by Ramona Gray
She stared silently at me and I shuffled closer. “My name is Matt. What’s your name?”
“Cold.” Her thin arms wrapped around her shivering torso as tears dripped down her cheeks. “Cold, Matt.”
“I know, baby.” I stood and inched forward. When she didn’t move away, I kneeled in front of her and quickly took off my jacket. I wrapped it around her tiny body before picking her up.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart,” I said. “It’s okay. Where’s your mama?”
“Mama’s working,” she said.
“Does she work around here?” I asked as I carried her back down the alley.
She shrugged before burying her cold face in my neck. I rubbed her back through my jacket. I needed to get her into the truck and warmed up. “Don’t go to sleep, baby.”
“I not baby!” She lifted her head and gave me an indignant look. “I a big girl.”
I smiled at her. She was far from big, in fact, she might have been the tiniest damn kid I’d ever seen. “Okay, sweetie. Stay awake for me, okay?”
“Otay,” she said.
I wiped the tears from her cheeks before they could freeze to her skin. As far as I was concerned, her sassy attitude and trembling was a good sign. If she was hypothermic, she’d be sleepy and not shivering at all.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” I said again. “Can you tell me your –”
“Matt? Was there a… holy crap.”
“Mia!” The little girl in my arms crowed.
I blinked at Mia as she joined us. “Do you know her?”
“Oh my God,” Mia said. “Phoebe? Baby, what are you doing out here?”
“I not baby!” Phoebe said.
“I know,” Mia said. She held out her arms and Phoebe shook her head.
“No, me stay with Matt.” She pressed a kiss against my cheek before laying her head on my shoulder. “Cold, Matt.”
“I know. We’ll get you warmed up. Mia, how do you know her?”
Mia stared wide-eyed at me. “She’s Natalia Dixon’s daughter.”
Chapter Two
“That was delicious. Thank you, dear heart.”
I smiled at Martha. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. Don’t tell Cook Stanley this, but your pie has his beat by a mile.”
“Oh, I know,” Martha said with a laugh. “He’ll never admit it, but he’s been trying to get my apple pie recipe for years.”
I grinned at her before taking her card and running it through the machine. She left me a sizeable tip for a cup of coffee and piece of pie, and I gave Mia’s grandmother a grateful smile. “Thank you, Martha.”
“Will you be coming to the knitting club this weekend?”
A couple of months ago, Mia had organized a knitting club. She had cajoled her grandmother into being our teacher and now, almost every week, we got together at Martha’s house for - as Mia’s best friend Isabelle liked to refer to it – a stitch and bitch.
“I think so. As long as you don’t mind that I bring Phoebe with me.”
“Of course not. I love having a little one around the house again. Reminds me of when Mia and Wyatt were young. I do love the little ones.” Martha’s smile held a hint of nostalgia. “Oh, did you hear that Maggie has opened up her own law firm?”
I nodded. “Yep, we had coffee the other day in her new office.”
Maggie’s new office was the spare room in Wyatt’s house, but I was ridiculously excited for my friend. Trying to escape a crazed stalker, Maggie had moved to our small town about two months ago. We’d become friends when she started working at the diner, hiding both her past and the fact that she was a lawyer.
After Martha’s grandson, local sheriff’s deputy Wyatt Reynolds, helped put Maggie’s stalker in prison, they’d started officially dating and she moved in with him. It didn’t surprise me when a month later, she’d quit the diner and started up her own law firm.
“I’m so proud of her,” Martha said. “She told me she already has two clients. I knew it wouldn’t take long. Boris is completely useless and has been for the last decade.”
By Boris, she meant Boris Galthwaite. Pushing at least seventy-five, he’d been the only lawyer in our small town for the last twenty-five years. Six months ago, I’d finally scraped up enough cash to make an appointment with him.
I was barely making ends meet and I’d desperately needed Phoebe’s father to start paying child support again. I was crestfallen when, after finding out that Evan had moved out of state, Boris had advised me that seeking child support was a losing battle and not worth the bother.
But then Maggie had moved to town and now I was one of her two clients, and she was going after my kid’s deadbeat father for child support with all the righteous fury of an avenging angel.
