Her thoughts returned to the news that she carried a little girl. How exciting! Not that a boy wouldn’t be wonderful, too. Still, Kate had never had a daughter.
Even if she’s only mine until she’s born.
As she entered the lobby, she saw a scant handful of people occupying the comfortable couches or browsing through the glass-front gift shop. It was a far cry from a few weeks earlier, when the news media had packed the place.
They’d been covering an influx of young mothers surrendering babies under the state’s Safe Haven law, which was designed to encourage women not to abandon infants under unsafe conditions. Most had come after an Internet reporter named Ian Martin confused the name Safe Harbor with Safe Haven, implying that the medical facility offered special services.
As staff attorney, Tony had appeared on TV, explaining how the law protected the mothers from prosecution. Naturally, he’s been busy, Kate thought. I’m not the only thing he and Esther have to worry about.
As she rode the elevator, she recalled the first time she’d met the couple, in a conference room here at the hospital. Esther had been tall and striking, thin as a model, with sleek sunlit hair and a tailored linen suit. But it was Tony who’d strode forward to clasp Kate’s hand, his green eyes welcoming. He would make a wonderful father, she’d known instinctively.
Now, as Kate stepped onto the fifth floor, Dr. Rayburn’s question echoed in her mind—Have you talked to either of the Francos this week?—along with something else he’d said: In this kind of situation, communication is essential.
Had he been referring only to the gender issue? Kate wiped her palms against her maternity jeans and approached the administrative suite.
The secretary, whose nameplate read May Chong, greeted Kate. “Mrs. Evans? Go on in. Mr. Franco’s expecting you.”
Kate tapped on the inner door before opening it. She’d come to this office once before, to sign the contract; not much had changed, she saw as she ventured inside. Same expanse of carpet, same large window providing a glimpse of the Pacific, same crammed bookshelves and broad desk.
But the man behind it looked different from the last time she’d seen him, about a month earlier. As Tony got to his feet, a frown darkened his usually amiable features, and the thick rust-brown hair not only needed a trim but flopped every which way, as if he’d been finger-combing it all morning.
When they shook hands, an awareness of him quivered through Kate. His strength. His kindness. And, today, his confusion.
“What’s wrong?” she blurted. “Did Dr. Rayburn tell you about the baby?”
He regarded her quizzically. “What about the baby?”
“It’s a girl.” Seeing no reaction, Kate added, “Instead of a boy.”
“A girl,” he repeated, as if struggling to absorb the information.
“What gives, Tony?” she asked. “Where’s Esther? Why is everyone acting so strange?”
In the fraction of a second before he answered, she could tell she hadn’t imagined any of this. Something had happened.
“She’s left me,” he said in a stunned voice. “Picked up and moved across the country to start a new life.”
As Kate sank into a chair, the baby wriggled. For once, she didn’t respond. “How can she do that?”
“Don’t worry—nothing’s changed,” Tony added quickly. “Not where you’re concerned.”
He was wrong about that, Kate noted dazedly. Everything had changed.
Chapter Two
The last person in the world Tony wanted to drag into this mess was the woman sitting across from him. From the moment they met, he’d liked Kate’s sweet, honest face and golden brown eyes. He’d even hoped—foolishly, he saw now—that her mothering instincts might rub off on Esther.
A phrase popped into his mind: the willing suspension of disbelief. That described the way moviegoers allowed themselves to accept for the span of a few hours that Ms. or Mr. Famous-Movie-Star was really an impoverished waif or a Roman gladiator.
It wasn’t supposed to apply to lawyers in their real lives. Yet he found himself guilty as charged.
Ever since he and Esther met in law school, he’d known her to be determined and driven, qualities that he’d admired. He hadn’t considered her anything more than a fellow attorney, however, until they met again five years ago at an alumni event and connected at a deeper level. Or so he’d believed.
These days, he wasn’t sure Esther had a deeper level.
“She left you?” Kate repeated in a small voice. “You mean she’s having an affair?”
