Military Daddy. Patricia Davids
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roommate, Miss Crystal Mally, works there with her. If I’d had a few more minutes, I would have had a phone number and a home address to go with that information. Crystal is a talkative girl, even if she isn’t exactly my type.”
“I didn’t know you had a type.”
“I don’t, really, but I do shy away from junkies.”
“Annie said she is in recovery. She mentioned having a counselor.”
“Annie may be clean, but I don’t think Crystal is there yet. Believe me, I know the signs. I hung out with a fast crowd before the Army got a hold of me.”
“Knowing where Annie works doesn’t change anything.” Shane walked over to the forge and thrust a metal bar into the coals.
“Maybe not, but at least you know how to find her when you’ve had a chance to think things over.”
He didn’t want to think things over. He wanted to rewind the morning and erase the part where a pretty woman with sad eyes had turned his life upside down.
Two days later, Shane rounded the corner of the snack-food aisle at the local Gas and Go and spied Annie paying for her purchase of a large soda. Confronted with the woman he hadn’t been able to get off his mind, he simply stared.
She wore a pair of faded jeans with butterflies embroidered in pink-and-white thread at her ankles. An equally faded jean jacket with threadbare cuffs covered a dark pink blouse. Her long braid hung down to the center of her back and swayed softly when she moved. Her silhouette showed only the slightest fullness at her midriff. A casual observer wouldn’t know she was pregnant, but he knew. She was carrying his child.
What he should do about it—if anything—had kept him awake most of the last couple nights.
She was searching in the depths of her purse for money to pay for her drink and she hadn’t seen him. Should he stay out of sight until she was gone or walk up to the counter as though it didn’t matter? It wasn’t in him to take the coward’s way out. He closed the distance between them in a few steps.
“I’ll pay for the lady’s drink,” he said to the teenage boy manning the cash register.
Annie’s eyes flew open wide as she stared at him in shock. Her surprised look vanished as a frown deepened the furrow between her brows. To Shane she looked tired, as well as mad.
Before she could speak, he said, “I didn’t think cola was good for pregnant women.”
“It’s lemon-lime—not that it’s any of your business what I drink. What are you doing here?” she demanded.
He felt a tug of admiration for the way she stood up to him. “Picking up a quart of oil for my car and getting a burrito. Not that it’s any of your business. How much?” He directed his question to the clerk.
The boy rattled off the price and Shane pulled a ten from his wallet. Annie seemed to be having trouble finding a comeback. After a full five seconds of silence, she said, “I can pay for my own drink.”
“Too late.” Shane took his change, dropped the coins in the front pocket of his jeans and tucked the bills into his wallet.
Annie pulled herself up to her full height, which wasn’t much over five feet. “I thought I made it plain that I didn’t intend to see you anymore.”
“You did, but Junction City isn’t a big town. We may run into each other again.” He nodded his thanks to the clerk and picked up the white plastic sack with his purchases.
“I was serious when I said I didn’t want or need anything from you,” she insisted.
“I know you were.” He walked to the door and pushed it open. The bell overhead jangled and the sounds of the street traffic grew louder. “The trouble is, Annie, you forgot to ask me what I want to do about our little problem. I do have a say in this, no matter what you think.”
“What is it you want to do?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I’ll let you know when I reach a decision.” He walked out the door and let it swing shut behind him. He glanced back as he stepped into his car. Annie watched him from inside the doorway. She was biting her lower lip.
Shane felt the stirrings of sympathy for her. He didn’t want to add to the worries she carried. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, but he knew he couldn’t let Annie Delmar just walk out of his life.
Early Monday morning Annie and Crystal sped into the Windward’s parking lot. Pulling around to the area reserved for staff, they both bolted out of the car and rushed in the side door of the building. For once it wasn’t Crystal and Annie’s poor excuse for a car that had made them late. This time it had been Annie’s fault. The sudden onset of morning sickness had stopped her cold just as they were leaving the house.
Inside the building, the women dashed to the locker room, where they quickly changed into gray pin-striped smocks and gray pants. Annie tossed her own clothes and purse into her locker and shut the door. Running a hand over her hair to tame the flyaways, she took a deep breath and followed Crystal into the windowless, drab room that served as a cafeteria and meeting room for the hotel staff. Four other housekeepers sat at one of the tables. Their supervisor was standing at the front of the room.
Mr. Decker looked at the clock on the wall. The hands pointed to two minutes after eight. “I’m glad you ladies could join us.” His sour tone made Annie wince.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Decker,” she said. “It won’t happen again.”
She needed to make sure of that because she really needed this job. She would have a baby to take care of soon.
The thought hit her out of the blue: she was keeping this baby.
Sometime between tossing and turning half the night trying to make a decision and now, the answer had been found. This was her baby. She would love it and raise it and give thanks for the blessing every day for the rest of her life.
“All right, let’s get started.” Mr. Decker was short and as thin as a toothpick. His unnaturally black hair was combed carefully over his bald crown, but his gray pin-striped suit was meticulously pressed with a carefully folded white handkerchief peeking out of his breast pocket. He picked up a clipboard from the table and scanned it quickly.
“We have thirty-two guests checking out this morning. Crystal and Annie, you will take the ground floor of the west wing.”
Annie relaxed as he finished giving the other maids their assignments in English or in fluent Spanish for the women who needed it. The west wing was longer and therefore had more rooms, but she knew Crystal would help her if she fell behind. After only a month on the job, Annie still wasn’t as speedy as Crystal. Crystal had been a maid at this hotel for over a year.
After morning assignments were finished, Annie loaded her cart with fresh towels and linens and replenished her bottle of glass cleaner. At the first room on the west wing, she knocked briskly. There was no answer. She swiped her key card and pushed open the door as she announced herself. Stepping over the threshold, she stared in dismay at the mess awaiting her.
Trash overflowed from the wastebasket and dirty clothes were scattered around the room. The bedding was piled on the floor below the foot of the mattress. A large pizza box lay open on the table. It was empty, but one upside-down slice had made it to the floor, where the cheese and tomato sauce were still soaking into the carpet.
This wasn’t going to be a quick turndown and wipe. She checked the dresser top. Of course the occupants hadn’t bothered to leave a tip for the poor soul who had to clean up after them. With a sigh, she began picking up articles of clothing. Her day may have started out badly, but she wasn’t going to let it get her down. She was having a baby!
It took her almost thirty minutes to finish the room, but when she’d pulled up the clean spread and tucked it beneath the freshly fluffed pillows, she straightened and looked around with pride. She