Special Delivery (Mountain Meadow Homecoming 1) (17 page)

Then came Christmas vacation of their senior year. It had been the most beautiful thing. Both virgins, they were nervous and a little uncertain, but so in love with each other it didn’t matter. They were careful, using condoms because she was too embarrassed to see the town doctor for birth control pills.

Evan stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. They had been so careful and so correct until prom. But someone spiked the punch that night, probably with her daddy’s moonshine, and they both got tipsy—and horny. They made love in the car and then again at the hotel room near the interstate. They had stayed there all night, coming again and again. Neither had given a thought to birth control.

Evan looked down now in self-derision. He was half-hard just at the memories.

They had talked about their future together. She would be the town doctor and he was going to right wrongs and put the bad guys in jail as an attorney. Well they’d both achieved their goals; just their future as a couple had vanished.

He showered and padded downstairs in his bare feet, still feeling morose and disinclined to talk. Holly puttered in the kitchen with Noelle on her shoulder. She gave him a quick smile before reaching into the cabinet with her free hand to grab a coffee cup.

“The coffee’s still fresh if you’d like some. Black, right?”

“Yeah,” he said pleased she remembered. She poured the cup and handed it to him. “Thanks, Holly.”

“No problem. How are you feeling?”

“Like a fraud for not going to work.”

She grinned. “But you are working. You’re my security force, and much better-looking than a pit bull.”

Evan chuckled. “I’m glad you can joke about it.”

Her green eyes sparked. “I refuse to allow Spence to make me shed one more tear. I refuse to allow him to intimidate me. Just two weeks to Christmas, Evan, and we should be celebrating.”

The kitchen timer beeped just then. “Oh. Those are the cinnamon rolls. I made more because Jake and Tyler ate all the ones I baked earlier, and I thought you might like some. Here.” She handed him Noelle and Evan froze.

“Just lay her against your shoulder. Put one hand under her little butt and the other behind her head.” She smiled at him. “Just like that. You’re a natural. I’ll get the cinnamon rolls out. Do you want an egg?”

Evan’s head spun. He’d been dropped next to a tornado of happiness. “Uh. No egg. The rolls are fine.”

A desperate need for oxygen forced him to take a breath, and he was relieved to discover it didn’t make the warm little bundle in his arms cry. While Holly bustled around removing the rolls from their pan and placing them on a plate, Evan peeked at Noelle. She had a tiny little bow of a mouth, a button nose, and dark lashes resting against her pink cheeks. She wiggled one tiny hand out of the blanket she was swaddled in, and when he stuck his finger against her miniature palm, her fingers latched onto his with surprising strength. Evan’s eyes widened.

“She grabs right onto your heart, too, doesn’t she?” Holly whispered next to his ear.

“Yeah.” He sounded breathy and a little hoarse, not at all like the cynical, sarcastic commonwealth’s attorney known throughout the district as a real hardnose. He flushed, glad no one was around to see.

“Here,” Holly said with a smile. “I’ll take her so I can put her down for her morning nap. Help yourself. I’ll join you in a few minutes.”

His hand trembled when he picked up his coffee cup. He rubbed a faint ache in the middle of his chest and reached for a cinnamon roll. Would Holly laugh if he asked to hold Noelle again? There was just something about them. It reminded him a little of Christmas morning when he was young.

* * * *

“Jake?” Ernie stuck his head inside the office door. “Betty Gatewood’s here to see you with a couple women from the church.”

“Are they here to thank us for finding the nativity toilet paperers?”

Ernie grimaced. “’Fraid not, son. I think this might be more personal business.”

Jake groaned as he rose from his chair. He’d been expecting this. In a town as small as Mountain Meadow, word would already have gotten around Holly Morgan was living at his house. He was just surprised it had taken this long. He stepped into the lobby and plastered a smile on his face.

Patience, Allred.

“Good morning, Mrs. Gatewood, ladies,” he greeted them. “What can I do for you?”

“Is there some place we could speak in private, Lieutenant Allred?” Betty Gatewood’s posture and tone were far from friendly.

Jake kept his smile in place. “Sure. Please come back to my office, ladies. It might be a little cramped, but we’ll make do.” He held the door and allowed them to precede him before easing past their combined bulk and gesturing them to the chairs. “Please, sit.”

