Nobody's Baby (3 page)

“I suppose a new set of wheels was part of the deal, too.”

Boy, would she like to wipe that smirk off his face. She counted to five, not daring more lest he think she was thinking up a good story. “That was James’ idea. He was adamantly opposed to me transporting his child in a ‘decade-old rusted bucket’ as he called it. I told him it was still reliable, but he wouldn’t listen. He did give in on the hybrid issue, thank goodness. I convinced him greener was the way to go.”

Rio didn’t look convinced though. His lip curled. “Don’t tell me. You recycle, too.”

“Every chance I get, but we’re off topic. You will take their child.” She’d meant it as a statement, but somehow her delivery got screwed up and it became part demand, part plea.

“That remains to be seen. I’m the last person my brother should have left his child to. I know next to nothing about kids. Less about babies.”

He looked so conflicted, Kate almost forgave him his previous snide remarks. Almost. “Tons of people lack experience and still become parents. Is that what’s holding you back?”

“I have my reasons.” He borrowed her earlier excuse.

Kate stood, a determined chin jutted in his direction, her patience all but gone. “Fine, but you need to know this. When this child is born, he’s yours. Plain and simple. My obligations toward him cease. That was the deal. Whatever problems you have, you’ve got a month to work them out. Understood?”

“You weren’t speaking Swahili. Don’t worry, Miss Morrisey, I won’t expect anything of you beyond the scope of your contract.”

She glared back, letting him know she wasn’t the least bit intimidated. “Good. I won’t expect anything of you beyond taking responsibility for this child.”

Chapter Two

“
Y
ou must be Katherine.” The statement came from Rio’s mom, standing beyond Kate in navy slacks and a pink sweater set trimmed in navy.

Damn. How much of that had she heard? He pulled in a lungful of thin air and made formal introductions between the two women.

“It’s Kate, please, Mrs. Hawthorne.” She pushed to her feet and gave both of Margaret’s outstretched hands a brief squeeze. “It’s nice to meet you, but I’m terribly sorry for the circumstances that bring you here.”

“Thank you, dear. Call me Maggie. I’m that baby’s grammy.”

“All right then. Maggie.”

“Allie said you were athletic and carrying well, but you’re amazingly small to be so close to term. May I?” One hand hovered over Kate’s belly.

“Sure, but he’s sleeping right now.”

“Let me guess? Once
you
lie down to sleep, he does calisthenics.”

How did women do that? They’d gone from strangers to talking like old friends in seconds.

“It’s more like he dances. This kid really gets down. James has me playing rock classics to him so he’ll appreciate ‘good music.’” She performed air quotes, her face alight and animated, then her features froze.

Kate’s use of the present tense rendered them all silent and sober.

A weight pressed in on Rio from all sides, leaving him feeling slightly panicked.

Maggie cupped her elbows and shivered. “It’s chilly out here. Let’s go in. I’ll make some hot chocolate.”

Inside the kitchen, his mom declined Kate’s offer of help and instructed Rio to locate cocoa powder, sugar and marshmallows while she heated milk, flavored with a few drops of almond extract. He was glad to have something to do because he couldn’t seem to stop staring at Kate’s rounded tummy, and worrying about the reality of its contents.

She sat quietly at an eat-in table which would easily seat eight, her expression solemn.

Rio pulled mugs out of the cabinet, glancing up in time to catch her wiping a knuckle underneath her lashes. She’d moved around the house with an air of familiarity and spoke fondly of his brother and sister-in-law. That didn’t jibe with his money-hungry impression from earlier, though there was reason to believe her greedy. Who was Kate Morissey, really?

His mom soon had steaming mugs of fragrant chocolate ready for sipping and joined Kate. Rio leaned one hip against the white granite countertop, warming his hands on the sturdy stoneware. He stared at the rapidly melting marshmallows while the women made small talk.

The more he heard from Kate about the baby, the more it seemed real. Dammit, he wasn’t ready for this. Might never be.

“Kate, have you had run-ins with the press too?” Maggie asked, drawing Rio’s attention.

“There was a TV reporter and cameraman outside my duplex this morning. I think I lost them on the way over, but they didn’t seem like the type to give up.” Harsh light from a bay window paled Kate’s skin, making evident the slight shadows under her eyes. A furrow took up residence between her brows.

His mom picked up her mug. “Those reporters at the airport were newspaper, now it’s TV. Rio, this thing is escalating.”

