His Unexpected Family (14 page)

“You’re a good sport,” she said softly.

“It’s worth it.”

She blushed at that, her eyes flickering up to meet his. He held her gaze and gave a faint shrug, then nodded toward the next jar.

“I’m ready.”

Emily scooped a healthy spoonful of the next option into his mouth. The minute it went in, he spat it out into a napkin.

“That bad?” She laughed and looked down at Cora to see her eyes fixed on Greg.

“Cora, take notes.” Greg made a face. “Never eat pureed lima beans. Just don’t go there.”

“You have to make it look good, Greg,” Emily teased. “That way she’ll know that healthy food is delicious.”

Greg rolled his eyes and laughed. “That’s where I draw the line. I’ll eat the baby food, but you can’t make me like it.”

“We have a winner over here!” Nina called, holding up the hand of one of the husbands.

“Oh, thank goodness.” Greg laughed out loud. “I don’t even care what the last jar is.”

There was laughter as the older man was presented with his prize—a trucker’s hat that read My Baby Loves Me. The evening went on with present opening, followed by cake cutting. Emily cuddled Cora close when she woke up, and she received all sorts of attention from the women. At the end of the party, as Greg helped Emily to gather up the generous gifts from her colleagues, Mildred made her way over and bent down to the car seat where Cora was sleeping once more, her little tummy full of milk.

“Well, isn’t she a sweet thing,” Mildred said. “A shame her mother is dead.”

“Yes, Jessica was my cousin,” Emily explained.

“So the baby is yours now?”

“I’m her guardian. There are a few hoops to jump through still.”

“So she isn’t yours?” Mildred looked up and drilled Emily with an icy look, daring her to lie to her.

“I’m her guardian,” Emily repeated. She could feel the anger and hurt rising up inside of her, but she did her best to push it back. A scene with Mildred Kuchka wasn’t going to do anyone any good.

“So she might go to someone else for good, then?” Mildred pressed.

“I hope not.” She could feel her eyes misting with tears. Yes, the truth was that Cora might go to someone else. After Emily had fallen in love with her, bonded with her and nurtured her, she might have to say goodbye yet. It was the cold, hard truth that she’d been avoiding all this time, doing her best to push aside until absolutely necessary.

“Well, if she goes to someone else, you can send my gift along with her. No need to return it.” Mildred straightened herself to her full six feet and folded her bony hands in front of her as if that settled the matter.

Emily took a deep, albeit shaky, breath, but before she could speak, Greg came up beside her and fixed Mildred with a look of his own.

“Mrs. Kuchka,” he said, his voice low and official. “Do you have any personal knowledge about custody cases?”

“Me?” She made a sound somewhere between a harrumph and cough. “No. No, I don’t.”

“Ah.” He nodded curtly. “Well, then, that will be all.”

The older woman blinked twice, nodded and stepped away. Emily cast him a grateful look.

“Sometimes it helps to treat it like a crime scene,” he said.

“I’ll remember that. Not sure I could pull it off, though.”

Emily followed him, laden down with gifts, out toward the car. She was silent, still uncertain of her emotions. When they settled in the car, windows down, Emily closed her eyes, trying to push the sadness away. She felt Greg’s strong, warm hand on hers.

“Are you okay?”

She opened her eyes. “I’m all right.”

“You’re a terrible liar.” His gaze was sympathetic. “She got to you, didn’t she?”

Emily nodded. “Doesn’t take much lately.” She felt the tears rising again, this time in response to his kindness, and as they spilled over onto her cheeks, Greg reached out and slid his arm around her, pulling her onto his broad, strong chest.

She was surprised by the movement, both by his strength and by the tender gesture. He stroked her hair away from her face while she cried and leaned a cheek on top of her head. She could smell the soft musk of his aftershave, and to simply be held while she cried out her grief was something she hadn’t even realized she’d been missing until she felt how warm and safe it was in his arms. As she sniffled and wiped her tears, pushing up away from that strong, comforting chest, he released her and tucked a stray strand of hair out of her face.

“Better?” he asked softly.

“Much.” She blushed, embarrassed to have cried on him, let alone in front of him. “It’s been hard lately.”

“I know.” His eyes met hers, and they exchanged a look of sorrow. He had his own heartbreak lately with his sick mother, she realized. He understood her better than she knew.

“I can do this,” Emily said quietly. “I can. I’m a grown woman, and I’m strong. I can raise her alone, and I know she’ll be loved and she’ll thrive. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t get really hard sometimes.”

