Happy New Year--Baby!

by Marie Ferrarella

  “Sure.”

  He wasn’t convinced, but there was something he had to see to first. Dennis righted the overturned rocking chair for her and checked it over quickly. The runners weren’t broken.

  Gently, he coaxed her over to it. “Sit down and wait for me.” She seemed to collapse into it, as if her legs wouldn’t have been able to support her a minute longer. “I’ll be right back,” he promised. “I’ll help you clean up this mess.”

  “I—”

  He wasn’t about to let her push him away. “Don’t argue.”

  Nicole swallowed. There was a huge lump in her throat, but she refused to cry. “I wasn’t going to argue. I was going to say thank you.”

  He nodded, not knowing how to respond. He was better quipped to counter her arguments than deal with her gratitude.

  “Sit there,” he ordered.

  He strode out of the apartment. But it wasn’t to call Moira. Dennis glanced to make sure Nicole hadn’t gone to the window, then took an indirect route to where Winston was parked in the van.

  Containing his anger, Dennis rapped lightly once. The door was unlocked and he let himself in.

  The interior of the van was outfitted with state-of-the-art surveillance equipment. Had Winston McNally been as tall as his partner, there wouldn’t have been enough room for both of them.

  If there had been three times as much room, the anger in Dennis’s eyes would have been impossible to miss. “Her apartment looks like the site of World War Three. Where the hell were you while all this was happening?”

  “Right here. They just left. There were two of them.” Winston raised his hand before Dennis could say anything. “Hey, don’t get me wrong. I feel bad, but it’s my job to observe and record, not to interfere.”

  Dennis thought of the look of devastation on Nicole’s face. As if something precious had been robbed from her. “This isn’t some prime directive on ‘Star Trek,’ Winston.”

  “No, it’s not,” Winston agreed. “It’s real.”

  He spoke patiently, as if he were instructing a class full of rookies. Dennis knew he was behaving like one and he didn’t like it. He liked knowing that he would also have had to stand by and allow the break-in to happen even less, but it went with the job. You didn’t always feel good about yourself.

  “Interfering would have blown our cover and jeopardized months of the department’s work. We need to know where the disk is as much as they do,” Winston reminded Dennis. He moved a container of stale coffee. “Now, she might be involved and she might not—”

  Dennis cut him short. “She’s not.”

  He said that with too much feeling. Winston raised a skeptical brow. “And you would know that because…?”

  Dennis knew that look and he didn’t care for it being directed at him. “It’s a gut feeling.”

  “A gut feeling,” Winston repeated. “And you’re turning your gut over to Sherwood as hard evidence?”

  Dennis sighed, dragging his hands through his hair. Maybe he had come on too strong. “Who broke in?”

  “It wasn’t Goldilocks, looking for porridge.” Winston hit one of the recorders and cued it up. As Dennis watched, he saw two average looking men let themselves into Nicole’s apartment. Winston gestured to the monitor. “A couple of ugly looking goons, even uglier looking than my brothers-in-law. They were in and out in less than twenty minutes. And they didn’t appear to be very happy when they left.” Winston had watched, waiting for them to find the disk. If they had, he would have had backup at the complex within minutes. “They didn’t find what they were looking for.”

  Dennis hit the play button. The men on the monitor began taking the living room apart. He clenched his fists, rage battering at his chest. “That’s because she doesn’t have it.”

  “Gut feeling again?”

  An angry retort rose to his lips, but he let it go. “You had to be there.”

  A smile curled along Winston’s thin lips. “I almost was.”

  Dennis looked at his partner, not following him.

  Winston pointed to another monitor, the one corresponding to the camera positioned in her kitchen. “You kissed her. It’s all there on tape.” Winston shook his head. “Don’t get involved.”

  Dennis shrugged. “I’m not.”

  “Look me in the eye and say that.”

  Dennis reached for the door handle. “You know I don’t like to look at anything ugly.”

