumped in. “Simon, some of the blame is mine. I knew your mother was unhappy but I was in denial. When I refused to talk about it, to agree to a trial separation, she had no option but to leave.”
Simon stood and raked a hand through his hair. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse with emotion. “No option? You’ve got to be kidding!” He stepped over Gabe’s legs and grabbed his laptop from the table. “Sorry, I’ve got homework.”
Gabe wished he could escape as easily as Simon, but he knew part of the issue was the baby girl in his lap. Henry squirmed in his seat, obviously not knowing which way to jump. Gabe wrapped an arm around his shoulders and murmured, “Hang in there, squirt.”
Papi looked like he’d rather face a firing squad than continue with this conversation. He took a deep breath and soldiered on. “Today is Monday. Your mother is flying back to Arizona on Wednesday. She would like to spend a little time with the baby. Is that okay with you, Gabriel?”
Gabe looked at his father in astonishment. Okay? Not hardly. “Well, yeah, if we can work out the details. I just finished talking to Abby. She’s agreed to take care of Birdie while I’m at practice.”
“What details?” Connie said. “I know how to take care of a baby, Gabe.”
“I’m trying to keep her on a schedule,” Gabe said. “How about you take her after school until I’m done with basketball practice?”
“Why not leave her with me all day?”
Before Gabe could form an answer, the doorbell rang.
Henry leapt off the couch. “I’ll get it.”
“Is Gabe home?” Boomer’s voice? Gabe tucked Birdie under one arm and walked into the entryway. Not just Boomer. Boomer and his hot wife.
“Hey, Coach,” Gabe said. “Come on in.”
Henry sidled away and hit the stairs, running.
Boomer, one hand on his wife’s back, stepped through the door. “You know Lacey. Right?”
“Yeah, I think we met last year.”
Gabe mulled over his options. Living room? Just the three of them. Gabe, Boomer, and Lacey. Or, family room with his dysfunctional parents? On second thought, dysfunctional parents might get the pressure off Gabe.
“My parents are in the family room.”
“Parents?” Boomer repeated. “Mother, too?”
“Yeah, she’s back. It’s temporary.”
Gabe made the introductions. He noticed his mother smiling and running a practiced eye over Lacey’s outfit.
Connie said, “Love your necklace. Where did you get it?”
“Nordstrom’s. On sale.
“Really?”
Boomer ignored the women and spoke directly to Papi. “Mr. Delgado, the basketball team needs your son. I know he has a child to take care for, but we’re here to offer our help.”
Before Papi or Gabe could answer, Lacey tossed her hair and flashed a brief smile. “Yeah, I really love babies. I’d be glad to pick her up after school and keep her until practice is over.”
Gabe and Papi spoke up at the same time. “But . . .” Papi said, just as Gabe began, “Actually . . .” Both of them stopped when the doorbell rang again. “Sorry,” Gabe murmured, and headed for the front door. Had someone forgot to tell him it was open house at the Delgados?
He threw open the door. Luanne and Abby stood on the welcome mat.
“Hi, Gabe,” Luanne said. “Just wanted to make sure the babysitting arrangements meet with your father’s approval.”
Gabe’s head was swimming with confusion. It didn’t seem possible, but in the last hour, he’d gone from zero babysitters to three females vying for the honor. “Yeah, yeah, come on in. We’re in the family room.”
“Is this a bad time? I see you have company,” Luanne held out her arms to Birdie. “Well, hi, little one. Can I hold you?” Birdie grinned and dove into her arms.
“No, it’s fine.’ Gabe trotted into the dining area, grabbed a couple of chairs from the table, and dragged them into the family room. Since Papi appeared to be struck dumb, Gabe said, “Have a seat. Hey, everybody, meet our neighbors Luanne and her daughter, Abby. This is my mom, Connie. You probably already know Boomer and his wife, Lacey. Actually, Abby just agreed to take care of Birdie after school. So, no worries, Coach. I’ll be at practice tomorrow.”
