A Bachelor and a Baby

“I spoke to him this morning via conference hookup. He’s having a great time marlin-fishing off the Florida Keys.”

Joanna tried to picture the stuffy man sitting at the stern of a boat, a rod and reel clutched in his hands, and failed. “Marlin-fishing? Your father?”

He knew it sounded far-fetched, but it was true. Howard Masters had undergone nothing short of a transformation. “The heart attack turned him into a new man. He might not be stopping to smell the roses, but he is taking time to do almost everything else.”

The man had always been consumed with making money. She’d heard that he’d only taken one day off when his wife died. “What about the business?”

“Mostly, it’s in my hands.” He wondered if that made her think that he’d become his father. The thought brought a shiver down his spine. “He likes to look over my shoulder every so often and make ‘suggestions.’ But mostly, he leaves it all up to me.”

She wondered if Rick would eventually turn into his father. There was a time when she would have said no, but that was about a man she’d loved. A man who had failed to live up to her expectations. “Is that why you’re here?”

Eyebrows drew together over an almost perfect nose. “In the hospital?”

“No, in Bedford. Did the family business bring you to Bedford?” He nodded. She knew she should leave it at that, but she couldn’t help asking, “And why were you outside my house last night?”

He gave her the most honest answer he could, given the situation. “I’m not really sure.”

Fair enough. Joanna blew out a breath, shifting slightly again, trying not to pay attention to the discomfort radiating from her lower half. This too, shall pass.

“Well, I can’t say I’m not glad you were.” She raised her eyes to his. “Otherwise—” her voice, filled with emotion, trailed off.

He stopped her before she could continue. “I’ve learned that ‘otherwise’ is not a street that takes travel well.” There was nothing to be gained by second-guessing. “You get too bogged down going there.”

He heard the door just behind him being opened. Welcoming the respite, Rick turned and saw a nurse wheeling in a clear bassinet. Inside, bundled in a pink blanket, sleeping peacefully, was possibly the most beautiful baby he’d ever seen.

“Someone’s going to be waking up soon and it’s feeding time,” the woman announced. Her smile took in both of them.

Rick moved out of the way as the nurse brought the bassinet closer, his eyes riveted to the small occupant. “Wow.”

The single word filled her with pride. Joanna couldn’t help smiling. “I believe that’s her first compliment.”

“But not her last,” Rick guaranteed. “She cleans up nicely.”

“You got to see her at her worst,” Joanna pointed out. She didn’t add that he’d seen her at possibly her worst as well.

Rick sincerely doubted that the word worst could be applied to a miracle. Something stirred within him as he watched the nurse lift the infant from the bassinet and hand her over to Joanna.

He was in the way, he thought. “Well, I’d better be going.” He began to edge his way out.

Suddenly, she didn’t want him to leave. Not yet. “Would you like to hold her?” Joanna asked.

Somehow, the baby looked far more fragile now than she had last night. And his hands were large and clumsy. “I already did.”

“I mean now that she’s not messy.” Joanna read his expression correctly. “She won’t break, you know. Not if you’re gentle.”

“I won’t slam dunk her,” he promised. The quip was meant to hide what was really going on inside him. There were emotions there that he wasn’t sure he understood or knew what to do with. Certainly none that he could label properly.

Very carefully, he slipped his hands under the baby’s back and neck, making the transfer. He unintentionally brushed his fingers against Joanna’s breasts. Their eyes met and held for a moment before he backed away from her, holding the infant to him.

The nurse looked on and nodded with approval. “You’re a natural.”

“He should be,” Joanna told her. “He’s the one who held her first.”

The woman’s smile brightened. “Oh, are you her father?”

“No.” The nurse’s innocent question dragged him away from the formless region he’d momentarily found himself inhabiting and back to the real world. He wasn’t the little girl’s father and that was the whole point. “I’m not.” He handed the infant back to Joanna. “I’ll be back before you’re discharged.”

There was a formal note in his voice that she didn’t understand or like. The temporary bridge between their two worlds was gone and they were back to being wounded strangers again.

“We’ll see,” she called after him. She had the satisfaction of seeing him momentarily halt before continuing out the door.

Like a commando unit making a beachhead, the three other women who comprised the Mom Squad descended upon Joanna as one later that afternoon, brightening her spirit as well as her room.

They came bearing gifts, and, more importantly, they came bearing good will and cheer. Something she was finding temporarily in short supply.

The baby was awake and alert and seemed very willing to be passed from one woman to the other like a precious doll.

Sherry Campbell, newly returned to the working world as a reporter for the Bedford World News and a brand-new mother in her own right, was the first to hold her. The baby was almost as big as Sherry’s own three-month-old son. But then, Johnny had been a preemie.

“She’s beautiful.” She beamed at Joanna. “Of course, that’s not a surprise. Look at her mother.”