  “Yeah? Then how do you shave in the morning?” Winston waved at the door. “You’d better get back, or she’ll wonder where you went.”

  Dennis looked at the monitor. Nicole wasn’t sitting where he had left her. Instead, she was on her knees, folding baby clothing and placing them into one of the drawers that had been yanked out of the overturned bureau.

  Nicole was crying. He felt something twist inside his chest.

  Swearing, he left the van without saying anything further. He wanted to go to her, but he had to call Moira first. There was still the matter of the dog.

  The door had barely closed behind him as he tapped out his sister’s phone number on the keypad. He filled her in quickly.

  “Sure, I have just the sort of dog you want.” Moira said. “He’s great with kids, a real puppy dog. And very protective. I was going to name him after you, but I decided that it might be a little confusing. It’d be hard to tell the two of you apart.”

  Normally, he didn’t mind her teasing. But his nerves were on a short leash. He wanted to get back to Nicole. “Thanks. When can I pick him up?”

  “He’s yours anytime you want him. Just give me a call.”

  He was about to thank her and hang up, when he realized that Nicole might want to know a little more about the dog. “What kind of a dog is he?”

  “A Labrador. But don’t tell him. He thinks he’s people.”

  Dennis laughed. “You really should get out more, Moira.”

  “I could say the same thing about you, big brother.” Moira’s tone was curious, although she heard something different in his voice. “Is this for a case or is there something more involved?”

  He didn’t want to get into it with her. He’d put up with enough from Winston. “Just a case, Moira. I’ll give you a call later.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  Dennis hung up and hurried to Nicole’s apartment. The door was unlocked, not that locks mattered, he thought darkly.

  He walked into the nursery. Nicole was struggling to pick up the bureau, still devoid of drawers.

  Damn, but she was stubborn. Dennis crossed to her, moving Nicole aside. “You were supposed to stay put, not move furniture.”

  She gasped, startled, her hand flying to her mouth. She felt embarrassed and angry over her reaction. Her heart pounded hard in her chest and felt as if it were repositioning itself in her throat.

  “I didn’t hear you come in.” She took a deep breath, trying to steady her frayed nerves. “Couldn’t you have knocked or something?”

  “Sorry.” She looked so frail, as if she were going to break at any moment. Instincts took over and he took her into his arms. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  She shrugged, accepting the apology. Her temper cooled. “I think I’m going to be startled by any noise I hear for a long time.”

  He knew she was. Unable to help himself, he ran the back of his hand along her cheek. “My sister has a dog we can use.”

  She tried not to think how comforting his presence was. She knew the danger of depending on someone. “We?” she echoed.

  “You,” he corrected. He knew she was pigheaded, but she also knew she was afraid. “If it makes you feel any better, I can stay here tonight,” he suggested softly.

  Her reaction was instant. “No, I have to face this on my…” Nicole faltered. What if Standish did return? “Well, maybe just for one night.” She’d feel better about this in the morning she promised herself. “If you don’t mind.”

  He held her close to him, wishing there was a way he could ha
ve spared her this. “It was my suggestion, wasn’t it?”

  It was, but it wasn’t fair to put him out like this. This was her problem, not his. “You don’t have to do this for me.”

  “Yes, I do.” He was beginning to chafe under the image she had of him. Under the image he had created. “Call it my way of keeping America safe.”

  She laughed at the way he worded it. The man was unbelievably sweet. And he’d accomplished the impossible. He’d made her feel better. “Does the American flag come down and unfurl now?”

  “Complete with the rendition of ‘The Star Spangled Banner’—sung in the right key.”

  She laughed but the laugh ended in tears. Embarrassment colored her cheeks and she buried her face in his chest. It took all he had not to stroke her hair. More than he had. Murmuring words of endearment, he gently threaded his fingers through her hair. He felt her crying against him.

  “I’m being an idiot.” She certainly felt like one.

