Another Woman's Baby. Joanna Wayne

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СКАЧАТЬ give it up to strangers.

      Pushing open the door, she stepped into the bedroom that had been hers for as long as she could remember. The bed was made, the coverlet pulled back to reveal crisp white sheets and fluffy pillows. All it had taken was one call to Fenelda and the house had been readied for her return. The furniture dusted, the cobwebs brushed from the corners, the wooden floors swept clean and the carpets vacuumed. And all six bathrooms had fresh towels on the racks.

      Crossing the moss-colored carpet, she opened one of the sliding doors. When she’d been young, the sound of the surf had always served as an unending lullaby, soothing her to sleep almost before she had time to say her prayers. Tonight might be more of a challenge.

      She turned off the light in the bedroom, and let the moonlight provide the illumination as she slipped out of her clothes. With the light off, she could see the outline of the thatched-roof gazebo that sat between the house and the beach, see the swing beneath it swaying in the wind. All peaceful.

      The moon ducked behind a cloud. She looked away and took a robe from the closet. When she turned back, her heart slammed against her chest. Someone was out there, standing just past the gazebo. All she could see was the outline of a body, but she could picture the man she’d seen earlier on the beach, imagine him watching her house, knowing she was there alone.

      A second later the figure headed off down the beach and out of sight. The baby picked that time to give her a swift kick. She splayed her hands across her stomach. “Don’t worry, little one. I’m not off the deep end, not yet anyway. Just a little paranoia playing games with my overwrought nerves.” Turning away from the balcony, she headed for her bath.

      December 5

      MEGAN WOKE to the jangle of bells, but it took her a few seconds to realize that it was actually the doorbell and not part of her weird dream. She’d been running across the sand, her feet sinking into it, slowing her down so that whatever she was chasing stayed just beyond her reach.

      The bell chimed again. She stretched, kicked out from under the covers and eased her legs over the side of the bed, combing the carpet with her feet until she located her slippers. Grabbing her robe, she tied it around her loosely and headed down the steps, wondering who in the world would come calling this time of the morning.

      One peek through the peephole and she breathed a sigh of relief. She should have known Sandra Birney would waste no time coming by to check on her.

      She swung the door open, pushing her long dark bangs off her forehead as she did and realizing that she probably looked a total mess. “Come in.”

      “I will, as soon as I get a look at you.” She scrutinized Megan from the top of her head to her toes. “My, you are pregnant.”

      “I told you.”

      “I know, but I just couldn’t picture it.” Sandra brushed past her and set a cloth-topped basket that smelled of cinnamon and nutmeg on the table, before she came back to offer a hug. Southern women always hugged.

      “I want to hear everything about the pregnancy, especially how you let someone talk you into it. Will the biological parents be here for the birth?”

      “No. I’m going to deliver all by myself—just me and Dr. Brown, and maybe Santa Claus.”

      “And me. You know I’ll be there.”

      “You like suffering, do you?”

      “I don’t mind, as long as it’s not mine,” she teased. “And I love babies.”

      Megan started the coffee while Sandra caught her up on news of the happenings in Orange Beach. The high-school football team had won the regional playoffs, the elementary-school principal had retired and the Baptist church was building a new sanctuary.

      Megan excused herself to go to the bathroom and brush her teeth while the coffee finished perking. She ran a comb through her hair as well and washed her face. The questions would start as soon as they sat down to coffee and muffins, but everything was under control. She had her story down pat, the details worked out so that no one would suspect that the baby she carried belonged to Jackie Brewster, not even the intuitive Sandra Birney.

      The delightfully plump and rosy-cheeked grandma was the same age as Megan’s mother. They’d gone all through school together, had both been cheerleaders and on the homecoming court. And that was where the similarities ended. Sandra had married her high-school sweetheart and was still married to the man. Her life centered around community events and her children and grandchildren, and she’d stayed close to Megan’s grandmother, done the things for her a daughter would have done, had her daughter ever been around. Megan’s mother marched to a totally different drummer.

      By the time Megan returned to the kitchen, the coffee had been poured into crockery mugs and the muffins set in white dessert plates bordered with a seashell pattern.

      Sandra stood at the open refrigerator. “Would you like butter and jam with your muffin?”

      “I would love it, but I wouldn’t dare. I’ll never get down to my normal weight again as it is.”

      “Then I’ll just pour us a little half-and-half for the coffee.” She joined Megan at the table with the sugar bowl and a pitcher of milk in hand. “Now, I can’t wait to hear all about this baby. Is it a boy or a girl?”

      “It’s a girl.” That was the easy question.

      “Who are the lucky parents? They must be very dear friends.”

      “They are. The mother is a woman I work with. Medical problems prevented her from carrying her own child, and since she wanted a baby so desperately, I agreed to do this for her.”

      Megan’s mind wandered back to the moment when Jackie had first come to her. She’d said no at first, but the look of disappointment in Jackie’s face had nearly killed her. It was as if Megan had taken her friend’s dreams and stamped them into the ground.

      Jackie had already had three miscarriages and the doctor had told her that to try again would be exceedingly dangerous due to her increasingly serious problems with diabetes. Yet Megan had feared that if she said no, Jackie would have gotten pregnant in spite of the doctor’s warnings. As it turned out, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

      Sandra swallowed a bite of muffin. “So when the baby’s born, you’ll just give it to its real parents?”

      “That’s the plan.” Or at least it had been. This was the part she couldn’t share with Sandra. Talking about it was painful. Even thinking about it seemed traitorous and cruel, as if she was considering throwing away a part of herself and all that was left of Jackie.

      Sandra reached over and took her hand and squeezed it. “I always said you had a heart the size of the gulf. You proved me right again. What does Marilyn think of this?”

      “Mother doesn’t know. I haven’t seen her since I made the decision to have the baby.”

      “And you didn’t want her input. You are wise as well as big-hearted. Where is your mother now?”

      “Living in an oceanfront estate in Acapulco with a new husband, a man who owns a chain of luxury resorts. She insists I come down for a visit. I haven’t made it yet.”

      “Is this the СКАЧАТЬ