Baby In Her Arms. Judy Christenberry

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СКАЧАТЬ an expert on how loud she can be.”

      “I hope so,” Maggie agreed, but knowing her own ability to sleep through alarms, she still worried.

      “I’ll get you a T-shirt to wear,” he said, acting as if he had complete faith in her. He took a T-shirt out of the dresser and then went back to the living room to get the toothbrush he’d bought her.

      After taking it from him and saying good-night, Maggie went to the master bath and prepared for bed, even taking a quick shower with her long brown hair pinned up on top. She washed out her underwear and hung it on the towel rack. Then, dressed in his shirt which came almost to her knees, she opened the bathroom door and peeked out.

      Josh wasn’t in sight. She hurried over to the bed and slid beneath the covers. Just as her head hit the pillows, there was a knock on the door.

      “Yes?” she called softly, her heart thudding.

      “Do you need anything?” he asked through the door.

      “No. We’re fine.” Or she would be if she could forget that Josh McKinley was sleeping in the next room. Had he forgotten his pajamas? Was that why he’d come to the door?

      She almost asked if he needed to get anything before common sense warned her to say nothing. She didn’t think Josh McKinley looked like a pajamas kind of guy.

      Great. Thinking about what he slept in wasn’t going to make it easier to get to sleep.

      Josh called a soft good-night, and Maggie turned on her side and thumped the pillow. But several minutes of peace and quiet, broken only by the even breathing of the baby beside her, and, contrary to her expectations, Maggie drifted off to sleep.

      A sudden ringing jerked Maggie from a deep slumber. She reached toward the sound and lifted the telephone receiver. “Hello?” she muttered, her head falling back onto the pillow.

      She almost drifted back to sleep because no one said anything. Then a rough voice asked, “Where’s Mac?”

      “I don’t know,” she muttered, and started to hang up the phone when the bedroom door opened.

      “Maggie? Was that the phone?”

      Why was a man in her bedroom? She stared at the shadowy figure, confused. “They want Mac.”

      “That’s me.” He crossed to the side of the bed and took the phone from her. “Mac, here.”

      Maggie let her eyes close, ignoring the conversation next to her. She wanted to go back to sleep.

      “Damn! I’ll be right there.”

      Blessed silence and she’d almost lost consciousness when that sexy voice intruded again. “Maggie, I have to go. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

      “Umm-hmm.” The door closed again and she was in total darkness. Sleep claimed her.

      

      “Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba!”

      Maggie rolled over. What a strange night. First she’d dreamed there was a man in her bedroom, and now someone—or something—was babbling.... Maggie sat bolt upright. The baby!

      “Oh, Ginny, are you all right?”

      The baby was lying on her tummy, drool running down her little chin, and she actually smiled at Maggie. Suddenly the day seemed brighter.

      “I guess you are. Though I’d bet you’re ready for a diaper change and some breakfast. I’ll just have enough time to take care of those things if we hurry. Then your daddy can manage. I hope.”

      Maggie slid from the bed and dashed into the bathroom to gather the slacks, shirt and underwear she’d worn last night. She’d have to change while watching Ginny to make sure the baby didn’t fall off the bed.

      Once she was dressed, Maggie picked up the baby and opened the bedroom door. “Maybe we should be quiet in case your daddy is still sleeping,” she said softly.

      Tiptoeing into the living room, Maggie came to an abrupt halt when she discovered the sofa vacant. Ginny, unaware of Josh’s absence, began to whimper, distracting Maggie from her discovery.

      She located the diapers and returned to the bedroom, snatching up a clean sleeper from the suitcase. As she quickly changed the baby, she tried to figure out where Josh was. Maybe he’d gone out to get a paper. Or bagels? Her stomach rumbled at the thought. Or maybe he was in the hall bathroom. She hadn’t heard the water running, but then she was concentrating on Ginny.

      “There, now you feel better, don’t you, sweet girl? Let’s go scramble you some eggs for breakfast.”

      She surreptitiously checked the hall bathroom on the way to the kitchen, but it was empty. No one in the kitchen, either. How was she going to scramble eggs and hold Ginny at the same time?

      Returning to the suitcases in the bedroom, she found a large baby blanket. Pulling the comforter off the bed, she folded it several times and put it on the floor in the living room and spread the baby blanket over it. She put Ginny in the center of it with one of her stuffed animals. The baby seemed content.

      Maggie hurried to the kitchen. She might not be the cook her sister was, but she could scramble eggs. Only a couple of minutes later she carried a saucer of scrambled eggs and a hastily refilled bottle to Ginny.

      Two hours after that, with Ginny contentedly playing, Maggie sat rigidly on the sofa, staring at the morning news on the television. She’d turned the TV on to see if Josh McKinley had made the headlines overnight. He hadn’t come back from any of the places she’d imagined he’d gone.

      Then, as she waited, vague memories of a phone call in the night came to her. And Josh telling her he’d return as soon as possible. She wondered just how long that could be.

      Because she had to go to work. She’d been with the accounting firm of Jones, Kemper & Jones ever since she’d graduated from college four years ago. And she’d never missed a day of work.

      But today she’d had to call in sick. She figured Josh McKinley would be on TV news tonight because either he’d been the victim of a violent crime, or she was going to kill him when he walked through the door.

      Chapter Three

      It wasn’t until Josh emerged into the sunshine at about ten o‘clock that morning that he remembered Ginny...and Maggie O’Connor.

      And suddenly he was reminded why he’d never considered remarrying and having children.

      “Damn,” he muttered beneath his breath.

      The man beside him, the one who’d called him in the middle of the night, his best employee, Pete, asked, “What’s wrong?”

      “Nothing.”

      “You sure it doesn’t have anything to do with the sexy lady who answered your phone at three in the morning?”

      “I guess that’s why you’re so good at your job, Pete. You figure things out.” He shrugged his СКАЧАТЬ