He nodded. “I feel it, too. I’m a grown man, but when it comes to my mom being sick, it’s like it taps into the little boy inside of me. I hate it, and I can’t change it.”

“Someone with you makes all the difference, doesn’t it?”

He smiled, the lines around his eyes crinkling. “Sure does.”

“We’ll be okay, Greg,” she said with a nod. “We’re grown-ups, after all. We can do this.”

He looked ready to say something, but then he closed his mouth and nodded. Putting the key into the ignition, he started the car.

“Let’s get you girls home,” he said, and as he pulled out of the parking space, she realized wistfully that his strong arms were the most comforting place she’d been in a very long time.

Chapter Sixteen

T
he next morning, while Emily was sorting through the gifts she was given at the shower, her mind kept going back to Mildred Kuchka’s comment. What, exactly, was she expected to do with these generous gifts if Cora wasn’t left in her care? She sighed, picking up a frilly little dress with a matching lace bonnet. Everyone had been so kind. She’d been given clothing, toys, a cake made of diapers and even a stroller. Everything she needed—but she felt awkward looking at all of it, afraid to open the boxes or break the packaging, lest a week from now she was no longer the new mom. What happened then? Was she supposed to give them all their gifts back, complete with a note of apology for wasting their time and good intentions?

She put down the little dress and picked up another outfit—tiny jeans and a T-shirt that read I Love My Mommy. She put it down in the pile and rubbed her hands over her face. The little outfit would fit Cora now, but would it fit a week from now, after the court hearing? That was the irony.

The phone rang, and Emily stretched to reach the handset. The number on the display belonged to the school.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Miss Shaw, this is Principal Edwards.”

Her boss. Emily leaned back on her heels. “Hi, what can I do for you?”

“I was wondering if we could talk about your plans this coming school year,” he said slowly. “I understand you have a baby now. Congratulations, by the way.”

“Thanks.” Emily smiled wanly. “Actually, I don’t know yet. I’m the guardian for the baby, but there is a court hearing coming up. I’m being contested for guardianship.”

“Ah.” There was an awkward silence. “When is the hearing?”

“In about a week.”

“Ah.” Another silence. “The thing is, Miss Shaw, I’m leaving for the summer in two days. I need to have this sorted out before I go. If you’re going to want parental leave, we need to get the proper forms sorted out today.”

“Today?” Emily looked around herself. “What did you have in mind?”

“Could you come by the school for a couple of hours this morning?” he asked.

Emily’s mind immediately moved to Cora. She’d need some childcare for this meeting. Principal Edwards was a very stoic man, and a fussing baby or a dirty diaper, a bottle—those were things she knew weren’t going to be useful in a meeting about her career.

“Sure. I’ll sort something out and be there in about an hour.”

Hanging up the phone, she mentally went through her checklist of people she trusted with Cora. Her parents were away for the week on a cruise, Nina was at work, Beth was crib shopping today. With her cousins’ appearance at her parents’ house the last time she went out without Cora, she was nervous about a repeat performance with other family members.

That left Greg, the one person she knew could and would deal with her pushy cousin if it ever came to that...but would he babysit?

* * *

Greg stood by the coffeepot, watching the fresh coffee drip. It was one of those unpredictable mornings. It had started with a lost elderly man wandering around in his boxer shorts. His family called the station shortly after he was found, but Greg had ended up cornered with the old fellow, trying to answer his quavering questions. “Where am I? Who took my pants?”

There was a domestic disturbance where a husband was getting violent with his wife. She called the station, and Benny went out directly to arrest the man. After bringing him in, the wife begged to have him released, and then decided to lodge an official complaint against Benny for having done his job. Official complaints were a ridiculous amount of paperwork and, of course, couldn’t be ignored, so after wading his way through half of it, he was here at the coffeepot, waiting for a fresh cup.

He heard the tap of heels coming up behind him, and he turned to see Emily, Cora in her arms, coming toward him.

“Hi.” He couldn’t help the smile that came to his face. She looked great in a pair of tan slacks, a white blouse and a mauve silk scarf flung around her neck. Cora was chewing on the end of it.

“Greg, I’ve got a favor to ask.” She looked downright penitent. “I don’t have anyone else I can trust right now, not with the hearing and everything. I need to go into work for a few minutes. It’ll be an hour or two, tops, but I can’t bring Cora.” She stopped and looked at him hopefully.

“Oh...” He wasn’t quite sure what to say.