“No. She didn’t leave me for another man.” Tony felt certain on that account. Esther’s goal was to be Ms. Powerful, not Mrs. Somebody-Else. “Without telling me, she’s been angling for a high-powered job with the U.S. Attorney General’s office. Now that she’s landed it, she’s moving to Washington.”
“You won’t go with her?” Ah, those wide, naive eyes. No, not naive; trusting. Tony was the one who’d acted naively, believing he and Esther were building a future together here in Orange County and that she could be happy balancing the roles of wife, mother and prosecutor.
He had trouble admitting this next part, but Kate had a right to know. “I said I’d consider relocating, but she prefers being unaccountable to anyone, including me.”
“Well, she’s a lamebrain!”
Her response made him laugh for the first time in days. “Thanks for the support.”
“You’re her husband!” Kate went on, bristling in outrage.
Tony chose his words cautiously, because despite his anger, he was trying to avoid turning his divorce into a battle to the death. “My wife’s ambitious. I suspect she sees herself as a future Attorney General or Supreme Court justice. I respect her for that, but on a personal level, she’s a very selfish woman.” What else was there to say?
He’d been troubled when she’d announced the move a few weeks ago, but had assumed they could figure out a way to maintain their marriage, especially with a child on the way. Then, last night on the phone, she’d made it clear that staying married to a low-key staff attorney and having a baby in the house didn’t fit her new image as a power player.
“Maybe she’s just afraid you really don’t want to give up your job.” Kate flexed her hands. “I bet she’s waiting for you to show that you’re behind her one hundred percent by resigning.”
“That’s what I thought initially.” He couldn’t keep the edge from his voice. “Yesterday she demanded I agree to a dissolution of marriage as quickly as possible. She insists on her freedom, and the sooner the better.”
Without realizing it, he’d leaned forward until their faces were inches apart. Abruptly Tony felt keenly attuned to Kate’s velvety skin, her full mouth, her lushness. And to the tender, aching way she gazed at him, as if unable to believe any woman would leave him.
Esther’s rejection hurt, in all sorts of ways. Kate’s appreciation stirred him at the most basic level.
He must be out of his mind. Drawing back, Tony finger-combed his hair as he’d been doing all morning. Kate was the mother of his child. He had an obligation to protect her, not take advantage of her, even assuming she’d be willing, which he most certainly did not believe.
Also, he was still a married man, for however many months it took the divorce to go through. He’d agreed to it, naturally. Why would anyone try to hold on to a woman who didn’t love him?
Kate folded her hands on her bulge. It was such an instinctive, unstudied act that Tony felt an urge to hug her. Right now, he craved instinctive, unstudied acts instead of calculating, self-serving…
He had to stop ranting about Esther, even if it was only in his brain.
“She can’t expect to raise a baby alone while holding down a job like that,” Kate said worriedly. “How many hours a week does she work? Sixty or seventy?”
“Make that eighty or ninety.” Ah, yes. The whole subject of Esther’s maternal instincts, or lack thereof, had been certain to surface.
“She prefers that I keep the baby.” Her actual words had been far less diplomatic. It’s your DNA, buster. You raise it.
Lovely sentiment. He’d like to see that comment engraved on a plaque and hung on the wall next to Esther’s diplomas.
Kate hugged herself in apparent disbelief. “She was so excited. Remember how she kept saying what a wonderful thing I was doing?”
“Esther can be charming when she wants something,” Tony conceded. “At her high-energy, charismatic best, she’s hard to resist.” He’d found her the kind of dazzling woman a man was proud to be seen with.
His more restrained nature had seemed to dovetail with hers. He’d gotten a thrill from accompanying his wife to political and social events and watching her work the crowd. He hadn’t minded sharing or even ceding the limelight.
“Charming, charismatic and fickle?” Kate filled in.
“Exactly.” He might as well be ruthlessly honest. “These past two years, she’s been restless. Turning thirty seemed to rev up her biological clock, and when she discovered she had ovarian failure, that threw her into overdrive. Esther can’t bear to fail at anything.”
