Not Quite Mine (Not Quite series)

by Catherine Bybee

  “Katie wants a job?” Tom asked.

  All four of them twisted toward Katie again. Just thinking of her sexy ass in high heel shoes parading around the workers at the hotel made Dean cringe. Work would grind to a painstaking halt faster than lightning could strike the Empire State Building.

  “Has a job,” Jack corrected. “Design and fashion are her gig. It isn’t like I could say no.”

  Damn. “That means she’ll be staying in Ontario for a while.” Southern California was where Dean had moved his life after he and Katie went their separate ways.

  “I was hoping you and Mikey could keep an eye on her while she’s there.”

  “I’m not sure what you want us to do, Jack. Katie’s never lonely for company and chances are she’d see right through us if we knocked on her door and asked her if she wanted to hang out,” Mikey said.

  “Just keep an eye on her, will ya?”

  “We will,” Mike told him.

  Dean nodded.

  “Looks like I’m off the hook with this one.” Tom reached for a third shot of whiskey. Tom lived in Houston.

  Dean glanced up as Jessie walked toward them. Jack stepped forward and brought his wife into his arms.

  “They want us to cut the cake now.”

  Jack wiggled his eyebrows. “I’ve been waiting to squish cake on your nose all night,” he teased.

  Jessie narrowed her eyes at her husband. “Careful, cowboy. You have to live with me for the rest of your life.”

  The couple laughed as they walked away.

  Katie toed off her heels and fell onto her couch.

  “You Texans sure know how to throw a party.” Monica melted into the soft leather beside Katie.

  “Big, loud, and never ending. But damn it was great.”

  “I don’t think Jessie could be happier.”

  “Jack either.”

  “I think the two of them are going to be the rare ones that keep it going forever.”

  Katie agreed. She and Monica both knew what it was like to come from a broken family. Katie’s mom had walked away from her husband and kids and never really looked back. She couldn’t even be bothered with showing up at her own son’s wedding. Same could be said for Monica and Jessie’s dad. They didn’t even know how to get hold of him.

  “I’ll bet Jessie’s pregnant within the year.”

  “Less if Danny has his way. He and my dad were already hinting about Danny needing a baby sister or brother.”

  Monica tucked her feet under her bum. “You’d think he’d have waited for the wedding cake to digest before talking about babies.”

  “My dad drove himself hard for a lot of years. I think he wants to make up for lost time now that he’s older. He loves Danny and can’t wait for more grandkids.” Grandkids he’d have to get from Jessie and Jack. The thought sobered her and brought a thick ball of emotion to the back of her throat. The whole night had been an emotional roller coaster. “I’m beat,” she said, pushing off the sofa.

  “Me, too.”

  As both women started down the hall of the high-rise hotel penthouse Katie lived in, the buzzer on the front door rang. Both of them jumped at the noise. It was one thirty in the morning.

  “What the…?”

  Monica followed her to the door. The complex had the tightest security money could buy, so concern for her safety didn’t enter her mind as she opened the door.

  The landing between her door and the elevator was empty.

  A tiny noise drew Katie’s attention to her feet.

  Behind her, Monica gasped.

  Cradled in a bundle of brown and pink blankets and nestled in a car seat was the most delicate tiny baby Katie had ever seen.

  She dropped to her knees and lifted the blanket away from the infant’s face. Slow, even breaths blew through pink lips. Tucked beside the child was an envelope. Katie lifted the paper away from the sleeping baby, careful to not wake her.

  Katelyn Morrison was written in a flowing script.

  “Oh, my God.” Monica voiced Katie’s exact thoughts.

  Chapter Two

  Monica lifted the car seat and brought the baby into the penthouse.

  Katie’s hands trembled as she flipped over the envelope.

  “Get that,” Monica told her while pointing outside the door.

  Sitting on the hallway floor was a large plush diaper bag with sheep printed all over the exterior.

