Declan

by Chris Keniston

  "The way he took care of Toni's husband and little Stacey, I'd say he seems to have a protective streak. Maybe your grandmother would like another dog now that you've moved out."

  Becky rolled her eyes and fished her keys out of her purse. "Don't give her any ideas." Skirting the edge of the counter, she waved at Kelly. "Be back soon."

  "No hurry," Kelly called back.

  One of the nicer things about Becky's job was working with one of her best friends and the coolest boss. It didn't hurt any that by working for the eldest Farraday brother, she could keep tabs on Ethan without having to straight out ask about him. Though she saw plenty on social media, she knew there was plenty more that wasn't available for public consumption. And then she tried not to think about the plenty more that not even his family would know of.

  The police station was halfway down Main Street. Not a great distance in Tuckers Bluff, but under the circumstances, walking would take too long. Riding down the block in her little pickup, she moved as quickly as possible without drawing too much attention. Of course, she had to take a minute to wave at Burt Larson pulling in some sale barrels from the sidewalk in front of the hardware store. No doubt lugging those things in and out all day is how he managed to keep up with the town gossip. Then the small town code of ethics required her to roll the window down a minute to share a word with Polly closing up the Cut and Curl. "Early day today?"

  "Yeah, Mrs. Thorton cancelled her color. Figure it's about time I had an afternoon off."

  Becky nodded and waved. "Enjoy."

  Most of the storefronts rolled up the welcome mat early during the week, and if she'd waited a few more minutes she'd have probably had to stop for every single proprietor making their way home.

  For a place intended to contain lawbreakers, the police station had a very pleasant curb appeal. Becky slid into an open spot in front and then, scurrying past the benches and potted plants to the inset triple glass door, she practically ran inside, only to stop short in the middle of the bullpen.

  As expected, DJ stood with a better-than-medium-sized furry gray animal at his feet, but rather than waiting for her in his office, the two were completely fixated on Esther, patting and rocking a baby. "Starting a babysitting service now?" Becky asked.

  "Apparently." Esther hummed to the infant curled into her shoulder.

  The dog broke free of DJ's hold and loped in Becky's direction.

  "Whoa." DJ turned after the dog.

  Tail wagging, the pup reached Becky first, plopped his butt in front of her and offered his paw.

  "He did that to me too." DJ stopped in front of her, his darkened gaze darting back to the baby.

  "So you're a gentleman, are you?" She squatted down and using both hands scratched at the dog's neck and raised her head to look at DJ. "Whose baby?"

  "We were just about to find out."

  "Find out?" She glanced from DJ to Esther and back.

  DJ waved a couple of envelopes at her. "The baby was left here on the stoop in a cardboard box. These came with the bundle." Turning toward his office, the envelopes in one hand, DJ gestured to the dog with the other. "Rin Tin Tin here was standing guard."

  "Aren't you a good doggie." She continued scratching behind his ears. "I can't believe anyone from around here would just drop an unprotected baby off on the doorstep." Patting the top of the dog's head, she pushed upright and walked over to Esther. "Girl or boy?"

  "Haven't checked. When the chief picked the box up, the poor thing startled awake and Mr. Dad over there handed it off to me so fast you'd have thought the baby was on fire."

  Cooing, Becky patted the baby's back. "Aren't babies so sweet."

  DJ tore at an envelope and walked into his office.

  The phone rang. Esther looked over to her boss, shook her head, and handed the baby to Becky. "Someone needs to answer that."

  "Yes, someone does," DJ called from behind his desk, whipping the folded sheet of paper open.

  Becky followed him in. The dog plopped down at the doorway, his gaze on the front door. Swaying and patting, she rocked the little bundle back to sleep. She loved babies. All children, actually. Ever since she was a little kid herself, she'd dreamed of a pretty white ranch house with a picket fenced side yard and small children with those strong chiseled Farraday features, deep blue green eyes, and Ethan's sandy hair. Though with every passing year, the longer Ethan stayed married to the marines, the less Becky's dreams of happily ever after seemed likely to come true. But she wasn't ready to give up on the dream. Not yet. Some day he'd come home and see her for the grown up woman she'd become and then he'd have no choice but to fall head over heels in love with her the same way she'd stumbled into loving him back in first grade. "Who would abandon something so precious?"

