Cradle and All (18 page)

And he still filled her completely.

Damn, he was good at this. Too good. His intimate knowledge of a woman’s body spoke of experience. A lot of experience.

“I’m new to this kind of nuclear explosion,” she admitted. “How long does it take for the fallout to settle?”

“I don’t know,” he said, humor and wonder weaving through his tone. “This is a first for me, too.”

That made her happy. Insanely, foolishly happy.

He kissed her ear. “Anne?”

“Yes?”

“I didn’t mean for it to be so fast. But it’s been a long time for me, and having you in my arms is the answer to a prayer.”

“It’s been a long time for me, too,” she admitted. “And if you had gone any slower, I might have had to hurt you.”

His deep laugh rumbled warmly through him, and her.

He leaned down to kiss her neck, sending a delicious shiver across her skin. “Maybe we can take it a bit slower this time.”

“This time?” she asked, finding her breath catching at the mixture of heat and hunger in his voice.

His answer was a smile as he molded his lips to hers.

* * *

“Y
OU
’
RE
MARRIED
?”
Fred asked, her tone several octaves too high.

Anne still lay in bed, despite the fact that it was after ten in the morning. Between making love and taking care of the baby, neither she nor Tom had gotten much sleep.

When the baby had stirred them at six for his bottle, she’d fixed omelettes for Tom and her. But after that hunger had been satisfied, the other hunger had risen again. That incredible, insatiable hunger.

Now Tom was down in the kitchen, heating the baby’s formula.

“Yeah, I’m married, Fred,” Anne said, unable to get the goofy grin off her face. She ached in every cell of her body. And she’d never felt better.

“Why?” Fred wanted to know.

Damn good question.

“It seemed like the right thing to do at the time,” Anne said.

“Anne, you have not been yourself since you met that priest.”

Wasn’t that the truth.

“He’s embroiled you in that mess with the runaway dead girl. He’s got you telling people that baby is yours. And now this guy’s snooping around, asking questions about you.”

Anne straightened in the bed. “What guy?”

“Some private investigator. He’s been to the courthouse quizzing the clerks and bailiffs. Wanting to know if you were pregnant a few months ago.”

Bender. It had to be Bender.

“What did the people at the courthouse say?” Anne asked, alarm racing through her.

“They called me. I told them to give the guy nothing.”

Anne sighed in relief. “Did I ever tell you how great you are?”

“Yeah, yeah. Anne, he’s going to find out that baby isn’t yours. Why are you saying it is?”

“I’m trying to protect the little guy, Fred. Look, there’s something going on here I don’t fully understand. But I intend to. And until I can discover the truth, that baby is staying with me and Tom.”

“Where does the priest fit in?” Fred demanded.

“He’s the key to the mystery,” Anne said, and the literal truth in her words caused her to frown.

“Anne, I don’t like this. You hardly know this guy and you’ve gone and married him. This isn’t like you at all.”

And didn’t she know it. “It’s only temporary, Fred. Just until this thing with the baby gets sorted out.”

“Look, I’ve got vacation coming,” Fred said. “I can be there in a few hours. Just say the word.”

“Thanks, Fred, but no. I’ve turned off my cell phone. You have the number here now. Call if there’s any news. If all goes well, I should be back in the Berkshires in a few days.”

“And if all doesn’t go well?” Fred asked.

“Have faith, Fred. That’s what I’m operating on.”

Anne hung up the phone, feeling a great deal less lighthearted than she had at the beginning of her conversation. Fred’s words keep ringing in her ears.
You hardly know the guy.

It many ways, it was the truth. And yet in other ways she felt as though she had known Tom forever. Especially after the night they had spent in each other’s arms.

That totally unbelievable night.

It was Tom’s thoughtfulness, his total focus on her pleasure that undid Anne every time. She’d never realized what a boring, self-focused lover Bill had been.

She had no doubt now that what was inside a man came out in his lovemaking. And what was inside Tom was nothing short of magic.

Still, she was operating on faith.

Faith that Tom was telling her the truth. Faith that Tommy was his. Faith that Tom’s need to keep silent about Tommy’s mother was worth his secrecy.

