mom!” She seemed to realize she couldn’t put on her boots and hold the baby at the same time, but rather than try to hand the infant to him, she just set her in the middle of the bed before yanking on her socks. “I knew from the get-go that this was no safe-haven situation. Layla isn’t a newborn, but even if she were, there would still have been protocols to follow when surrendering her. Appropriate places authorized to take a baby under those circumstances.” She zipped her boots over her narrow jeans, right up to her knees. “Layla’s too old. You heard my uncle. Considering her motor control and size, she’s more likely three months than two. Parents don’t get to just abandon their children on doorsteps without having some sort of reprisal. Layla’s mother could walk in your front door right this minute and she wouldn’t be allowed to bundle her up and truck on home with her! Even if she weren’t guilty of abandonment, she is certainly guilty of neglect!”
“I don’t give a damn about Layla’s mother. As you’re so fond of reminding me, she left her own baby on a freaking doorstep!”
Layla, apparently tired of their raised voices, got into the act, too, adding her own high-pitched wail.
Maddie gave him a now-look-what-you-did glare and scooped up the infant. “Like I said. She needs diapers and formula. So if you wouldn’t mind moving out of our way, I’ll go take care of those little requirements.”
“I’ll get you all the diapers and the formula you need. Just stay.”
She lifted her chin. “You’re free to buy whatever the heck you want, Linc. But I’m not staying. And I’m taking Layla with me. If you don’t find Jax before the hearing, I can tell Judge Stokes that you’ve been helpful and supportive where the baby’s welfare is concerned.” She gave him a chilly, steady stare. “Or not.”
So much for softhearted.
“Is this your version of hardball, Maddie?”
“Call it whatever you want.” She didn’t seem the least bit fazed as she brushed past him, carrying the baby in one arm and the car seat in the other. “It’s the truth. You’ll learn what everyone else learns sooner or later—don’t piss off a social worker. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve achieved. We can be your best friend. And we can be your worst enemy.”
He followed her back to the stairs. “You walked in the door last night already thinking of me as the enemy. You’re still holding a grudge because I told you to stay away from Jax all those years ago.”
She didn’t even hesitate. “Don’t give yourself so much credit, Linc. I don’t think of you as the enemy. In fact, I really don’t think of you at all.”
“No.” Ali was staring at her.
“You actually said that to him?” Greer was staring, too.
They were all sitting at the table in their eyesore of a kitchen. Layla—dressed in a diaper and nothing else—was lying on a blanket inside the portable play yard that Maddie had initially bought as a Christmas gift for her expectant sister and brother-in-law. The baby didn’t need any clothes besides her diaper for the simple reason that the furnace in their house wouldn’t shut off.
As a result, even though it was about thirty degrees outdoors, they were all dressed down to summer-weight clothes as befitted the overly toasty ninety degrees inside. Ali was even wearing a bikini top with her cutoff denim shorts.
“What else should I have said to him?” Maddie knew she sounded defensive, but couldn’t help it. “Just because Lincoln Swift runs Swift Oil doesn’t mean he runs everything else. He doesn’t need to think he can run me.”
“Don’t you think you might be overreacting a little?”
Maddie glared at Greer. “Whose side are you on?”
Her sister lifted her hands peaceably. “Whose side are you on?”
“Layla’s, obviously.” She leaned over the side of the play yard and tickled the baby’s tummy. Layla squealed and rolled partway onto her side, playing with her feet. “Who could leave such a darling like you that way?”
“Someone who was pretty desperate.” Greer sipped her orange juice. She’d been working on case files when Maddie arrived, and a pencil was skewered through her hair, holding it off her perspiring neck.
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