A Lawman for Christmas

“Then what would I do with the car I drove here?”

“Right.” Morgan had forgotten about that. He thought for a moment. The solution was simple. “Tell you what, you bring your mother home first, and I’ll follow you in the squad car. After you get her settled, I’ll take you to your mother’s car.”

That was really going out of his way, she thought. Once upon a time, she would have taken his offer at face value. But that was before Dan. “And why would you do that?” she asked suspiciously.

“The Bedford police department aims to please,” he told her simply. And then he looked at her for a long moment. She felt as if he were peering right into her. “Are you always this suspicious?”

“Only when things seem to be out of sync.” And then she considered her mother. Talk about out of sync. “A baby,” she murmured, shaking her head.

He was still scrutinizing her, still looking into her soul. Kelsey bristled at the thought.

“Why does that bother you so much?” he asked, and then guessed at the reason. “You’re the youngest, aren’t you?”

Kelsey squared her shoulders. “That has nothing to do with it.”

In his opinion, that had a great deal to do with it. But he had no desire to get into any sort of a discussion with her about it. He had a feeling she did not give up easily. “If you say so.”

Kelsey caught her lower lip between her teeth. “It’s just that…”

Morgan anticipated her words. “Don’t say she’s too old,” he cautioned. “Your mother looks like a young, vital woman.”

That was only half the picture. “Who already has a life and five children.”

“Now she’ll have six.”

Kelsey stared up at Morgan. He certainly didn’t sound like a typical male his age. She placed him in his late twenties. Most men in that age bracket fiercely resisted anything that seemed remotely close to domestication.

“You like babies?” she asked, studying him as she waited for an answer.

She had a long wait ahead of her. Rather than answer, he nodded toward her mother’s bed. “The E.R. doctor’s leaving. Better help your mother get ready. I’ll wait for you at the E.R.’s registration desk.” He pointed toward doors that led outside the emergency room.

Without waiting for a response, Morgan walked away, heading toward the doors. Leaving her with a basketful of questions.

Chapter Three

“He seems like a very nice man,” Kate commented to Kelsey.

Morgan had helped Kate out of the wheelchair that the hospital’s insurance policy required for all inpatients leaving the premises, then gently eased her into her daughter’s car. True to his word, the young policeman followed behind them as Kelsey drove her home.

Kelsey lifted one shoulder in a dismissive half shrug. “He’s okay for a policeman.”

She glanced up into her rearview mirror. If she was hoping that he’d taken off instead of following them, she was disappointed. In true law enforcement style, Donnelly drove a sensible distance behind them.

Kelsey sped up.

So did he.

She had a gut feeling that Officer Morgan Donnelly was not an easy man to shake.

She couldn’t really put into words why, but the fact that he trailed behind them annoyed her. Kelsey knew she was unreasonable, that the policeman had been extremely accommodating and made things easy for her. She should be grateful.

But policemen as a species were not really high on her approval list right now. Not since she’d broken up with Dan. Moreover, she wasn’t exactly in the best of moods. For one thing, she was still shaken up by having to rush to the hospital, not knowing what to expect when she got there. For another, the news of her mother’s current delicate condition had completely thrown her for a loop.

If one of her brothers had told her that they were expecting, she would have been instantly overjoyed. This was something else again. It would take getting used to.

Kelsey could feel her mother’s gaze.

Glancing briefly to her right, Kelsey asked, “What?”

“Since when do you have something against policemen?” Kate asked.

Ordinarily, her life was an open book. She and her mother were more than family—they were friends and she valued her mother’s insight and judgment. But this had been a very personal hurt. Because she hadn’t wanted to endure her brothers’ teasing, not to mention their questions, no one had even known she was seeing Dan at the time. And afterward, when she’d felt like an idiot because Dan had been stringing her along, well, she didn’t feel like sharing that, either.

It definitely wasn’t a topic she wanted to raise now.

Kelsey shook her head. “Mom, I don’t want to waste time talking about policemen.”

Kate smiled. “What do you want to waste time talking about?”

“I don’t want to waste time at all—” Kelsey realized that her voice was tense. But then, this wasn’t an everyday situation. Stopping at a stoplight at an intersection, she slanted another look at her mother. “Mom, what are you going to do?”

Clearly puzzled by the question, Kate asked, “About?”

“World peace,” Kelsey retorted, her tension getting the best of her. And then she flushed. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to be so flip. About the baby, Mom. What are you going to do about the baby?”

Her mother never hesitated. “Start eating healthier, exercising more. And giving up that glass of wine I always have with your father at dinner.” The light turned green and Kelsey pressed down on the gas pedal. There was just the slightest shift in her mother’s voice as she asked, “What else would I do?”

How in heaven’s name do you ask your mother if she was considering an alternative to giving birth? For one of the few times in her life, Kelsey felt tongue-tied. Taking a breath, she forced herself to forge ahead.

The words came out haltingly. “Well, I thought maybe, because you’re not twenty-four anymore…”

Reading between the lines, Kate took pity on her. “I know how old I am, Kelsey. And the doctor says I’m definitely healthy enough to go the distance.”

Yes, her mother was healthy and energetic and all those good things. But having a baby was a life-altering decision. Her mother had to know that. “What about after the distance? This doesn’t just end with delivery.”

Kate made no attempt to hide her amusement. “Are you under the impression that you’re telling me something I don’t know, Kelsey? I don’t have that short a memory, sweetheart.”

Kelsey hadn’t meant to sound insulting. Because her mother was with her, she slowed down rather than raced through a yellow light. “No, of course not, it’s just that—that I’m worried.”

Kate patted her hand just as the light turned green again. “Don’t be. This baby thing threw me for a loop, too, but I’m already getting used to it. It’ll mean changes, but it’ll also mean that I get to hear a sweet little voice say ‘Mama’ again.”

“I can call you Mama again if you want,” Kelsey volunteered as she took the on-ramp to the northbound freeway. “What about the diapers and the sleepless nights and the cost?”

In Kate’s mind, the reward was a great deal more than the sacrifice. “What about the love?” she countered.

Kelsey spared her mother a quizzical glance. “Five of us loving you—not counting Dad—isn’t enough?”

Her mother’s laugh was warm, reassuring, as if she sensed the ambivalent feelings Kelsey was going through.