Babies and Badges. Laura Altom Marie

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СКАЧАТЬ now, Nathan. That’d be real cute embroidered on her ballerina costumes.”

      He made a face. “Hey, at least I’m trying. I don’t hear any brilliant ideas coming from you.”

      “True.” Drawing in her lower lip, she said, “Nobody told me having babies turns your mind to mush.”

      “Give me that kid,” he said, reaching for the baby girl, then holding her close. She looked so tiny in his arms. So safe.

      Noah was a big man.

      Like Cassie’s father had been.

      Growing up, Cassie had worshipped him. When her mother died of cancer before Cass had been barely old enough to talk, her father had meant the world to her. He’d been someone big and strong to protect her from the rough and tumble world. In Tom, she thought she’d found someone much like her own powerful dad. Even in school, her then future husband had possessed a magnetic presence. Just looking at him, she’d known he was destined for greatness. Sure enough, right out of law school, he’d landed a job with a top Little Rock firm. Everyone loved him—his partners, his clients, and his two wives.

      One “wife” might still be alive—but Cassie’s love wasn’t. It had long since turned to hate, and even thinking Tom’s name turned her blood cold.

      Having been raised by her overprotective Aunt Olivia, Cassie had always thought if only she’d had her mom and dad with her for a little while longer, her life would have turned out differently. Maybe then she wouldn’t have run straight into Tom’s scheming arms.

      Trouble was, she had. And looking back on it, for all the wrong reasons. Fear over not being able to make her own way in the world. Reluctance to be alone. Being so eager to start her own family, that she’d never even considered the fact that the man she thought she loved had been a con artist extraordinaire.

      All of those reasons combined had since taught her a valuable life lesson. That fairy tales were better left to the experts at Disney. For in real life, when it came to relationships with men, there was no such thing as happily ever after.

      Now, relationships with babies on the other hand…

      “She sure smells good,” Noah said, nuzzling the baby’s downy soft hair. “How ’bout giving her a flower name? Petunia or Hydrangea?”

      Cassie made a face. “Still not quite right.”

      He shifted the infant from where she’d rested her tiny head against his chest to cradle her in his arms. Putting the tip of his long index finger to her nose, he said, “You gave me one heck of a scare, young lady.”

      “Me, too,” Cassie said, queasy at just the memory of how dicey her second child’s birth had been.

      “Now, I look at you,” Noah said to the tiny infant, “and all I see is hope. Hope for a very bright future filled with giggles and sunshine and water balloon fights and puppies and—”

      “Hope,” Cassie said. “That’s it.”

      “What?”

      “Her name. I’ll call her Hope.”

      “Wait a minute, don’t I get a say in this? After all, I was the one who ushered her into this world.”

      “True. So, if you don’t like that, then what do you suggest?”

      “There’s always Joelle.”

      “Noah!”

      “Don’t get your diaper in a wad,” he said, his wide smile aimed straight for her heart. “I was just razzing you. Hope sounds perfect.”

      Perfect… Cassie thought with a secret smile.

      Just like my new friend, Noah, who not only gave both of my daughters their lives, but names.

      “PSST. ARE YOU AWAKE?”

      Cassie cracked open one eye to see a model-perfect, blue-eyed brunette staring at her—a very pregnant perfect brunette. When Cassie opened both eyes, the woman held out her hand for her to shake.

      “Oh, good,” she said. “You are awake. I’m Tiffany. Number Three in Noah’s Lonely Hearts Support Group, formed way back in the early nineties. When Noah’s ex-wife, Darla, decided marriage bored her, Noah decided he felt the same. Since then, we’ve grown considerably. The woman we all thought he’d marry, Kelsey, is Number Seventeen. He’s dated casually after her—no one significant enough for a number, but you, my dear, show promise, and as such, we’ve already assigned you Number Eighteen. Since I’m on maternity leave from Olivetti’s—that’s River-dale’s best dress shop if you happen to need anything while you’re in town—I’ve been nominated by the group to welcome you.”

      Cassie’s look must have been blank, because unfortunately the woman continued while her crisp, outdoorsy perfume filled the room.

      “No need to look shocked,” she said, “like your babies have been bugged or anything. We have inside sources all over town. At the hospital, Noah dated Nurse Helen—she’s Number Eleven amongst his victims.”

      “His victims?”

      “Yeah, you know, his Victims in Love—or VILs as we affectionately call ’em. Here,” Tiffany said, reaching into a quilted blue toile purse to pull out a gold foil box. “The girls and I bought you a combination Congratulations on Your Babies/Welcome to the Group gift. I know this must seem a bit premature, offering you membership when you and Noah have only just met, but after what happened at Kelsey’s wedding, we figure Noah’s gotta be on the verge of a total meltdown. Now, the women around here are equipped to handle his many bad boy charms, but we figure you being a city girl, may need a few pointers to come out of this on the right side of sanity.”

      “Um, thank you,” Cassie said, taking the box of Godiva chocolates. “I think.”

      “Oh dear,” Tiffany said with a pretty frown.

      “What?” The severity of her tone tempted Cassie to check herself for broken bones.

      “Your expression—sour as a lemon drop. You’re not already hooked on Noah, are you?”

      “I don’t think so. I barely know the man.”

      Sagely nodding, Tiffany said, “That’s what we all said. Every last one of us believed we’d be the ones to finally hog-tie him, but he’s wily when it comes to commitment. Darla hurt him bad, and I’m warning you, you so much as breathe the word and he’ll bolt. It’s our belief that Kelsey had him so long because we’d precounseled her on this fact. Since she already had that heads-up, she knew better than to ever even ask about taking their relationship to that magical, mystical place we group members call marriage. But then she just had to go and give him that ultimatum, and bam—faster than that tornado we had back in 1998, he was gone.”

      Interesting…

      The supposedly heartbroken woman’s perfectly manicured red nails were attached to long, tanned fingers sporting an array of not-too-shabby rings. One in particular on her left hand was at least a two-carat square-cut diamond solitaire with matching bejeweled wedding band.

      Mind СКАЧАТЬ