Special Delivery (Mountain Meadow Homecoming 1) (6 page)

She stiffened. He wondered just who had done such a number on her she would let herself and her brother almost starve before she asked anyone for help.

“You don’t have to.”

“Yeah. I do. It’s who I am, Holly.” He’d provided a friendly shoulder for as long as he could remember, and he couldn’t stop now, even if there were times when he just wanted to be alone.

“You must have other things to do, things with your family.”

“My family’s moved away. My sister and brothers couldn’t wait to shake the dust off their shoes and get out of here. Then my parents decided this wasn’t where they wanted to retire, so they moved to Florida.”

“Why’d you stay?”

Jake shrugged, not ready to admit just how much he’d needed the comfort of someplace familiar where he didn’t have to wonder if a sniper would pop out from behind the next house. Realizing he needed to say something, he swallowed.

“Didn’t, really. Stay, that is. I spent the last ten years mostly in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan. Why are you here?”

Her hand covered her belly, and that gesture was as close to the truth as he’d get. He saw it in the way her steady gaze shifted away from him. “Just a desire for a new start, although so far it’s not going quite as I expected.”

Her evasiveness disappointed him, but what had he expected—that she would pour her heart out and let him comfort her? Hoped. Maybe. Before he could say anything, Tyler returned to the room. His long hair was combed and his shirttail tucked in.

“Ready, kid?” Jake asked.

“Yeah. I don’t wanna be late.”

Jake glanced at Holly. “You have my number if you need anything.”

She nodded, but he already knew she wouldn’t call. She didn’t want to owe anybody anything. Someone had shown her all too well there was always a price to nice.

Thoughts of Holly nagged Jake all night. First thing the next morning, Jake was in the station and on the phone. Mountain Meadow might be a small police force, but they still had resources they could call for help. And friends. And right now he was calling in a favor.

“Trev, it’s Jake.”

“Hey, dude! How are things hangin’ out there in the Blue Ridge? Longing for the big city yet? You know there’d always be a place for a man like you here at the bureau.”

“Not a chance,” Jake shot back. “I’ll leave the big city and the politicking to you, buddy. Give me my mountains any day. Look, I need a favor.”

“Anything. I still owe you for that night in Kandahar.”

Jake shook the memory off. Not something he wanted to think about, let alone talk about. “I need some information about two people: a Holly Morgan and her brother Tyler…same last name. Tyler’s just a kid.”

Trev laughed. “You got anything other than names? You know, maybe ages, descriptions, some basic ID I can use?”

Jake passed on what he’d gotten out of Tyler on the way into town. He’d been hesitant to try to pump too much information from the kid. “Until about two months ago, they lived in Lynchburg, She graduated from a college or university there.”

“Well now. That’s more to go on. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

Jake hung up, then called Jenny.

“Hey, Jen, it’s Jake. Busy?”

“I’m a family practitioner in a small town with the only hospital in a three county area. What do you think, Jake?”

“No need to be testy. I won’t take much of your time. I just want to know what Holly Morgan’s due date is.”

“Jake, I’m overjoyed you’re showing such personal interest, but you know I’m not supposed to tell you anything. Besides, I still haven’t forgiven you for your choice of friend to bring to my party.”

“Come on, Jen. I just want to help.”

“Okay, I will give you one interesting tidbit. You’re the second person today to ask the very same question. Someone else called first thing, claimed they were planning a shower for her. Sure didn’t sound like anyone from Crawford’s, so I think it might have been somebody just fishing.”

Jake’s senses went on alert. He hadn’t gotten the impression from Jen or Holly she’d been around long enough to have friends wanting to give her a shower.

“Did you tell them anything?”

A snort sounded from the other end of the line. “No. We didn’t even let them know she was a patient. And I’m not telling you anything either.”

“Look you already told me she’s all but lost her job. What else is stressing her? I mean, she looks at me like I’m Jack the Ripper—not Dudley Do-Right as you keep calling me.”

Jenny’s exasperated sigh floated over the line. “I am so violating confidentiality here. Her ex-fiancé hassled her to give him the kid after they split. He wants her to play incubator and then hand the baby over to his new fiancée. That’s why she’s got the PO.”