All three ladies sat as one just as if they were obeying the direction of the preacher from the pulpit. All three perched on the edge of their chairs, hands gripping their purses as though bent on choking the evil demons from them.

“Lieutenant Allred,” Betty Gatewood began.

“Just call me Jake, ma’am. After all, you’ve known me most of my life,” he added with a grin that faded when none of the three women responded.

“We’re here to speak about your current living situation…and to find out what you intend to do about it.”

Jake decided to be obtuse. No way was he sharing the fact part of Holly’s presence was a matter of protection. “Well you know, I bought that big Victorian house over on Maple, right next door to Evan Richardson, and I’m very happy there, so I don’t believe I’ll be moving anytime soon.”

Mrs. Gatewood huffed, “That is not what we’re referring to.”

“Oh?” He wasn’t going to make this any easier for them.

“You have that young woman living with you, the single woman who just had a baby.”

As if he couldn’t figure that one out. Jake’s good humor faded. “You’re referring to Holly Morgan and Noelle. I also have Miss Morgan’s younger brother, Tyler, living with me. You forgot him.”

Her companions shifted, but not Mrs. Gatewood. “You are still young and might not have given much thought to it, but there are certain expectations about the way our top law enforcement officers should behave. Living with a woman of low moral fiber is not acceptable.”

Jake leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk and loosely clasping his hands to keep from flipping all three ladies the bird or punching Betty Gatewood in her sanctimonious face. “Let me clear up a few things for you, Mrs. Gatewood,” he began. “First, I am not
living with
Holly Morgan as you mean it. In return for room and board, Holly agreed to cook, clean, and wash laundry for me. Second, I took her, Noelle, and Tyler in because Doc Owens asked me. The old Crawley place was too isolated and unsafe for the baby. Third, Holly’s here with her brother to escape an abusive ex-fiancé.

“Accusing her of low morals without knowing the first thing about her says more about you than her. And finally, Mrs. Gatewood,” Jake snapped, patience be damned, “were you a man, I would already have punched you in the nose for insulting Holly. As it is, I’ll just ask you to leave.”

The woman’s eyes glowed with spite. “My husband is on the town council, Lieutenant, and I will be sure to pass on to him how you threatened me in front of witnesses.”

“You do that, ma’am. Now if y’all will excuse me, I have work to do. You ladies have a Merry Christmas. You remember that holiday don’t you, Mrs. Gatewood, when a young woman gave birth to a son out of wedlock?”

All three ladies gasped as if the devil himself had popped up and yelled “boo” before they fled the Mountain Meadow police station faster than Franklin County moonshiners running from the revenuers. Jake pursed his lips.

There was nothing like holier-than-thou hypocrites to push a guy right into a marriage proposal. And damn it, he didn’t care if they had known each other for just days, he was asking Holly Morgan to marry him. All he’d needed was someone criticizing her for him to realize he wanted her, her baby, and her brother. Jake’s feelings were already way past friendship. He knew it and so did she. They were a family. Jake pushed out of his chair, heading for the front of the station.

“Ernie?”

“Yeah.” The older man eyed him.

“I need to run to the bank for a few minutes. Won’t take me long.”

Ernie tilted his head. “Cashing it in and leaving town?”

“Nope.”

“Well if anybody could drive a man to it, Betty Gatewood could.”

Jake shrugged on his jacket. “Gonna get my grandma’s ring out of the safety deposit box.”

Ernie’s bushy brows met his receding hairline. “That’s a might fast, isn’t it? You and Holly haven’t even been on a date yet, have you?”

Jake chuckled, knowing he was blushing, but feeling he had to explain. “Nope, but I guess helping a woman bring her baby into the world, you kinda skip a few things.”

“I s’pose.”

Jake whistled as he shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and headed across the square. No, they hadn’t dated in the traditional sense, but they had shared some pretty steamy kisses. Add the intimacy of living under the same roof, and they’d already established a relationship. He just hoped Holly felt the same.

* * * *

Holly was in the basement doing laundry. Just watching her work around the house exhausted Evan. He’d never seen anyone with as much energy—well, maybe Jake—but especially someone who’d just had a baby a few days ago. Wasn’t she supposed to need everyone waiting on her? All she’d asked him to do was keep an ear out for Noelle.

“If she wakes, it’s because her diaper’s wet or she’s hungry,” Holly explained. “If you’ll just change her diaper and bring her down, I’ll take care of the hungry part. Okay?”