What if she were wrong?

“Why the frown?” Tom asked as he stepped into the bedroom with Tommy in his arms.

Anne looked up from her thoughts. Tom’s thick, straight hair was totally mussed, mostly from her eager hands. A golden stubble lined his chin. He was wearing nothing but light-blue briefs on his lean body. She didn’t think she’d ever get over the pleasure of seeing the muscles bunch beneath his naked bronze skin.

Tom read the changing expression on Anne’s face and smiled. She had gone from looking worried to watching him with that unconscious intensity that had driven him wild the first moment he saw it.

He was beside her in the bed in a flash, setting the baby in her lap and reaching for her.

“We have to get up, Tom,” Anne protested, then sighed as he kissed that lovely, long, sensitive neck of hers.

“I thought you might want to try Tommy on your breast again,” Tom coaxed as he delicately brushed his fingers across her already peaking nipples poking above the sheets.

“You think that’s going to work, do you?”

There was a dare in her eyes and defiance in her tone, but the quickening of her breath belied both.

“Shall we see?” he asked, gently taking her mouth with his and drawing the sheets away. She sighed with pleasure as she pulled him to her.

* * *

“W
E
LOST
A
WHOLE
DAY
,” Anne lamented as she and Tom entered the offices of the Bureau of Health Statistics in Dorchester the next morning.

The light danced in Tom’s eyes. “Anne, the last thing I would call a day spent in bed with you is
lost.
”

Anne glanced down at Tommy to hide the color rising to her cheeks. The baby was looking around, bright eyed and very alert. His color was back to normal, as was his temperature.

“The rest was probably good for Tommy,” she acquiesced. “He seems so much better today.”

“That’s because the love you give him is even more important than breast milk.”

Anne couldn’t help but smile. Tom always seemed to know the right thing to say to her. And do to her. What she had learned about lovemaking over the last twenty-four hours could fill more volumes than all the law books in her office library.

Until she met Tom, she hadn’t known what sensuality really meant. Or pleasure. If it had been up to him, they would probably be spending today in bed, as well. It hadn’t been easy convincing him otherwise. Or herself.

Still, the very practical side of her had to admit that she could now suckle Tommy on either breast without the slightest discomfort. As long as Tom kissed or touched her first. And she loved the way Tommy fell into such a peaceful sleep after being at her breast.

Thoughts of Tommy brought Anne’s focus back to the task at hand. They had to learn about this baby that Shrubber claimed was Tommy. And why Shrubber would make such a claim when Tom said otherwise.

Anne studied their surroundings. She could see that the county office had limited personnel, all clearly swamped with paperwork.

“I could introduce myself as a judge and see if that will speed things up,” Anne said as she contemplated the long waiting line in front of them. “Thing is, I’m out of my jurisdiction here and I can’t pretend that this is an official inquiry.”

“Why don’t you sit over there,” Tom said, pointing to some chairs. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Anne understood he had worn his clerical garb and white collar today in the hope of facilitating their investigation.

She nodded and sat down with Tommy on her lap. He was such a bundle of energy this morning. He’d already pulled the top button off her blouse. She had only just saved him from swallowing it. She had few blouses left now without one or two buttons missing. She should have brought along a sewing kit.

But he was so cute she couldn’t mind. He reached up, pulled her bangs and giggled. It was so wonderful to see him well and happy. Every time she thought about how close Shrubber had come to taking away this sweet child, it gave her a small chill. Tommy belonged with Tom. She was sure of it.

And with his mother?

She sighed. The reality of Tommy’s mother was a wedge between Anne and the baby. And Tom. She was certain Tom did not love the mother of his child. He’d told her that he had never proposed to a woman before her—or wanted to. Anne believed him. But what was his relationship with the mother of his child? And why was it such a big secret?

Anne was used to facing problems squarely and dealing with them. But this woman’s presence in their lives was like an ominous shadow. And only Tom was capable of bringing her into the light. Would he?

Tom’s clerical collar, patience and courtesy won over the harried clerk who finally waited on him. Despite the fact that he couldn’t provide the place or precise date of birth, she continued to search her database until the right record had been retrieved.