“Nat!” Rhonda, the owner of the diner was standing behind the counter. “Your shift is over, hon. Punch out and go home.”
I smiled and nodded. Rhonda was a good boss, but she wasn’t one for paying overtime, not even a couple minutes’ worth.
“See you on Sunday,” I said to Martha before heading to the back. Our staff room wasn’t really a staff room at all, just a narrow hallway with small lockers bolted to the wall next to the shelf that held our time cards. I punched out, then opened my locker and moved my tips from my apron pocket to my wallet before hanging my apron in the locker. I had a small magnetic mirror on the inside of my locker, and I made a face when I saw my reflection.
I hadn’t slept well last night, and my face was pale with dark circles under my eyes. Running late this morning, I didn’t even have time to put on my usual light layer of makeup. Not that it mattered, there wasn’t anyone I was trying to look good for.
There’s Matt.
I scoffed out loud. Matt Andrews was a player and the last guy I would ever be attracted to.
Liar. You think he’s hot. Admit it, girl.
Fine, maybe I did think he was hot and maybe I had spent more nights than I wanted to admit masturbating to the fantasy of having Matt’s lean naked body in my bed, but it was nothing more than a fantasy.
If and when I decided it was time to find a guy, it would be someone who was sweet and genuine and reliable. Someone who liked kids and could be a dad to Phoebe.
Matt Andrews didn’t fit the bill.
You don’t know that for sure.
Like hell, I didn’t. I knew Matt’s reputation just like all the other ladies in our small town did. I’ll admit, I’d been shocked the first time he came strolling into the diner and I realized who he was. The last time I’d seen him, he’d been thin, his dark hair cut shorter than it was now, and he was…well… a nerd who spent more time staring at a chess board than at women.
Now? Now, he was a bona fide hottie, his thin body filled out with a ridiculous amount of muscle, that dark hair perpetually in need of a haircut, and a flirtatious grin permanently in place.
He’d become a paramedic and maybe there was something innately attractive about a man who could literally save your life if needed, but I couldn’t seem to rid myself of my attraction to him.
Which was stupid and pointless and frustrating as hell. Matt wasn’t the settling down type and that’s exactly what I was looking for. If I was even looking at all.
Girl, there’s nothing wrong with having a bit of fun. You’re wound up tighter than a three-day clock. You need to let off a little steam and Matt Andrews is just the guy to help you do it.
I slipped into my jacket and slammed my locker shut. I wasn’t interested in being another notch on Matt’s bedpost.
Aren’t you, though?
I wasn’t. I couldn’t be. My priority was Phoebe and keeping her warm, a roof over her head, and food in her belly. Being in Matt Andrews’ bed might give me a momentary reprieve from my problems, but in the end, it wouldn’t help me make enough money to keep my heat from being shut off.
I limped my way across the diner. Martha was still sitting at her table, texting on her cell phone and I gave her a brief wave as I headed toward the
front door. I would pick up Phoebe from daycare, grab something cheap at the supermarket for dinner and go home. If I was really lucky, they hadn’t actually shut my heat off yet, even though I was behind on the monthly payments again. I had the money to pay it on Friday, but –
“Nat?”
Mia had opened the front door of the diner, bringing in a swirl of cold air and I zipped up my jacket. “Hey, Mia. How are you?”
“Um, good.” Mia’s face was pale, and she was biting nervously at her bottom lip.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Are you finished work for the day?”
“Yeah. I was just leaving to pick up Phoebe from daycare. What’s wrong? Is Elijah okay?”
“He’s fine,” Mia said. “It’s, um, about Phoebe.”
Fear splashed into my stomach like bitter acid. “Is she hurt?”
Mia wasn’t wearing her paramedic uniform, but my immediate panic was making it hard to think straight. “Was there an accident at the daycare?”
“No. No, honey, she’s fine. She’s not hurt. We - we found her running down the street without a jacket.”
“What?” The breath rushed out of me in a harsh exhale as I clutched at Mia’s arm. “Where is she? Where’s my daughter, Mia?”
