Emergency: Parents Needed

Sympathy shone from her eyes. “I can see that. You look a little rough around the edges. The stomach bug going around right now is vicious.” She thrust a container at him. “My mother swears there isn’t anything that chicken-noodle soup can’t cure, so I got up early and threw it together just for you.”

The dish was still warm. Once again, it was humbling to realize Maggie had gone to the trouble when she didn’t have to bother. It was even more humbling to think she’d made the effort when he hadn’t exactly endeared himself to her. “How did you manage? You couldn’t have had time to go shopping…”

“I didn’t,” she admitted. “I raided the cupboards at the station so I’ll replace what I took the next time I’m on duty. It’s no big deal.”

Her effort may not be a big deal to her, but to him it was. “Thanks, but I’m—”

“Don’t worry, I left out the arsenic.”

Unable to help himself, he chuckled. “I wasn’t worried. If anything happens to me, you’ll be the first suspect.”

Her smile lit up her face. “Exactly. However, if I were you,” she continued as if she were in a hurry to leave now that she’d done her good deed, “I’d go back to bed and get some rest. Do you have the usual home remedies? Acetaminophen, decongestant, cough medicine, soda and crackers? If not, I’ll be happy to run to the store or do whatever…”

“I’m not sick.”

She hesitated. “You aren’t?”

“Something came up,” he began as an idea popped into his head and instantly took root. “Something personal.”

“Oh.” She took a step backward. From the way her face turned a beautiful shade of pink as she eyed the bowl in his hand, she clearly regretted her kind action. “Then I’m sorry to bother you,” she said stiffly.

“You aren’t bothering me at all,” he assured her. “In fact, you’re the very person I need, Maggie.”

Before she could do more than stare at him with a dumbfounded expression on her face, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside.

Maggie didn’t know what threw her off center the most—the tingles his touch sent up her arm or the claim from the most independent, do-it-himself man she’d ever met that he needed her. Although her heart warmed at hearing the words, she also knew that being needed was her weak point. She hadn’t fully recovered from the last time a man had taken advantage of her good nature with those words.

“Excuse me?” she asked politely as she found herself in his foyer, where she heard a baby wailing.

“I don’t know who else to turn to,” he admitted. “When you showed up on my doorstep…trust me when I say you’re a gift from heaven.”

She eyed him with suspicion, purposely staring at his face to avoid the sight of his wide chest, the well-defined muscles under his snug-fitting gray T-shirt, and the runner’s legs revealed by his athletic shorts. “A gift? Come on, Donatelli. This is me you’re talking to, not one of your weekend bimbos. Are you sure you haven’t been nipping the cough syrup?”

“I haven’t taken a drop,” he insisted. “I just need a few pointers…”

The wailing grew louder until she saw the source of the noise crawling toward them in a pink sleeper. The little girl with tousled light brown curls and a scowl on her pixie face dragged a lopeared bunny in a tight-fisted hand.

“You’re babysitting?” she asked inanely.

A pained expression crossed his face. “No. Well, I am, but not in the true sense of the word. She’s…” His voice faded and he rubbed his face.

“She’s what, Joe?”

He hesitated. “She’s…mine.”

Joe? A father? It simply didn’t compute. He’d never given any indication, never even hinted that he had a child, but he was a handsome man who didn’t seem to lack female companionship. Nothing said he couldn’t have an ex-wife in the picture, even if he hadn’t shared that so-called picture with anyone.

His ‘something personal’ was definitely personal, but his new status struck her the most. She did not want to be attracted to another single father. Once had been enough.

“I thought you said you didn’t have any family,” she accused.

“I don’t.” He jerked a hand through his hair, leaving several strands askew. “Breanna is…It’s a long story.”

“I’m sure,” she muttered under her breath. Certain she should steer clear of this situation because it was nothing more than an emotional minefield, she edged toward the door. “I should go and leave you two to…” She watched the baby maneuver herself into a sitting position at Joe’s feet, where she continued to whimper. “To bond.”

He reached out and held the door closed with one large hand. “Don’t go. Please.”

“You’re busy, Joe, and I only stopped by to drop off the soup, which obviously wasn’t necessary.”

“I need you. Breanna needs you.”

“Don’t be silly,” she said briskly, determined to stick to her non-involvement policy. “I just met her. What can I do?”

“Help me figure out why she won’t stop crying. She’s been like this since I got her.”

Breanna stared up at Maggie with water-filled eyes and hiccuped her sobs. Maggie steeled herself against the tears, but when the little girl dropped to all fours and crawled forward until she grabbed Maggie’s pant leg and pulled herself upright, Maggie knew she couldn’t walk away.

She cast a disparaging glance at Joe before crouching down to the little girl’s level. “Hi sweetie,” she crooned. “What’s wrong?”

Immediately, Breanna raised her arms and sniffled.

Maggie’s heart hadn’t hardened enough to deny this precious and clearly unhappy baby a hug. Giving in to the inevitable, she lifted the youngster off the floor and tucked her expertly on one hip as she swiped Breanna’s tear-streaked face. “What’s wrong with your world, little one?”

Breanna laid her head on Maggie’s shoulder and quieted.

Joe mumbled something under his breath—something that sounded like ‘what wasn’t wrong?’

“What did you say?” she asked.

He rubbed his face at the same time his shoulders seemed to slump as if in relief. “Nothing.” Then, “She likes you.”

Maggie would have been perfectly satisfied if the little girl had ignored her and crawled in the opposite direction. “She just recognizes a soft touch.”

“Soft touch or not, do you mind staying for a while? Until she settles down for longer than thirty seconds and my ears stop ringing?”

She wanted to refuse, but his hopeful expression, coupled with her own goal to begin building some sort of rapport with him, convinced her to agree. “OK, but only for a few minutes.”

“Great. Have a seat while I fix her breakfast.”

Maggie followed him into a small kitchen where the sink was overflowing with dirty dishes. From the way he paused to frown, then sigh at the sight, she suspected he was normally as meticulous in his house as he was on the job. Clearly, his daughter had upset his entire routine and style of living.

She sat at a table covered with pizza boxes and take-out containers as the little girl clung to her like a sandburr; nothing short of something drastic would convince her to let go, so Maggie simply let her hang on.

“To be honest, I expected to find you with your head in the toilet, not taking care of a baby,” she commented, politely ignoring the mess.

“After the past two days, I wish you had,” he said dourly.

Maggie chuckled, somewhat amused that she was finally seeing a different side to the organized, everything-in-its-place Joseph Donatelli. “It can’t have been that bad.”