Wanted: Father for Her Baby: Keeping Baby Secret / Five Brothers and a Baby / Expecting Brand's Baby. BEVERLY BARTON

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Wanted: Father for Her Baby: Keeping Baby Secret / Five Brothers and a Baby / Expecting Brand's Baby - BEVERLY  BARTON


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sighed. “Loving Andrew and loving me are two different things. I can’t expect Frank to want me on a permanent basis just because he wants to be a father to Andrew.”

      “Ready for some more unsolicited advice?”

      “Sure. Advise away.”

      “Don’t put any pressure on Frank. Let him do things his way, in his own time. When he brings Andrew home, just enjoy the time y’all have together and don’t worry too much about the future.”

      “Kate, I wish…well, I know you must be thinking about Mary Kate and wondering why I’m getting my son back so quickly and your little girl has been missing for eleven years.”

      Kate shrugged. “Life’s a mystery. Why I haven’t found Mary Kate after over a decade of searching and why your Andrew is being returned to you only days after losing him is one of those mysteries.” Kate patted Leenie’s hand. “Somehow, someway, someday, I’ll find out what happened to my daughter. But for now, for tonight, you just concentrate on celebrating Andrew’s return.”

      Frank hadn’t had a clue that he’d go ga-ga over a two-month-old kid. But the minute Dr. Tomlin’s nurse put Andrew in his arms, Frank had melted like ice in the July sun. His little boy had looked at him with Leenie’s big blue eyes and he’d been a goner on the spot.

      “Is this Andrew Patton?” Dante Moran had asked, pointing to the child Dr. Tomlin’s nurse held.

      “We’ve matched his footprint to Andrew Patton’s footprint taken at birth and they’re a perfect match,” Dr. Tomlin had said. “This young man is definitely Andrew.”

      Yes, he certainly was. Andrew. His son. Frank had inspected the kid from top to bottom and seen himself or Leenie in every feature. Odd how he loved the child instantly, and not just because Andrew was his, but because Andrew was Leenie’s.

      Glancing in the rearview mirror of the rental car he was driving, Frank caught a shadowy glimpse of his son asleep in the carseat Dr. Tomlin had provided. Poor little guy, Frank thought. He’d worn himself out bellowing. Apparently Andrew hadn’t inherited Leenie’s sunny disposition. Of course, Andrew had been through a traumatic experience, being snatched away from the security of his mother’s arms and the loving care of Debra Schmale.

      “It’s okay, kid,” Frank said to the sleeping child, “I’m taking you home to your mama. We should be there in a few minutes. And as for your inheriting my grumpy disposition, don’t worry about it. Women seem to go for surly, brooding men.”

      When Leenie’s house came into view, Frank’s gut tightened. Because of the bad weather—rain mixed with sleet—he’d driven much slower than his usual speed, so it had taken longer than it should have to make the drive from Memphis to Maysville. But he didn’t want to take any chances with Andrew onboard. From now on, his top priority was going to be keeping his son safe. He didn’t want Leenie to ever again have to endure the anguish she’d suffered these past few days.

      The minute he pulled into the driveway, the front door flew open and Leenie ran outside, off the porch and into the yard. By the time he stopped the car, she was yanking on the back door handle. Frank unlocked the doors, undid his seat belt and got out, but before he could even say hello, Leenie was removing a sleeping Andrew from the carseat. She wrapped him in the blanket she’d brought with her and took him out of the car. She turned to Frank then and smiled as tears streamed down her cheeks. He put his hand on the small of her back and together they hurried into the house. Kate stood just inside the foyer, a warm smile on her face.

      Suddenly Andrew let out a loud yowl. Leenie flung the damp blanket to the floor and crushed her baby to her chest. That one yowl turned into a screaming fit. Leenie held him away from her and looked at him, then spoke to him softly, a mother’s tender rambling words to soothe her fretful child. Andrew didn’t respond immediately, but Leenie kept talking to him and caressing him. Within minutes his crying diminished and soon stopped altogether. He focused his big blue eyes on his mother.

      “Hello, my darling,” Leenie said, then covered his little face with kisses.

      Andrew whimpered, then cooed.

      Frank thought he’d lose it right then and there. Hell, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried. After his father’s funeral? Yeah, that had been the last time. When he’d been alone. But seeing his son safe in Leenie’s arms was enough to bring a grown man to his knees. She had a magic touch, the ability to soothe Andrew’s surly Latimer disposition. Why should that surprise him? Hadn’t she been able to work that same magic on him?

      “I’m so happy that everything turned out this way,” Kate said. “I’m going to make myself scarce so y’all can have this time alone with your son.”

      Cuddling Andrew close, Leenie said, “No, Kate, you don’t have to—”

      “This is family time—mother, father and baby time.” Kate headed toward the guest bedroom. “I’ll see y’all in the morning.”

      Frank followed Leenie into the living room and sat down beside her on the sofa. He lifted his arm and put it around her shoulders, encompassing her in his embrace as she did Andrew. They sat there together, the three of them, Andrew secure in his mother’s arms. Frank couldn’t remember ever feeling so good.

      “You brought him home to me, just the way you said you would.” Leenie kissed the top of Andrew’s head. The baby’s eyelids drooped.

      “He’s a beautiful child,” Frank told her. “Just perfect. And that’s amazing considering I’m his father.”

      Leenie laughed. And dear God, how strongly her laughter affected him. He’d never heard a sweeter sound.

      “Has he been fed? Did you give him a bottle or—”

      “I’ve changed his diaper twice and given him a bottle. Dr. Tomlin, the pediatrician the FBI used in Memphis, gave me three bottles of formula.”

      “I breast-fed him, you know. I’d just weaned him onto a bottle when the wreck happened and he was taken…” Leenie gulped down a sob.

      Frank hugged her closer. “He’s home. He’s safe. The nightmare is over.”

      “I don’t think I’ll ever let him out of my sight again as long as I live.”

      Frank chuckled. “Yeah, I know the feeling, but I think Andrew will object when you start going out on his dates with him.”

      “He’s not even three months old and you’re already talking about him dating.”

      “Hey, if he takes after his old man, he’ll have a girlfriend in kindergarten. Actually, he’ll have half a dozen girlfriends.”

      “I will not allow my son to be a ladies’ man.” Leenie tore her gaze away from Andrew to look at Frank. “But I won’t mind if he takes after you in other ways. You, Frank Latimer, are quite a man and I’m glad you’re my son’s father.”

      An embarrassing flush warmed Frank’s face. No one had ever told him anything that affected him so strongly. His masculine pride doubled instantly. He leaned over and kissed Leenie, a gentle, fleeting kiss. “He’s the luckiest kid in the world having you for a mother.”

      Chapter Nine

      Frank locked up and set the security alarm after Leenie went to her bedroom, a fast-asleep Andrew cradled in her arms. These past few days had been the longest, most grueling days of his life, and he knew they’d been even worse for Leenie. He loved watching her with Andrew, the way she touched their child, the way the sound of her voice soothed him. For all her sexy, sophisticated, career-woman exterior, Leenie was a mother at heart. Of course, one was not exclusive of the other. He figured Dr. Lurleen Patton was what people might call a multifaceted woman. And he sure as hell had never known anyone like her. She wasn’t anything like his mother, who’d never done a selfless thing in her life, who had put her own needs above her son’s and daughter’s needs time and again. And Leenie bore no resemblance


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