Nanny Makes Three. Cat Schield
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something?”
Diane stiffened. “An appointment?”
“What was your daughter’s name?”
“Margaret Garner. You met her in San Antonio.” Diane grew more agitated with each word she uttered. “You can’t expect me to believe you don’t remember.”
“I’m sorry,” Liam said, pitching his voice to calm the woman. She reminded him of a high-strung mare. “It’s been a while since I’ve been there.”
“It’s been eight months,” Diane said. “Surely you couldn’t have forgotten my daughter in such a short period of time.”
Liam opened his mouth to explain that he wasn’t anywhere near San Antonio eight months ago when it hit him what the woman was implying. He turned and stared at the baby Candace held.
“You think the baby’s mine?”
“Her name is Maggie and I know she’s yours.”
Liam almost laughed. This was one child he knew without question wasn’t his. He’d been celibate since last New Year’s Eve. “I assure you that’s not true.”
Diane pursed her lips. “I came here thinking you’d do the right thing by Maggie. She’s your child. There’s no question that you had an affair with my daughter.”
He wasn’t proud of the fact that during his twenties, he’d probably slept with a few women without knowing their last name or much more about them other than that they were sexy and willing. But he’d been careful, and not one of them had shown up on his doorstep pregnant.
“If I had an affair with your daughter, it was a long time ago, and this child is not mine.”
“I have pictures that prove otherwise.” Diane pulled a phone out of her purse and swiped at the screen. “These are you and my daughter. The date stamp puts them at eight months ago in San Antonio. Are you going to deny that’s you?”
The screen showed a very pretty woman with blond hair and bright blue eyes, laughing as she kissed the cheek of a very familiar-looking face. Kyle’s. A baseball cap hid his short hair, but the lack of a scar on his chin left no doubt it was Kyle and not Liam in the picture.
“I realize that looks like me, but I have a twin brother.” Liam was still grappling with seeing his brother looking so happy when Diane Garner slipped past him and headed toward the entry. “But even so, that doesn’t mean the baby is a Wade.”
Diane paused with her hand on the front doorknob. Her eyes blazed. “Margaret dated very infrequently, and she certainly didn’t sleep around. I can tell from the pictures that she really fell for you.”
Either Diane hadn’t heard Liam when he explained that he had a twin or she saw this as an excuse. While he grappled for a way to get through to the woman, she yanked the door open and exited the house.
Stunned, Liam stared after her. He was ready to concede that the child might be a Wade. A DNA test would confirm that quickly enough, but then what? Kyle was on active duty in the military and not in a position to take on the responsibility of an infant.
The baby’s cries escalated, interrupting his train of thought. He turned to where Candace rocked the baby in an effort to calm her and realized Diane Garner intended to leave her granddaughter behind. Liam chased after the older woman and caught her car door before she could close it.
“Are you leaving the baby?”
“Margaret was on her way to see you. I think she meant to either give you Maggie or get your permission to give her up. There were blank forms to that effect in her car.”
“Why?”
“She never wanted to have children of her own.” Diane’s voice shook. “And I know she wouldn’t have been able to raise one by herself.”
“What happens if I refuse?”
“I’ll turn her over to child services.”
“But you’re the child’s grandmother. Couldn’t you just take care of her until we can get a DNA test performed and...”
“Because of health issues, I’m not in a position to take care of her. You’re Maggie’s father,” Diane insisted. “She belongs with you.”
She belonged with her father. Unfortunately, with Kyle on active duty, could he care for a baby? Did he even want to? Liam had no idea—it had been two years since he’d last spoken with Kyle. But if the child was a Wade—and Liam wasn’t going to turn the child out until he knew one way or another—that meant she belonged here.
“How do I get in contact with you?” Liam asked. Surely the woman would want some news of her grandchild?
“I gave my contact info to your housekeeper.” The older woman looked both shaken and determined. “Take good care of Maggie. She’s all I have left.” And with more haste than grace, Diane pulled her car door shut and started the engine.
As the gray car backed down the driveway, Liam considered the decision his own mother had made, leaving him and Kyle with her father to raise while she went off to the life she wanted in Dallas. He’d never really felt a hole in his life at her absence. Their grandfather had been an ideal blend of tough and affectionate. No reason to think that Maggie wouldn’t do just as well without her mother.
He returned to the house. Candace was in the kitchen warming a bottle of formula. The baby continued to showcase an impressive set of lungs. His housekeeper shot him a concerned glance.
“You let her go?” Candace rocked the baby.
“What was I supposed to do?”
“Convince her to take the baby with her?” She didn’t sound all that certain. “You and I both know she isn’t yours.”
“You sound pretty sure about that.”
Liam gave her a crooked smile. Candace had started working for him seven years ago when the former housekeeper retired. Diane Garner wasn’t the first woman to show up unexpected and uninvited on his doorstep, although she was the first one to arrive with a baby.
“You’ve been different this last year.” Candace eyed him. “More settled.”
She’d never asked what had prompted his overnight transformation from carefree playboy to responsible businessman. Maybe she figured with his thirtieth birthday he’d decided to leave his freewheeling days behind him. That was part of the truth, but not all.
“I’ve been living like a monk.”
She grinned. “That, too.”
“What am I supposed to do with a baby?” He eyed the red-faced infant with her wispy blond hair and unfocused blue eyes. “Why won’t she stop crying?”
“She’s not wet so I’m assuming she’s hungry.” Or maybe she just wants her mother. Candace didn’t say the words, but the thought was written all over her face. “Can you hold her while I get her bottle ready?”
“I’d rather not.”
“She won’t break.”
The child looked impossibly small in Candace’s arms. Liam shook his head. “Tell me what to do to get a bottle ready.”
The noise in the kitchen abated while the baby sucked greedily at her bottle. Liam made the most of this respite and contacted a local company that specialized in placing nannies. Since it wasn’t quite seven in the morning, he was forced to leave a message and could only hope that he’d impressed the owners with the urgency of his need. That done, he set about creating a list of things that baby Maggie would need.
* * *
Hadley Stratton took her foot off the accelerator and let her SUV coast down the last thirty feet of driveway. An enormous Victorian mansion loomed before her, white siding and navy trim giving it the look