  Grabbing it, Katie shut the door behind her and stood next to Monica. Both of them stared down at the baby as if neither of them knew what it was.

  “Who would leave their child on your doorstep?”

  She had no idea. “I’ll call down to the doorman and ask if anyone has entered or left the building with a kid.”

  “Good idea.” Monica sat beside the baby, careful not to wake her while Katelyn crossed to the phone and called downstairs.

  “Good evening, Miss Morrison.” The cheerful voice of the graveyard shift doorman didn’t sound alarmed. In contrast, her heart was pounding in her chest and her voice was anything but calm.

  “Hey, Alex. By chance has anyone come up in the last ten minutes or so?”

  “Only you and Miss Mann. Why? Is everything OK?”

  No, everything was definitely not OK. “Are you sure there hasn’t been anyone you didn’t recognize come in tonight? Anyone with kids?”

  Alex’s tone turned tight. “No one that wasn’t expected. You sound a little worried, Miss Morrison. Would you like me to send up security?”

  “No. No, we’re fine. I thought maybe…” Oh, boy, what could she say? “Good night, Alex.”

  “G’night, ma’am.”

  “He didn’t see anything?” Monica had listened to the conversation.

  “Nothing.”

  “How can that be? They practically asked for my firstborn when I came…” Monica glanced at the infant. “Oh, bad joke. They seem so on top of things here.”

  “It’s not the first time someone has gotten past security.”

  Katie pushed aside the magazines sitting on her coffee table so she could sit and stare at the child. The porcelain, perfect skin and fluff of pale hair on the top of her head were so beautiful. Unable to stop herself, Katie reached out and ran her finger along a tiny cheek. The smooth texture sent a zing up her arm and added to the rapid beat of her heart.

  “We need to call the police.”

  Alarm spiked inside Katie’s head. “Why?”

  “Katie, someone abandoned their infant on your doorstep. We need to notify the authorities.”

  When mothers abandoned their infants, they did it on church steps or hospitals…or worse, garbage cans or public bathrooms. Katie’s eyes inched away from Monica and glanced at the envelope clutched in her hand. She’d almost forgotten about it.

  She ripped it open and removed two pieces of paper. One looked official, while the other was a handwritten note.

  Dearest Katelyn,

  Please read this letter before giving my child to complete strangers to raise within a broken system. I’m not a star-crazed kid pushing her unwanted baggage on someone with money, or a nut who will come back into your life screaming foul play. I am a mother whose heart is breaking as she writes you this letter in a desperate attempt to make you understand.

  I am unable to raise my daughter, to love her, to guide her in life. No one is more sorry about that than I am. You can do what I can’t, Katelyn. I’ve seen to it that no one will question who her mother is. All you have to do is take her.

  Savannah was conceived with love, albeit one sided, and deserves a mother who can give her everything. I know things about you that I probably shouldn’t. I know how much you want a child of your own, how impossible it is for you to do so. If you open your heart to my tiny miracle, she’ll win you over before dawn. Her father isn’t ready for her, but if my instincts are right, he will be one day. And when he is, the two of you will give Savannah the loving home she needs.

  I’ve arranged everything. No one w
ill question the parentage of Savannah, and even if they did, I believe you’ll find a way to keep her.

  Please…I beg you.

  Love her, Katelyn. If the day ever comes, tell her I loved her, too.

  There wasn’t a signature. No name to give to the woman who had written the letter.

  Katie glanced at the second paper, which was a birth certificate. Her back teeth ground tight and her head started to pound.

  The words “Closed Adoption” stood out in bold print. Under “Child’s Name” was “Savannah Morrison, no middle name.” Under “Mother” was “Katelyn Marie Morrison.” Katie shifted her eyes to the space for the father’s name and found it blank.

  She blew out a long, shaky breath.

  “What does it say?” Monica sat anxiously waiting.

