into the office and set her briefcase on Jake’s desk. Though dressed conservatively in tailored black pants and a black-and-white striped shirt, she wore her iron gray hair cut short and spiked with mousse. And she fairly bristled with energy as she added, “Very good, under the circumstances.”
“You two know each other?” Jake asked as he paused just inside the doorway.
“Oh, yes,” Alice answered, her gaze settling intently on the baby. “Meg completed CPS’s training program for prospective foster parents just three weeks ago, and a good thing, too.”
From the corner of her eye, Megan saw Jake glance her way, a frown creasing his forehead. She only had a moment to wonder what he must be thinking. Then Alice demanded her full attention again as she held out her hands for the baby.
“Jake filled me in on the details of how you ended up with this little guy. And you have no idea at all who the mother might be?”
“None,” Megan replied, experiencing an odd mixture of reluctance and relief as Alice took Matthew from her.
He wasn’t her baby, but in the all-too-short time she had cared for him since she’d found him on her front porch, he had wiggled his way into her heart. For whatever reason, he had been entrusted to her care. Even with Alice ready to take over for her, she couldn’t quite set aside the feeling that she was still responsible for his well-being.
Not that the social worker was being anything but gentle as she looked Matthew over with a practiced eye. And she would make absolutely sure that he was placed with a kind and loving foster family.
“He seems healthy enough, and he doesn’t appear to be neglected in any way,” Alice stated. “No signs of physical abuse, either—at least none that I can see.”
“None that I could see, either,” Megan agreed.
“We’ll have to stop by the hospital with him and let one of the staff pediatricians give him a thorough checkup just to be sure. Then we can stop by my office, fill out the necessary paperwork, and he’s yours.”
Alice held the baby out to Megan and she took him without hesitation. When the social worker’s last words sank in, however, she stared at the woman, unable to hide her dismay.
“Mine?” she asked, her voice high and tight.
“You’re fully qualified to foster young Matthew,” Alice assured her, waving a dismissive hand.
Megan wasn’t heartened in the least by the social worker’s statement. Granted, she had gone through the foster parenting program offered by the county, but only so she could provide a home for older children, especially siblings who might be separated otherwise. A home similar to the one where she’d been placed in Serenity after her parents had been killed.
She hadn’t expected to be asked to care for a baby, mainly because they were so much easier to place within the foster care system. She also had a full-time job teaching history at the high school. Caring for older, school-age children made more sense since her schedule would coincide with theirs, allowing her to be at home when they were.
But school was out for the summer, and if Alice really needed her…
“Surely there’s someone available who’s much more experienced than I am,” Megan insisted, trying, unsuccessfully, to ignore the all-too-familiar way the baby snuggled against her shoulder.
It was hard enough for her to accept the fact that Matthew wasn’t her baby to keep now. But after days, perhaps even weeks, of looking after him, the pain of letting him go would be unbearable.
“Once you’ve completed our program, you’re qualified to care for children of any age. And right now we’re woefully shorthanded. We need you, Megan. Matthew needs you.”
Oh, great, just what she needed, Megan thought to herself. A little none-too-subtle yet oh-so-gentle coercion from one of the few people in town she truly liked.
“Unless, of course, you foresee having a serious problem with him,” Alice added, pinning her with a questioning look.
“Not at all,” Megan assured her, aware that she’d just sealed her own fate. But why argue any longer against something she wanted so much?
In the doorway, Jake shifted, drawing her attention. A frown still creasing his forehead, he looked none too happy at the sudden turn of events. Megan couldn’t even begin to imagine what must have been going through his head as he’d listened to her verbal exchange with Alice.
Of course, his thoughts shouldn’t really matter to her. He wasn’t a part of her life anymore. Her agreement to care for Matthew had nothing to do with him. His job began and ended with finding the baby’s mother.
“Good.” Alice nodded once, then added briskly, “You’ll need a crib for him. We have a Portacrib at the office you can use. And I already have a car seat for him out in my van.”
“Actually, I have a crib at the house,” Megan said, then immediately regretted the admission as she saw Jake straighten in the doorway, a puzzled look on his face.
During one of his rare breaks from the case he’d been working on after Will’s death, he had come home to find that the room they’d used as the baby’s nursery was standing empty. He hadn’t said a word when she told him she’d donated all of Will’s things to charity. The following day, he’d left again, and a few days after that, she had headed back to Serenity.
“Emma left it there,” she explained, glancing at Jake. “It belonged to Jane Hamilton originally. I meant to have one of the local charities come and get it, but I never got around to it.”
In the two years I’ve lived in the house hung unspoken between them.
“Well, now that you’re part of our foster care program that crib is going to come in handy, isn’t it?” Alice interjected smoothly, her smile laced with satisfaction. “I knew we were lucky to have you sign on, Meg. Now I realize what a godsend you’re truly going to be.” Alice retrieved her briefcase from Jake’s desk, then latched a hand onto one of the stroller’s handles. “So, hospital first, if you’re ready.”
“I think I’d better change his diaper before we go,” Megan advised, wrinkling her nose a bit to make her point.
“By all means.” Alice grinned. “I’ve got a couple of calls to make. Mind if I use one of your phones, Jake?”
“Not at all.” Jake backed out of the doorway so Alice could pass by, then walked with her to Darcy’s desk.
Alone with the baby in the station’s rest room, Megan lowered the back of the stroller’s seat so Matthew could lie flat on it. He squirmed and kicked his legs, looking as if he was getting ready to cry.
“Just give me a minute and I’ll get rid of that poopy old diaper for you,” she murmured, taking a fresh disposable from the diaper bag along with the container of wet wipes.
Matthew quieted immediately as Megan tended to him, once again watching her with his big blue eyes. Megan smiled at him, then hesitated, cocking her head to one side as she heard voices coming from just outside the rest room door.
“His ex-wife…” Darcy said. “He followed her back to Serenity almost a year