Gabe watched as his mother and Luanne locked gazes, neither one of them looking at all friendly. They reminded Gabe of two cats on the back fence, backs arched and hissing.
“Gabe forgot to mention I’ll be taking charge of the baby tomorrow,” Connie said.
Abby’s head swiveled toward Gabe. “But I thought . . .”
Beads of perspiration broke out on Gabe’s forehead. “It’s just for tomorrow, Abby. Okay?”
By the time everything was sorted out, Connie and Lacey had formed an alliance, making plans to go shopping the next day. Connie promised she would be available to take care of Birdie after school. Luanne sat next to Papi and murmured softly in his ear. Papi smiled and patted her hand. Abby looked pissed off again.
Later, as Gabe pondered the strangeness of the evening, he had a jarring thought. Even though Boomer’s wife, Lacey, had proclaimed her love of babies, she hadn’t given Birdie a glance. Not even one.
Chapter Twenty-One
THE NEXT DAY after school, Gabe offloaded Birdie, her car seat and diaper bag into his mother’s rental car.
“Remember what we told you about the custody thing,” he cautioned. “Her mother’s people want her. Don’t let anybody hold her no matter how nice they seem. And leave her bracelet on. She likes it.”
Connie, seated behind the steering wheel, heaved a sigh. “Yes, Gabriel. I heard you the first three times. You’re the boss. But, to tell you the truth, I don’t understand why a baby her age needs a bracelet.”
Unwilling to share the information about Birdie’s unique abilities, Papi and Gabe had concocted the story about a custody battle, hoping to keep Connie on high alert and the baby out of harm’s way.
“Okay. I’ll see you at home after practice.” Gabe picked up his duffel bag and started for the gym.
Connie zipped the window down and called to him. “Gabe? I’d appreciate it if you’d pick her up at the hotel. Silver Cloud Inn in Bellevue. Room 312.”
Gabe stopped and turned to face his mother. “Hold on. You’re not going to the house?”
Connie glanced over her shoulder at the baby in the back seat. “We girls are going shopping. Right, Birdie?”
Gabe sighed. “Mom. She’s too young for shopping. She’d probably rather have a bottle and a nap.”
Connie arranged her face in an expression Gabe remembered well. Eyes cast downward. Lips compressed. After a long moment, she spoke in a tremulous voice. “I would love to buy my only grandchild a pretty dress. Is that so wrong?”
Gabe shrugged. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt. But I gotta warn you. When she gets tired, she screams bloody murder.”
His mother smiled up at him. “It will be fine, son. See you later.”
Despite her reassurance, Gabe did not have a good feeling as he watched his mother drive off with Birdie. But when he walked into the locker room to change and received a raucous welcome from his teammates, he put his misgivings aside.
“’Bout time you got your ass here, Delgado.”
“Ready to get in shape, old man?”
>
“Hey, Gabe!” Kevin tossed him a practice jersey. “Check out the back. We had it made especially for you.”
Gabe flipped the shirt over. Underneath the team logo, he spotted the letters B and D.
“Get it?” Kev asked.
Gabe shook his head.
“B. D. Baby daddy! Funny, huh?” Kevin howled with laughter.
Gabe forced a smile. “Yeah, real funny, Kev.”
He noticed the rest of the guys drifting away and decided the gift had nothing to do with the we Kevin had included in his statement. The lame idea belonged to Kevin alone.
Two hours later, Gabe backed out of the senior parking lot, squinting over his throbbing, majorly swollen nose. The injury was the result of a quick pass by the team’s star forward, Derek Sanders, initiating their reverse fast break. Gabe had dished the ball off to Derek and charged the basket for the rebound. Instead, Derek shot it back to Gabe for an easy lay-up, a play they’d done dozens of times. Gabe, a few seconds slower than usual, didn’t have time to get his hands up. Smack!
