Baby In Her Arms - Judy Christenberry

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the kitchen she heated up some mashed potatoes Kate had prepared before she’d left for the day. Wanda washed the bottle in silence, a sure sign that she was upset, and slapped it down on the counter beside the milk she was warming.

      “There! It’s clean. But I think you should throw the guy out on his ear. His story sounds pretty hokey to me.”

      “We really haven’t even heard his story, Wanda, and the baby’s so sweet.”

      “Hmmmp!” Wanda snorted and pushed through the swinging doors.

      “She’s changed,” Josh said, stepping into the kitchen.

      Maggie stared at the mangled diaper, its sticky tabs at strange angles. But at least the diaper wasn’t falling off. “Good job.” She could afford to be generous.

      His sheepish look surprised her. “I had to throw away two others. Those sticky things got stuck on—on other things.”

      “Then your next stop had better be somewhere you can buy diapers. The two you have left won’t last very long.” She knew that much, at least. Kate was always complaining about the number of diapers Nathan used.

      He looked panicky again, but as he drew closer to Maggie, Ginny gurgled and held out her hands, plainly asking Maggie to take her.

      Maggie’s heart flipped over and she grabbed the warm little body. “Oh, you sweetheart. Are you hungry?”

      She held the baby in one arm and picked up the bowl of potatoes. “Fill the bottle with warm milk and bring it to me,” she ordered, as if she cared for Ginny every day of the week, and sailed through the swinging doors.

      

      Josh stared at Maggie’s cute little backside as she swung away from him. Then he shook his head. He shouldn’t even be noticing such a thing. He had a baby to care for.

      Ginny. He had Ginny to care for:

      And Ginny wanted Maggie.

      He couldn’t blame her, but he also couldn’t deny the pang of jealousy that filled him.

      Dismissing such silliness, he took the milk from the stove and filled the bottle, screwing on the nipple, and followed Maggie.

      “Have you eaten?” Maggie asked as he slid into the booth across from her.

      “Me?” It took time for him to remember. “Uh, no. I went to see about...about Ginny and—no.”

      “Wanda, bring Josh a menu,” Maggie ordered, never lifting her gaze from Ginny.

      Josh knew why. His child, little Ginny, suddenly seemed to have eight hands, waving and reaching, trying to catch hold of the spoon Maggie wielded.

      Then he was distracted by the menu Wanda handed him. It took him no time to place his order; and the food was brought to him amazingly fast.

      After shoveling food down with as many manners as he could summon, he leaned back against the seat and realized Maggie was holding his child, watching him in silence.

      Ginny wasn’t watching anyone. Snuggled against Maggie’s neck, she slept peacefully.

      Josh wasn’t slow. He immediately realized what he needed. He asked Maggie the only possible question.

      “Will you come home with me?”

      Chapter Two

      Quiet, shy Maggie O’Connor stared in disbelief at the handsome man opposite her.

      His cheeks burned red and he hurriedly added, “I mean, for Ginny. Come home with me to help out with Ginny.”

      Still, she could say nothing. Words wouldn’t come to her.

      “I promise I don’t mean anything else. No...no playing around. I mean, your dad trusted me. You can, too.” He was getting his embarrassment under control, she could tell, since the red in his cheeks began to disappear.

      If only she were as quick to recover. “I...I don’t think—”

      “Think about Ginny. I don’t know how to care for her. Every time I touch her, she cries. Her mama just died and—”

      Those words got Maggie’s attention. “Her mother just died?”

      “Yeah, so—”

      “You don’t seem very broken up about it!” She couldn’t keep the accusatory tones out of her voice. Having lost both of her parents, Maggie took death seriously.

      She expected a quick show of sorrow, a repentant attitude. Instead she discovered frustration when she looked at him.

      “I’m not exactly celebrating,” he said grimly, “but I hadn’t seen Julie in almost a year and a half. She never even told me about Ginny. It wasn’t until today that I learned of her death and Ginny’s existence. I’ve been hit kind of hard.”

      Maggie turned her head to stare at the baby, whose warm little body pressed against Maggie. Sympathy welled up in her for the orphan. Her own mother had died at Maggie’s birth. She and Ginny had a lot in common, because the child would never remember the mother who’d given her life, just as Maggie didn’t.

      “What are you going to do?” she asked.

      “I’m still hoping you’ll come home with me.”

      She studied him under lowered lashes. He was a sexy, handsome man. A lot of women wouldn’t question his intentions if he asked them to come home with him. They’d even be disappointed if he expressed disinterest. Maggie, however, wasn’t surprised by his promise that he didn’t mean anything sexual with his offer.

      Kate said she gave off the wrong vibes to single men. Maggie didn’t know if that was true, but she’d found it easier to deal with numbers than real live men. Ginny, however, was another story.

      “Where do you live?”

      He sat up straighter, a spark of hope lighting his eyes. “I have a condo a few blocks from here, near the Plaza.”

      His private investigator business must be successful, Maggie realized, since that was a pricey neighborhood. “Even if I take care of Ginny tonight, that’s only going to delay your problem twenty-four hours.”

      “One Day at a Time. That’s my motto.” He sent her a smile that she figured usually got him whatever he wanted from a woman.

      “Why did you take her?”

      He looked like she’d thrown a glass of cold water in his face. “What?”

      “I said—”

      “I heard you. Because I’m her father.”

      “Are you sure?”

      “Why are you asking these questions? What difference does it make to you? I asked you to help care for her for twenty-four hours, not write a biography.”

      Maggie stiffened, causing Ginny to shift. “It seems to me that you should be more agreeable if I’m supposed to do you a favor.”

      “Ah. We’re wanting to know how much I’ll offer? Is that it?”

      Enraged, Maggie slid from the booth. “Here, Mr. McKinley, take your baby and leave. I don’t need insults.” Though she tried to hide how reluctant she was to let Ginny go to her father, she bent toward the man so she could hold on to the soft bundle of joy a little longer.

      “Wait!” he protested, panic in his eyes. “I didn’t mean to insult you. And you’d be doing me a huge favor. I don’t mind paying.”

      “I don’t think I asked for any money.”

      “Maggie, please help me, just until tomorrow.”

      She hadn’t intended to agree to his crazy plan. After all, she didn’t know him. Her father may have trusted him with a few family secrets,

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