  There would be no need to hide anything from her new sister-in-law so she handed over the papers. As Monica took in all that the letter said, Katie stared down at Savannah and allowed her heart to open a tiny crack. Who was Savannah’s mother, and how did she know Katie’s deepest secret?

  “Holy shit.”

  Understatement of the year.

  “Do you have any idea who the mom is?”

  “None.”

  “What about the dad? Sounds like the mom thinks you know him.”

  Katie rubbed the back of her neck and tried to stop the nagging feeling of dread. “I know a lot of guys who aren’t ready to be a father.” No reason to tell Monica everything. Until Katie knew more about the mother and the reason for Savannah ending up on her doorstep, she’d keep quiet.

  “How can someone do this?” Monica repeated the question a few more times as she stood and paced the room. “And what did she mean when she said that it’s impossible for you to have your own kids?”

  Savannah puffed out her tiny lips in her sleep as if she were sucking on something. Monica’s question registered. “I can’t have children.” Saying the words aloud always hurt, which was why Katie never did.

  “Are you sure?”

  Karma had a way of slapping her in the face. “I’m sure.” Since her own mother couldn’t be a good mom, life decided to take the option away from her, too.

  Monica sat beside her on the coffee table and grasped her hand. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Me, too.” And she was. More than Monica could ever imagine.

  Both of them turned to face Savannah and stared. The thought of putting her into the arms of a police officer, who would then place her into a home where people took in unwanted children for a price, raced through Katie’s mind.

  What if she didn’t do that? Right in front of her was a miracle Katie could never have on her own. She knew that one day she’d look into adopting, maybe even a surrogate birth. Hell, she’d be a mother already if life hadn’t killed that dream.

  Bundled up in a neat little package was a dream realized. A dream that money really couldn’t buy.

  Savannah wiggled in her sleep, the movement had both Monica and Katie leaning closer. Within seconds, the infant started to blink and open her beautiful blue eyes.

  Katie felt her breath coming in short pants. She was so amazing. So perfect. Savannah stretched her arms wide and opened her mouth in a yawn bigger than she was. Then a high-pitched squeak erupted from her mouth.

  Katie reached for the buckle and unsnapped it. Savannah watched Katie as she pushed the blanket away and wrapped her arms around the baby for the first time.

  “Watch her head,” Monica instructed.

  “Right.”

  Careful to support Savannah’s neck, Katie lifted her onto her lap. Her tiny arms swam in the pajamas she wore. Little legs kicked Katie’s stomach with a tiny pat. She leaned down and kissed Savannah’s forehead and drew in the fresh, clean scent of her skin. Everything about her was so new. “When was she born?”

  Monica picked up the birth certificate and said, “Two weeks ago today.”

  Savannah’s hand curled around Katie’s finger and gave a squeeze as if to say, Don’t let go.

  “You’re going to keep her, aren’t you?” Monica’s question didn’t have an ounce of judgment in it.

  Katie shook her head no, then yes. “Her mother must have been desperate to leave her at my door. I think I should try to find her, find out what her letter meant.”

  “And keep Savannah while you’re looking?”

  “The police would put her in foster care. I can take better care of her than someone desperate for the money the state gives them.”

  “What if you don’t find the mom?”

  “Someone left a baby on my doorstep at one in the morning. There are cameras all over this complex.”

  “In your foyer?” Monica glanced toward the front door.

  “At least one, plenty more in the lobby, the main hallways…elevators.” There had to be someone with a baby caught on film.

  Savannah squirmed and sputtered out a cry. Katie’s attention went back to the child in her arms. “Are you hungry?” she asked in a voice a full octave higher than her normal tone. What was it about babies that had people talking in voices that weren’t their own? “I’ll bet your mommy has something in this bag for you to eat.”

  Monica’s hand dipped into the bag and removed a bottle and a container full of formula. “I’ll get this ready. Why don’t you see if she needs her diaper changed?”

