Second Thoughts (7 page)

Derek and baby followed the big man into the house, and the first guy followed them.

Connie took her first deep breath since Derek had lit out after the baby. Her grip on each child loosened, but only slightly. Then she looked carefully at the baby she held. The twins both wore blue coveralls, but this one had straight hair, no forehead curl, and a turned-up nose. It seemed to be fighting sleep and was losing the battle. She looked questioningly at Chris. “Isn’t this Abbie?”

“Uh-huh. Unca Dare can’t tell them apart.”

She let her breath out in a long whoosh. “As long as he doesn’t have to change a diaper, it doesn’t make a difference which one he thinks he’s got.”

She scanned the yard. They had to wait for Derek and Andy, but she didn’t like their position. They were like goldfish in a bowl. It was pure luck so far that no one had looked their way. But neither did she want to try to hide behind either of the vehicles. Nothing looked good.

Her gaze settled on the house again, and she wondered if situating themselves on the side of it, at the front corner beneath the window, would be their best bet. At least they wouldn’t be in the wide-open spaces. The window was curtained, so it was doubtful their approach would be detected unless someone inside came right up to the glass. And if anyone did so, she and the kids crouching beneath the tree limbs would show up as clearly as a picture on a postcard anyway. She bit her lip, not wanting to make a move for fear it would be the wrong one, but she had to do something.

“Okay,” she said under her breath. Just in case, she mentally ran through the moves she’d learned in the self-defense class she’d taken last year. But the class hadn’t covered carrying a baby with a five-year-old child in tow. She’d have to wing that part.

She turned to Chris. “We might be better off closer to the house, right there at the corner. We’re not concealed very well here. If we go over there, we might even be able to overhear Uncle Dare and the other men. What do you think, partner?”

He looked at the house, then back at her. “Yes,” he said seriously. “I think that’s what we should do.”

Connie swallowed, acutely aware of just how much she loved this child and his siblings. Fleetingly, she wondered if perhaps she and Chris and the one baby should try to backtrack instead, but quickly discarded that thought. The worst thing they could do was become separated. They had to stick together.

And she decided she was going to buy a cell phone at her first opportunity and wear it in her pocket for the rest of her life.

She looked at Abbie. The fresh air and activity had knocked the baby out. She wouldn’t be warning anybody of their presence. Connie nodded to Christopher, hefted the baby up, and they made their way across the yard. Chris dutifully tugged the diaper bag along with him.

Hank Williams, Jr. was cut off in mid-note. Connie frowned and paused, not liking the silence. The music would’ve helped mask sounds she and the two kids might make. But they were halfway there and couldn’t stand out here pretending they were invisible. Chris looked up at her, his eyes both trusting and questioning. She breathed deeply, drawing on her courage, and they continued. Then finally they were crouched beneath the window at the front corner of the house. The few minutes their travel must have taken had seemed like an hour.

“…sure look familiar to me,” someone inside the building was saying. “You’re positive we haven’t met?”

“Yes,” Derek’s voice said. “I mean, no, we haven’t met.”

“And your name’s Derek. Even that’s familiar, but I can’t figure out why.”

Derek made a noncommittal sound in response.

“Running out of gas with a baby in tow can’t be fun,” said a deeper voice. Connie assumed that must be the biggest man, and she caught a touch of humor in his tone. That was reassuring, but he still had a mask in his pocket and probably a gun in there, too.

“They call me Moose, Mr. Derek. And that’s Max, and that’s his brother, Petey. Nice to meet you.”

“My pleasure,” Derek said. His voice sounded forced. “And, uh, well, since the auto club said it will take close to an hour…”

Connie scrunched her face up. An hour? He needed a new auto club.

“Abbie and I should start back to the car.”

“Won’t work, Mr. Derek. You gave them this address, not the location of your car.”

Connie closed her eyes and shook her head.