  "That's what I'm trying to figure out." DJ continued to scan the page in front of him. "All this says is that the few days she and the father spent together were fantastic." He glanced up over the edge of the page. "I'll spare you the er…intimate details."

  Becky looked down in an effort to hide the blush she knew would creep into her cheeks any minute. She could joke and tease about sex with the girls any Friday night, no problem, but surrounded by strong handsome men, or in this case, man, her old fashioned upbringing always came to life.

  "Sounds like mama was—is—a bit of a wild child," DJ continued scanning. "Thought maybe it was time to settle down. That getting pregnant even though they'd used precautions was a sign from God." DJ raised his dark brows at that one.

  "I'm guessing the novelty wore off pretty quick."

  "Yeah." He turned to a second page. "She's just going to drive and stop wherever the bright lights call to her, knows Brittany—"

  "So you're a girl." Becky kissed the top of the precious child's head. "I should have known. Such a sweet face."

  DJ continued, "The mother knows she'll be better off with a stable family. Family? Sh—oot." DJ blew out a heavy sigh, and closing his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose. "If the clueless papa already has a family then Daddy Dearest is married. Wonder how well that's going to go over with Mrs. Daddy Dearest."

  "Don't know how stable the family can be if Mr. Daddy is stepping out on the Mrs. Does the letter say who Daddy is?"

  Shaking his head, DJ set the paper on the desk and pulled out his cell. "Reed, I want you to park yourself at the mouth of Route 9."

  "We looking for drunks or speeders at this time of day?" the junior officer asked.

  "Neither. You see any car you don't recognize, pull the plates and call me back." DJ disconnected the call and continued scanning the letter.

  "You think the mother's not local?"

  DJ nodded. "We don't have any place in town for a married man to have a long weekend party that his wife won't find out about."

  "Why'd she drop Brittany off here instead of with Daddy?"

  "Probably," DJ folded the letter back into the envelope and slid out another sheet, "so that she can't be arrested. Leaving the baby at a safe house in Texas protects her from prosecution."

  "I don't call the front stoop very safe."

  "Yeah, she probably knew one of us would be coming in or out." He looked up through the glass windows of his office and toward the front door. "This is going to be a mess. Even if we figure out who the father is, I'll have to call in protective services, find a certified foster parent. You know the father's going to want DNA tests and unlike TV, with the state in charge, that sure as hell won't happen overnight."

  From all the rocking in place, even with the conversation, the sweet baby had fallen fast asleep. Becky shifted her weight. "I can help."

  DJ unfolded the next paper and looked up at Becky. "You know something I don't?"

  She shook her head. "I'm still certified for emergency foster care. Remember Gran's cousin Gert died while visiting a couple of years ago? She had her grandson Chase with her. His mama had been gone a while by then and she'd never told Gert who his daddy was."

  "That's right. Y'all had t
he boy for a couple of months before Social Services found the father."

  "We'd have kept him too if Gran hadn't liked the guy. Apparently he didn't even know he had a son."

  "Seems there's a lot of that going around." DJ returned his attention to the page in front of him. Like a full moon in fall, his eyes rounded wide until the whites totally surrounded those deep blue orbs.

  "What is it?"

  His hand fell hard to the table. "This is a birth certificate."

  "Good. At least we know who the mother is."

  DJ nodded. "We know the father too."

  Something in his voice gave her goose flesh. Surely DJ hadn't been the one carousing with strange women. Though now that she thought about it, none of the Farraday men dated the local girls, and she'd have to be a damn fool to think they were all celibate. She swallowed hard and waited for his next words.

  "Becky." He sucked in a breath. "It's Ethan."

  Chapter Two

  So much color drained from Becky's face that DJ almost sprang from his chair to take the baby from her, but instead of loosening her grip, she seemed to hold the infant closer to her chest.

