The Baby Arrangement

“Thanks sis. It really means a lot to me. Ah...listen, I’ve got to go. I’ll be in touch. I know where to find you.”

“Wait...” Faith began, but her sister had already hung up.

Faith slowly replaced the receiver. There had been something in her sister’s voice, something Faith found infinitely disturbing.

“Who were you talking to?” Jared’s appearance startled her. His question cut through her wayward thoughts, sending a guilty flush to her cheeks.

“No one...it was a wrong number.” Faith managed to keep her voice even. “By the way, if we are stopping at the baby store, we should pick up a few tins of formula and another package of diapers,” she added, in the hope of diverting his attention from the call.

“Aren’t you carrying this doting-mother act a bit too far?” Jared commented.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“All right, Paula, we’ll play it your way,” he said, with more than a hint of impatience. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Faith closed the flap on the diaper bag and held it out to him. “I’ll get Nicky.”

As she handed Jared the bag, his fingers brushed against hers, sending a ripple of sensation scampering up her arm. Faith’s gaze flew to meet his, but his stare was icy and unreadable, giving nothing away.

Faith turned away and headed down the hall to her bedroom, where Nicky lay on her bed, contentedly asleep. Gently gathering the baby into her arms and wrapping him in his baby blanket, Faith grabbed her keys from the dresser and left the room.

“Your friend is trusting indeed to give you your own set of keys,” Jared commented after she’d finished locking the door.

Faith made no response as they crossed to the car. Jared opened the passenger door for her, and with great care she settled herself and her precious cargo into the leather bucket seat.

Reaching behind her for the strap of the seat belt, she suddenly found herself staring into a pair of dazzling blue eyes.

“Let me do that,” Jared said and, pulling the seat belt, he leaned across to secure it.

Her breath locked in her throat as she shrank back against the upholstery. The faint smell of pine mingling with a darker, earthier scent that was decidedly male assailed her, and she felt her heart stumble against her ribs in response.

The instant Jared withdrew and closed the car door, Faith released the breath she was holding, and waited for her heart to find its usual rhythm, silently admonishing herself for reacting.

“Which way is the store?” Jared asked a few moments later as he eased the car out of the driveway.

“Take the first street on the left, and you’ll see the parking lot in about three blocks,” Faith answered, keeping her gaze firmly focused on the road ahead.

Half an hour later Nicky was safely ensconced in his brand-new car seat. Faith glanced at the clock on the dashboard, calculating that it would probably be another hour before Nicky would need changing and feeding.

Faith was silent as her companion drove under the sign indicating they were entering the freeway that would take them north. During her rather rushed conversation with Paula she hadn’t even thought to ask her twin about Grace Harbor or its location.

The license plate on the car told her he was from Oregon, and with a name like Grace Harbor, it had to be somewhere on the coast. But much as she longed to ask Jared, she decided silence was the best policy.

Shifting her attention to the traffic on the busy freeway, she began to relax, enjoying the comfort and luxury his car offered. She even began to take pleasure in the ride, silently acknowledging that had everything to do with Jared’s driving skills.

Unlike Glen, her ex-husband, Jared McAndrew was a highly competent driver, a driver who inspired confidence in his passengers, not anxiety. Jared appeared unperturbed by the poor driving habits of his fellow travelers. Instead of shouting and cursing at a driver who cut in front of him, he merely adjusted his speed, or calmly shifted lanes whenever the need arose.

Jared...Jared McAndrew. She let the name slide silently over her tongue. Solid and strong, she thought, much like the man himself.

Paula had said he was a controlling man, and Faith could easily relate and sympathize, having been married to a man who’d tried to rule her life.

But while Jared had been both rude and arrogant, demanding she hand over his son, and while his attitude toward the woman he believed had given birth to his son had been less than chivalrous, she found she couldn’t fault him for the love and commitment he obviously felt toward his baby.

And what about the deal Jared had mentioned? What was that about? Stifling a sigh, Faith glanced into the back seat to check on Nicky, marveling at how good a baby he was and the fact that he was still asleep.

“Is he all right?” The softly spoken query came from the man at her side.

“Yes,” Faith replied.

“He sleeps a lot But I guess that’s normal.”

Faith heard the faint trace of anxiety in his voice. “Newborns do sleep a lot. But they can have their wakeful and fussy times, too. Erica had a fussy time—” She broke off abruptly, realizing with a sudden horror what she’d said.

“Erica? Who’s Erica?” Jared threw her a puzzled glance.

Faith swallowed nervously. “Uh... Erica was just a kid I used to baby-sit,” she improvised.

“Really,” he said, though the skepticism in his voice told her he didn’t believe a word she’d said. “As long as Nicky’s asleep, I don’t suppose you’d like to tell me why you ran off?”

His change of topic caught Faith totally off guard. She had no idea how to respond to his question.

“No,” she said after a lengthy pause, praying silently he wouldn’t pursue the matter. But the look Jared shot her told Faith he had other ideas.

“Did you leave because you’d changed your mind about our agreement?”

Glancing across at his profile. Faith noted the taut lines around his mouth as well as the stiffness of his jaw. Why did he look fearful of her reply?

What agreement? she wanted to ask, wishing again she’d insisted on a more detailed explanation from Paula before agreeing to participate in this charade.

“Cat got your tongue?” Jared flashed her a challenging look before returning his gaze once more to the road and the fast-moving traffic.

Faith said nothing as she stared down at his hands resting confidently on the steering wheel. It was then that she noticed the shiny gold band circling the fourth finger of his left hand. Her heart slammed against her breastbone in startled reaction, as the significance of the ring registered.

What bizarre game was her twin playing? Why hadn’t Paula mentioned she and Jared McAndrew were married? Why hadn’t Paula warned her she’d been cast in the role of counterfeit wife?

Chapter Three

The drive was pleasant and uneventful. They made several stops along the way to feed and change Nicky, including one outside Portland for supper.

As they waited for their hamburgers to arrive, Nicky began to fuss. Faith was surprised when Jared offered to hold him. He held her gaze in silent challenge, and, more than a little curious to see how he would deal with his fractious son, she handed him the baby.

She watched in admiration as Jared made caressing circles on his son’s back. When he nestled Nicky into the curve of his neck and kissed the top of the baby’s head, Faith’s throat closed over with emotion, and tears gathered in her eyes.

Glen hadn’t bothered to stick around long enough to see his daughter. But even before she discovered she was pregnant, she’d suspected him of having an affair.

She’d been midway through her pregnancy when the doctor had informed them there were major problems, that their baby would be born with multiple defects and with little chance of survival. Glen had taken his anger and frustration out on her, verbally berating her, blaming her for everything, before leaving for greener pastures.

Terminating the pregnancy hadn’t been an option Faith had even considered, and so she’d struggled on alone, trying to come to terms with the harsh reality that her baby would not survive.