“Would you watch her for me? I promise, I won’t do this to you again. After the hearing I have several aunts who would love to get their hands on her for a morning.”

“You want me to babysit?” He looked around uncertainly.

“Would you?” She fell into silence, her dark eyes meeting his while she waited for his response. His first instinct was to say a decided no, but her pleading eyes and Cora blinking at him, the end of the scarf still in her mouth, left him drained of fight.

“I’m going to be working on paperwork for most of the morning,” he admitted. “I suppose I could keep an eye on Sweet pea.”

“Oh, thanks, Greg.” She exhaled a sigh of relief. “Thank you, thank you.”

She leaned over and kissed his cheek, then passed Cora into his arms. She also deposited the diaper bag and another contraption on the floor beside him. “There are diapers and bottles and a couple changes of clothes, if you need them. She’s already had her morning bottle and shouldn’t want to eat again for a while, but if she seems hungry, it’s there. She’s been a bit fussy this morning with some diaper rash, so make sure that you use the diaper cream when you change her.” She bent down and kissed Cora’s cheek. “Speaking of which, she’s wet.”

With a brilliant smile, Emily turned and her heels clicked a little staccato beat back out of the station, that silk scarf fluttering out behind her, sodden at one end with baby drool. She turned before she pushed open the door and smiled lovingly at Cora, then slipped out into the morning sunlight. Greg stood there in silence, watching her go. He looked mutely down at Cora.

“Hey, is that Sweet pea?” Benny came into the room and beelined over to where Greg stood. “How are you?” He bent down to her level and made a fish face for her benefit. Cora blinked and let out a soft coo.

“It looks like I’m—” Greg stopped himself. Somehow, using the word
babysitting
felt so wrong. Instead, he said weakly, “She’s wet.”

“Better get to it, then, Chief,” Benny said, shooting up into a standing position again and heading off in the direction of his desk.

Greg smiled wryly. That seemed about right. When the baby was cute and dry, everyone wanted her. When she was in need of some diaper changing, her fans evaporated.

“Tough life, kiddo,” he said softly, lifting Cora higher onto his shoulder. “Let’s get you changed.”

Back in his office, Greg dropped the diaper bag and the odd cloth contraption Emily had left with it on a chair and cleared off the middle of his wide desk. It would have to do. After a few minutes of one-handed wrangling, he managed to get a blanket down on the desktop, then laid Cora down on top. He looked down at her uncertainly. He reached over and pressed a button.

“Yes, Chief?”

“Joyce, would you come in here, please?”

There was a short silence. “To change the diaper, Chief?”

She’d caught him. “Yes?” He didn’t mean to sound so uncertain. He heard laughter outside the door, and he grimaced.

“I’m sorry, sir, that isn’t in my job description.”

Fine, fine,
he thought to himself and settled about removing the wet diaper. She wore a little dress, so that was uncomplicated enough, but when he tried to lift the tabs of the diaper, he found them stickier than he’d thought. He pulled harder. Nothing.

“Huh,” he muttered to himself. “Is there a trick to this?”

He looked at the tabs from a different angle. It should be simple. He tugged a couple more times and looked down into Cora’s serious little face.

“You’re stuck in there,” he told her.

She kicked her legs hopefully. A wet diaper couldn’t be comfortable. A diaper was nothing more than some plastic and cotton padding, so it shouldn’t be too hard to tear. He grabbed the diaper on two sides, and with a grunt of effort, he began to pull. The diaper stretched, but it was oddly strong.

What are these things made of? Titanium?

He got a better grip and pulled again, using a movement like stretching a spring. His biceps bulged with the effort, and Cora cooed out her delight at the loosening diaper. The material began to stretch and tear, much to his satisfaction. He heard his office door opening and he froze, the diaper nearly torn in two between his fists.

Joyce stood there in the doorway, a look of shocked amazement on her face. “Chief?”

He looked at her. “Yes, Joyce?”

“What are you doing?”

“Changing a diaper.”

“They come off without you having to turn into the Incredible Hulk, you know.”

Greg rolled his eyes. “Normally, but not this time.”

Tearing the rest of the diaper free, he held it aloft. It was in two pieces, held together by some stretched cotton. Cora looked up at it mutely. Joyce also looked at the diaper in silence, regarding it with solemn respect.

“There,” Greg said, balling it up as best he could and lobbing it over to his garbage can. “And now, the easy part.”

It didn’t turn out to be quite as easy as he’d thought, but Joyce gave him a hand, and before too long, Cora was diapered and happy again.

