Kidnapped At Christmas

“I’m not claiming responsibility for her,” he clarified, and it was so cold outside she could see his breath. So much for the warmth.

* * *

WYATT STARED AT the woman who was walking so fast he had to hustle to keep pace. His judgment with people and especially women was normally spot-on, and he hadn’t pegged Meg Anderson as unstable or a gold digger.

In fact, she’d seemed like the most grounded, intelligent woman he’d been with in a long time, possibly ever. Her sharp mind was what he’d missed most about her. Since their tryst he’d compared every date to her and no one seemed to measure up. Even sex had been lacking, but that was a whole other story that made him think he might be losing his edge. So, he was even more shocked by her whipping out the baby card. Was there even a child? His child? This whole conversation left him scratching his head and an unsettled feeling gnawed at his gut.

He took off his coat and placed it around her arms, realizing she didn’t have any covering on her shoulders. She must’ve left her jacket on the chair back where he’d last seen it.

He didn’t have the heart to walk away while she was so distraught. Even though she’d shown him the pic of the cute infant on her phone, he couldn’t ignore the possibility that she’d jumped off the deep end. Maybe she’d been on mood-regulating drugs when they’d spent time together. Maybe she’d stopped taking them and this was the real her.

His logical mind wrestled against the possibility, but that could just be his pride unable to accept that he’d made such a wide turn with his judgment before. Wyatt had always considered himself more intelligent than that. As they said, the proof was in the pudding and this “pudding” was starting to unravel in front of his eyes.

When he really looked at her, he couldn’t ignore the changes in her body. Her hips had more pronounced curves, which were even sexier now. There were definite changes in her breasts. They’d been full before but not quite this generous.

Even tired, she was still one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. He told himself the only reason he was noticing any of the changes in her was because he was trying to determine if she needed to be driven to Kruger Belton Mental facility for evaluation and not because he cared or was still attracted to her. His heart had fisted a little bit when he’d first seen her. He did care, generally speaking.

The park was crowded. Holiday music filled the air. Families walked in clumps, smiling and singing along with Christmas carols. It was something out of a Norman Rockwell painting and definitely not Wyatt’s scene.

“They aren’t here.” Meg stopped and looked at him, clearly flustered. She had that panicked-mother look even though he wouldn’t know from personal experience. His had been too exhausted working to keep food on the table to get too emotional. He’d known his mother loved him and the fact he’d grown up in poverty was all the more reason to be proud of the successful taco franchise he’d built from a food truck.

Meg dug in her purse and pulled out a baby’s cloth with little owls on it.

“Was she supposed to bring the baby to the restaurant?” He had no idea of the protocol in dealing with a nearly hysterical woman, but he could see from the way she twisted the baby’s cloth in her hands that she was working herself up. Experience with women had taught him that this was not the time to tell her to calm down.

“Stephanie was supposed to text first.” Meg worked the cloth in her hands.

“Her battery could’ve died.” She winced at that last word.

“I guess.” That cloth in her hands was about to become pulp.

Wyatt reached out to touch her shoulder in an attempt to reassure her but was left with a sizzle on his fingertips. He almost pulled his hand back but decided to ignore the frissons of heat.

Hot or not, this one was off-limits, and especially with the bomb she’d dropped on him earlier.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. The child, real or imagined, was obviously very important to her. So much so that she was trembling.

And then she looked up at him with those blue eyes that he’d liked looking into right before he fell off the cliff during sex. Okay, not the time for that thought, Jackson.

“I can’t imagine how all this must look from your point of view. Thank you for the coat. I must’ve left mine in the restaurant. I was in such a hurry to catch you because I knew if you left it was over. I’d never have the courage to email again. You should know that I don’t want anything from you. I just thought you had a right to know about your daughter.”

Whether he believed her or not didn’t matter. She seemed vulnerable, and that pierced his armor. “We’ll figure this out.”

Her phone buzzed and her ringtone sounded, same ones as before. He should know. He’d been the one to program the song into her new phone when she couldn’t figure out how to change the basic sound.

A look of sheer relief flooded her tense expression as she checked the screen. “It’s Stephanie.”

Wyatt needed to clear his head so he could face the Butler family this afternoon. To say this day was throwing curveball after curveball was a lot like saying Texas highways were crowded. At least Meg had received the call she’d been waiting for and that was a relief.

His respite was short-lived as Meg dropped to her knees.

“Tell me where you are and I’ll be there in two seconds.” Her voice shook and panic radiated from her.

He offered a hand up, which she took. The color had drained from her face as she glanced around. “The Butler Fountain?” She paused. “I know exactly where that is.”

Whatever her friend was saying wasn’t good, and he figured this day was about to get even longer.

“Did you give the sheriff your statement?” She paused again. “Do it right now. Tell them everything you just told me. I’m almost there.”

Now his curiosity was getting the best of him as Meg broke into a run.

He followed, easily keeping pace even though Meg was still obviously in shape. She gripped her cell as she raced toward the planned site of the Mike Butler Memorial Fountain.

A small crowd had gathered, facing away from the tree. There was a woman on the ground, her legs curled up and her face scrunched in pain and panic.

“What’s going on?” he asked Meg as they neared the woman.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened,” the woman he presumed to be Stephanie said through sobs. “I was walking along fine and then I blacked out.” Her hand came up to the back of her head to rub. “Ouch...” She blinked in panic, tears welling. “I came to and she was gone. Someone took her. Someone kidnapped Aubrey. They must’ve taken everything, the stroller and the diaper bag. All I remember is blacking out.”

The most heartbreaking sound tore from Meg’s throat.

Wyatt’s head nearly exploded and an ache ripped through his chest. He couldn’t figure out why he’d have such a strong reaction to a child’s kidnapping when, first, he’d never even met the little tyke and, second, he still wasn’t convinced she belonged to him.

His heart didn’t seem to need confirmation one way or the other.

Chapter Three (#u44bc1709-5adc-598a-b538-5369751a2076)

“Did you call the sheriff?” Meg asked, looking like her world had just tipped on its axis in the same way Wyatt’s just had. But there was no way he could care this much about a child he’d never met. He chalked his feelings up to sympathy for the mother and the heartbreaking situation.

“I did.” A woman stepped forward. She was young, mid-twenties, and clutching a small child’s hand. The little boy couldn’t be more than three or four years old. “I wish I’d seen more. I heard someone scream and ran over to see what happened. I was too late.”

Meg thanked her.

“He’s on his way.” Stephanie glanced around at the gathering crowd, looking bewildered. “There was a guy—he was wearing one of those forest green park-maintenance uniforms—and he said he saw everything before taking off in that direction.” She pointed east. “Said he’d be right back.”

Meg looked on the verge of crumpling. The more people who gathered around the less likely it would be for him or Meg to see someone escaping with the stroller. Wyatt glanced at Meg.

“What color stroller am I looking for?” he asked.

“Red with big wheels to take it jogging.” She glanced from him to Stephanie with the most sorrowful look on her face.

Wyatt glanced around at the small crowd. “Did any of you see anything unusual or anyone hurrying out of this area with a red stroller?” The odds were slim anyone would notice details like that, but it was worth asking.

Heads shook.

“There was a lot going on and the music was too loud. I was afraid to wake her, so I stayed back here by the benches. I was worried that Meg would text and I would miss it.” Stephanie sobbed.

“You did the right thing.” Wyatt had no idea what to say, but he wished he could make the situation okay for both of them. Stephanie seemed like a nice person and he already knew Meg was. At least she hadn’t been lying about there being a child. Obviously, there was. No one would go through this much trouble to set up a lie.