In a Texas Minute Page 3

  Another hour passed and then two more. And though she was enjoying every minute with the baby, Sierra couldn’t help but wonder what was keeping Ginger. Four hours had passed since she’d dropped the child off and she’d not heard a word from her.

  Deciding she’d better try to make contact, she called Red Rock General and asked them to page Ginger. After a long wait on hold, the switchboard operator came back on the line.

  “I’m sorry, Miss Mendoza. The person isn’t responding. She must have left the hospital.”

  Sierra’s heart sank. “Oh. Well, could you tell me if you have a Mrs. Rollins listed?”

  “Sure. Just a moment.”

  Sierra looked at the sleeping baby while she waited for an answer. Why would Ginger have stayed away this long? Why would she have simply left the newborn with her?

  “Sorry, Miss Mendoza. There’s no one been admitted by that name. Is there another name she might be listed under?”

  Sierra had no idea what Ginger’s maternal aunt’s name might be so she simply thanked the operator and hung up.

  What in the world was she going to do now? she wondered, call child care services? No. Because the Rollinses’ home wasn’t exactly fit for a newborn, they would probably take him straight to a foster home, or even worse an orphanage until something could be decided about his future. She couldn’t bear the thought of this little guy being handed from one person to the next.

  Worried now, Sierra began to pace the living room. While she’d been on the phone to the hospital, the sun had set and long shadows from the live oaks had settled over the front of the house. She switched on a lamp to chase away the gloom, then sat down next to the baby.

  Maybe she should call her own parents, Sierra considered. But Jose and Maria couldn’t do any more than she was already doing. And anyway, they were always scolding her for taking on everyone else’s problems. They would definitely see “baby” as a huge problem. On top of that, her parents were usually at Red, the restaurant they owned, this time of the evening, eating or generally seeing that everything was running smoothly.

  Sierra was acquainted with Wyatt Grayhawk, the sheriff of Red Rock. She should probably call him and report the baby as abandoned. But Wyatt was a tough stickler for the law and he would insist that the baby be taken to the proper authorities. She could already hear him saying that would be the right thing to do.

  But every time Sierra looked at the baby’s sweet, innocent face, she felt a fierce sense of protectiveness. She wanted to make sure he was loved, not just cared for.

  Alex! She’d call Alex, Sierra suddenly decided. He was her friend and a lawyer; he’d weigh both sides of the situation for her.

  At the same time, in San Antonio, Pauline, Alex’s paralegal, marched into his office.

  “Alex, what in hell are you doing? Your client just walked out the door. And he wasn’t just angry. He was furious. He slammed the door so hard as he was leaving I thought the windows were going to shatter.”

  Leaning back in a large, black leather desk chair, Alex looked at his secretary who was leaning over his desk, waiting to hear a logical reason for the storm that had just blown from the office.

  “It’s simple, Pauline. I wouldn’t take his case.”

  The graying brunette shot him a droll look. “I gathered that much, Alex. I want to know why? The man has money. He could have paid some bills around here. You know his father owns that construction firm that’s building the fancy new row of shops out by the interstate.”

  “I don’t care if his father is building a new mansion up at Crawford for the president. He’s guilty. And you know my rules about taking cases. If I’m not totally sure the person is innocent, forget it.”

  Pauline straightened away from his desk and walked over to a coffeemaker situated in one corner of the small office. As she poured the brown liquid into a foam cup she said, “Well, it would be nice to stay on speaking terms with the electric company. We might need some light around here to get any work done.”

  Alex was more amused than anything by his secretary’s comment. “I have plenty of candles at home. If need be, I’ll bring them to work.”

  Pauline leveled a wry look at him as she carefully sipped her coffee. “It’s April. Texas is starting to heat up. What are we going to do for air-conditioning?”

  Alex batted a dismissive hand in her direction. “Hand fans. You can buy one for a dollar or two.”

  Pauline let out a mocking laugh. “Oh, that’d be real pleasant. What do you intend to do, sweat the truth out of your potential clients?”

  “Very funny, Pauline. You know that we have plenty in the coffers to pay the electric bill. Don’t try to make me feel guilty that I decided not to represent that bum.”

  Rising to his feet, he went over and poured himself a cup of coffee and added a measure of powdered creamer.

  As he thoughtfully stirred his drink, Pauline said, “I always thought it was every person’s right to have representation in court.”

  “Hmm. It is. He’ll just have to find it somewhere else.”

  Seeing he’d made up his mind about the issue, Pauline said, “Okay. The bum was your last appointment for today. You’ve got a court date in the morning. Do you want to go over your opening argument?”

  Alex shook his head. “No. I’m going to wait and let it all come from here.” He tapped the spot on his chest that covered the region of his heart.

  “All right. Do you want to go over your notes with me?”

  Seeing she was intent on staying busy, Alex gave in. “Sure. Get the things. It never hurts to know every little detail of the case.”

  Pauline started out of the room to fetch the files, when the telephone rang. On her way toward the door, she stopped by one corner of Alex’s desk and picked up the receiver.

  After a brief exchange of words, she held the phone out to her boss. “It’s Sierra.”

