Not Quite Mine (Not Quite series) (5 page)

Katie shut the door on his back…hard.

Back in stalker mode, Dean leaned against the outside edge of the hotel Katie called home in order to corner Monica. If there was one thing he’d learned from his friend Jack’s relationship with Jessie, it was that sisters, even newly in-lawed sisters, talked.

He needed answers and the best way for him to obtain them was through manipulation. He knew it wasn’t noble, but he didn’t give a damn.

Seeing Katie holding Savannah, cooing over the infant with an expression Dean could only describe as bliss, evoked pain, anger, and even a bit of hope. Pain and anger he could deal with. Those emotions he understood. The pain at witnessing Katie hold on to something he’d always wanted for the both of them. His anger stemmed from how she’d reacted after her miscarriage, after their baby had slipped from her womb.

But hope? Hope for what?

He’d wanted a family, a life with Katie by his side. In the beginning, he thought she was right there with him.

Sex with Katie had always been spectacular and sinful. Just thinking about how Katie responded to his touch shot unwanted desire through Dean’s body as he waited for Monica to finish her run.

For Dean, his relationship with Katie was founded on friendship, exploded in passion, and evolved into love.

For Katie it was only about the sex.

Where was the
hope
in that?

Monica’s blonde head bobbed up and down as she rounded the corner, her presence forcing Dean’s attention to his recent goal. He eased from the side of the building and placed himself between her and the entrance to the lobby.

Recognition shifted over Monica’s face like a curtain falling on a stage. It slowly fell over her eyes first, causing her lips to turn into a grin. And when Dean purposely shifted his gaze up the side of the building, then back to her, she slowed her pace, and let her smile fall. Like a switch, her guard went up.

“Hi, Dean. W-what are you doing here?”

He hit her hard with quick questions, to see how fast he could catch a lie. Then he’d know for certain Katie’s story about the child was bogus. “Checking on Katie for Jack. You didn’t tell me you guys had a roommate.”

“A roommate?”

“Savannah.”

“Ah…” Monica looked over her shoulder and back. “Savannah?”

“Don’t be coy, Monica, I’ve already seen Katie.”

“Oh, well.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t tell me last night about your guest.”

Monica shifted on her feet. “It was a last-minute thing.”

“Right, Katie said Savannah has been here since…when was it?”

“Yesterday.”

Dean nodded. “Right. When is the mom coming to pick her up? Katie is supposed to be designing the interior of Jack’s hotel.”

“Why didn’t you ask Katie these things?” Monica was catching on to him, and drying up her information. She’d already confirmed that Katie was lying through her teeth. But why?

“She had her hands full.”
Literally.

Monica moved around him, so she was angled close to the door. “I’m sure Katie will tell you all about it when she’s ready.”

“So there is something to tell.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Yeah, you did, darlin’. But don’t stress yourself out. I already knew Katie wasn’t telling everything. She’s a lot easier to read than she thinks she is.” Dean figured that, once these two started to talk, he wouldn’t get another chance at any information. He might even find himself barred from Katie’s door.

“Why do you care?”

Good question.
“Jack wanted me to check on her. He’s worried about her.”

Monica shook her head back and forth in confusion. “Jack? How could he know anything? Savannah arrived after the wedd…” Her voice trailed off, her eyes shot to his.

After the wedding would have been in the middle of the night. And no matter how you spun that bottle, it landed on trouble. “Listen, Monica, if Katie’s in some kind of trouble, you’ve got to let me help. Jack would kill me if I let his kid sister—”

“Katelyn isn’t a kid, Dean. She’d a grown woman with a mind of her own. If she wanted your help, she’d ask.” It was then that Dean noted the flash of concern embedded deep in Monica’s eyes. The same look that passed over her face and Katie’s when they’d noticed Danny’s concern over the helicopter landing on them at the reception.

Dammit. Katie was in trouble. The question returned. What kind of mother left her infant with someone less two weeks after they were born?

“At least tell me how long the baby is going to be here.”

Monica started for the door.

Dean placed a hand on her arm to stop her.

“Talk to Katie.”

Which meant Monica didn’t know.

As she walked into the air-conditioned lobby, the knot inside Dean’s chest started to rise in his throat like the Texas heat.

Katie’s mind ran in so many different directions she didn’t know which way was north. Savannah lay in the center of the big bed again, this time wide awake and sucking on her fist. Katie didn’t know where to start. She needed to leave, they all needed to leave as quickly as they could pack and make excuses. If Dean called her daddy and he blessed her with his presence, keeping Savannah wouldn’t be an option.

Katie needed time to think. Time to plan. That wasn’t going to happen in Houston where everyone knew her and expected a certain persona. That facade didn’t include a diaper-changing mama.

In the back of her massive walk-in closet, she found her largest suitcase and moved it to the bench at the end of her bed. She indiscriminately scooped underwear from her top drawer and tossed the lot inside the case.