“We have her. She’s outside with -”
I pushed past Mia, ignoring the startled looks of the customers as I yanked open the door and ran outside.
My mouth bone-dry, my heart fluttering in my chest like a trapped bird, I stared wide-eyed for a moment at the man holding my daughter in his arms.
Matt Andrews.
Phoebe was bundled up in his jacket, with only her tiny head sticking out of it, and she kissed his cheek before grinning at me. “Hi, Mama!”
“Phoebe!” I ran toward them, skidding to a stop in the slippery snow, and tried to pull Phoebe from Matt’s arms.
“Mama, no!” Phoebe’s little arms poked out of his jacket and she wrapped them around Matt’s thick neck, hanging on for dear life. “I stay with Mattie.”
“Phoebe, Pheebs, come to Mama, right now,” I said.
“No!” She scowled at me. “Mattie holding me.”
“Baby, don’t -”
“I not baby!” Phoebe said.
I stared at her in silent shock. Phoebe was normally an easy-going kid, not one for temper tantrums, and until this moment, I was always her number one. While not shy, she preferred to be with me over anyone else, and without a dad in her life, she was often a little on the wary side around men.
Her clinginess to Matt was completely out of character for her and it made fresh fear flood my nervous system. Had she hit her head? Had she fallen on the ice and given herself a concussion?
“Phoebe, please come to me.” My voice cracked.
“Phoebe, sweetheart, your mama wants to hold you,” Matt said. He tried to hand her over and Phoebe wailed like a banshee and clung tighter to him, her little hands white against his tanned neck.
“No, Mama! Me stay with Matt!”
Desperate to be with my daughter, I did the only thing I could think of. I stepped forward, pressing my body against Matt’s, and cupped the back of Phoebe’s delicate skull. “Okay, honey. Okay.”
Matt’s free arm circled around my waist and I didn’t object when he cupped my hip and held me tight. I pressed my forehead against Phoebe’s and inhaled her sweet scent. “Oh, honey. Are you all right?”
“Yes.” Phoebe kissed my nose and then giggled. “I went for a walk, Mama. It was too cold.”
I wiggled my hand inside Matt’s jacket and felt Phoebe’s tiny body. She was toasty warm and some of my panic subsided a little. I stared up at Matt. “Is she -?”
“She’s fine,” Matt said. “She wasn’t hypothermic, and she warmed up nice and fast in my truck.”
“How did you find her?”
“Matt was driving me back to Elijah’s place and he saw her running down the street.” Mia had joined us.
I blinked back the tears that were threatening. “Thank you.”
Matt nodded and it took everything in me not to lean against him and bury my face in his chest. My body was shaking and even though I knew Phoebe was okay, I couldn’t stop touching her.
She made a face and pushed my hand away. “Mama, your hand is cold.”
“Sorry, sweetpea. Honey, why did you leave daycare?”
Phoebe scowled. “Jenna is mean. She said I had to nap. I don’t nap, Mama. I a big girl.”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Before I could do either, my cell phone rang. Still in the circle of Matt’s arm, I fumbled it out of my purse and stared at the number.
“It’s the daycare,” I said. I wanted to be angry, hell, I needed to be angry, but all I could feel was a bone-deep weariness. I answered the phone with a curt, “Missing something, Jenna?”
As the owner of the daycare began to sputter and spit, I said, “Phoebe is with me. Luckily for you, she was found before she could freeze to death. I’m not interested in your excuses or your explanations. In fact, at this moment, I’m not interested in talking to you at all. I will call you tomorrow when I’m not on the verge of calling the police and reporting you for child endangerment.”
I ended the call and shoved the phone back into my purse. Matt was rubbing my hip almost soothingly and I stared up at him when he said, “You should call the police, Natalia.”
“Yeah, I will,” I said. “I just – I need to be a bit calmer.”
“Nat, you are amazingly calm considering everything that’s happened,” Mia said.
“Hey, everything okay?” Mia’s boyfriend, Elijah, joined us, and Phoebe’s eyes widened as she stared at his large body.
“Mama, big man.”
“Yes,” I said as Mia put her arm around Elijah’s waist.
