now.” She was still bristling with rage.
His eyes held a mysterious twinkle. “That’s good, because we came to bring Mr. Broderick his jacket and let him know he’s no longer under suspicion. For one thing, his blood type isn’t the same as the blood type on the blanket.
“For another, fresh horse manure droppings along with the bloody droplets matching that on the blanket, were found in the snow at the end of the track where Mr. Broderick rescued the infant from certain death.
“We’re now looking for someone who rode a horse to that spot. Someone who couldn’t have ridden very far considering the baby had been born within the same hour of his being placed there.
“Don’t worry, Ms. Richins. We’ve been beating the bushes for the last twenty-four hours. Hopefully we’ll discover the person who did this and learn the identity of the mother before too much more time passes.
“Your breathtaking defense of Mr. Broderick has been duly noted and will go in the record.” He cocked his head. “If I’m ever in need of someone to stand up for me, I’ll know exactly where to come.
“Goodnight, Ms. Richins. Gentlemen.” He nodded to the others before he and his partner left the room. The door closed behind them with a click.
Meg wasn’t a person who blushed easily. But she felt heat sweep up her body into her face and hair.
Talk about resembling a red light globe—
The two dark-haired men stood there openly smiling down at her with their eyes as well as their mouths. She didn’t dare look at Mr. Broderick, but she could feel his intense gaze scrutinizing her.
“Ms. Richins.” He broke the silence with his deep voice. “I’d like to introduce you to my best friends, Dominic Giraud and Alik Jarman.”
They shook hands with her.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said the one with the French accent.
“I wouldn’t have missed this,” the other man teased gently. “We flew out from Denver to offer our support.”
Denver? She’d thought these men were part of his crew!
“But obviously none was needed,” the Frenchman added silkily.
She tried looking anywhere else, but ended up meeting Zane Broderick’s penetrating regard. He wasn’t smiling.
“If the officers had come here to arrest me,” he began in a husky voice, “I’m not sure they would have carried out their objective after hearing your testimonial.”
He folded his arms. “You risked having to pay a fine, or worse, for harassing a police officer in the line of duty. A mere thank-you for your sacrifice doesn’t quite cover what you did for me just now.”
“I would have done it for anyone I felt was innocent,” she defended, hoping lightning wouldn’t strike her for that particular white lie. “I’m very glad you’re no longer under suspicion.”
His eyes darkened to an inky blue. “So am I. But until the baby is completely out of the woods, it’s a little too soon for the celebration I have in mind.”
Her heart wouldn’t stop hammering.
“He is improved though. Otherwise Dr. Parker wouldn’t have upgraded his condition. We can be thankful for that much.”
“I’m thankful you were there when the baby needed you most.”
The fervency in his tone caused her to avert her eyes. “Then we’re both thankful, because you’re the one who found him in time.” Feeling out of breath, she backed away from him. “If you will excuse me, I’m supposed to be on duty in the ER. I-it was very nice meeting all of you.”
Needing to be strong right now, she purposely refused to look at the baby as she hurried through the nursery. Midway across the room, Shelby stopped her flight.
“Wait up! I found out who those men in the other room really are. Donna was wrong about them being movie stars.”
“I know. They’re Mr. Broderick’s friends from Denver.”
“They’re a lot more than that!”
“I’d like to hear it, but I’ve got to get back to the ER.”
“I’ll walk you to the door. Get this— Dr. Silvano recognized them from a television appearance. The three of them are these fabulously weal—”
“Shelby?” Meg interrupted. “You’ll have to tell me later. Otherwise I won’t have a job.”
For many reasons, including a decent recommendation when she left the clinic in two weeks, Meg needed to get out of there and back to her own floor.
CHAPTER THREE
“ARE there any more barbecued ribs?”
“Sorry, Dom. We ate all seven pounds of them.”
Dominic shook his head. “You know something, mon ami? You missed your calling as a master chef.”
“Coming from an exacting connoisseur, that’s a real compliment.”
“It’s true, Zane,” Alik concurred. “Blaire’s a great cook, but nobody does ribs and baked beans like you.”
“Since you guys flew through sleet and storm to bail me out, I thought the least I could do was make it worth your while.”
“I’d say a certain beautiful nurse already did that.” Dominic grinned.
Alik grinned back. “Here I was feeling sorry for you having to be stuck out here in the back of beyond. How long have you been holding out on us, you sly old fox?”
Zane pulled the warm, store-bought blueberry pie from the oven and set it on the table with a pitcher of cream.
“I swear I never saw her before last night.”
Dominic served everyone a large piece. “It appears the ravissante Jeanne D’Arc is very much alive.”
A chuckle escaped Alik. “Did you see the fire in her eyes? She was amazing! Those police officers are never going to forget it.”
“None of us will,” Dominic murmured.
Reaching for the pitcher, Zane poured cream over his pie. “She’s crazy about the baby. I know for a fact she would have championed anyone who’d found him.”
“He’s an awfully cute little tyke. It’s hard for me to believe our baby was ever that small,” Alik said.
Dominic swallowed another bite. “Hannah’s going to be giving birth to our child next year. Looking at that baby tonight made me realize all the things that can go wrong. I confess I’m getting nervous.”
Zane studied his friend. Dominic had two vulnerable