  Becky's lips pressed together, then sucking on her upper then lower lip, her mouth finally formed words, "I see."

  The two simple words cut through DJ like a precision scalpel. The next time he saw that high-flying brother of his… "You still want me to put you down as foster parent?"

  Without taking even a second to think about it, Becky nodded. Smart, sweet, friendly, caring, responsible and willing to take on the baby another woman had made with the man Becky had followed around like a smitten puppy since she was in first grade. Amazing was the only word that came to mind. Damn, his brother was truly a jackass. But now DJ had a new dilemma—if what this woman in the letter said was true, then this wasn't just any abandoned baby, this was a Farraday. Farradays took care of their own. At any cost.

  "Do you think Ethan will come home now?" Becky's voice came out so soft and hopeful that the urge to strangle his own brother once again rose up forcefully inside of him like a shaken bottle of cola.

  "I don't know." And he honestly didn't. Though he was sure of one thing—not until there was proof Farraday blood ran in this infant's veins could he ask Ethan or any other member of the family to turn their worlds upside down. In some twisted irony, this baby was his job. Yet, whether he liked it or not, with or without proof, his family's lives were about to go on hold for the next few weeks.

  "Did the mother leave anything for the baby? Diapers, formula? You said she was in a box. I'm guessing no car seat or carrier?"

  "There was a diaper bag with two bottles, a Ziploc bag of powdered formula and a few diapers, but that's it."

  "I guess I'm going shopping." Becky rolled back on her heels.

  DJ shook his head. "For the moment, we're going shopping. Lord knows when the state will get around to reimbursing you. If what the mother says is true and she's Ethan's baby, then there's no way I'm going to let you pick up the tab for my niece." Whoa, did that sound weird. His niece.

  "I suppose that makes sense." She took a step back and glanced down at the sleeping baby, then trained her gaze on DJ again. "You called her your niece. You think it's true."

  "I don't think much of anything right now other than I have a ton of paperwork to fill out, phone calls to make, and all of it can wait until morning, but no matter who she belongs to, this baby needs more than a diaper bag."

  Becky nodded. "The Sisters shop?"

  Boy, he didn't like that suggestion one bit. Not that rumors wouldn't be flying within the hour regardless, but at the Sisters shop, they'd be broadcast across the county before he finished saying car seat. "I don't see we have any other choice." He took hold of her elbow. "Come on. I'll drive."

  In the middle of the bullpen, Becky scanned left and right then back again. "Where's the dog?"

  The shock and surprise at discovering the abandoned baby, who might very well be his niece, had completely swept aside any concerns for the stray dog. The stray dog who was now missing. Again. DJ looked to the front door. Latched shut. "Esther, did someone open this door?" The older woman shook her head. "Nope."

  "Then where's the dog?"

  "Right…" Esther's words fell off, she blinked, looked around and shrugged. "Maybe the door wasn't shut all the way?"

  "That has to be it." Becky frowned.

  At this moment, DJ would accept any explanation that didn't require burning up more brain cells. "Yeah. That's probably what happened. Pup nudged the door open and the wind slammed it shut."

  Becky nodded reluctantly. "I hope he's okay."

  At the moment, DJ was pretty sure the dog was in better shape than anyone. At least he'd already done his job protecting the baby, now came the fun part. Securing the kid's future.

  Walking down Main Street, Becky kept her attention on the sleeping baby in her arms. "How old is she?"

  "According to the birth certificate, two months."

  "So that would be…"

  "Eleven months ago." He didn't want to make her say out loud what she was thinking. "If my memory serves me right, Ethan was doing some training program around then."

  "Air Station Miramar," she mumbled, then chuckled. "Top Gun."

  "Not any more. They moved that to Nevada."

  "I know." She looked up. "That whole image just seems to fit Ethan so well. Even when we were little, he and Connor were the daring ones. The risk takers."