“But she wanted a baby. Surely she still does. Kids are precious,” Kate added wistfully.
Tony’s heart squeezed. They’d been terribly unfair to this generous woman. The substantial amount they were paying could never compensate for what she was giving up. “Yes, they are.”
Her eyes met his with sudden intensity. “What about you? Are you prepared to raise a child on your own, or was this just Esther’s idea?”
A fair question. Luckily, he didn’t have to search for an answer. “The idea may have come from her, but once we met you and saw pictures of your little boy, having a child became the most important thing I’d ever wanted to do. When we learned you were pregnant, I stayed awake all night, too keyed up to sleep.”
Her eyes sparkled. “Really?”
He’d purposely refrained from showing the true depth of his excitement to avoid making Esther feel that somehow the baby was more his than hers. But obviously, it hadn’t worked.
“After my wife got bored with shopping for baby gear, I had fun ordering supplies on the Internet. Bought a few parenting books, too, although I’m still getting around to reading them.” He’d also hired a decorator for the nursery. And he’d cherished daydreams of playing with his son.
Wait a minute. “It’s a girl, you said?” Tony waved away his comment. “Of course you did. Well, the bond between fathers and daughters is extra-special.”
“My dad was our anchor,” Kate murmured. “For me, my mom and my sister. I’m so glad he was alive to walk me down the aisle at my wedding.”
“He’s gone, then? I’m sorry.”
“Lung cancer,” she replied. “Before Brady was born. I wish he’d never smoked.” She shifted in her seat as if to shake off the memories. “The childbirth class starts tomorrow night at seven. It’s downstairs here at the hospital. Esther was supposed to go with me, but obviously that’s out.”
Was she inviting him to attend? Well, the more he learned about babies, the better. “I’ll be there.”
“You’re sure? I could ask my mother.”
“No way I’m missing my daughter’s entrance into the world. This does mean I get to be present, doesn’t it?” he asked eagerly.
When she smiled, the room glowed. “Absolutely.”
“Great.” He couldn’t ignore the message light blinking on his phone any longer. “I’m glad you stopped by.”
“So am I.” Kate started to rise, but didn’t get far. The chair must have been deeper than she expected, because she teetered off balance.
Leaping to his feet, Tony caught her arm. “Let me help.”
“Thanks.” She swayed against him, her heady scent flooding his senses like a bouquet of flowers.
“You smell nice,” Tony blurted. Wait! He had no business implying anything personal. “I mean, that’s lovely perfume. Like a spring garden.”
“It’s my shampoo.” Kate’s bulge brushed him as she straightened.
Tony could have sworn something kicked him in the hip. “Was that my daughter?”
Kate beamed. “She’s feisty.”
“With a kick like that, she should go out for soccer.”
“I think it was an elbow. Practicing her karate moves.” She ran a hand lightly up his biceps. “Better get in shape so you can keep up with her, Dad. Not that you aren’t already.” When she plucked her hand away, he could have sworn she was blushing. “Sorry. How silly of me.”
He’d enjoyed that casual contact more than he ought to. “Tomorrow night,” he confirmed, and retreated to a safe distance.
“Wear comfortable clothes,” Kate advised and strolled off, leaving behind that faint but tantalizing scent.
Tony returned to reviewing a contract with one of the hospital’s vendors, but his mind refused to cooperate. As he reached for the phone to pick up his messages. he wondered exactly what constituted a safe distance and how he was going to maintain it during a childbirth class.
Or whether he truly wanted to.
NEARLY ONE O’CLOCK. Kate was running late and her stomach had begun rumbling. Then the ignition on her car, an aging sedan that had relied on her late husband Quinn’s expertise as a mechanic to keep it running, took three tries before it sparked.
She made the ten-minute drive straight to her sister’s house. Mary Beth had promised to pick up Brady at kindergarten along with two five-year-olds who attended her home day-care center.
The ranch-style home lay in a cul-de-sac near Safe Harbor’s northern edge. A stand of trees blocked the sight of the freeway a quarter of a mile off, but as Kate hefted herself from the car, she noted the ever-present hum of traffic.
