The Baby Magnet

“You can just drop me off on your way out of town,” Jason called from the back seat.

Like hell, Marie thought. Why should she be the only one to suffer?

“No time,” Luke said, denying the request before Marie could open her mouth. “It’s going to be close as it is.”

He had them out of the lot and headed toward Kalamazoo and away from home base before Jason could do more than sputter.

Marie couldn’t help but admire his style. And Luke was a surprisingly good driver. His brother, Marie’s ex, had driven like a maniac. Live by the sword, die by the sword, Marie thought once more. She was only grateful Wade had been alone the day he’d finally done himself in. Marie gradually relaxed as Luke competently handled the wheel. She rode in silence, head back, eyes closed, letting her headache ease as the car smoothly ate up the miles.

“Idiot,” Luke muttered as he was cut off. He braked sharply and the shopping bag he’d tossed onto the back seat tipped over.

Jason righted the bag and began stuffing the spilled contents back in. “Little old for stuffed animals, aren’t you?” he asked as he retrieved a plush teddy bear from the floor-board and tossed it back into the bag.

“Why’d you cut things so close if all you needed was a baby gift?” Marie asked irritated all over again that he’d been where he shouldn’t have been, thus causing the accident.

“It’s for the meeting,” Luke muttered while he checked his mirror, signaled and zipped around a slow-moving truck.

“What kind of meeting requires teddy bears?” She turned around in time to see Jason pick up a thermal-weave blanket with satin binding and bound into a neat bundle with paper tape and plastic wrap. “And baby blankets?” she inquired suspiciously. “What, you’re on the board of the Kalamazoo orphanage?” Somehow the image just didn’t fit with his current piratical, swashbuckling look and her former impression of him.

“I’m picking up my, uh, daughter,” Luke admitted grudgingly, his cheeks stained red for no reason Marie could think of. “I have to meet with some social workers first.”

Marie’s brows rose and her eyes widened as she considered that tidbit. Well, there was certainly little that could be said. First of all, she hadn’t even known he had a daughter. For sure Wade had never mentioned it and she’d never seen hide nor hair of a child in any of her previous encounters with Luke.

“How old is your daughter?” Marie inquired before caution got the better of her.

“Two. I think.”

He thought? He didn’t know his own child’s age? Marie sat back in her seat. Well, she’d figured out the Deforest family was seriously messed up about a month after her wedding. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised that Wade’s older brother had to have his toddler released to him by a social worker. And she wasn’t exactly in a position to throw stones, was she? Her only family seemed to be specializing in the bizarre and unusual themselves, what with her taking on the task of raising her own uncle. Well, it was certainly nothing to her, Marie decided. She’d simply make sure she was out of the picture by the end of the afternoon. Luke could have the social worker come and live with him for all she cared. Marie just felt sorry for the poor, obviously neglected child.

“What’s her name?” she couldn’t help but ask.

“Carolyn.”

“Pretty.”

“It’s okay, I suppose.”

“You don’t like it?”

“Not particularly.”

“Then why’d you pick it?” Marie’s headache was beginning to flare up again.

“I didn’t. Her mother did. I had no say.”

The mind boggled. What was the mother, a female sumo wrestler? Marie couldn’t begin to imagine a circumstance, any circumstance where Luke Deforest wouldn’t have a say—wouldn’t make darn sure he had a say.

Marie decided not to pursue it, however. The answer was bound to only further confuse her. The entire day had taken on a surreal quality. Nothing was making sense. She’d read stories where people walked through mirrors or wardrobes and found themselves trapped in an alternate world. Under the circumstances, the best thing to do was go through the motions and pray for the sun to set. Maybe by the time it got around to rising again she’d wake up on the right side of the mirror.

One could always hope.

Unfortunately, more often than not of late, she’d found herself spending time on the backside of the mirror.

Actually, she was developing a certain bizarre fascination with life on the wrong side. One never knew what would pop up next. Rabbits with pocket watches, incredibly arrogant and macho—not that Marie was into macho, because she most certainly wasn’t—pirates in red sports cars. Who could predict?

“What do Jason and I do while you’re at this meeting?”

“I don’t know. Read a book or something.”

“What book? You hijacked us from the mall parking lot, remember?”

“Okay, so take a walk.”

“Is the area safe where we’re going?”

“I’ve never been there before.”

Marie threw up her hands. “Fine. Great. I’m taking a nap now. Wake me when the nightmare’s over. Good night.” And she leaned back, folded her arms across her chest and closed her eyes.

In the rear seat, Jason apologetically cleared his throat. “Ahem. Marie’s a little high-strung. You have to learn to just kind of ignore her like I do.”

Marie didn’t open her eyes, but she snorted her opinion of that.

Luke wove his way through a knot of cars. “Maybe you ought to listen a little harder, at least when she’s giving driving instructions.”

Amen to that, thought Marie and crossed her arms the other way.

Luke glanced at the boy in the rearview mirror. “And as for my learning to tune her out, we don’t see enough of each other to make it worth worrying over.”

Amen to that, too. And let it stay that way.

Marie actually fell asleep. When she startled awake, the car was parked on a shady street with the windows all left open a few inches for air circulation. She rubbed her eyes, sat up and looked around. Where was she?

Turning around to glance down the block, she found Jason in the back seat with earphones plastered on his head and his portable CD player making him deaf. He wiggled his fingers at her in a gesture of recognition as his head bobbed rhythmically. “Where’s Luke?” she mouthed and Jason pointed to the building across the street.

Marie briefly studied the building, but it wasn’t giving away any secrets so she turned her attention back to Jason. “You’re going to lose your hearing, you know,” she said.

Jason pointed to his ears and shrugged, indicating he couldn’t hear her over the noise being pumped in.

Marie sighed and turned around. At least he wasn’t sharing his musical choice with her. She should be grateful for small favors.

Marie tipped her head one way and then the other. She glanced at her watch. Good grief. She’d been asleep for almost forty-five minutes. No wonder she had a crick in her neck. To tell the truth, she was a little worried with the way she fell asleep at the drop of a hat lately. Her periods were off, too. It had to be the stress. Please, God, let it be stress.

Unfastening her belt, she opened the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk. She needed to stretch out. At the end of the block she turned around and marched back up the street. By her fourth passby she’d developed a ‘glow’—her mother had always insisted ladies didn’t sweat—and all the kinks were well worked out of her legs. She strode quickly by Jason’s lanky reclining-yet-still-rhythmically-twitching form when suddenly her quiet humming was drowned out by ungodly screeching.

Startled, she swiveled about. Half a legion—at least—of women were being raped or abducted somewhere, but where?

She searched the area, and what to her wondering eyes should appear but Luke, coming down the steps of the building Jason had pointed out earlier. He held a toddler in his arms, but rather than cradling her up against his body, he held the little one out and away from himself, as though he wanted to distance himself from his own daughter, the source of all that noise. And he had an exceedingly pained expression on his face.