  As Monica stood to work her way to the kitchen, Katie stopped her. “I’m doing the right thing, aren’t I?” The question was foreign coming from her lips. Katelyn Morrison, millionaire and heiress to half of her daddy’s estate, had always run through life completely confident in everything she did. Yet with the package weighing less than ten pounds sitting in her lap and starting to fuss, she felt clueless about her next move.

  “I have no idea.”

  “What would you do?”

  “I’d call my sister and ask her advice.” Monica and Jessie were very close. Up until Monica finished nursing school, she lived with Jessie and helped take care of Danny. They had struggled for money every day of their lives, but they loved each other, depended on each other.

  “I don’t have a sister,” Katie stated the obvious.

  Monica shook her head. “You do now. I say we sleep on it. If Savannah is going to let us sleep, that is. We’ll figure this out together.”

  “OK.” They could do this. Katie reminded herself to kiss her brother when he returned from his honeymoon. Marrying Jessie was the smartest thing Jack had ever done. Monica was quickly turning into a true friend.

  Dean reduced himself to stalker status. Outside of Katie’s penthouse suite, he waited for Monica to exit the building for her morning run. He’d extracted the information about her exercise routine during the previous evening so he could corner Katie alone.

  Jack’s concern for his sister squeezed a nagging trigger inside Dean’s head. A trigger he wished weren’t there. He had to know for himself that his ex wasn’t in any real trouble. Dean told himself it was for friendship’s sake. Hell, it was his friendship with Jack that had kept Katie and Dean apart for a small lifetime. And when their affair fell apart, Dean couldn’t even drink through the pain of the breakup with his best friend, because his best friend had no idea about the relationship.

  Still, in the year and a half that he and Katie hadn’t spoken outside of obligatory time together getting ready for Jessie and Jack’s wedding, Dean had watched and kept up with Katelyn Morrison’s life. What he could see from afar, that is.

  The papers grasped onto every torrid and newsworthy turn in the heiress’s life. Dean knew that when she’d broken off with him, she’d rushed back into the arms of an old lover, proving that she’d never felt the same for Dean as he had for her. Looking back, he knew he’d rushed into a relationship with Maggie, and their breakup was probably for the best. What was wrong with him that women didn’t want to stick around? He’d pondered that thought for months until he simply turned his back on happily ever after. Sure, Jack made it look like fantasy material with J
essie. But Dean was done with long term anything when it came to the female gender in general. No-strings mutual affairs he could handle.

  Commitment and promises of tomorrow, no way.

  So what the hell was he doing suffering the early morning heat of a Houston summer waiting for Monica to jog her skinny butt around a few city blocks? The question swimming inside his head had him pushing off the building and turning to walk back to his rented car. Then Monica swung out of the building, waving at the doorman as she rested her sunglasses on her nose.

  As Monica took off in the opposite direction, Dean removed his sunglasses and made his way inside the elite high-rise.

  Dean walked up to the reception desk, praying the staff hadn’t changed over the last year.

  “Mr. Prescott, how nice to see you again.” One hurdle down.

  “Hello, Miss May. I see you’re just as lovely as ever.” Miss May was on the far side of sixty…and even further from “Miss” status.

  “You always were a tease.” She winked at him. “Shall I let Miss Morrison know you’re on your way up?”

  Dean waved her off. “No need, she knows I’m coming,” he lied.

  “Have a nice day, Mr. Prescott.”

  Dean tipped his Stetson in her direction before moving to the bank of elevators. When he stepped inside, a green light went on indicating that Miss May had offered him access to Katie’s penthouse as she’d done many times in the past. At least when he wanted the staff to know he was visiting Katie. There were plenty of other times he’d made his way into the hotel penthouse without anyone knowing he was there. He and Katie had liked the game of being secret…at least in the beginning. Within seconds, he stood outside Katie’s door, his hand hesitating midway to the oak entrance to her home.

  Suck it up, he told himself as he let his knuckles scrape against the wood.