She mounted the porch between a scraggly camellia bush and an overgrown azalea. Mary Beth used to be a stickler about gardening, but no wonder she’d fallen behind, with a pair of school-age sons, a home business and a husband who worked as an air traffic controller.
Kate tapped lightly, then let herself inside with her key. The house was quiet. No childish chatter or bodies hurtling about, which meant the children must be napping. She really was late.
Bypassing the formal living room, she picked a path between toys and books in the den and found her sister and mother in the kitchen, sipping coffee at the well-worn table. Irene Mulligan’s face, more wrinkled than before her heart attack a year ago, filled with delight when she caught sight of her younger daughter.
“Everything okay at the doctor’s?” Mary Beth tucked a wayward strand of ash-blond hair behind her ear. The dark roots needed a touch-up, Kate noted with professional interest, but her sister always declined her offers.
“Well, sort of.” Before rushing into the latest developments, she added, “I’m sorry you had to fix lunch for Brady. I meant to be here sooner.”
“I made his sandwich,” Irene volunteered.
“Mom tucked him in for his nap, too.” After their mother’s heart attack, Mary Beth had insisted that Irene move into the four-bedroom home, and their mom really did enjoy being around all the activity. Now that she’d stabilized on medication, Irene had an excellent prognosis, but neither of her daughters could bear to think of her living alone again.
“Thanks, Mom.” Kate fixed herself a sandwich from the peanut butter, jelly and bread on the counter. “Here’s my first big news. Turns out Arthur is a girl.”
“A girl named Arthur?” Her mother smiled.
“Finally a girl in the family!” Mary Beth exclaimed. “Not that I’ll ever get to hold her.”
Her sister’s disapproval of the surrogacy made it doubly hard to drop the next revelation, but there was no avoiding it. “I had a meeting with Tony.” She plunged ahead. “He and Esther are getting a divorce.”
“Oh, dear,” Irene said.
“Well, that’s just great.” Mary Beth smacked her hand o
n the table, rattling the cups, then glanced worriedly toward the interior of the house. No sounds arose from her half-dozen charges, however. “On top of everything else, the baby gets born into a broken home.”
As she poured herself a glass of milk, Kate explained the situation, finishing with, “Tony’s going to be a wonderful dad.”
“Yes, but what about a mother?” Irene said.
“You should keep the baby,” Mary Beth insisted. “This isn’t the deal you signed up for, and she’s your daughter. I told you, according to a friend of Ray’s, you have legal grounds to fight this.”
Wolfing her sandwich, Kate shook her head rather than argue. Not only had she signed a contract, she’d made a promise to the Francos…to Tony. Besides, Kate had Brady’s future and her own to think about. How could she work and study nursing, the way she’d planned, if she had a baby to care for?
All the same, her hand strayed to her bulge. No movement, which meant Ariel—her new name for the baby—must be napping like the other kids. Kate pictured the little girl curled in Brady’s old crib, fist jammed in her mouth, a soft pink onesie stretching to her tiny feet.
Perhaps she could suggest Tony put the baby in day care with Mary Beth. On second thought, probably not a good idea. Her sister was too possessive about the baby already.
As the silence lengthened, Irene answered for her. “Kate has her own dreams to fulfill. She’s worked hard all these years.”
“And I haven’t?” Mary Beth snapped.
Kate swallowed another mouthful of her sandwich. “Where did that come from?”
Irene patted her elder daughter’s hand. “You work hard, also. Too hard.”
The tension eased from Mary Beth’s shoulders. “I’m sorry, guys. The kids were cranky this morning and Ray’s been putting in extra shifts. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
Kate studied her sister sympathetically. Four years older, Mary Beth had excelled in school and earned a bachelor’s degree and teaching credential, unlike Kate, who’d barely squeaked through two years at community college. Energetic and confident, Mary Beth had never seemed to flag. Until today.
His Hired Baby Page 2
