Not Quite Mine (Not Quite #2)(9)
Author: Catherine Bybee

Katie needed time to think. Time to plan. That wasn’t going to happen in Houston where everyone knew her and expected a certain persona. That facade didn’t include a diaper-changing mama.

In the back of her massive walk-in closet, she found her largest suitcase and moved it to the bench at the end of her bed. She indiscriminately scooped underwear from her top drawer and tossed the lot inside the case.

She would go to California early, before Dean had a chance to inform her dad about the baby. The excuse of working for Jack would explain her rapid departure if anyone cared to ask.

From the front door of her suite, Monica called out. “Katelyn?”

“In here.” She hung a garment bag on a hook and unzipped it. Bypassing her skintight dresses meant for the club scene, she packed longer skirts and pantsuits.

“Guess who ambushed me at the door,” Monica said as she walked into bedroom.

Katie stopped midstride and turned to face Monica. “Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes! I take it you and Dean had a conversation.”

Her heart squeezed in her chest. “You didn’t tell him anything…did you?”

“He asked questions. I avoided answering. I’d be lying if I told you I steered him off, though. He didn’t believe the babysitting thing for a minute.” Monica’s gaze moved to the bed, then the suitcase.

Katie squeezed her fist. She needed to leave. Now!

“Help me pack.” Back in the closet, she opened another suitcase and started to fill it with shoes.

“What are you…where are you going?”

“California. With you.”

“But…”

“Please.” She dangled a pair of Jimmy Choos off her index finger. “I can’t take the chance of Dean returning here with my father. In order for the babysitting excuse to work, and for him to forget about Savannah, I need to get her out of here.”

“I don’t know, Katelyn. Taking a baby that isn’t yours out of the state has to be against the law.”

“I have a birth certificate.”

“That you know damn well is a lie. You didn’t adopt Savannah. And you sure as hell didn’t ask for her.”

She chucked Jimmy into the suitcase and stood closer to Monica. “Someone went through great lengths to create this lie. I owe it to Savannah to find out the truth.”

“You don’t owe anything to Savannah.”

Katie glanced over to the bed. Savannah was staring at her fist.

“Are you telling me, if you were in my position, you’d just give her up? Take her to the nearest police station and tell them to deal with it?”

Monica released a frustrated sigh.

“Exactly. Help me pack.”

They worked in tandem and finished the job quickly.

“You can’t take your dad’s plane. The pilot would confirm that Savannah was with you.”

She hadn’t thought of that.

“And if you take her to the hotel, word will get out.”

She hadn’t thought about that either.

“I’ve always stayed at the hotels. If I don’t, someone is going to get curious.”

Monica sat on the edge of the bed and tickled Savannah’s feet. “I have a second bedroom. You can hide out with me for a couple of days.” Monica and Jessie had shared an apartment while Monica was in nursing school. Now that she was out and Jessie had married Jack, she had the place to herself.

Staying with Monica would solve the problem of hiding Savannah, at least in the short term.

“Are you sure?”

“No. I think this is crazy. But I can’t walk away now. Besides, I doubt you know a whole lot about babies and at least I know what Jessie went through with Danny.” Monica placed a thumb into Savannah’s hand and kissed her tiny fingers. “She may look small, but she’s a full-time job.”

“So you’ll help me take care of her?”

Monica leveled her eyes with Katie. “I’ll help you get situated. If you plan to work on Jack’s hotel and find out who Savannah’s mommy really is…plus take care of her, you’re going to need six hands and three heads. Actually,” Monica moved off the bed. “This is a crazy idea. I work full-time and finally landed the day shift. Plus I pick up overtime whenever I can get it to pay off my college loans.”

Katie felt her ally fading fast. “I’ll hire a nanny.” Just until she found a rhythm that worked. The last thing Katie wanted was for Savannah to be raised by strangers.

“In my neighborhood they’re called babysitters.”

“Babysitter then.” That sounded better anyway. More temporary.

Monica clasped her hands together, doubt filled her gaze.

“Please.”

Squeezing her eyes shut, Monica shook her head. “I’ll shower and be ready to leave in thirty minutes. You need to turn on some of that Texan charm and wiggle your way into some last-minute flights or I have a feeling Dean will rat us out before dinner.”

All the Texan charm and daddy’s money didn’t get them on a flight fast enough to suit Katie. First class was sold out but they managed a flight in economy with Monica seated several rows behind her and Savannah. It had been so long since she’d crammed into a commercial flight that she’d forgotten how cramped it was. Not to mention the baggage restrictions. She checked two bags under her name, and two under Savannah Morrison. The elderly lady in the window seat cooed over Savannah the moment the flight attendant finished helping Katie buckle the car seat in.

“Oh, isn’t she precious.”

She juggled the diaper bag under one seat and her oversized purse under another. “Thank you,” Katie managed to say before taking her seat.

“How old is she? One month?”

“Two weeks.” The answer was instant, and after the words escaped Katie’s mouth, she cautioned herself to keep quiet.

“Isn’t that a little young to fly?”

Katie’s right eye twitched. “The, ah, doctor said it was fine.”

“I have three grandbabies. Well, they’re not babies any longer. Two in high school and one finishing up college now, but they will always be my grandbabies.” The happily plump woman talked about her grandchildren, two boys and one girl, and made kissing noises to Savannah whenever she turned her head toward the woman’s voice.

Katie clicked her seat belt and rested her hand on Savannah’s tiny leg.

“They grow so fast,” the woman went on.

“Yes, they do.” Or so she’d heard.