  “No, you’re not.” Knowing that Winston was monitoring them, it was a little easier to refrain from kissing her. A little, but not much. “You’d be an idiot if you weren’t afraid.”

  She looked up, trying to smile. “Then you don’t mind if I get your shirt wet?”

  “It’s washable.”

  Her sigh was ragged as she fought for composure. “It’s just that I was trying so hard to get my life back together again.” She shut her eyes, squeezing out the tears. She refused to allow any more to form. Tears were useless. “Craig and I weren’t close anymore, but his death really devastated me. It wasn’t easy, but I was finally pulling myself up when—when—” She gestured around, afraid that she was going to cry again.

  He cupped her face in his hands and brushed her tears away with his thumbs. “Everything’s going to be all right.”

  She forced a smile to her lips. “You sound as if you’re making me a promise.”

  “Maybe I am.”

  The sigh that escaped seemed to shimmer in the air. She sniffed as she looked around the room. “I guess I’d better get busy.”

  “We’d better get busy,” he corrected her.

  It felt good, she thought, having someone to turn to.

  “What’s his name?” Nicole asked as she warily eyed the big black dog standing in the middle of her living room.

  They had spent five hours getting the worst of the mess cleared away and the apartment back together. Then Dennis had left her to pick up the dog. She had waited tensely for his return, but now, seeing the animal, she began to have second thoughts. He looked awfully large.

  “Romeo.” Dennis thought that it was a stupid name for a dog, but then Moira had always done things in her own unique way.

  “Romeo,” Nicole repeated. The dog’s ears pricked up at the sound of his name. Nicole smiled. “Romeo,” she called to the dog. He trotted over to her. After a moment of apparent indecision, he licked her hand.

  Dennis looked very pleased with himself. “I think he just adopted you.”

  Nicole petted the stately head. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. “What do I feed him?”

  His sister had covered all the bases. “Moira sent over a twenty-pound bag of his food and a few of his things so that he wouldn’t have too much trouble adjusting.” Romeo was nuzzling against Nicole. Dennis grinned. “My guess is that she shouldn’t have bothered. He looks right at home now.”

  Nicole looked up at Dennis. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “There isn’t any need to thank me.” It would only make him feel worse in the long run, when everything came out in the open.

  “Where are you going?” she called after him.

  “To get Romeo’s food before he decides to lick your hand off.”

  She felt like a child asking, but it was the woman who was afraid. A child could seek refuge in make-believe, a woman could not. “Are you still going to stay here tonight?”

  “If you want me to.” He paused, waiting.

  Outside the kitchen window, a car rumbled to life. The sudden noise sent a shiver down her spine. Nicole pressed her lips together. “I want you to.”

  Chapter 8

  There was a warm sensation traveling along his face. Something moist and wet.

  Instantly awake, Dennis bolted upright on the sofa. Moira’s dog yelped and stumbled backward, his long tongue lolling to one side.

  “Dumb mutt,” Dennis muttered, wiping residue dog slobber from his cheek.

  He heard Nicole laughing behind him. Twisting around, he saw her standing in the tiny hallway that connected the two bedrooms. The dog had retreated beside her.

  “I’m sorry,” she apologized, though it didn’t stop her from laughing again. “It’s just that you looked so funny. You were smiling when he licked you.” She wondered what he had been dreaming about. Nicole stroked the dog’s head. “I think he’s really taken with you.”

  “The feeling isn’t exactly mutual.” He looked at her. Nicole was wearing fawn-colored calf-length boots and a mint green, long-sleeved dress. There was a shawl draped over one arm. Dennis glanced at his wristwatch. It wasn’t even seven o’clock. Where was she going at this hour? “How long have you been standing there?”

  “Not long at all.” Just long enough to observe him. He’d seemed so natural, sleeping there, his blond hair falling into his face. Seeing him like that had tugged at her heart, as if a little voice were whispering to her that this is the way it should be.

  But it wasn’t and she couldn’t allow herself to be carried away by daydreams of what might have been or should be. Not again. This time she didn’t have just herself to think of.