When Tom brought a certified copy of the birth certificate over to Anne, he sat beside her and they went over it together.

Anne quickly skimmed through the facts. “Birth date January 5. Four-fifteen in the morning. Delivered by a Dr. Martin Faust. The baby was born in a South Boston hospital?”

“Something about that disturbs you, Anne?”

“Andy told us the Kendralls live on Beacon Hill. Why would Heather Kendrall have gone all the way to South Boston to deliver her baby?”

“I see what you’re saying. You don’t think it’s possible she could have been away from home, gone into labor and been rushed to the nearest hospital?”

“Maybe,” Anne said, but she wasn’t convinced. “Let’s go to that South Boston hospital where she delivered. Any thoughts as to how we can get confidential information out of hospital personnel?”

“Not off the top of my head,” Tom admitted. “But something tells me you do.”

“I have an idea that might work,” she said.

Tom watched the light dancing in her eyes. It was invigorating working with someone whose mind was so quick. And whose heart was so warm. He had fallen in love with Anne in ways that weren’t remotely romantic, and yet were so much richer and real.

How much he wanted to tell her what was in his heart. But he knew it was still too soon to say the words. All he could do was continue to show her.

* * *

T
HE
HOSPITAL
TURNED
out to be small and private. Anne hopped out of the car, eager to get started. Tom stayed behind to change the baby, and arranged to meet her later in the lobby. She had told Tom what she was going to do and he’d kissed her cheek, telling her she was brilliant.

Anne had never felt so accepted or appreciated for who she was.

Tom didn’t try to control her as the other men in her life had. He controlled himself. His deep confidence had him applauding her accomplishments, not placing himself in petty competition with them.

He was the first man she’d ever met who didn’t have to prove anything to anyone. He not only knew exactly who he was, he was totally comfortable with who he was.

She had been drawn to those qualities in him from the first, and with every passing second, she grew to appreciate them even more.

Anne entered the hospital and proceeded to the gift shop, where she bought a spring bouquet of irises, lilies, tulips and daisies. She then took the elevator to the maternal-newborn suite.

It was quiet on the floor. No expecting parents were in the waiting room. Anne approached the nurse who manned the central station, a stout woman somewhere in her forties, with rimless glasses and a busy air. The name tag on her lapel said Google.

Anne sent her a smile. “Hi. I’ve come to thank a nurse who took care of a new mother who delivered here recently. Can you help me?”

“What’s the nurse’s name?” Google asked in a clipped, quick tone.

“That’s the problem,” Anne said. “I don’t know.”

“Well, then, I don’t see how I can help you.”

“I thought maybe you could check the records to see who assisted the doctor,” Anne said. “It would be in there, wouldn’t it?”

Google didn’t really want to do that. It was written all over her face. But Anne was smiling and holding up the bouquet of flowers, and it was clear that the nurse felt the pressure to at least try to be helpful.

“All right,” she said, moving over to the computer. “What’s the name of your friend?”

“Heather Kendrall.”

Google typed in the name, then waited until the computer retrieved the information. “Kendrall delivered on the morning of January 5,” she said in a tone that had definitely turned sour. “And you’re just now deciding to thank the nurse?”

Anne smiled brilliantly. “Oh, wonderful. You found the record. What’s her name?”

Google wore a lemon-sucking look on her face. “Ronley.”

“And where may I find Nurse Ronley?” Anne asked.

“She’s not here.”

“May I reach her at her home?”

“I can’t give out that information.”

“Can you at least tell me when she’ll next be on duty?”

“She’s Faust’s private nurse. She works on his schedule.”

“Is Dr. Faust here?” Anne asked.

“Nope.” Google was clearly getting tired of answering questions.

“Do you expect him anytime soon?” Anne persisted.

“He’s only here when his patients check in to deliver. Babies don’t get born on schedules.”

Anne hid her irritation at the nurse’s condescending tone as she thanked her. So much for her sleuthing skills. She was thoroughly disappointed as she walked toward the elevators to return to the lobby.