  "Each with their own passions. For Connor it was horses, for Ethan flying." DJ wasn't going to say this out loud, but the brothers had always razzed Ethan that he was going to become one of those Naval jet jocks who, in dress whites and gold wings, could get a woman into bed anywhere. Truth was, the kid didn't need dress whites or gold wings to pull that off.

  "He had his pilot's license before his driver’s license," Becky added.

  "You remember that?" The second the words were out of his mouth he wished he could take them back. Of course she remembered. She probably knew Ethan's height and weight from birth to his last physical. He glanced sideways to see her smile slip as she nodded. Kick 'em while they're down, Declan James. Way to go asshat. DJ came to a stop in front of Sisters. Looking like a boutique from the outside, it was the closest thing the town had to a general store. "As soon as we've picked everything out, I'll run back to the station and bring the car."

  Her smile returned. "Works for me."

  "You still doing okay? Need me to take her?"

  "Nah, she barely weighs more than a sack of sugar."

  He had to admit the baby had looked awfully breakable when Esther lifted her out of the box. Taking his time, he shortened his stride to match Becky's. At the door, his mind grappled with whether to be polite and hold the door for her or lead the way taking on the sisters’ first barrage of questions. Stepping inside, straddling the doorway, his arm easily extending high over Becky's head, he precariously managed to do both.

  "Well what do we have here?" Sister, the sibling shop owner with no qualms about maintaining a decades old beehive hairdo, came rushing up to Becky and the baby. "I don't recognize this little bundle."

  Recognize? DJ didn't know much about babies, but he'd seen enough of them to know at that size they pretty much all looked alike.

  Becky smiled and eyed DJ over the now doubled over and cooing older woman.

  "She's a ward of the state. Becky's her foster mother." The words came out before his brain had time to filter what he'd said. Something about sweet young Becky and the word mother didn't line up. But holding what might be Ethan's baby in her arms made the choice of words seem less than prudent. Not to mention there was always the possibility that social services would want to place the child somewhere else. That thought had a knot tightening in his gut. He might have to pull in a few favors if it came to that, but this child was not leaving his care.

  As the baby got passed from sister to sister and back, Becky and DJ picked out the bare necessities. A time or
two DJ noticed Becky lingering a tad too long over a frilly little outfit or a bouncing accessory of some kind or other. With Becky once again rocking in place and the two sisters fussing and making funny voices at the wide awake baby, DJ decided now would be a good time to get his car. "I'll be back in a few minutes with a way to carry all this loot home."

  The three women nodded, but no one reacted as though they'd actually heard him. He couldn't blame them, there was something mesmerizing about such a young baby. Including him. Damn. This wasn't a crazy kid blowing up a hollow tree stump or even a bunch of unruly teens drunk on watermelon wine. How the hell was he supposed to straighten out this mess?

  ***

  For an abandoned infant, little Brittany was an easy baby. Most of the time she slept. When she did wake up, she barely let out a peep while Becky changed her diaper and then seemed to be more than happy studying the sisters as they took turns feeding her. Having finished almost the whole bottle, Brittany was good eater as well. Why would a woman give up such a sweet little thing?

  Once DJ returned with the patrol car, Becky strapped the baby into the new massive car seat. Brittany opened her eyes a moment though wondering what the heck Becky was doing to her and then fell right back into slumber.

  "Need some help?" she asked softly.

  His phone at his ear, he shook his head and continued speaking with one of the brothers while loading all the things they'd bought into the trunk. From the front passenger seat, Becky sat on her hip keeping one eye on the baby and the other on DJ. For a few minutes, she let her imagination run away with her. Changing DJ's dark locks to lighter, she pictured Ethan happily shopping for his family. Instead of certified foster care, she was the mother. Rather than seeing DJ look over at the child with questions in his eyes, she pictured Ethan looking at her with unparalleled love and devotion. Same dream she'd had since she was six years old. She was all set to design their happy home in her mind for the millionth time when DJ's door opened.

  "That was Brooks. He's going to corral the others and call an emergency brother's meeting. I don't want to tell my father and Aunt Eileen just yet. Not until we work a few things out and there's no point bringing Grace into it from Dallas."