Not Quite Mine (Not Quite #2)(15)
Author: Catherine Bybee

The cool, dry air of the trailer met her skin with welcome relief. She hadn’t realized how warm it was outside. Texas heat was so much thicker. The dry Southern California air might be warm, but it didn’t weigh on her.

“Hi, Jo,” she addressed the surly secretary. “Dean wanted me to return these before I left.”

Jo didn’t look up from her computer. “Leave them on his desk.”

Katie looked toward his office, the one where she’d found the plans earlier that morning. The door was nearly closed and she couldn’t tell if he was in there.

“I wouldn’t want to bother him. How about I leave them with you.”

Jo released a gruff laugh. “He doesn’t hide inside all day. Leave them on his desk. He’ll find them when he gets in at lunch.”

Oh, good, he’s not here.

Instead of voicing her relief, she quickly returned the plans to his empty office and left the trailer.

It wasn’t until she’d pulled out of the parking lot, and the hard hat on her head started to slip in the wind, that she realized she still wore his stupid hat.

She tossed it into the passenger seat and turned the car toward Monica’s apartment.

Katelyn avoided the job site for two days. Which wasn’t difficult considering the life-changing event known as Savannah.

In the corner of the small room, Katie placed a bassinet adorned with pink and brown baby blankets. A plush pad had been affixed to the top of a dresser for use as a changing station.

She’d taken a crash course in all things baby in the past week. She’d purchased a stroller, a reclining swing, and more clothes than the infant could possible wear while she stayed in the zero- to three-month age range.

A trip to the bookstore resulted in half a dozen parenting books along with developmental expectations in children. And a baby milestone book.

The baby book she pondered. What would happen if the mother returned for Savannah? Writing down milestones and taking pictures somehow cemented her in Katie’s life.

It was silly to think a baby book was some kind of glue. Already Savannah had wiggled her tiny fingers around Katie’s heart and squeezed hard.

Monica returned home after seven that night. Her twelve-hour shifts had to be hard, yet Katie never heard her new friend complain.

“Look who’s still awake.” Monica motioned toward Savannah who was lying on a blanket in the middle of the floor kicking her feet.

Katelyn glanced up from the reference book she was using to understand Dean’s construction plans. Blueprints and furniture catalogs were worlds apart.

“And quite content just sucking her fist for about an hour now. I’m hoping to keep her up a little later to see if I can get her to sleep for three hours in a row.”

Monica placed her purse on the kitchen counter and poured herself a glass of water. “You look like you could use the sleep.”

“I can.” Surprisingly, the tiny smiles that greeted her at two a.m. were worth waking up for. The irony was, if Katelyn could have told the world about the baby from the beginning, she probably would have hired a full-time caretaker to help at night. Those two a.m. smiles would be awarded to a nanny and not her.

“If she doesn’t sleep tonight, you can look forward to tomorrow at the hotel.”

Monica had agreed to watch Savannah all night between her days off in order for Katelyn to keep the appearance of living at the hotel. She had yet to actually sleep in the penthouse suite since arriving in California.

She kept up the appearance of living there. She left laundry, ate lunch, and even messed up the bed so it appeared she slept there. She would arrive before one personnel shift ended, change clothes, and then leave a short time later.

Gerald drove her from time to time back and forth to the apartment, but Katelyn never let him see her with the baby.

“Did you call the private detective today?” Monica asked.

“I did.”

“And?”

Katelyn pushed the book aside and focused on Monica.

“He’s flying here on Monday to discuss the case.”

Patrick Nelson came highly recommended. He was exclusive, discrete, and expensive. Hiring him to dig into Savannah’s parentage was as necessary as eating. If Katie took the birth certificate and didn’t question it, she would forever look over her shoulder. There were already times she felt like a criminal. She tensed when a police officer drove by and hid her eyes behind sunglasses when she bought diapers. It was crazy, and not the way she wanted to live her life.

Monica covered Katie’s hand with hers. “It will be all right. You’re doing the right thing. I spoke with social services today at the hospital.”

Panic rose in Katelyn’s throat. “You told them?”

“God, no. I’m getting our facts straight. What the laws are about abandoning infants. We have a safe baby surrender program here in California. Babies are dropped off in ERs and fire departments all the time. No questions asked. A baby isn’t considered abandoned unless it’s left to its own defenses. When we find Savannah’s birth mother, she can’t be prosecuted because she left her with you, gave you custody. There’s a whole bunch of legal shit involved that I don’t understand, but there are several cases of babies being given to someone without an adoption agency.”

“The laws in Texas probably aren’t the same as here.”

“Probably. You might want to look into them…or have that PI look into them for you. The more knowledge you have, the better you’re going to feel about it.”

Monica had a point. Katelyn’s education needed to involve infant care, construction plans, and legalese about adoptions or baby abandonment clauses. I hated school when I was in it.

Monica removed a frozen dinner from the refrigerator and popped it into the microwave. “Have you heard from Dean?”

Just hearing his name made her squirm in her seat. “No. Not a word.”

“Don’t you find that odd? I mean, you still have his hard hat and you haven’t returned there since the first day.”

Katelyn shrugged. “I’ll go in tomorrow to see how far along they are. Jack made it sound like it was taking forever for things to move forward. I doubt I’m needed every day.”

“You’re avoiding Dean.”

“I am not.”

“Are, too.”

Katelyn opened her mouth to protest again and promptly shut it. “Lord, Jessie must have hated growing up with you.”

Monica smiled and winked. “I call ’em as I see ’em. Jessie tried to hide her true emotions about all kinds of things growing up, but I could see the truth in her eyes. You have a thing for Dean and don’t even try and deny it.”