“Yeah, that’s right. That’s what I did. Uh, well…”

“What’s that smell?” asked a new voice. Though it was deep enough that it was undeniably adult male, something in it reminded Connie of her first-graders. And Petey was a nickname for a child, not a grown man. She felt lines forming in her forehead as she tried to work out who the men were—more important, what their natures were—from the sounds of their voices alone. Neat trick. “Somebody stinks. Just like yesterday.”

“Abbie must’ve messed her pants,” Moose said. A smile in his voice came through loud and clear. “Babies do that.”

Derek swore mildly. “Yep, that’s what she did, all right.”

Moose said, “No diaper bag. You didn’t bring anything with you?”

“I brought a bag.” Derek sounded relieved. “It’s outside. I’ll go get it.”

“I’ll walk with you.” That was the first voice again, which probably belonged to Max. He sounded suspicious, and Connie wasn’t surprised. Derek was too nervous. His mind was clearly on the group he’d left outside, and his worry showed. And Max might become even more suspicious once he found out Derek didn’t know what sex his baby was.

“That’s not necessary,” Derek said, but Connie didn’t think he was going to win this one. She looked around, thinking hard, then pulled the bag apart, put aside a diaper and some moist wipes, and crept to the edge of the house with the carryall, holding the sleeping Abbie on her shoulder. Fervently she wished for something to slow Max down. All she needed was ten seconds. Five.

“You go ahead,” Max said. “I need to get something, but I’ll be right behind you.”

Derek appeared, looking anxiously toward the spot where he’d left Connie and the kids and making go-away motions. Then he faltered, appearing both puzzled and relieved that they weren’t there.

Connie stepped out from the side of the house. Derek jumped in surprise, which made his baby laugh. She dropped the bag at his feet and thrust the sleeping Abbie at him. Out of reflex, he accepted the child into his free arm. Connie grabbed the wide-awake Andy and dodged back around the side of the house.

“Uh,” Derek said.

The screen door opened. “Oh, you got the bag already. That was quick.”

After a short silence, Max said, “Never saw a baby go to sleep so fast. What happened?”

“Must be the fresh air,” Derek said lamely.

Abbie made fussing sounds. She probably didn’t appreciate being passed around like a football while she was trying to sleep. Her fussing grew fainter as Derek carried her into the house.

Moose said, “Poor little thing. What happened? A minute ago she was all smiles.” Then, a short moment later, he said, “Well, I’ll be. That diaper is as clean as can be. Could’ve sworn there was a load in there.”

“Yeah,” Derek said. He sounded weary, like he was having difficulty keeping up. “I thought so, too. Must’ve been gas. Babies do that, too.”

“You want to watch TV, Mr. Derek, till the auto man gets here?” asked the young yet grownup voice. “Here’s the TV Guide. You can watch anything you want.”

“O’Reilly! Derek O’Reilly. I knew I knew you!” Then the tone turned even more suspicious. “Why didn’t you tell us who you were? And that your first name is Derek, not your last, like we thought.”

Finishing up the fastest changing job she’d ever done, Connie’s hands grew still. She waited anxiously to discover if the fact that Derek’s hosts had a celebrity in their midst would turn out to be advantageous or disadvantageous to their guest.

“Well, uh…” Her ex-husband was usually quite glib, but he couldn’t prove that by his present display of conversational skills.

“And, come to think of it, it says in here you’re not married and you don’t have kids. Who’s that you’re holding?”

“I’m divorced. And this is,” he paused, sounding uncertain, then finished. “My niece. And you wouldn’t believe what happens to too many people once they realize they’re talking to a television personality. I’m a lot more comfortable just being me.”

“Oh.” A short pause, then the voice eased up. “Makes sense.”

“Max, go outside with me for a minute?”

Uh-oh, Connie thought. That had been the husky voice, but it no longer sounded like it had humor in it. Once one guy’s suspicion had seemed to ease, the other one’s got started. She wondered what was wrong. And she also wondered precisely where outside it was these guys wanted to go.

Her gaze flew around the yard, but no cover had popped up anywhere since the last time she’d looked. The only place left to hide was the back of the house. She lifted Andy in one arm, snatched up his soiled diaper in her other hand, and motioned for Christopher to follow her. She hoped Andy would behave himself and not start talking to a leaf. She would’ve been safer with the sleeping Abbie.