“Everything is good now. Thanks for coming to pick me up.” Mia reached out and stroked Phoebe’s soft cheek. “You be good for your mama, Phoebe. Okay?”
“Otay,” Phoebe said. “Bye bye, Mia.”
“Bye bye, Pheebs,” Mia said. She squeezed my arm. “Do you need me to stay with you tonight?”
“No, we’re okay. Thank you so much, Mia,” I said.
“I didn’t do anything,” Mia said with a glance at Matt. “It was all Mattie.”
“Hey, it’s a party out here.” Martha had walked out of the diner and Phoebe made a little squeal of happiness.
“Hi, Nana!”
“Hi, sugarplum. That’s a mighty big jacket for a wee bit like you.”
“It’s Mattie’s coat,” Phoebe informed her. “I went for a walk and it was cold.”
“You did?” Martha said.
She gave us all a questioning look and suddenly too tired and emotional to explain, I was grateful when Mia said, “Phoebe walked out of the daycare and they didn’t notice. Matt and I were driving, and Matt saw her on the sidewalk.”
“Oh, my goodness.” Martha’s normally cheerful face went somber. “Oh, sweetheart, you must have been so scared.”
“I not scared,” Phoebe said. “Just cold.”
Martha’s hand rubbed my back. “Are you okay, dearest?”
I nodded, my throat burning, and my lashes wet with unshed tears.
“Are you working tomorrow?” Martha asked.
I nodded again and she said, “Why don’t you bring Phoebe to me tomorrow. I’ll keep her for the day.”
Now the tears did fall, and I sniffed loudly as Martha wiped the tears from my face in a no-nonsense manner. “Save that for later when the little one isn’t watching. What time do you start at the diner?”
“Nine,” I said.
“Perfect. I’ll see you and Phoebe at eight-thirty then?”
“I… are you sure?” I whispered. I needed to shut up. I couldn’t take Phoebe back to the daycare, but I also couldn’t miss a day of work. What Martha was offering was a lifeline and I’d be a fool to throw it back.
“Positive. Phoebe, my little sugarplum, you’re gonna spend the day wit
h Nana tomorrow. What do you think about that?”
“Can I have cookies?” Phoebe said.
Martha laughed. “You can have two cookies in the afternoon. Okay?”
“Otay,” Phoebe said. She rested her head on Matt’s shoulders. “I havin’ two cookies, Mattie.”
“I heard,” he said.
“See you tomorrow,” Martha said. “Mia and Elijah, will you walk me to my car?”
Mia nodded and Martha slipped her hand into the crook of Elijah’s elbow.
The three of them walked away and I made myself smile at Phoebe. “Okay, sweetpea. Time to say goodbye to Mr. Andrews. He has to go home.”
She pouted at me. “I want to stay with Mattie, Mama.”
“You can see him again later,” I said.
I realized I was still pressed up against Matt and dull heat infused my cheeks. I pushed away from him, his hand tightened for a moment on my hip before he released me, and I held my hands out to Phoebe. “C’mon, Pheebs. Mama’s tired and we need to get home.”
Her pout grew a little bigger, but she nodded. “Otay.”
Matt shifted her in his arm. “I’ll walk you to the car. We should keep her wrapped up until your car warms up.”
“Right,” I said. “That makes sense.”
He followed me to my car, holding Phoebe while I slid behind the wheel, leaving the door ajar. I turned the key, groaning inwardly when the car made a few gasping wheezes of an attempt to start. It had been acting weird lately and I pumped the gas, hoping against hope that this wasn’t the moment it chose to die completely.
It ignored my silent plea and refused to start.
Great.
The perfect cherry to my shit sundae.
“Do you know anything about cars?” I asked Matt.
He shook his head. “I can jump start a battery, change a tire, and change the oil. That’s about it.”
“Yeah, me too.” I sighed. I wanted to cry, oh God how I wanted to cry, but I staved off the tears. Crying would only upset Phoebe. I climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut a little harder than necessary.
“Okay, I’m gonna call Maggie and see if she can give me and Phoebe a ride home. I’ll take her into the diner, so you don’t have to wait around.”