She would go to California early, before Dean had a chance to inform her dad about the baby. The excuse of working for Jack would explain her rapid departure if anyone cared to ask.

From the front door of her suite, Monica called out. “Katelyn?”

“In here.” She hung a garment bag on a hook and unzipped it. Bypassing her skintight dresses meant for the club scene, she packed longer skirts and pantsuits.

“Guess who ambushed me at the door,” Monica said as she walked into bedroom.

Katie stopped midstride and turned to face Monica. “Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes! I take it you and Dean had a conversation.”

Her heart squeezed in her chest. “You didn’t tell him anything…did you?”

“He asked questions. I avoided answering. I’d be lying if I told you I steered him off, though. He didn’t believe the babysitting thing for a minute.” Monica’s gaze moved to the bed, then the suitcase.

Katie squeezed her fist. She needed to leave. Now!

“Help me pack.” Back in the closet, she opened another suitcase and started to fill it with shoes.

“What are you…where are you going?”

“California. With you.”

“But…”

“Please.” She dangled a pair of Jimmy Choos off her index finger. “I can’t take the chance of Dean returning here with my father. In order for the babysitting excuse to work, and for him to forget about Savannah, I need to get her out of here.”

“I don’t know, Katelyn. Taking a baby that isn’t yours out of the state has to be against the law.”

“I have a birth certificate.”

“That you know damn well is a lie. You didn’t adopt Savannah. And you sure as hell didn’t ask for her.”

She chucked Jimmy into the suitcase and stood closer to Monica. “Someone went through great lengths to create this lie. I owe it to Savannah to find out the truth.”

“You don’t owe anything to Savannah.”

Katie glanced over to the bed. Savannah was staring at her fist.

“Are you telling me, if you were in my position, you’d just give her up? Take her to the nearest police station and tell them to deal with it?”

Monica released a frustrated sigh.

“Exactly. Help me pack.”

They worked in tandem and finished the job quickly.

“You can’t take your dad’s plane. The pilot would confirm that Savannah was with you.”

She hadn’t thought of that.

“And if you take her to the hotel, word will get out.”

She hadn’t thought about that either.

“I’ve always stayed at the hotels. If I don’t, someone is going to get curious.”

Monica sat on the edge of the bed and tickled Savannah’s feet. “I have a second bedroom. You can hide out with me for a couple of days.” Monica and Jessie had shared an apartment while Monica was in nursing school. Now that she was out and Jessie had married Jack, she had the place to herself.

Staying with Monica would solve the problem of hiding Savannah, at least in the short term.

“Are you sure?”

“No. I think this is crazy. But I can’t walk away now. Besides, I doubt you know a whole lot about babies and at least I know what Jessie went through with Danny.” Monica placed a thumb into Savannah’s hand and kissed her tiny fingers. “She may look small, but she’s a full-time job.”

“So you’ll help me take care of her?”

Monica leveled her eyes with Katie. “I’ll help you get situated. If you plan to work on Jack’s hotel and find out who Savannah’s mommy really is…plus take care of her, you’re going to need six hands and three heads. Actually,” Monica moved off the bed. “This is a crazy idea. I work full-time and finally landed the day shift. Plus I pick up overtime whenever I can get it to pay off my college loans.”

Katie felt her ally fading fast. “I’ll hire a nanny.” Just until she found a rhythm that worked. The last thing Katie wanted was for Savannah to be raised by strangers.

“In my neighborhood they’re called babysitters.”

“Babysitter then.” That sounded better anyway. More temporary.

Monica clasped her hands together, doubt filled her gaze.

“Please.”

Squeezing her eyes shut, Monica shook her head. “I’ll shower and be ready to leave in thirty minutes. You need to turn on some of that Texan charm and wiggle your way into some last-minute flights or I have a feeling Dean will rat us out before dinner.”

All the Texan charm and daddy’s money didn’t get them on a flight fast enough to suit Katie. First class was sold out but they managed a flight in economy with Monica seated several rows behind her and Savannah. It had been so long since she’d crammed into a commercial flight that she’d forgotten how cramped it was. Not to mention the baggage restrictions. She checked two bags under her name, and two under Savannah Morrison. The elderly lady in the window seat cooed over Savannah the moment the flight attendant finished helping Katie buckle the car seat in.

“Oh, isn’t she precious.”

She juggled the diaper bag under one seat and her oversized purse under another. “Thank you,” Katie managed to say before taking her seat.

“How old is she? One month?”

“Two weeks.” The answer was instant, and after the words escaped Katie’s mouth, she cautioned herself to keep quiet.

“Isn’t that a little young to fly?”

Katie’s right eye twitched. “The, ah, doctor said it was fine.”

“I have three grandbabies. Well, they’re not babies any longer. Two in high school and one finishing up college now, but they will always be my grandbabies.” The happily plump woman talked about her grandchildren, two boys and one girl, and made
kissing noises to Savannah whenever she turned her head toward the woman’s voice.