  He knew the art gallery didn’t open until ten. Did she have an early day?

  “Going to work?”

  She instinctively hesitated. Yet, after yesterday, Dennis was entitled to ask a few questions.

  Nicole shook her head. “No, things are kind of slow there. I’ve arranged to take the next few days off.” She tried to divorce herself from her words. “I told Lawrence what happened.”

  Dennis raised a brow. “Lawrence?”

  “My boss. Lawrence Patterson. He owns the art gallery where I work.” Lawrence had been very sympathetic and told her to take all the time she needed to pull herself together. Her job would be waiting for her when she got back. Well-off, the gallery was more of a hobby for him than a way to make a living.

  Nicole’s eyes slid over Dennis’s chest. The blanket she had thrown over him during the night had slid to the floor. She’d stood watching his bare chest rise and fall for a few minutes before the dog had decided to anoint him.

  Dennis leaned over and reached for his shirt on the coffee table. He shrugged into it. “So, where are you going?”

  Lowering her eyes from his torso, Nicole checked her purse for her wallet. It was on the top of her checkbook. “I have an appointment at the hospital. Dr. Pollack wants to make sure that there’s only one occupant in here.” She rubbed her stomach and sighed. “I seem to be too large to be carrying just one baby.”

  That sounded a little haphazard to him. “Shouldn’t he have done that before?”

  “She,” Nicole corrected. “And she did, but she wants to do another test to double-check the results.”

  The doctor had cornered her at the Christmas party and suggested having a second test. Now she was almost sorry she had agreed. Just something more to worry about until she knew the results. She’d know if she was having twins, wouldn’t she? Nicole thought a little desperately. She just couldn’t be carrying more than one.

  “Dr. Pollack says sometimes one baby hides behind the other and the sonogram only shows one.”

  He heard the concern in her voice. Dennis got up. Romeo jumped to his feet, ready to play. He gave the dog the command to stay the way Moira had shown him. “Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll drive you.”

  But Nicole was already crossing to the door. “No, don’t bother. You’ve done more than enough for me already.” She paused as s
he realized what time it was. “Besides, don’t you have to go to work?”

  It took him only a minute to come up with an excuse. “I have a lot of vacation time coming to me. It was a case of use it or lose it so I took the week between Christmas and New Year’s off.” That would buy him a little time, he thought.

  She nodded. That would explain why he was here yesterday during the day. “Well, I don’t want you wasting it on me.”

  She wasn’t being coy, but she was no longer dismissive, either. His eyes touched her face. “I don’t consider it wasted.”

  The way he looked at her made the very air catch in her lungs. Just like in her dream. Except that this was real. A little too real.

  Back off, Nicole, you don’t need any more complications in your life.

  She cleared her throat and nodded toward the kitchen. “There’re frozen waffles in the freezer and a couple of boxes of cereal in the pantry. Help yourself to breakfast.”

  She barely had her hand on the doorknob when a loud bark stopped her in her tracks. She’d forgotten about the dog.

  Nicole turned around and looked at Dennis. “Do I feed him breakfast?”

  “He’s an adult dog. He only eats once a day.” Dennis buttoned his shirt and tucked it into his jeans. He noticed that the dog was sniffing around the corners of the kitchen. “And all the food he can scrounge up,” he added with a grin.

  “The way I keep house, he’ll get fat while he’s here.” She looked toward Dennis, indecisive. She shouldn’t even ask. “I’ll see you later?”

  He nodded. “I’ll be here.” Despite her condition and the makeup she had skillfully applied, she looked like a waif. He didn’t like the idea of her leaving alone. “Sure you don’t want me to—?”

  She cut him off. “I’m sure. I like being independent.”

  Nicole opened the door. Her car was standing just where she had left it yesterday. She hesitated in the doorway.

  Dennis came up behind her. Instinctively protective, he placed his hands on her shoulders. “What?”