  Alex’s brows shot up with surprise. Sierra rarely called him at work. And since he’d just left her house after lunch, he couldn’t imagine what she might have to say to him.

  Pauline jabbed the phone at Alex as though he needed to wake up. “You know, Sierra, the pretty young Hispanic woman who comes by and sees you from time to time.”

  Scowling impatiently at his secretary, he jerked the phone from her hand. “Yes, I know. And you can shut the door behind you!”

  Pauline merely laughed as she left the room. Alex waited for the woman to close the door and then he sank onto his desk chair.

  “Sierra, what’s up?”

  Sierra seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at the sound of his voice. “I’m sorry to bother you like this, Alex. I realize it’s late and you’re probably getting ready to head home, but I just had to speak to you. You’re the only person I could think of to call about this.”

  Picking up on the panicked sound of her voice, Alex leaned forward, his expression alert. “What is ‘this’?”

  For some crazy reason, Sierra felt a ball of tears rushing to her throat. “It’s the baby, Alex. Ginger never came back to get him.”

  “What do you mean, never came back? You haven’t heard from her?”

  Sierra gripped the receiver. “No. I tried to contact her at the hospital, but apparently she wasn’t there. And now I have a sneaking suspicion the visit to her aunt was just a fabrication. Alex, I don’t know what to do!”

  Alex rose to his feet. “Sierra,” he stressed with calm patience. “It’s simple. You’ve got to call the authorities.”

  “No! I mean—not right now. Please, can you come over? I need to talk to you about this.”

  His first instinct was to yell at her, to order her to get off the phone and call the sheriff. But something about the desperate note in her voice stopped him. She’d just gone through a big disappointment with that Chad guy. And Alex had already given her enough rough treatment for one day. It wouldn’t hurt if a little more time passed before she had to deal with the authorities.

  “All right, Sierra.
Sit tight and I’ll be right over.”

  Alex hung up the phone and as he hurried out of the building, he ordered Pauline to close up and go home.

  As he drove the twenty miles back to Red Rock, he kept thinking about Sierra. Ever since their college days, he’d considered her a close friend. She’d been an attractive woman when they’d walked the Texas University campus, and Alex couldn’t deny that she’d grown even more beautiful these past few years. But he was smart enough to know that the two of them would never be compatible. She was too much of a Florence Nightingale and he—well, he had his own demons to deal with.

  Sierra was walking the floor waiting for Alex to arrive when the baby started to whimper again. Taking a seat on the couch, she cradled him in her arms and then reached for the diaper bag sitting nearby. She remembered one more bottle being inside. Once that was gone, she’d have to see about getting more.

  Whoa, Sierra. This baby isn’t yours. Don’t start letting yourself think in those terms.

  Pressing her lips together in firm conviction, Sierra began to dig through the items in the baby bag. She pulled out a clean diaper and was fishing around for the bottle of formula when her hand came in contact with a piece of paper.

  Pulling it from the bag, she could see it was a piece of lined notebook paper. The side facing her was blank, so she flipped it over and just as quickly reared back with shock. It was a short note:

  Dear Miss Sierra,

  I guess by now you’ve figured out that I’m leaving the baby with you. You’ve always been good to me and I know you’ll love him and take good care of him. You’ll give him the sort of home that I never could.

  I’ve always wanted to go to California so that’s where I’m headed. I want to find a better life for myself.

  Ginger

  Just then Sierra heard Alex parking his SUV in front of her house and she ran out onto the porch and across the yard to meet him.

  “Oh, Alex! You’re not going to believe this! I can hardly believe it myself. And I don’t know what to do! You’ve—”

  Alex grabbed her by the upper arms as she did a frantic dance on her toes.

  “Whoa, honey. Just calm down. Where’s the baby?”

  A breath rushed out of her. “On the couch. Asleep. He just downed the last bottle.”

  Alex’s arm slipped around her waist as he urged her toward the house. “Come on. Let’s go in and you can tell me all about it.”

  Just having Alex near was enough to soothe her frayed nerves. By the time they entered the living room and took seats on the couch, her body had begun to relax somewhat.

  “Okay. Start from the beginning and don’t leave anything out,” Alex instructed.

  Sierra rolled her eyes. “Dear God, do you always have to be such a—lawyer?” She reached and collected a piece of paper from the coffee table. “Just read this. It explains most everything.”

  Alex took the note and quickly read through the carefully printed words. When he looked up at Sierra, his green eyes were as hard as stone.

  “She just left him. Without a backward glance. Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

  The cold irony in his voice stunned Sierra. Alex had dealt with all sorts of crimes in his profession. He was used to seeing human nature at its worse and for the most part he took it all in stride.

  “Alex! You’re making Ginger sound like—a murderer, or worse!” Sierra gasped.

  Rising, Alex went over to the baby and gazed down at his sleeping face. As Sierra watched a muscle tick in his jaw, she realized that this whole situation had brought painful memories back to him.

  “Can you think of anything worse than abandoning your own child?” he asked sharply.

  Her face full of concern, she got to her feet and laid a gentle hand on his arm. “Alex, I’m—sorry,” she said softly. “I shouldn’t have involved you.”

