A Match Made by Baby

“I don’t see how you have time for it all.”

“I think we all make time for what we want to do.”

He wondered if The Mommy Club filled a need Kaitlyn had to help and nurture. What did that need come from? He found he was awfully curious about her and wanted to know.

He pointed to a portable crib. “I guess I’ll get one of those, too. I can donate it to The Mommy Club when Tina returns. I’m sure she’ll be back before the week’s out.”

Kaitlyn stood a little closer so their conversation was private. “It could be longer than a week. If your sister is in the throes of postpartum depression, she might need a doctor’s help to emerge from it.”

Adam’s brow furrowed. “How am I going to get her help when she won’t answer my calls?”

“All you can do is hope that she contacts you soon.”

“I have to do more than hope. I’m supposed to be on a plane to Thailand in a month.”

Erica started crying, and Adam’s arms went around her with a protective gesture, but it didn’t help.

“If you’re tense and upset, it can affect her. Babies pick up moods.”

He exhaled, took Erica out of the sling and laid her in her car seat. “Maybe she’s hungry again. Let’s get what we need and head back to the condo.”

Taking care of Erica was complicated enough. Tackling the vibrations between him and Kaitlyn added to the unnerving situation.

Once he had everything he needed for his niece, Kaitlyn would be out of his life once more.

* * *

Back at Adam’s condo, Kaitlyn watched Adam as he held and walked Erica and readied a bottle with the new formula she’d chosen. Four hands were better than two in this kind of situation.

She asked, “Would you like me to feed her?”

He shook his head. “No. I have to learn how to do this and do it right.” He took the bottle from Kaitlyn, their fingers brushing. They avoided each other’s gazes, and he went to the living room, this time sitting in the armchair.

And to her dismay, he was still as sexy as could be—a six-foot-two, broad-shouldered, handsome man feeding a baby intently. Her heart gave a little trip. Erica was greedily sucking on the nipple, and Adam looked as if he’d conquered the world.

“If this formula is better suited to her, she might start sleeping for you,” Kaitlyn assured him.

“That’s an awfully big ‘if’ and ‘might.’”

“There are never any guarantees with babies.”

“How come you don’t have a slew of your own? You seem to really love children.”

The stark sincerity in his question took her breath away. Usually sure of herself, right now, she didn’t know how to answer him.

He must have realized something was wrong, because he looked up from the baby, and his gaze met hers. “Kaitlyn?”

Their evening together and what had almost happened between them flashed before her eyes again. It seemed to require some kind of honesty, though she didn’t know why. But she couldn’t be honest with this man. She didn’t really know him.

So she fell back on the usual excuse. “I work so many hours—”

Suddenly, a beeping came from Adam’s hip. It was his phone. “That could be Tina,” he said with some desperation in his voice.

Kaitlyn stood immediately and scooped Erica from his arms. Her hand brushed against his chest, and she could feel his hardness under the material of his shirt. She knew there was springy, dark brown hair there. But she concentrated on the baby and the bottle and settling on the sofa with Erica to feed her some more while he took his call.

He checked the screen. “Not Tina. It’s my father. He might know where she is.”

“Hello, Dad,” he said with a little more distance than Kaitlyn would expect between father and son.

She unabashedly listened, curious about Adam’s family connections.

“Where are you?” Adam asked.

He paused for an obvious few moments of explanation.

“So you’re in Ireland, but you plan to fly to England tomorrow?”

His father must have agreed that was the plan because Adam asked, “Have you heard from Tina at all?”

A short answer there, most likely no.

“Something’s happened, Dad. She’s not herself. I think she ran off and left Erica with me because she’s depressed and needs help.”

His father must have said something.

“I was out of the country. Didn’t find out she’d had a baby until I got home. I need to find her, and maybe instead of taking a jaunt to England, you should come home.”

Another pause. “I know you promised Iris you’d take her to Ireland and Scotland and everything in between, but this is a family emergency. Our family emergency. Jade’s gone and Tina has no one else. You and I, in the past few years, have practically deserted her. Of course she feels like she doesn’t have any support. You’re out of the country. I was out of the country. How often do we call her? How often does she call us? And what kind of example are either of us setting for her? You’ve been married four times—”

He stopped abruptly and glanced at Kaitlyn. His father must have made some retort because Adam shook his head and clenched his jaw. “I might be a serial dater, but you’re a serial groom. If you hear from Tina, day or night, anytime, call me. This is important, Dad. I have a group of people here who will help her.”

His father must have asked him a question.

Adam answered, “I’m leaving for Thailand in a month. I have no choice. This is a contracted commitment. If that means you have to come back and babysit for a while, that’s what it means.”

Adam just kept shaking his head at the rest of the conversation.

After he ended the call, he slowly slipped the phone back into the holster on his belt, looking as if he’d gone far away.

“It didn’t go well?”

Adam gave a mirthless laugh. “No, it didn’t. But that’s not unusual with Dad. He’s always been more concerned about his most recent marriage to Tiffany or Anna Mae or whoever comes next. But Tina and I—we were pretty much on our own. We never understood why he and Jade divorced. They never told us.”

“It seems you watched over Tina a lot when you were younger. Didn’t you mind having a tagalong? That had to cramp your style given the big age difference.”

“I didn’t have a style. I studied mostly. I ran track, but only so I could get a scholarship.”

Adam’s pride was almost as big as he was. The stiffness in his voice concealed his true feelings. She imagined they would have been sorrow, loneliness and regret. However, just as she hadn’t confided in him, she could tell he wasn’t going to confide in her. She knew about the arrest he’d had when he was twenty-one...that his younger years hadn’t been all studies and sports, even though that’s what he wanted her to think. He’d been involved in a serious accident that had been his fault.