Not Quite Mine (Not Quite #2)(27)
Author: Catherine Bybee

“No! I’m fine. I think Monica’s home. I’ll give her a call; find out if there’s a doctor I can see.”

The thought of him tucking her into bed dissipated. “Good idea.”

“Here’s your purse, Katelyn,” Jo said from behind Dean.

When he stood, he felt the loss of Katie’s heat. She tucked her purse beside her and buckled her seat belt.

“I’ll call you,” he told her.

“You don’t have to do that.”

No, he didn’t. But he wanted to.

“Use my cell,” she said. “In case I’m at the doctor’s.”

The dust from the road kicked up behind her car as she drove away.

I should have gone with her.

Chapter Eleven

As sure as the sun would rise tomorrow, Katie knew that Dean was going to check up on her over the weekend. The only way to avoid it was to get his nosy ass out of town. And for that, Mike was key.

Talking to Mike was quick and easy.

Work has been stressful. Jack will be back in town next week and Dean could use some downtime. You two should go camping.

Mike fell in line and agreed to push Dean to go with him. As soon as she was off the phone with him, she’d called Dean.

“The doctor said it’s a sprain. Ice, elevate, compress. He wants to see me in two weeks.” He also told her to wear flat shoes for six weeks. Not that she intended to follow that advice.

“You could have easily broken it in those heels.”

“I know,” she agreed with him…hoping to make him feel good about the conversation. “Monica agreed to help me out over the weekend. I shouldn’t have any problem coming in on Monday.” She cast the line and hoped he’d take the bait.

“You sure? I could—”

“I appreciate that you care, Dean, but Monica is the nurse. She’s beat me up over my shoes more than you have.”

“Remind me to kiss her when I see her again.” And the bait is in the mouth.

“I saw the schedule for next week. You could use a real weekend off.”

Dean’s voice wavered. “Maybe.”

“I’ll see you on Monday, Dean.”

“Take care,” he said before hanging up.

An hour later Mike sent her a text and let her know that he and Dean were on their way to the desert with their dirt bikes.

Katie leaned back on Monica’s sofa with Savannah sleeping at her side and relaxed for the first time since she’d arrived in California.

Monica picked up the phone on the first ring, praying it didn’t wake up the baby.

“Hello?” she practically whispered.

“Mo! I’m back!”

Monica jumped up from the couch, moved to the large sliding glass door, and opened it up. “Oh, Jessie, it’s so great to hear your voice.” Monica needed a good sister chat in the worst way. After brushing off the leaves that had collected on a patio chair, Monica sat down and kept an ear out for Savannah.

“We had such an amazing time.”

“I doubt you even made it out of the hotel room.”

Jessie laughed. “We did stay an extra night in Florida before we did the island hopping.”

Monica could feel her sister’s smile over the phone. She deserved happiness and Jack was the perfect man for her. “Is married sex better than single sex?”

“You’re going to laugh at me if I answer that.”

“No, I won’t.”

Jessie hesitated. “OK, then. Yes, it is. It’s hard to explain why.”

“Well try,” Monica insisted. “Because you telling me about your sex life will be the closest I’ve come to having sex in a while.”

“I don’t know, Mo, it’s like every doubt I’ve ever had, any insecurities leftover from my life before marriage were swiped clean when we said ‘I do.’ It’s just better. Perfect.”

“Does all his Texas lovin’ mean you guys are going to give Danny a brother or sister soon?”

“Oh, lord, not you, too. Do you have any idea how many people have asked me that since we got back to Texas?”

She could only imagine. “Is Gaylord harping?”

“Him, the housekeeper, Jack’s aunt. I’m not opposed to having more kids, but could they lay off for a month at least? Let someone else in the family bring babies into the world.”

Monica’s eyes traveled to the open door to the apartment. Now would be the perfect time to tell Jessie about Savannah, but she couldn’t do that to Katie. “Don’t look at me. You have to have sex to have babies and sadly, I’m not.”

Jessie laughed. “I’m going to miss you, Mo.”

“You’ll be too busy decorating that new house and having perfect sex with Jack. Besides, you can climb on that fancy jet and visit whenever you want.”

“Jack told me that today before he left.”

“Oh, that’s right. Katelyn told me he was coming in today.”

“You and Katie really hit it off, didn’t you?”

Monica thought she heard a noise from Savannah’s room. She poked her head inside but didn’t hear anything other than the air conditioner turning on and off. “Yeah, we did.”

“Jack was worried about her working with him. Has she said anything about the hotel?”

Monica bit her lip. If Jessie thought Katie was living with her, more questions would be asked and it would be hard to keep Savannah out of the conversation.

“Actually, she slept over this weekend. She sprained her ankle at work last week.”

“Is she OK?”

“Just a sprain. And if you ask me, a deserving injury. She was wearing four-inch heels, for crying out loud. I told her she needed to wear flats, or tennis shoes. But Miss Fashion wouldn’t even buy a pair until last Friday.”

“She’s lucky it’s not worse.”

“I know—” Savannah’s cry filled the small apartment and made Monica’s heart jump inside her chest. “Oh, no.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m…er, babysitting.”

“Babysitting? You?”

“I know…strange. But a friend was in a bind. Can I call you back later?” Monica stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind her.

“Sure. Call when you can. Love you, sis.”

“Love you, too.” Monica hung up the phone and tossed it on the couch.

“Oh, Vanna…what’s the big deal?” After a quick diaper change, Monica moved Savannah to a baby carrier while she prepared a bottle. It took a little while for the baby to calm down. She’d been fussy all night from what she’d heard. When Katie had gone to work that morning, she looked like a zombie. The pace of keeping Savannah a secret was tiresome. It was only a matter of time before someone figured out that they were hiding a baby.