not a baby duck, angel. The first man you see isn’t going to be your father. So don’t go getting attached to Mr. Hannon. Just don’t.”
Laura woke to the sound of frantic whispers outside her room. She immediately looked toward the small bassinet beside her bed. Her baby had awakened several times during the night, but now she was sleeping quietly. Whatever was going on, it didn’t have anything to do with her child.
The whispers rose a pitch, and she looked expectantly toward the door.
“You can’t go in there, Mr. Maitland. Visiting hours won’t be for several more hours.”
But the door swung back, anyway, and a tall, dark-haired, green-eyed man moved in.
Laura blinked several times, then a smile lifted her lips. “Rafe? It can’t really be my baby brother, can it? You’re here?” She sat up in a rush before remembering what a battering her body had taken yesterday.
A tiny gasp escaped her, and Rafe rolled his eyes and strode to her bedside, catching her up in a gentle hug. “You get out of that bed and I’ll show you that I’m still bigger than you even if you’re two years older. And you bet I’m here. A hundred rattlesnakes couldn’t keep me away once I heard the rumors about what had been going on here yesterday. I’ve been trying to reach you for weeks. Ever since I got that first invitation from Megan to come here for the family reunion.”
“Mine had to be forwarded several times,” she admitted. After Greg, her fiancé, had made it clear he wasn’t going to be a husband or father, she’d left California, needing a fresh start and a place to heal in private.
Rafe’s eyes turned fierce. “You could have told me,” he said, his voice breaking slightly as he looked toward the baby. “Hon, why didn’t you tell me? We talked on the phone often enough up until you moved and we lost touch a few months ago.”
Laura felt the threat of tears as she tried to find some answer that would make sense. She shook her head.
“Maybe because even though I hated Greg for a while after he left me, I didn’t want him dead. And don’t tell me that you wouldn’t have wanted to exact a little retribution.”
Rafe opened his mouth, then closed it, his eyes angry. He couldn’t tell her that he wouldn’t have tried to protect her.
Which led her to the deeper reason she hadn’t turned to her brothers for help. After her shipwrecked romance, she’d really needed to prove that she could survive alone. She just couldn’t be like her mother, leaning on the nearest man in order to stand up. And both her brothers were men made for leaning on.
“I would have told you soon,” she said. “Just as soon as I got settled. I’m here, aren’t I?” she asked, trying to smile.
He took her hand, studying it as if he didn’t believe she was real. It had been weeks since they’d talked on the phone, months since they’d seen each other.
“You didn’t have to go through childbirth alone.”
“I didn’t.” She’d had Mick. She’d leaned on him. The truth was uncomfortable.
“I heard.” There was hurt in his voice.
“I’m sorry, Rafe,” she said, meaning every word. “It’s just that you and Luke and I have been on our own for a long time. Sometimes we just need to go underground.” Like wounded animals who protected themselves by hiding, even from those they loved.
“Yes, we do tend to do that, but two of us weren’t pregnant,” Rafe pointed out. “At least I’m not. Who knows about Luke? Nobody’s heard from him lately.”
In spite of Rafe’s attempt at a joke, a sad, awkward silence followed. Concern for Luke hung in the air.
“Oh, Rafe, I’ve missed you,” Laura said with a small, sobbing croak.
And he caught her close and kissed her hair. “I’ve missed you, too, hon,” he said, his voice thick. “Tons. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I want you to meet my wife, Greer. She’s Megan’s assistant. That’s how I heard you were here.”
Laura pulled back, her eyes opening wide. “You’re married? You? That’s…that’s wonderful. I can’t wait to meet the woman who finally tamed you. I guess you know I have someone for you to meet, too.” She picked up her baby, who was beginning to stir. “Meet your uncle Rafe, Meggie. He’s a big guy, but he’s pretty sweet most of the time.”
Rafe grinned. “Don’t tell anyone she said that part about being sweet, little one,” he told his niece, hesitantly touching just the baby’s blanket. “My friends might not understand. She’s so tiny,” he said with awe, and Laura couldn’t forget a black-haired man with fierce blue eyes saying just the same thing. She hurriedly pushed the thought away.
“She’ll grow, I think,” Laura promised.
“Meggie?” he asked.
Laura smiled then and shrugged. “Megan Maitland didn’t have to let me stay here, but she did. What’s more, a nurse told me that the reason Megan is so sympathetic to single mothers is because her first baby’s father deserted her. Just like me. She made her way alone just as I want to.”
“She’s a good woman.”
“I know. Janelle shouldn’t have tried to hurt her.”
Rafe’s eyes darkened. “Our sister did lots of damage. You need to know that. Things have been happening at the clinic. Sabotaged water pipes. A small fire. Janelle’s on the loose, and suddenly both her sister and brother show up in Austin.”
Laura sucked in a deep breath. “Do you think that Janelle is behind all these attempts to sabotage the clinic?”
He shrugged. “Janelle’s capable of some pretty sleazy stuff. She convinced Megan that the baby she’d thought had died at birth was Janelle’s husband, when Janelle knew all along that Clarise O’Hara and her husband had illegally adopted Connor right after he was born. She knew exactly where the real Connor was and didn’t tell Megan. What’s worse, Janelle kidnapped Megan’s baby grandson. I think she’d do almost anything for money or revenge.”
“And you and I could be suspects if we left, couldn’t we?” she asked. “It would look like we just came here at Janelle’s behest to cause more trouble for the Maitlands.”
“Does that mean you’re staying?”
“I can’t leave without trying to repay Megan, anyway.”
Rafe opened his mouth.
Laura shook her head. “On my own, Rafe, but thank you for almost offering. I have to do this on my own. No help.”
He frowned at her. “If you’d let me help yesterday, you wouldn’t have needed a rogue construction worker helping you. He didn’t see you naked, did he, hon?”
Laura put on her best indignant older-sister look, even though she felt a blush creeping up. “It wasn’t like that, Rafe. Believe me, the man wasn’t thinking about anything improper at the time.”
At that, he looked like he was going to argue. She shook
