The Baby's Bodyguard. Alice Sharpe

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СКАЧАТЬ thought it was the television until her grandmother’s bright chirp responded. Still spooked from the events of the afternoon, she hurried into the living room. What now?

      Her grandmother sat on the red plaid sofa. Jack Starling sat in the bright blue chair set at a right angle, a wineglass cradled in his hands. They both looked up as Hannah made an abrupt halt.

      Jack put down his glass and stood. With his unruly black hair and stormy expression he looked like a slightly disreputable action hero plopped down in the middle of Snow White’s cottage.

      Mimi popped off the couch. “Your friend has been telling me stories about your trip to Tierra Montañosa last year. Well, you know, honey, you never talk about it. Anyway, I’ve convinced him to stay for dinner, though heaven knows what we’re going to give him to eat. Hannah, you look bushed. Sit down, dear, I’ll get you a glass of wine.” She scurried toward the kitchen on her mission.

      “How did you find out where I live?” Hannah demanded in a low voice.

      “I told the clerk inside the store that you forgot something. He told me. Apparently his wife’s mother plays cards with your grandmother. That’s the nice thing about a small town.”

      “But why did you come? What do you want now?”

      He sat back down in his chair. “I’m just making sure you’re okay.”

      “No, you’re not.”

      “No, I’m not,” he agreed. “I’m here because you’re hiding something.” He pulled on her hand and she perched on the corner of the sofa, her knees almost touching his. “Why are you so nervous?” he asked.

      “Why are you staying for dinner?”

      “Your grandmother invited me.”

      Mimi reappeared with wine for Hannah. Smiling broadly, the older woman hitched her hands on her waist. “Now, you two catch up on old times while I figure out what we’re going to eat.” She took a few steps, then turned back. “Oh, Jack, did you know a Frenchman down in Costa del Rio?”

      “French?”

      “Yes. I’m sure he was very dashing. An expatriate.”

      “No, I’m sorry. I don’t recall anyone from France.”

      “I thought maybe you knew him. I mean, you lived down there for a couple of years, right? Hannah was only down there a few days and you said you spent one evening with her and then—”

      “Grandma, what about dinner?” Hannah said softly, doing her best to avert a disaster.

      In a scolding voice, Mimi said, “I just thought it would be nice to hear about the baby’s father from someone else. You won’t tell me much about him.”

      Hannah must have made a strangled sound in her throat because both her grandmother and Jack glanced at her. “I know we’re not supposed to talk about him,” Mimi said with a defiant tilt to her chin. “I know you said he was a giant mistake, but I just thought—”

      “Jack didn’t know him,” Hannah said, praying for some kind of diversion. It was the West Coast, for heaven’s sake. Where was a 6.0 earthquake when you needed one?

      “I didn’t know you had a baby,” Jack said.

      Mimi, looking perplexed, muttered, “I told you Hannah was in with Aubrielle when you got here.”

      “I assumed Aubrielle was another adult.”

      Mimi’s defiance was melting into contrition. “I’ll go see to dinner,” she said.

      As soon as she was out of the room Jack cleared his throat. “You have a baby.”

      Hannah took a gulp of wine and sighed. “Yes.”

      “How old?”

      “Three months.”

      “Three months. Funny, I don’t recall a French expatriate.” His eyebrows raised up his forehead, his eyes narrowed. “Three months. Oh, God, Hannah—is this my … my baby?”

      He looked horrified at the thought. Good. She said, “Aubrielle is not your baby.”

      “But the timing—”

      “No.”

      “Is she David’s?”

      After a moment, Hannah nodded.

      “Why wouldn’t you tell your grandmother that your baby is your boyfriend’s child?”

      “It’s complicated.”

      “Try me.”

      “There were rules at the foundation about dating and David and I broke them. David is gone now, there’s nothing to be gained by bringing all this up. I might even lose my job and I need it.”

      “It sounds like a lot of justifying,” Jack said.

      “Of course it is. That’s what happens when you mess things up. You do your best to make them better.” She took a deep breath, smoothed her jeans over her thighs and added, “My grandmother didn’t know David well and certainly never knew anything about us being a couple. As you can see, she’s not much for secrets. And then there was David’s family to consider. His parents have about twelve other grandchildren and live thousands of miles away. They know nothing about me. I just decided to tell a select few people Aubrielle’s father was a man I met when I was in South America who is totally out of our lives.”

      “Then you were pregnant when we met?”

      She looked him in the eye and nodded.

      “If she’s three months old, it must have happened—”

      “The last night David was alive, yes.”

      “Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t part of the reason you were grieving so much that you felt bad you’d been about to break up with him?”

      “You never had sex with someone you weren’t sure about?” she countered.

      “Point taken. He died the next morning on his way to work, right?”

      “He was riding his bike. The truck driver said David hit a patch of loose gravel and fell right into the road.”

      Jack stared at her for a few dozen jumpy heartbeats and then nodded. “You know, I’ve decided to believe your claim that you had nothing to do with what happened down in Costa del Rio.”

      She blinked at the change of subject before saying, “Good. Why?”

      “I’m not sure. You’re smart enough and clever enough and maybe even sneaky enough, but you’re not ruthless.”

      “That’s true. I’m relieved to hear you say it.”

      “But you do know or suspect something. Who are you protecting?”

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