Wanted: Father for Her Baby: Keeping Baby Secret / Five Brothers and a Baby / Expecting Brand's Baby. BEVERLY BARTON

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СКАЧАТЬ more infants have come up for adoption, right?” she asked.

      “Right.”

      “In Memphis?”

      “Yeah.”

      “You’re going to Memphis tonight, aren’t you?”

      “Yeah.”

      “And you want me to stay here in Maysville and wait.”

      “Yeah.”

      The elevator doors swung open and they emerged on the first floor. Frank grabbed her arm and hurried her outside to the parking lot. She walked quickly to keep up with his long-legged gait. When they reached his rental car, she halted and dug in her heels.

      Before she could speak, he grabbed her by the shoulders and said, “Dammit, Slim, stay here in Maysville, will you? Let me be the big, strong man. Let me be your man.”

      “You want to be a buffer between me and the big bad world, don’t you?”

      “Something like that. After all, I am Andrew’s father. I wasn’t around when you were pregnant or when you gave birth. I should have been. You needed me and I let you down.

      “I need to do this for you. Hell, I need to do it for myself. Let me be the one to handle things, and if it is Andrew, I want to be the one to bring him home to you.”

      “And if it isn’t Andrew?”

      “Then I should be the one to tell you. We’re Andrew’s parents. And if we’ve lost him, we should share that grief together.”

      Leenie swallowed, then offered Frank a fragile smile. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. “You go to Memphis. I’ll wait here in Maysville for you…and Andrew.”

      He cupped her face with his hands, then kissed her.

      Chapter Eight

      Frank had left for Memphis around eight-thirty last night and called after he arrived at the hotel. Leenie and Kate had sat up until after two this morning, watching television, talking, looking through magazines, listening to Leenie’s substitute on WJMM’s late-night talk show. They had done anything they could think of to kill time. At midnight, while listening to the radio, they made fudge and devoured a third of what they’d prepared. As if by silent agreement, they hadn’t mentioned Frank or Andrew. At two, they’d gone to their separate bedrooms and Leenie had tried her best to sleep. She had tossed and turned for hours. Finally giving up hope of getting any rest, she’d flipped on the bedside lamp and searched for a romance novel in her stash of to-be-read paperbacks. As entertaining as the book was, Leenie simply could not concentrate enough to do the story justice, so around four-thirty, she’d taken a shower and put on jeans and a sweatshirt.

      As she passed the floor-to-ceiling mirror in the hallway, she caught a glimpse of her image. She looked bleary-eyed and somber. Her damp hair was secured in a loose ponytail. Faded jeans hugged her hips and legs. A comfy green fleece sweatshirt with an enormous sunflower in the center gave her otherwise pale appearance a touch of color. All-in-all, she was a pitiful sight.

      She wondered if Frank had gotten any sleep last night. Probably not. If only she’d gone with him, at least they’d be together right now. But Frank had needed to make the trip to Memphis alone. She understood. And deep in her primitive feminine heart, she loved him all the more for wanting to play the role of her protector.

      How was it possible that her whole world had become condensed into one event—into what happened this morning in Memphis, at some immoral, moneyhungry lawyer’s office? Two FBI agents would once again pose as prospective parents, but would they get to see the two infants who were available for adoption? Would one of those babies be Andrew? If Andrew hadn’t been kidnapped in order to sell him to the highest bidder, then she might never know his fate. Could she live that way, never knowing?

      When Leenie entered the kitchen, she glanced at the wall clock. Five-fifteen. The meeting was set for nine o’clock this morning. Less than four hours from now. But how long would it take the agents to report back to Moran if they did get to see the babies? It was possible that even after the meeting, they still wouldn’t know if Andrew was one of the two infants.

      While preparing the coffee machine, she stared at the telephone. She wanted to talk to Frank, to hear his voice. But he might be asleep. She shouldn’t disturb him.

      She reached out and jerked the receiver from the wall phone, then glanced at Frank’s cell number, which he’d jotted down on the bulletin board by the telephone. After dialing, she suddenly had second thoughts and started to hang up, but Frank answered on the second ring.

      “Latimer here.”

      “Frank?”

      “Leenie? Honey, are you all right?”

      “I’m okay. I didn’t sleep much.”

      “You didn’t sleep at all, did you?”

      “No, I didn’t,” she admitted. “I’ll bet you didn’t either.”

      “I closed my eyes a few times, but…We’ll both sleep once I bring Andrew home.”

      “I—I want you to know that if neither baby is Andrew—” Emotion tightened her throat. She swallowed. “It won’t be your fault, so don’t blame yourself.”

      “We can’t lose hope, even if neither baby is Andrew. He’s out there somewhere. We’ll keep searching.”

      “I’m going to hang up now.” Her voice quivered. “Before I start blubbering.”

      “Yeah, we don’t want that, do we? If you start, I might, too. And that would blow my macho image to hell and back.”

      “Nothing could destroy your macho image, least of all crying for your lost son.”

      “Leenie…I…keep praying, will you?”

      “Mmm-hmm.”

      “I’ll call you as soon as I know anything.”

      “Yes…please…”

      “Bye, Slim.”

      “Bye.”

      With the dial tone humming in her ear, Leenie stood there and forced back the tears that ached inside her. These next few hours were going to be the longest of her life.

      By the time Leenie downed her second cup of coffee and was munching on a slice of buttered toast, Kate entered the kitchen. Wearing a pair of flame-red sweats, her hair hanging loosely around her shoulders, Kate looked like a teenager, all fresh-faced and glowing with good health.

      “How long have you been up?” Kate asked, as she headed for the coffeepot. “Or should I say how long have you been in the kitchen? I figure you’ve been up most of the night.”

      “I came in the kitchen about forty-five minutes ago.”

      “Hmm-mmm.” Kate poured herself a cup of coffee, then sat across from Leenie.

      “I СКАЧАТЬ