  A tight grimace etched his rugged features and then just as quickly the pained expression disappeared and he shook his head. “Forget it, Sierra. I came here to help you. Not to condemn anybody.”

  When Sierra’s sisters, Gloria and Christina, had been gone from the family and her parents had constantly fretted about their welfare, she’d often lamented her worries to Alex. During one of those times, he’d surprised her by saying that at least Sierra knew who her real parents and siblings were.

  Sierra had pressed him to explain the comment and he’d eventually confessed that, when he was thirteen, he’d discovered his adoption papers among his parents’ important documents. Mitch and Emily Calloway had never told Alex that he was their adopted son. They’d always led him to believe that he’d been born to them right there in a Dallas hospital.

  Alex had confronted the couple with the adoption papers and he’d eventually learned that his biological mother had left him on the steps of a human services building in Dallas. He’d only been two days old at the time. The truth had shaken the very foundation beneath Alex’s feet and Sierra wasn’t at all sure that he’d ever made peace with the circumstances of his birth.

  “If it’s too upsetting to you—”

  “Sierra! I’m here. And I said forget it. Okay?”

  Biting down on her lip, she studied him with worried brown eyes. Alex groaned and reached for her hand.

  “Sierra,” he said, his tone suddenly gentle. “It’s all right. I’m a big boy. You don’t have to worry about me.”

  The touch of his fingers wrapped around hers was strong and warm and comforting. Sierra unconsciously tightened her hand around his. “All right. So what do you advise me to do, Counselor?”

  “Does Ginger have a family?”

  “Yes. But the father has a restraining order against him. He drinks. And if he lives in the same house with the family, he beats on the mother and the children. Mrs. Rollins is trying to make a living for herself and her other children without him. There’s no way she is capable of caring for an infant. She’s just an inch away from having her own children taken away from her.”

  “Sounds like a lovely home life,” Alex said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

  She sighed. “People can get themselves in some real predicaments, Alex. We’re not all perfect and at least Mrs. Rollins is trying to overcome her mistake of a bad marriage.”

  Shaking his head, he pulled away from her and walked across the room. “God, Sierra, that soft heart of yours is going to get you into big trouble someday. Not everybody in this world has good in them, you know.”

  He was standing at one of the open windows, his forearm resting against the wooden seal as he looked out at the darkening night. Sierra left the couch and went to him.

  “Alex, Ginger wanted me to have this baby. The note plainly says so. Doesn’t that mean anything?”

  His eyes widened in complete disbelief. “Are you telling me you want to keep the baby? Is that what this is all about?”

  A pleading expression crossed her face as she held her hands outward and upward. “Alex, I don’t want the boy to go to some orphanage or foster home.”

  He stabbed a forefinger toward the couch where the infant was quietly sleeping. “That little guy doesn’t have any attachment to you.”

  Lifting her chin with defiance, she said, “Maybe not yet. But he will. And I know I can take wonderful care of him.”

  “Okay. Okay. I don’t see any problem with you being a foster mother. But as for Ginger’s note, I’m not so sure it would stand up in a court of law. You’ll have to become his foster mother on your own merit.”

  Sierra breathed a bit easier. She didn’t know why the baby had become so important to her. She’d only had him with her for a few hours. And babysitting was nothing new for her. Friends were often asking Sierra to watch their children and not once during those occasions had she felt the sudden, unshakable attachment as she had with this little guy.

  Her smooth brow puckered with concern. “Do you think that’s possible? Child care services are so picky.”

  His lips slanted wryly. “We won’t know
until we talk with them,” he said and before she could reply he started to the phone. “Where’s your directory?”

  Sierra found the book for him and stood anxiously aside as she waited for him to make the call.

  After what seemed like an eon had passed, Alex finally hung up the phone and looked up at her. “Someone will be here within the hour. While we wait, why don’t we have some coffee?”

  Nodding numbly, Sierra started toward the kitchen. “You watch the little guy,” she told him. “I’ll bring the coffee in here when it’s ready.”

  Alex opened his mouth to protest, but he closed it just as quickly. The baby was asleep. He wouldn’t have to do anything. And Sierra was already in enough turmoil without him riling her with what she would consider foolishness on his part.

  Besides, he didn’t want to explain to her that it bothered him to be around babies. Or maybe she’d already guessed that. She’d apologized for bringing him into this situation. Apparently she’d realized Ginger’s behavior had reminded him of his own biological mother. Damn the woman, wherever in the world she was. She’d not wanted Alex any more than Ginger had wanted the precious little life sleeping on Sierra’s couch.

  Tentatively he walked over to the baby and stared down at him. He was a handsome guy with thick lush lashes resting on his rosy cheeks. His arms and legs were long, predicting a tall man, while his chest promised to be wide and strong. His tiny lips made sucking movements and Alex was suddenly struck by the baby’s total innocence, the overwhelming need for someone to nurture and care for him.

  Sierra would be a good mother. He didn’t have to think twice about that. But did he want to see her get mixed up with someone else’s child? Did he want to see her get tangled up with any child?

  “I’m sorry, Miss Mendoza, but our first obligation is to place this child with its own family. I’ll need to make a concerted effort to find the birth mother.”