Evan kept his eyes anywhere but on Holly’s chest as he nodded and hoped like hell the baby would stay asleep. Still, he hovered near the bottom of the stairs to make sure he would hear her move.

His phone rang and he checked the caller ID. His office. “Richardson here.”

“Oh, Mr. Richardson,” Wanda Sue, one of his clerks, gushed. “We all hope you’re feeling better, sir.”

Evan’s mouth twisted. “Right. And I should also believe you just mailed your wish lists to Santa too, I suppose.”

“Mr. Richardson.”

“Just cut to the chase, Wanda Sue.”

“Your daddy called looking for you, said he couldn’t reach you at home. We told him you were in court like you said to…”

Evan heard a soft mewl from upstairs, and his eyes widened.

“Whatever… That’s fine. I have to go. The baby’s crying.”

“Baby? What baby?”

Evan started to punch End and stopped. “Say, Wanda Sue…don’t you have a couple kids?”

“Yes, sir. One seven and one three.”

“Think you could talk me through changing a diaper?” Dead silence met his request. “Well?”

“Of…of course, sir.”

“Great. Hang on.”

He dashed up the stairs two at a time. Cradling the phone against one shoulder, he picked the now squalling Noelle up, balancing her on his other shoulder. “Okay. There’s a table here with diapers, some of those wipe things, some lotion, and some powder. Where do I start?”

“The first thing you do is lay the baby on the changing table and unfasten the dirty diaper.”

Evan squeezed the phone between his ear and his shoulder. “Do I hear laughter in the background?”

“No, sir,” she assured him in a voice that sounded just a bit choked.

By the time he ended the call, Evan had a lot more respect for Wanda Sue. He couldn’t care less what his office thought of him at that moment. Noelle watched him with her big, gorgeous eyes, her little lips pursed, and he was lost. He smiled as he cradled her in the crook of his arm and headed downstairs. He had just reached the last step when he heard the knocker tap a couple of times. This place was busier than his office.

Jake needed to put in a peephole. Evan eased the door open until he saw Jenny’s blond hair and then pulled it the rest of the way.

* * * *

Jenny turned, the smile on her face fading into a short gasp at the sight of Evan smiling into the face of a newborn. Her medical bag dropped out of nerveless fingers. For just a moment, their eyes met and held, then she blinked and swallowed. Jenny jerked her gaze away, bending down to grab her bag.

“I…I came to check you and Holly.” Her voice was strained.

“Come in,” Evan said, looking almost as rattled as she felt. Just then Noelle’s alert little face, with her waving arms and kicking legs, crumpled into a howl. “Shh,” Evan cooed and began rocking her back and forth. Who was this man—an alien straight from
Men in Black
?

“She might need her diaper changed.”

“No,” Evan assured her. “Already did that. She must be hungry. I’ll take her to Holly. Come on in.”

Jenny raised her hand. “Whoa. Back up just a minute. Did I just hear you say you changed her diaper?”

Evan coughed. “Yes. Well I had help.”

“Help?”

“Wanda Sue, one of my clerks, talked me through it over the phone.”

Jenny’s lip twitched. She couldn’t help it. She reached for the baby. “I’ll take her.”

Evan pulled back. “I have her. Holly told me to look after her.”

“Well, offer the tip of your pinkie to her to suck on for a minute until she can get the real thing. It might stop her crying.” Jenny followed him as he bounced the baby on his arm and led the way down the hall to the basement stairs. “Evan, are you telling me everyone in your office now knows you changed a diaper?”

“Hmm. I suppose.”

Jenny examined his broad shoulders and his well-cut dark hair and began to chuckle. As Evan continued down the steps, she had to stop and sit. She was laughing so hard she had to wipe her eyes.

Holly appeared and studied the two of them as she reached for Noelle. “What’s up?”

Jenny waved her hands as she continued to laugh. Evan scowled at her and spoke to Holly. “One of my clerks called me and while I was on the phone, Noelle began crying, so Wanda Sue talked me through changing her diaper.”

Holly smiled. “Well that was mighty nice of her. You must have some excellent employees. I hope you appreciate them.”

Evan’s mouth opened and shut like a fish gasping for breath, or as if the idea of appreciating his employees had never occurred to him before. “I do now.”