The thought of either one of these ladies having their privacy invaded like that angered him, especially with Kate in her condition, but he sought to diffuse the situation. “Calm down, Mom. There’s no story here. We’ll ignore them and tomorrow they’ll have found something more juicy.”

Both women focused on him, their faces wearing oh-you-poor-clueless-man stares. Bull elephants were more sympathetic than these two, but how had it become them against him so quickly? “Obviously, you both disagree.”

“John Riordan Hawthorne. Use what’s between your ears. Two fairly wealthy people have died, leaving their orphaned fetus inside a surrogate. If you don’t see tabloid potential in that, you’ve been out of the country way too long.”

Kate chewed on her bottom lip. “They wouldn’t show up at the funerals, would they?”

Rio had a vision of the press swarming like ants, upsetting his mom, peppering them with biting questions. He couldn’t allow that to happen.

“No funerals to speak of. Just one memorial service.” Maggie informed her. “Rio’s idea.”

“I think they’d have liked that.” Kate leaned away from the table, linking her fingers across her belly. “I’d like to attend, but I’ll understand if you’d rather I didn’t.”

Her words encompassed them both, but she looked to Rio for a decision with a plea shining in her eyes. It hadn’t occurred to him, but of course she’d want to be there, if her bond was truly as close with James and Allie as she’d portrayed.

If his brother were here right now, Rio would knock him clear into Sunday for naming him as guardian. The word conjured up images of Masai warriors, sentinels, bodyguards, protectors. Was that how James had viewed him? As his champion?

Several years younger than Rio, James had been delighted to have a big brother when Rio had first shown up on the scene. He’d followed Rio like a puppy.

He swallowed against a hard lump. Misguided or not, James had trusted him to protect his son, Bear’s grandchild. Right now that child resided inside Kate. Whether she was greedy or not, that fact made her his to protect. “Don’t worry about the service being turned into a media circus. I’ll take care of the press.”

Kate tilted her head to one side, eyes questioning.

Maggie reached out and patted Kate’s hand. “I’m sure what Rio meant to say is that you’re welcome to come. We’ll swing by your place so you can ride with us. That way you’ll be safe. Right, Rio?”

He nodded and checked the glowing numbers on the microwave, calculating the time zone difference in his head. Those brothers he’d taken on safari might be able to help. He still had their business card somewhere. “Excuse me. I have some phone calls to make.”

*
*
*
*
*

T
he next morning, Kate had her athletic shoes on before she thought to check out the window for reporters. She pulled the edge of her living room drapes forward and peeked out. Damn. There were even more of them lining her sidewalk today than the previous evening and that hadn’t been fun. They’d followed her to the front door, clamoring for interviews.

Something big and dark moved at the edge of her view. She leaned her cheek against the wall to get a better look. Standing at the edge of the tiny landing in front of her door was a bald body-builder type facing the street. Dressed all in black and with dark glasses on, he looked every bit the part of a hit man or maybe a menacing bodyguard. After years of fending for herself and shouldering responsibilities far beyond her years, Kate almost laughed at the idea of her with a big ol’ meaty man-protector in tow.

She grabbed two bottles of water and was about to reach for her keys when her cell rang. “James and Allie” came up on the display and her pulse hit a bump. She’d have to change the listing to Hawthorne House right away. After setting the waters on a nearby table, she tapped her phone. “Hello?”

“Kate.”

“Yes?”

“Rio. Don’t go out this morning until your protection detail gets there.”

She bristled at his command. As if he had the right to tell her what to do. “And if I don’t want to wait?”

“Think of someone other than yourself. Dealing with the press on your own will result in stress, which Mom says isn’t good for the baby. Stay put.”

She sighed, unsure why she’d baited him. He might be infuriating at times, but that was no reason to alienate him. “Of course I wouldn’t do anything to harm the baby. There’s already a guy on my doorstep who looks like he could be a pro wrestler.”

“Good. Let me speak to him. No, wait. Make him show you his I.D. first.”

“You think?” She rolled her eyes and lowered the phone, not waiting for Rio’s response. Rather than open the storm door, she raised the glass panel on the screened portion of it and called out, “Excuse me. May I see some identification?”

The big dude flicked a glance over his shoulder, then resumed his watch as he backed toward her door. He produced a business card along with an official looking I.D. and pressed them against the glass.

