pink teddy bear. There was no way he was arriving at his apartment complex with this thing in tow.
“Sorry, pal,” he murmured to the stuffed face. “Somebody’s taking you off my hands.”
A pair of shiny black eyes gleamed at him in amiable silence.
He pounded the door once more for good measure and was looking for a clear spot on one of the wicker chairs to park the bear when he heard a woman’s voice coming from the backyard.
“So that’s where they are.” Hoisting the pink teddy over one shoulder, he made his way around the house. Other than a burst of minty-smelling plants that spilled out of an ancient wheelbarrow, the side yard looked a little bare compared to the front.
He rounded into the backyard, feeling awkward and uncertain, two emotions he didn’t deal with on a regular basis. He was a confident guy, easy in his own skin. Wonky situations didn’t rattle him, but he’d been rattled all day today.
Haley was sitting on the back step next to a towheaded boy with a cowlick so prominent that it split the front of his hair into a fountain. She and the boy had their heads together over an unassembled kite. A wide-brimmed straw hat had been cast aside next to her.
At Creed’s approach, Haley glanced up...and her smile froze. “Oh, it’s you.”
So much for a jolly welcome.
“Hi.” He tugged at the neck of his shirt, growing more uncomfortable by the minute. What was he doing here? “I just came by to see...” He looked around and saw no sign of the tiny girl he’d rescued from the church. A frisson of alarm shimmied through him. “Where’s the baby? Did someone already take her away? Did they find the mother?”
Haley put aside the kite parts and stood, brushing slender hands over the long flowered skirt. She was barefoot. Her hair, parted in the middle, hung to her shoulders, the evening sun burnishing the auburn to a darker red.
“You didn’t expect a newborn baby to be out here in the backyard, did you?”
Well, yes, he had. Not that he knew a thing about newborns.
“Is she still here?”
Haley stood with hands loose at her sides, watching him as if she’d read his thoughts and knew he considered her a flake. He thought her eyes were brown, but in the glare of sunlight, all he knew for sure was that they were staring a hole through him.
“Why?” she asked.
“Why? What kind of question is that?” Frustrated, he thrust his arms out to either side. She was the strangest woman. “I found her. Crazy as it sounds, I feel invested in her well-being.”
“Why would you feel that way?”
He opened his mouth and shut it back. What was the point? The woman was too flakey to carry on a simple conversation.
“Never mind. I don’t know what I was thinking by coming here.” He shoved the teddy bear into her arms. “I should go.”
He started to do a sharp, pride-wounded about-face when she touched his arm.
“Wait.”
Her touch was featherlight, but it stuck his feet to the green grass like superglue. He wasn’t a weak man, but he felt a tad wobbly all of a sudden.
“Why?” he asked and was surprised when she laughed.
“I guess we’re even.”
“Even?” What was she talking about?
“I asked why. You asked why. We’re even.”
“Ah. Right.” Strange. Flakey. Out-there.
“Sit down.” With a movement as graceful as a ballerina, she gestured toward the porch. “This is Thomas.”
That was all. Just Thomas. Not her foster child. Just the boy’s name. Kind of nice.
“How ya doing, Thomas? You’re building a kite?”
“Yeah.” The boy’s blue eyes, hidden behind thick glasses, fastened on Creed. He wasn’t very old. Maybe nine or ten. “Haley said you fly helicopters.”
Creed eased a look toward Haley. She’d talked about him?
She twitched, and then smooth as a windless flight, she shot him down before he could get cocky. “You flew over the house today. I explained to Thomas that you’d found the baby.”
No big deal. He didn’t need compliments.
“So, how is she doing?” Tight as a bowstring, he sat on the step next to the young boy.
“Sleeping most of the time.” Absently, Haley settled a hand on Thomas’s slim shoulder. He looked up at her and smiled. Something in the gentle gestures loosed a string of tension inside Creed.
“Is that normal?”
“You don’t know much about babies, do you?”
“Nothing.” He lifted one shoulder. “I’m an only child.”
“Me, too, but I know about babies.”
“You’re a girl.”
“Sexist,” she said, though her tone was more amused than insulted.
“Guilty. I like the differences in boys and girls and think they should be celebrated.” He grinned. “Often and with gusto.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Haley stood, moving to the back door to listen. “Baby girl is awake.”
Without waiting to be asked, Creed followed Haley inside the house. He’d come to see the infant and he wasn’t leaving until he did.
The inside of Haley’s house was unexpected. Where the yard was a riot, the small interior was sparse and tidy. The back door led directly into a country kitchen. Fussy baby sounds came from a long, sand-colored basket on a small, square table that had seen better days.
“Come here, precious,” Haley cooed as she gently lifted the infant from inside the basket. “Are you hungry? Are you starving? Yes, you are.”
Creed was fascinated by the change in Haley. Her voice had gone soft and cootchy coo and she asked questions as if a day-old baby knew the answers. The baby’s response was a high-pitched wah-wah-wah.
“Can I do something to help?” Creed asked above the noise.
“Hold her while I prepare formula.” Before he could admit that holding a baby made him nervous, she plunked the child against his shoulder. The moment the tiny face touched his shirt, she began turning her head side to side, mouth wide and seeking like a rooting puppy.
“Hey, why’s she doing that?”
“She thinks you’re her mama. Rub her cheek with the side of your finger.”
He did.