Jake grimaced. “Damn! That’s cold.” He jabbed the pencil he’d been tapping on his desk blotter back into the cup holding a half dozen other pens and pencils. If a woman like Holly were having his child, there wouldn’t be anyone but her.

“Okay. So now I’ve told you way more than I should’ve because you’re one of my very best friends, and I think Holly could use a friend like you. I hope the information is for a good cause.”

“I thought I’d take more food over later this week. The weather forecast calls for snow, so I don’t want her and the kid stuck with nothing to eat. Jeez, Jen. I opened her fridge to get a glass of tea yesterday, and it was almost empty.”

The pause stretched. “Like I said, Jake. She could use a friend, even if she doesn’t think so.”

He ended the call so he could take his turn doing patrol duty. As he drove, he kept turning over the mystery call to Jenny’s office. If someone was sniffing that close, chances were they had a lead on Holly already. Jake blew air out in frustration. If it turned into knowing her address, she and Tyler would be in deep trouble. Crawley’s place was way too isolated.

He had just cleared a domestic argument, sparked by a husband who spent too much of the family paycheck on holiday cheer, when his phone rang. He pulled his unmarked cruiser into the parking lot of the Presbyterian church.

“Jake here.”

“Hey, dude. Got you the info you were looking for.”

Jake pulled out a notebook and a pencil. “Okay, Trev. Shoot.”

“Holly Marie Morgan. Twenty-two years old. Bachelors degree in Accounting from Lynchburg College in May of this year. Legal guardian of Tyler Matthew Morgan. Eleven years old. Parents were Matthew and Marie Morgan, both killed in a car crash Thanksgiving of last year. Tyler was injured, but survived. Until five months ago, Holly was engaged to Spencer Dilby, of Richmond.”

Jake raised his brows. “Would that be like Dilby Department Stores?”

“You got it.”

And the guy wanted her kid? That was some serious pressure with the money and pedigree to back the name.

“Who ended it?”

“He did, and is now engaged to a Celia Segal whose family is from Fairfax. Pretty straightforward stuff. Hope it helps.”

“More than you know, Trev. Thanks.”

“Anytime, bro.”

Jake sat in the car and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. That would explain why the ex-fiancé might be after the kid-to-be. The child had a claim on the Dilby fortune. It would also explain some of her wariness around him. She no doubt figured the Dilbys could pressure anyone with all the money they had backing them, protective order or not. If so, they hadn’t ever been to Mountain Meadow. Folks in this part of Virginia didn’t take to people who flashed their cash.

* * * *

Just as Holly suspected, the phone company cut service Wednesday. They’d told her the last time she’d called a partial payment wouldn’t be enough. She rubbed her back as she returned to the couch from her latest trip to the bathroom. She had the radio tuned to one of the local stations for some background noise because, with no satellite and no cable, they got almost no television reception in the hollow where they were, even with the box to convert the digital signal.

Her forced inactivity drove her bananas. Used to working, she made a list of baby items she still needed, but all she did was frustrate herself when she realized she had neither the time nor the money to be ready for her daughter’s arrival.

Jake stopped by Thursday with another box of food in hand. Without Tyler as a buffer, he swallowed, and after he handed the box to her, he took his cap off and slapped it against his leg a couple of times. She was relieved when he mumbled something again about chopping wood and hurried outside.

The window gave her a great view while he worked. He made it look so effortless, and for him it no doubt was. There wasn’t an ounce of flab anywhere on him. Holly bit her lip and let the curtain fall into place. He was handsome, but she had no business looking at him. She had no business looking at anyone. Still, she twitched the corner of the curtain again, drawing some comfort from the smooth swing of the ax. She was disappointed when he just stuck his head in the door and mumbled a good-bye.

What did she expect? She’d been pretty bitchy to him. Holly bit her lower lip. This wasn’t who she was or what she was like, but after the mistake she’d made about Spence, trusting anyone else was nearly impossible, even someone like Jake.

Jim Tarpley brought Tyler home most of the week. On Saturday, he stepped into the house for a minute to say hello.

“Susie had me bring this box of baby clothes and whatnot. We kept items around when our grandchildren were tiny, but most of them are in their teens now, and she thought you might could use it.”

Holly smiled in genuine pleasure. “Thank you, and please thank Mrs. Tarpley, too. You’ve been such a help.”