“Thank you.” She lifted the phone to her ear. “Photo I.D. and card says he’s Toby Foxe of the Bridgerton Agency. Satisfied?”

“Yes, but I still need to speak to him.”

Kate unlocked the storm door and opened it enough to insert the phone through. “Mr. Hawthorne would like a word.”

After a few terse answers and yessir’s, Toby returned her phone and assumed his original position. With his dark glasses, it was impossible to tell whether he’d looked directly at her or not. Since her phone was still open, she raised it to her ear. “Still there?”

“You’ll be safe with Toby.” Rio hesitated before saying. “Don’t leave home without him.”

Was the serious Rio Hawthorne making a joke? Kate wasn’t sure, but his voice had been less terse. It felt weird to have someone taking care of her for a change. “I won’t, but just so you know, I didn’t expect you to go to this expense on my account.”

“I’m protecting the Hawthorne heir. It just happens to be inside you at the moment.”

“Right.” How silly of her to have thought otherwise. Hadn’t she learned a long time ago that the only person she could truly rely on was herself? “Bye, Rio.”

She retrieved the water and her keys and stepped outside.

“Hey, Kate. This dude won’t let me in.” Her youngest brother, Dean, a long-suffering expression plastered on his face, stood a few paces from Toby. The next thing she noticed was that he needed a shave and haircut. His dark blond hair was longer than she’d seen it in awhile, the curls going every which way. Not her business any more. He was on his own.

“It’s okay, Toby. He’s my brother.” She waved Dean in and dumped her keys and the water bottles on the couch. “Why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be in class this morning?”

“Geez, Kate, relax. I’m eighteen now. I don’t need mothering and my scholarship isn’t in danger. My professor got sick at the last minute so class was canceled. Then Zach called and wanted me to check on you.”

“He did? You’re not just saying that for my sake?”

“He did, but I wasn’t supposed to tell you.”

“I can tell you’re all torn up over breaking your brother’s confidence,” she said with all the sarcasm Dean deserved. “How is he?”

“Zach? You want to know, call him. I hate being the go-between. I’m really here because I saw something I wanted to ask you about.” He held up a section of newspaper with a picture of her making her way though reporters. “What’s up with this?”

The headline read, “
hawthorne surrogate upset after meet with family.
” How misleading. She’d been upset because they were blocking the entrance to her half of the duplex. Kate snatched the paper from him. Good grief. Her stomach was huge.

“Is the family giving you a hard time? Is that guy out there to protect you or to keep tabs on you?”

“Oh, don’t you start believing the gossip, too. Rio sent him over to keep the press away.” That wasn’t entirely accurate, but her brother didn’t need to know that. He looked genuinely concerned for her. Maybe he was gaining some maturity after all.

“Who’s Rio?”

“The baby’s uncle and guardian, now that ... well, you know.”

“Yeah, it was on the news last night. Tough break. You okay?”

“I’m adjusting. The baby is fine. In a few weeks, Rio will take charge of his nephew and I’ll start classes as planned.”

“Good. Zach figured you’d be wigging out, afraid of getting stuck with the baby.”

No way she was admitting any such thing. Dean would tell Zach, feeding his belief that she was repeating history. Just because she’d played the role of mom to her brothers didn’t mean she was abandoning them by pulling back a little, regardless of what Zach thought. She smacked Dean lightly on the six-pack abs he was so proud of. “Betcha I can still graduate before you do.”

Dean frowned, his blue-gray eyes smoky with concern. “You sure you can do an accelerated program after popping out a baby? You don’t look so good, Kate.”

She supposed he meant well, but his lack of tact made her want to smack him harder. “Gee, thanks, Mr. Charming. Your foot-in-mouth disease must be real popular with the girls.”

“Whatever. I do okay.”

Kate had no illusions as to his meaning. “You’re using protection though, right? You can’t be too care—”

“I know. I know. You tattooed it on my brain. I’m careful, okay?”

“Okay.” She pulled him down for a quick hug but her belly got in the way.

Dean pulled back with an exaggerated shudder. “It’s so weird seeing you pregnant. I know you were doing a good thing for those people, but now ... Isn’t it going to be hard giving him up to this guy?”

“This fetus was never mine, so no. I’m looking forward to the freedom. Don’t get me wrong. I love you and Zach and I don’t regret keeping us together, but I’ve had enough responsibility to last me for years to come. Now it’s time for what I want. I don’t know why Zach can’t understand that.”