Joyce held up the cloth contraption next to the diaper bag. “This’ll help.”

“What is it?”

“A baby carrier. You just pop her inside and wear it like a backward backpack.” She brought it over and held it out.

“Huh.” He looked it over and regarded Cora. “Do you want this?” he asked her dubiously.

“Trust me.” Joyce slid it onto his chest and disappeared behind him, tightening and adjusting some straps. Then she came around and slid Cora into the gaping front pocket. She settled into the little seat just below his chin, and he looked down onto Cora’s downy red curls. It seemed like a pretty efficient arrangement.

“Chief?” Nancy poked her head into the office. “I’ve got the court order to release the rest of Jessica Shaw’s banking information. We can follow that money now.”

“Excellent.” Greg patted Cora’s back through the carrier. “Let’s get started on that.”

The rest of the morning ebbed away with more paperwork, and an hour later found Greg seated at his desk, leaning back so that Cora could sleep more comfortably. She snored softly, one little hand clutching a fistful of shirt. He’d been less than enthusiastic about this initially, but now he found himself enjoying it. He’d sat in this position at his desk before, one hand on his computer mouse as he ran through some emails, but having a baby snuggled against his chest made the whole thing a lot more relaxing.

His phone rang, and he picked it up on the first ring.

“Hello, Chief Taylor here.” He kept his voice low, not wanting to disturb Cora’s sleep.

“Hi, Chief. This is Lana Heibert from First Colonial Bank. We received the court order for the information about those deposits.”

“Great.” Greg was suddenly alert, and he picked up a pen. “What can you tell me?”

“They all came from the same account, belonging to a Mr. Charles Lindgren.”

“Are you sure about that?” Greg asked. “Is it possible to make it appear that way?”

“No, this is very direct—no attempts to hide anything.” He could hear some clicking in the background on her end of the phone. “This is a personal account. He has joint accounts with his wife, but this is a private savings account.”

“Thank you,” Greg said, a satisfied smile coming to his face.

“My pleasure. Give me a call if you need anything else.”

“Will do.”

As he hung up the phone, Greg stifled the urge to laugh out loud. It was almost too easy, but he was glad to be getting ahead. It looked as if the senator was in this up to his neck. Pushing himself to his feet and supporting Cora’s head with one hand, he headed out of his office toward Nancy’s desk. Two of the officers were laughing loudly together by the coffee, and Cora gurgled and wriggled. Greg pointed at the two officers ominously.

“Sleeping baby, guys,” he barked. “Quiet down.”

“Sorry, Chief.”

Voices lowered in obedience, and he gave a satisfied nod as Cora resettled into her nap. Making his way over to Nancy’s desk, he found Benny there, too, sinking his teeth into a doughnut.

“All right, we’ve got a break.” Greg leaned onto the edge of Nancy’s desk. “It looks like the large deposits in Jessica Shaw’s checking account did come from one of the senator’s accounts.”

“Aha.” Benny grinned. “I knew it.”

“So what do we do now?” Nancy asked. “Bring him in for questioning?”

“For what?” Greg shook his head. “We have no reason to suspect that Jessica was murdered. That was a highway accident, not foul play. But I do want some answers here.”

Benny popped the last of his doughnut into his mouth and talked around it. “What about the guy following her?”

“It’ll all come together when I’m done with this. I’m not sure how innocent the senator will be, but we’ll have answers, at least.”

Greg looked up as he heard someone coming into the station. It was Emily.

“One more thing,” Greg said, keeping his voice low. “Until I say otherwise, this information is strictly confidential. I don’t want Emily—Miss Shaw—knowing about it just yet.”

“Sure thing, Chief.” They both nodded, then looked up as Emily approached.

Greg couldn’t help but smile as Emily cocked her head to one side in order to look at Cora’s little face. Her eyes turned tender, and she brushed one finger over the infant’s cheek, then raised her dark eyes to meet his.

“Thanks, Greg. I appreciate this.” Her voice was low and soft, and he found himself momentarily speechless.

“Oh, we love Sweet pea around here,” Benny said with a slow grin. “And the chief here has quite a way with diapers.”

Greg cast Benny a scathing look, which only made the big man’s smile broader.

“What’s that smell, Chief?” Nancy asked, frowning.

Greg could smell the faint odor, too. He wasn’t sure. It smelled eerily like a wet diaper, but the source wasn’t Cora. His garbage can in the office? Wow. That was pungent.