Derek had apologized but Gabe shook it off. It wasn’t Derek’s fault. Gabe’s reflexes needed a tune-up. Big time.
He pointed the car toward Bellevue and the Silver Cloud Inn, his mother’s home away from home until tomorrow. He cursed and gripped the steering wheel with both hands, guiding the car through a driving rainstorm in rush hour traffic. Thanks to his mother and her stupid shopping trip. And thanks to Papi, who’d murmured, “Let her spend some time with the baby. It’s the right thing to do, Gabriel.”
It was after six when he reached the hotel. A sense of relief washed over him when he spotted his mother’s rental car in the parking lot. At least he knew she was in her room with the baby.
Thinking Birdie might be asleep, Gabe used the back of his knuckles to rap softly on the door of 312. He listened for footsteps. Nothing. He knocked again, louder this time. Utter silence. What the hell? Gabe doubled up a fist and pounded on the door. It opened as far as the security chain would allow, and Connie peeked through.
“Oh good, you’re here. I’ll call Lacey and let her know.” She slid the chain back and opened the door.
Alarmed, Gabe stepped through, his gaze scanning the room. A frilly pink dress with matching tights and tiny patent leather shoes lay on the end of the bed. No car seat. No diaper bag. No baby.
Gabe fought the panic sparking to life in his chest. He forced himself to speak calmly. “Mom. Where’s the baby? Why are you calling Lacey?”
Connie yawned and rubbed her eyes. She crossed to the bed and picked up her cell phone. “Lacey and I went shopping together. I was tired when we got back. About an hour ago, she took the baby down to the hotel coffee shop so I could rest.”
Something seismic shifted in Gabe’s head. He could almost hear the blat, blat, blat of a red alert, warning him not to lose it. Too late. “Jesus Christ, Mom! I told you not to let anybody else take care of her. What were you thinking?”
Connie put her hands on her hips, her eyes glittering with anger. “Would you please lighten up? She’s your coach’s wife, for God’s sake. How dangerous could she be?”
Shooting slitty-eyed glances at Gabe, Connie tapped the screen of her smart phone and held it to her ear. Thirty seconds passed. Connie turned her back to Gabe and spoke into the phone. “Hey, Lacey. Where are you? Gabe’s here, so bring the baby to my room. Okay?”
Obviously, the call had gone straight to voice mail. Full-blown panic coiled through Gabe’s nervous system, stealing away all rational thought. He whirled and ran for the door, vaguely aware of his mother shouting, “Wait, Gabe! She’ll call back. She probably . . .”
The rest of the sentence was lost as Gabe sprinted past the elevator and galloped down the stairs leading to the first floor.
He ran to the front desk, gasping. “Coffee shop . . . where is it?”
The woman behind the counter looked up from her computer. When she saw his expression, her eyes widened and she pointed to the right. “End of the hall. Is something wrong, sir?”
But Gabe was already sprinting down the hall. He pushed through the double glass doors leading to the attached coffee shop and scanned the room. The place was practically empty. Two guys drinking coffee and checking emails on their phones. A family of four chowing down on platefuls of greasy fried food.
Gabe ran to the waitress. “I’m looking for a woman with a red-haired baby. They might have come in about an hour ago. The woman’s young. She’s got light brown hair.”
The waitress nibbled on her lower lip and thought for a moment. “It’s been real slow this afternoon.” She shook her head. “No, I’m sure of it. No woman with a redheaded baby. I’d remember that ’cause my baby has red hair.”
Gabe groaned.
“You okay?” the waitress asked.
“No.” Gabe was already running for the door.
Back to the front desk and the woman behind the counter. Connie burst out of the elevator and ran to him.
“Did Lacey call?” Gabe said.
Connie shook her head.
“She’s not in the coffee shop.”
Connie’s face drained of color. She spoke to the front desk clerk. “We’re looking for a woman and a baby. She may have walked through the lobby on the way to her car.”
“Does the baby have red hair?”
