Chapter Three
Cooper had never considered himself slow to catch on, but right about now he was totally baffled. He had not seen Teresa Gordon since she left for college on the east coast, and by the time she’d graduated they’d drifted apart completely. Why would anyone think he was the father of her child?
“We were afraid that she’d have to go with Social Services if we didn’t find the father.” The same nurse held a tablet in her hand, scrolling through pages as she spoke.
The words Social Services jumped out at him. Tess would hate any child of hers being turned over to the same system she’d lived in for most of her young life. Hate it. But could it be any worse than turning the child over to a confirmed bachelor with zero experience?
What was he thinking? He can’t do this, and he certainly can’t let the hospital believe he’s the father. Surely, there was fraud or other legal issues that would arise from that crazy lie.
“Oh, Sandy,” the same nurse called to a woman strolling past them. “Can you take Mr. Baron up to pediatrics, please? He’s here for his daughter, little Emma.”
“Oh, you found him.” The woman smiled up at him. From her apron-like uniform, he suspected she was a volunteer and not a nurse. “She’s such a sweet little girl. I sure hope her mama is going to be all right.”
Oh, he certainly hoped the woman was right about that. “I need to drop this box in my car first.” First. Was he really going to do this? Then again, what exactly was this?
“Of course. I’ll be at the intake desk in the ER waiting room when you get back.” The woman’s smile didn’t falter despite the seriousness of the situation.
Working his way across the parking lot, he hit the fob to open the trunk. Setting the box down, he stared at the contents again, as if perhaps that would explain to him what the heck was going on. Katrina.
Slamming the trunk of his Audi shut with one hand, he pulled out his phone with the other.
On the second ring, Katrina picked up. “How is she?”
“On her way to surgery.”
“Serious?”
“I’m not sure, but she’s not regained consciousness since the accident.”
A deep intake of breath could be heard on the line.
“What I need for you to please see is who is her emergency contact on the HR forms, as well as any info on her daughter’s father.”
“The first I can find if you give me a minute, the second I don’t think is in the scope of employee packet info.”
If he was lucky, and he often was, maybe the emergency contact would be the child’s father.
“Here we go.” An uplifting tone gave him a moment of relief until her next words were nothing more than a grunt. “Hmm.”
“What does hmm mean?”
“It means that you are her emergency contact.”
“What?” That made no sense at all. He hadn’t seen her in forever.
Things were going from baffling to completely crazy. What was it his grandfather always said; there’s a fine line between insanity and genius, and Tess was pretty close to genius. Maybe she was just as close to insane. “Any info on the daughter?”
He could almost hear Katrina shaking her head. “Other than her age, twenty months, I didn’t really expect to find anything on here. She does have Emma as the beneficiary for the company life insurance policy, but that’s it.”
“I see.” Not that he did.
“What now?”
“Haven’t a clue is probably not the right answer.” There was one thing he was sure of though; there was no way that Tess would want her little girl in the system even for a day. “How are you with toddlers?”
The deep cackle that exploded from his assistant was all the answer he needed. “Don’t look at me. Only child and I didn’t even baby-sit as a teen, but keep me posted.”
“Will do.” Looking up at the massive hospital complex, somewhere in there was a little girl and her only chance of staying out of the system was him. Oh boy.
“There you are.” The same volunteer from earlier smiled up at Cooper. “Ready to get your girl?”
Why did all these people think he was Emma’s father?
“Follow me.”
With every step, he wondered what was he doing, why was he going along with the crowd. He could almost hear his mother’s voice asking If your friends jump off a bridge, are you going to follow? These weren’t friends, this wasn’t a bridge, but apparently he did indeed intend to follow. At least for as long as it took him to figure out what was happening and come up with a better plan, because like it or not, he would not let Social Services have Emma. The problem was, what did he know of little girls? He had no business even considering taking charge of this child. And yet it was looking like that was exactly what he was going to do. Maybe he was the insane one?
“You don’t have to worry.” The volunteer looked away from the numbers lighting up overhead in the elevator and offered him what was no doubt intended to be a reassuring smile. “Emma isn’t hurt. She’s doing fine.”
While he was worrying about the little girl, it was not for the reasons the volunteer thought.
Walking up to the desk on the pediatric floor, Sandy, the volunteer, stopped in front of a young blonde nurse standing at one end and cheerfully announced, “Emma’s father is here.”
The words ‘Emma’s father’ couldn’t have been more jarring if he really were her parent.
“Oh good.” The blonde smiled up. “She’s just a sweetie.”
