That's My Baby!. Vicki Lewis Thompson

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      He’d been demoted from that first-name basis pretty quick, Nat thought as he wondered how to answer her.

      “What the hell kind of question is that, Adele?” Russell asked. “The man said they were friends. Don’t go making something more of it.”

      Adele ignored her husband and continued to study Nat. “She never mentioned being involved with someone,” she said, “but I knew it had to happen, sooner or later. She’s a beautiful girl.”

      Nat’s throat went dry. “Yes.”

      “She didn’t trust many people,” Adele continued, her gaze steady. “If she trusted you enough to let you know who she is, then I suspect you’re more than a friend to her.”

      He’d hoped to avoid getting this specific, but he wasn’t going to lie to her parents. “We’re more than friends,” he said.

      “Oh, that’s terrific!” Russell said. “Are you telling me you left my daughter high and dry while you went running all over God’s creation helping strangers in that little piss-ant country over there?”

      “I…” Nat cleared his throat and faced Russell. He’d come into this room thinking of himself as a world-weary champion of the underprivileged. But he was beginning to feel more like an irresponsible teenager. “Yes, sir, I’m afraid that’s exactly what I did. And I’d like to make it up to her.”

      “You’ll have to catch her first.”

      Nat damn well intended to do that. At least it didn’t sound as if she’d found herself another guy. “Do you happen to remember where she was the last time she called?”

      Adele’s poise cracked a little. “She won’t tell us,” she said, a quiver in her voice.

      The tightness in his chest grew. “What do you mean?”

      Adele’s knuckles showed white under her delicate skin as she clenched her hands in her lap. “She only says she’s on a grand adventure and she’ll fill us in later.”

      “What?” Nat set down his drink and stared at her, incredulous.

      “She apparently uses a pay phone,” Adele said, “and she gets off the line before we can—”

      “This is unbelievable!” In his agitation, Nat got to his feet. “I know she wants to live her own life, but refusing to tell you her whereabouts is ridiculous!”

      “I wanted to hire somebody to track her down,” Russell said, sounding defeated. “Adele won’t let me. She says if we do that, we’re liable to lose her forever.”

      “At least now she calls!” Adele stood, as well. “If you get heavy-handed, she’ll stop doing that!”

      “Then I guess I’ll have to find her,” Nat said. And she’d better have a damn good explanation for her behavior when he did. Maybe her mother and father were overprotective, but it was obvious to him that they loved her. They deserved better treatment than this. Either something was terribly wrong, or his darling Jess had turned into a brat.

      “Don’t tell her you came to see us,” Adele said. “Please. She might think we asked you to find her for us.”

      “Don’t worry, I won’t involve you.”

      Russell levered himself from his chair. “But if you want that foundation money, you’ll tell us where she is when you locate her,” he said.

      Nat gazed at him. As fair as that sounded, he couldn’t agree to it. First he had to talk to Jess and find out what had caused her to take off like this. “I can’t make that promise. I will try to convince her to come out of hiding so you don’t have to worry so much about her, but under the circumstances, maybe I should withdraw my request for foundation money.”

      “No, no, you shouldn’t.” Russell’s mouth twitched in a ghost of a grin. “But you can’t blame me for trying to use some leverage.”

      Nat smiled at him. “No, I can’t.”

      “My accountants will contact your Colorado office in a few days.”

      “What if Jessica finds out that you’re helping with this foundation? Won’t she make the connection?”

      Nat had had enough. He’d learned that life could be short and brutal, and he didn’t have time for games. “Look, the welfare of those orphans is too important to let Jess interfere with the fund-raising. Unless she’s a different person from the one I knew, she wouldn’t want to interfere, no matter what her personal situation is. And I intend to find out exactly what that is.”

      “You sound so sure you will,” Adele said.

      “That’s because I am sure I will.” He refused to consider any other possibility.

      “You called her Jess,” Adele said. “Does she go by that now?”

      Nat looked at her. “No. I just…I call her that.” He realized how familiar that sounded. Her parents didn’t shorten her name when they spoke of her.

      “I see,” Adele said. Obviously she saw everything.

      Russell cleared his throat. “I don’t know your exact relationship to my daughter, and I don’t think I want to know,” he said. “Maybe you left her high and dry and maybe you didn’t. But if you find her and can let us know, this number will get you straight through to me.” He handed Nat an embossed card.

      “I’ll find her.”

      Russell extended his hand, and there was an unspoken plea in his gaze. He was obviously too proud to voice it, but it was there, nevertheless. “Good luck to you, son.”

      CHAPTER THREE

      JESSICA DIDN’T BOTHER to follow the road around to the house. She moved through the trees, greeting each one as an old friend while she tried to decide what to do once she arrived at the mansion. She couldn’t imagine what Nat was doing there. She was afraid to hope he was looking for her.

      Her first glimpse of the house brought a rush of homesickness. Glancing up to the second floor, she picked out the darkened windows of her bedroom. Her parents wouldn’t have changed it. She and her mother had flown to Paris to choose the golden toile de Jouy fabric that draped the windows and the antique canopy bed. The bed probably had sheets on it, just in case she returned.

      Most of the time she’d felt trapped in this house, but she’d also felt incredibly safe. Safety sounded good right now.

      But if she walked into the house and accepted the protection her parents would love to give her, she’d lose all the independent ground she’d gained. And the fight wasn’t only about her now. Elizabeth deserved to grow up like a normal child instead of being followed by bodyguards wherever she went.

      Oh, but the tug of home was strong, even after all this time. They were burning oak in the fireplace. The familiar smell of the smoke made her throat ache. She could picture her mother СКАЧАТЬ