Duty Or Desire. Brenda Jackson

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       Prologue

      The doorbell sounded and Bane Westmoreland wondered who the latecomer could be. All his family and friends who’d been invited to celebrate his and his wife Crystal’s housewarming party were accounted for.

      Upon opening the door he found an older couple, in their late sixties, standing there with a baby in their arms.

      Bane was certain he did not know the couple. “Yes, may I help you?”

      The man spoke. “We hate to impose but we were told Peterson Higgins was here tonight. We are the Glosters, his deceased brother’s in-laws.”

      Bane nodded. “Yes, Pete is here. Please come in.”

      The man shook his head. “We prefer not to, but we would appreciate it if you could tell Peterson we’re here. We would like to speak with him. We will wait out here.”

      Bane nodded again. “Okay, just a minute.” He circled around the room before finally finding Pete in a group in the family room.

      “Excuse me, guys, but I need to borrow Pete for a minute,” Bane said to the others. Once he got Pete aside, he told him about the older couple waiting outside. Pete placed his cup of punch aside and quickly moved toward the front door.

      When Pete returned about half an hour later, he was carrying a baby in one hand and a diaper bag in the other. Everyone’s attention was drawn to him when the baby released a huge wail.

      It seemed all the mothers in the room hurried toward him.

      “Whose baby?” Bane’s cousin Gemma was the first to ask, taking the baby from a flustered-looking Pete.

      “This is my nine-month-old niece, Ciara,” he said, noticing how quickly the baby girl quieted once Gemma held her. “As most of you know, my brother, Matthew, and his wife, Sherry, were killed in that car crash six months ago. This is their daughter. Sherry’s parents were given custody of Ciara when Matt and Sherry died. But they just gave me full custody of her, citing health issues that prevent them from taking proper care of her. That means I’m now Ciara’s legal guardian.”

      Pete looked around the room at the group he considered family and asked the one question none of them could answer.

      “I’m a bachelor, for heaven’s sake! What on earth am I going to do with a baby?”