All he could do was nod. After all, what did he know about Tess’ daughter?
“I’ll leave him in your hands.”
Sandy shook his hand before walking away, and the next thing he knew he was walking into a room with a cute little blonde kid sitting in a crib, sucking her thumb, and cradling a tiny blanket with a flamingo head.
The young girl stared at him with an intensity he hadn’t expected from one so young. Then she looked at the nurse before lifting her arms in the air. “Up me down.”
The nurse took a step back and frowning, Emma’s gaze turned to Cooper.
For the life of him, he had no idea how to up down anyone, but logic told him that those arms up in the air meant she wanted out of the crib and obviously the nurse had no intention of doing it. Not for the first time, telling himself he was nuts, he reached out and lifted the child out of the crib, praying she didn’t start screaming because some strange man had picked her up.
To his surprise, she didn’t scream, didn’t give him the stink eye, the child curled against him, her head tucked in his shoulder and her little fist gripping his shirt for dear life. If it were possible for a human heart to melt, his just did.
“Aw,” the nurse sighed. “You’ll need to sign some release papers. We have her diaper bag in the cabinet here.”
Diapers? Oh boy. Again, what was he getting into? Looking up at the ceiling, he remembered his grandmother teaching him when a child hugs you, never let go first. The way little Emma was clutching him, he didn’t think she was ever going to let go. “Where are the papers?”
“All ready at the floor desk.”
He bobbed his head. “And where did you say the diaper bag is?”
The woman turned, opened a narrow cabinet and pulled out what looked to him to be an ordinary, if not colorful, backpack.
“We tried to get her to eat, but she wouldn’t have any of it.”
Add one more thing to the list of things he didn’t have a clue about. Diapers, toddler food, and what the heck did he think he was doing?
At no point did Emma lift her head. Not when he grabbed the diaper bag, not when he signed the papers, and not when it dawned on him that he needed a car seat and pulled out his phone to call Katrina. So far she was one of the best assistants he could ask for. After a quick rundown of his dilemma, agreeing to meet him in the parking lot with a car seat as quickly as possible, he promised himself to give the woman a raise.
Standing by his car, waiting for his assistant, he considered his next move. Even if he wanted to buy everything Emma needed, what did he know about cribs and diapers and lord knew what else. What he needed was to take her home. To her home. “Forgive me, Tess.” Popping the trunk, he hefted Emma a little higher, wondering how the heck women carried these kids around all the time. His left arm felt like it was going to fall off any minute now. With his right hand, he grabbed the purse and rummaged for Tess’s wallet. He sure hoped her license had the correct address. Another minute and he found a few slips of paper, including the change of address receipt from her local post office. Good. At least he knew where she lived. He really hated searching through a woman’s purse. His grandmother had always told him it was sacred territory. Finally, clipped deep inside, he found her keys. One of these should open the front door.
As he continued to make plans in his mind, a familiar red compact pulled up behind him. Out popped Katrina, and opening her back door, reappeared with a car seat in hand. “I bought the best recommended. My neighbor has a toddler and I remembered her saying these spinner seats are a God-send.”
For a moment he wondered how her neighbor would feel about caring for one more kid. “Thanks.” Considering he was an engineer and should be able to figure out how to place a baby in a car seat without much effort, he found himself reading every line of the directions before settling her in. He’d opted for the safer middle seat placement, and determined she was old enough to be forward facing, which meant he could see her in the rear-view mirror. Somehow that idea gave him a modicum of comfort. Not much, but a little of something was better than all of nothing.
Without a peep, Emma stared at him, then Katrina. Since she’d been so attached to the little blanket in the hospital room, he handed it to her along with a toy or two he’d found in the diaper bag and said another quick prayer that Tess would wake up quickly, recover even faster, and retrieve her daughter. Then she could explain why the heck he was her emergency contact.
“You going to be okay?” Katrina asked.
“I have no idea.” He circled the car to the driver seat. “I don’t suppose you want to—”
Without his saying another word, Katrina shook her head forcefully from side to side. “Not on your life. I have a hot date tonight. Surely you must know someone with children?”
The only person he knew was his cousin Mitch and their baby was much younger than Emma. “Maybe.”
“Good. Then you’re all set.” She turned and waved. “I’m guessing I won’t see you at work tomorrow.”
Glancing at Emma tucked neatly into the back seat, he looked up at Katrina. “I honestly don’t know.” As a matter of fact, at the moment, he doubted there was anything he did know.