“Yes.” Gabe’s heart kicked up a beat.
“I saw her about an hour ago. Cute kid. I offered to have the parking valet help her because she was having trouble managing everything.”
“What kind of trouble?” Connie’s voice was ragged with emotion.
“Well,” the woman said, smiling. “She was lugging the baby in a car seat and trying to hang on to a ginormous purse and diaper bag. The purse and diaper bag kept slipping off her shoulder. She’d put the baby down, pick up the purse and diaper bag, take a few more steps only to have the same problem again. She refused my offer of help, though. What is this? Some kind of custody issue?”
“Kind of.” Gabe struggled to control his panic. He turned to his mother, “What kind of a car does Lacey drive?”
“Something beige.”
“Something beige?” He bit his lip to keep from cursing. “That narrows it down.” He ran for the exit.
Connie, trailing behind him, called, “Where are you going?”
“Home,” Gabe panted, between shallow breaths. “Gotta get help. Papi will know what to do.”
Before he pushed through the door, the front desk clerk called, “One more thing, sir.”
Gabe stopped.
“The woman with the baby? She was angry. Every time she stopped to rearrange stuff, she swore under her breath. She thought I couldn’t hear her, but I could. I sure hope that baby’s okay.”
Rage fueled by fear surged through Gabe’s body. This should not be happening. He turned to Connie, the red-hot words tumbling, unchecked, from his mouth. “God dammit! You caused this. I told you not to let anyone else take care of her. Now, look what you’ve done!”
Gabe sprinted through the door, running for his car.
“Wait, Gabe. I’m sorry!” Connie called. “Let me come with you. If she calls back, we need to be together.”
As much as he hated to admit it, he knew his mother was right. He fired up the engine and unlocked the passenger-side door.
Connie was sobbing as she slipped into the seat and fastened her seatbelt. “I didn’t know, Gabe. You and Ernesto said custody issues. Why would there be custody issues with your coach’s wife?”
Gabe slammed the car into reverse. “It’s a long, strange story.”
“Tell me.”
So, against his better judgment, he did.
Chapter Twenty-Two
THIRTY MINUTES later, Gabe climbed into the passenger side of Papi
’s minivan and, between shallow breaths, panted, “Boomer’s house first.”
Connie and Abby scrambled into the rear seats. Gabe had insisted on bringing Abby along, thinking they might need her “special abilities.” At some point, Gabe knew he’d have to let Papi know the Delgado family lived next door to a pair of white witches. Now was not the time.
Connie leaned forward. “I knew there was something strange about that bracelet.”
Gabe glanced back at her. “She must still be wearing it. Otherwise, she’d have turned up at home.”
For that very reason, Papi had insisted Simon and Henry remain at home.
Earlier, Gabe had filled his mother in on the disappearing baby scenario. He’d been surprised by her reaction. Instead of gasping with shock and disbelief, she’d given him a reproachful look and said, “You should have trusted me, son. If you had, I would have kept her safe.”
Gabe made no comment. This from a woman who’d deserted her own children?
Papi was in his usual driving mode: both hands on the steering wheel, peering straight ahead, going five miles under the speed limit.
“Papi, please go a little faster. This is an emergency, for Christ’s sake!”
Instinctively, Gabe ducked, but Papi settled for a quick sidelong glance before pressing gently on the accelerator. “What do we know about Boomer’s wife?”
“Trophy wife,” Gabe said. “I heard she broke up Boomer’s marriage. “
“Yeah,” Abby added. “When they got divorced, his first wife took the kids and moved to Gig Harbor. His daughter was a good friend of mine.”
“Lacey bought a $500 pair of boots today at Nordstrom’s,” Connie said. “Put it on her credit card. I could hardly believe it. She doesn’t work, and teachers aren’t exactly in a high-income bracket. I guess I looked surprised because she told me she was coming into some money, that she’d pay the bill before Boomer even saw it.”
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