As she rounded the side of the house at a full run she almost collided with the two men who were exiting the back door.

Everybody froze. She looked at them and they looked at her. The three people stood like statues for what seemed like eternity. Chris remained hidden around the corner of the house, but Connie didn’t know how that was going to help.

Out of necessity, she took in a breath.

The shorter man came to life. He pointed at the baby. He looked back inside the house, then again at Connie and her ward. “But…”

“Twins.” The big man’s face creased into a smile. “Hey, Max, it’s finally making sense.”

The smaller guy looked at the bigger guy. “It is?”

“You might as well come on in,” the big one said. Moose was an apt name for him. And Max now appeared more dumbfounded than suspicious. “But first,” Moose paused and lifted the lid on the garbage can sitting next to the door. “You can throw that dirty diaper in here. And I’ll go so far as to guess that baby has a boy’s name. Right?”

Connie said nothing. She felt rooted to the spot of ground on which she stood.

Moose said to Max, “They must’ve seen Petey’s mask.” Then his gaze returned to Connie. “Come on in. No one’s going to hurt anyone, but we still can’t let you go. You must be Derek’s sister, the twins’ mother?”

She shook her head.

That seemed to throw him. “No? Well, we can finish our introductions inside.” He stood aside and motioned for her to enter. When she still hesitated, he looked beyond her, scanning the yard. “Er, there’s no one else out here?”

Her shoulders sagged as she blew her breath out. “Chris?”

He appeared at the corner of the house. “Hi.”

Max appeared taken aback, but Moose merely chuckled. “It just keeps getting better and better.”

Though the situation frightened her, Connie realized she didn’t fear Moose, despite his size. But she wasn’t sure about the other guy. He was too hard to read.

The shorter man’s gaze continued to travel back and forth. Connie and Andy, then Chris, then back again, like he was following a tennis ball. He didn’t appear pleased with the tennis ball.

“It’s a nursery school,” he muttered. “They brought a whole school with them. What are we going to do with all these kids?”

“So let me see if I’ve got this straight,” Max said. He’d carried a kitchen chair into the family room, and he sat with both feet on the floor and hands on his knees. He appeared to be neither friendly nor hostile. Now that he’d gotten past his initial surprise, he even seemed to be taking in stride the various ages of his uninvited guests.

“You’re divorced, from each other.” He lifted his hands, ticked the point off on his left forefinger, and then went on to the next item and digit. “The kids belong to Derek’s brother and his wife. They’re in Hawaii until Thursday. Aunt Connie was babysitting. Uncle Derek showed up and took everybody fishing.”

The last point went on his left thumb. He changed hands. “You ran out of gas, packed everybody up and went hiking, and managed to arrive just in time to see Petey’s mask. Abbie went to sleep, and Andy went for an unauthorized walk and pooped his pants.”

Out of digits, he dropped his hands and stared straight at Connie, who sat next to Derek on the camel-colored sofa with its sagging cushions. “At which time Aunt Connie turned herself into a one-man tag team, running circles around everybody until she ran smack into the people she was trying to run away from.”

His attention switched to Derek, who’d been gazing steadily at him. “Did I miss anything?”

“No.” Connie bit the word off. She’d tightened up the moment Christopher had opened his mouth. Neither she nor Derek had said a word, but Max now knew everything about them except their social security numbers.

On the straight-backed wooden chair, Max sat taller than anyone else. Moose was next to him, looking comfortable in an upholstered easy chair with Abbie on his lap. Connie wasn’t sure how she’d gotten there, but she seemed okay. She appeared fascinated with his ring and watch. Andy was on Connie’s lap, wrestling with his shoe.

“Okay, now let’s see if we’ve got the other side of it straight,” Derek countered. Once everything and everyone was out in the open, he’d regained his cool and now effectively matched Max’s casual yet authoritative manner. It had to be pure facade, and Connie gave him marks for his acting skills.