Forever My Baby

Garland hung up the telephone and then turned to Robyn. “I need to take a quick break. I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

Once Garland sat down at her desk, she picked up the phone with trembling hands and dialed. “Trina, I just got off the phone with someone from the hospital,” Garland said as soon as her friend answered. “I have to meet with the chief of staff in a couple of hours.”

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t know what this is about, Trina. Amya is my daughter.” Her daughter was her whole world. Not that unknown child somewhere, the one who might look like her, but this child—the one she’d nursed and diapered, whose toes she’d tickled and counted, the one who squeezed her hand.

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“No, I’ll be fine,” Garland focused passionately on only one thought: Amya was hers. “It may turn out to be nothing.”

“Maybe they just want to reassure you that everything has been straightened out.”

“I hope so,” she replied.”

“Why don’t you let me go with you, Garland?” Trina offered again. “I’m sure this is nerve-racking. It certainly would be for me.”

“Maybe it might be a good idea to have you accompany me. I’m so nervous right now that I’m not sure I can even drive.”

“You don’t have to worry about driving, Garland. I’ll pick you up.”

“Okay,” she stated. “Thanks, Trina.”

Garland was grateful for her friend. This was not something she wanted to go through alone. She tried to keep a positive outlook. Perhaps the hospital was just being thorough. Maybe they wanted to reassure her that Amya was truly her daughter. Garland did not want to consider any other option. The thought made Garland sick to her stomach.

She checked her watch as she headed back to the sales floor. She said to Robyn, “I need to run out for a couple hours.”

Trina arrived ten minutes later.

* * *

When they pulled into the hospital parking lot in Charleston, Garland felt the onset of fear and the prickle of goose bumps on her skin. “Trina, I’m not sure I can do this.”

“You can,” her friend assured her. “I’ll be right beside you.”

She smiled at Trina. “I’m so glad that you insisted on coming with me. I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t here.”

Suddenly, Garland froze as her eyes met Ryker’s when she walked into the waiting area of the hospital chief’s office. “What is he doing here?” she whispered.

Trina followed her gaze. “Who is he?”

“Ryker DuGrandpre,” Garland responded, her voice full of dread. “Lord, I hope this isn’t about his little girl, too. She’s about Amya’s age.”

“Do you know him?”

She nodded. “He and my brother were best friends. He came to my store not too long ago with his daughter. Talk about the most adorable little girl.” As they approached Ryker, Garland noted how his dark eyes gave off a tortured dullness of disbelief.

When he switched all that intensity to her, she hesitated, half in anticipation, half in trepidation.

“Ryker...” Garland began. “Please tell me that you’re not here about the baby switching.”

Before he could respond, Trina offered him her hand and quickly interjected. “I’m Trina Mason. Garland is a close friend of mine.”

Ryker offered a polite smile. “I’m afraid I am, Garland,” he said. “And it’s nice to meet you, Miss Mason.”

Garland struggled to hold her composure. This surely could not be happening.

His eyebrows rose a fraction. “Your daughter was also born September eighth?”

“Yes.” Mixed feelings surged through her and Garland fought to control them.

They stared at each other across a sudden silence.

This was any parent’s worst nightmare and now she was forced to contend with a DuGrandpre, the very influential, wealthy elite of Charleston society.

As they entered the hospital chief’s office, her eyes swept the area, looking for Ryker’s wife. Surely, she would be there with him. Garland was curious about the woman he chose as a mate for life. A thread of jealousy snaked down her spine, but she quickly dismissed it.

“Why don’t you have a seat?” Trina suggested, giving Garland a slight tug on the arm. “I’ll let them know you both are here.”

She nodded. “I think I will.” Garland feared she would pass out if she did not sit down right away.

Rigid, she sat in a nearby chair, fingers tensed in her lap and her eyes searching.

“Who are you looking for?” Trina asked in a whisper when she returned from the receptionist’s desk.

“His wife,” Garland responded. “Don’t you think it’s odd that she’s not here with him?”

“Maybe she is meeting him here or she didn’t want to come,” Trina replied, shrugging in nonchalance.

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else in this situation,” she muttered.

Ryker was watching her from his nearby seat. Garland became increasingly uneasy under his scrutiny. She cleared her throat noisily. Her eyes then landed on him. She looked away hastily and then moved restlessly in her chair.

“I hate all this waiting.”

As soon as the words left her mouth,a young woman came out to get both her and Ryker.

“I’ll be right out here,” Trina promised.

Garland nodded. “Thanks,” she whispered as she rose to her feet.

Ryker waited for her near the door.

Inside the office, they sat side by side.

Two of the people in attendance were lawyers—they had that look about them, Garland decided. The other was the chief of staff.

The conversation began with a host of apologies to both her and Ryker.