His eyes twinkled when he smiled. “Anything we can do, you just let us know. Tyler’s a hard worker, and we’re real fortunate to have him with the holidays coming. You let us know if you need anything, you hear?”

Holly smiled. Tarpley waved his good-bye and shut the door behind him.

While Tyler did his homework, Holly went through the clothing, blankets and small toys. In addition, several items appeared brand new. Baby wipes and powder, diapers, a bulb syringe, and a couple of bibs. She blinked back tears.

They had met some nice people since they came to Mountain Meadow. Folks like the Tarpleys, Doc, even Jake. Maybe things here were different. Jake called it being neighborly. Until Spence, Holly had trusted in the basic goodness of people. Then he opened her eyes to reality, but maybe that was Spence’s version of reality. Her eyes drifted to the full wood box. Somehow, she bet Jake’s reality was a lot different. And given a choice, she wanted Jake’s version.

After Tyler went off to bed, Holly doused the living room lamp and settled on the couch. She now slept half-propped just to find some comfort and still be able to breathe. Even so, she was getting far less sleep than she needed. By Tuesday morning when Tyler set off for school, she was achy and lethargic.

“Pay attention to the weather, Tyler,” she told him as he started out the door. “They keep calling for snow.”

He waved at her. “I will.”

Just after noon, Holly realized the weather wasn’t her biggest problem. Her labor had started. The first hard pains hit about the same time the snow began to cascade in thick, fluffy flakes. As the contraction rippled through her, Holly clutched the edge of the kitchen counter and tried to regulate her breathing. She stared at the phone in frustration. She had no way to call anyone. Stupid.

Well, it would be hours before she needed to worry. Weren’t first labors generally long? And someone would bring Tyler home. She could get a ride into the hospital then. In the meantime, she would pack a bag for her and the baby.

* * * *

Spence tapped his finger on the manila envelope in front of him and smirked. The detective hadn’t brought much, but it might be enough. Tyler was enrolled in the Castle County Schools, a fifth grader at Mountain Meadow Elementary. He’d made some other phone calls, but had so far come up empty. His information didn’t include a physical address, just a PO box.

Maybe it was time for a ski trip. He and Seely could go through there, giving him the perfect excuse to stop and nose around just a little. Holly’s baby should be born any time. A Dilby. That was all his parents cared about. So if he could deliver, they’d quit pestering him.

Yep. Time to head to the mountains.

* * * *

Snow blanketed the town square, and Jake thought of the additional box of food he had for Tyler and Holly. He had to let Jenny know not to say anything. He told Holly the boxes were gifts from Doc, but aside from the first one, Jake had packed them. He hated to think the grief she would give him if she found out. Hell, Evan was already calling him Father Teresa. Yeah, he hated the way he smirked when he did it, too, like he thought Jake was going all moony over Holly. He was just being neighborly, like his parents had taught him.

He called the general store and talked to Susie Tarpley, letting her know he’d run Tyler home in a couple of hours. In the meantime, he finished the paperwork on his desk. It included a proposal to the town council for an expansion to the building and the force. Right now they had just six sworn offices. Jake hoped to add two more. Ernie had shuffled more and more of the administrative work on him. About four-thirty he grabbed his coat and cap and checked in with the chief.

“I’m gonna get out of here early. I told Jim and Susie I’d run the Morgan kid home, so I’ll be in my truck. I’ll have my cell phone with me, though.”

“Careful. Scanners are starting to light up with a lot of traffic problems north of here along the interstate. Looks like this is switching over to freezing rain.”

Jake frowned. All they needed was an ice storm. Snow was one thing, but when things iced up, nobody moved no matter what they drove. He stopped by his house and grabbed the food he’d forgotten, tossing the box onto the backseat of the four-door truck. A half hour later he halted in front of Tarpley’s.

The snow indeed switched over to thick drops of freezing rain. They plopped like syrup on the windshield before the wipers whisked them away. Why was he doing this? Holly didn’t even live in Mountain Meadow, and she hadn’t given him any come-hither looks. Hell, maybe that was it. She was so determined to do everything on her own… Tyler slipped and slid his way to the passenger door and climbed in. Jake waved to Jim and Susie across the seat.