The Baby Invasion (Destiny Bay-Baby Dreams) (17 page)

“Let’s just hope he stays in town for a long lunch,” Scott returned. “Otherwise, we’re still in big trouble.”

“How did he know to come this way? How could he have guessed?”

Scott shrugged. “Maybe he got a call from April.” He grimaced. “That would be the best scenario. Just as likely, he knows her well enough to make an educated guess, just like we did.” He moved restlessly behind the wheel. “I hope we find her before he does.”

She glanced sideways at him, trying to study him without being obvious. She could hardly believe this was the same man she’d made love with only an hour before.
 

His face was hard, unyielding, and when he looked at her his eyes were as unrevealing as tinted glass. There was something going on inside him. She could sense it. Emotions were tugging him in contrary directions. She had a feeling the best thing she could do was lie low until his internal war was over.

Half an hour later, the babies began to fuss. She readied herself to climb over the seat and take care of them when Scott stopped her, his hand on her shoulder.

“Send Barnaby up here next to me,” he said evenly.

Cathy looked at him, biting her lip. “You won’t... hurt him?”

He stared at her, anger glimmering in his eyes. “No, Cathy,” he said sarcastically. “I’ll contain myself, just this once.”

Of course he wouldn’t hurt Barnaby. She wished she’d never said it. Still, he was angry about what had happened at the restaurant. After she’d made the adjustments, she sat in the back with the babies, her attention focused on the front seat, where Scott and Barnaby rode silently, side by side. As far as she could see, they exchanged a look now and then. But hardly a word was spoken.

Half her attention was on the road behind them, and she noticed Scott glancing in the rearview mirror a lot, as well. What would happen if Robby Crockett caught up with them? She didn’t know and she hoped she wouldn’t find out.

It was late afternoon when they began the long climb up into the mountains and Lake Tahoe. The sun slanted through the pines into their eyes. And then the lake was before them, blue and gorgeous.

They found the Wild Horses Casino and Hotel with little trouble. Its gaudy neon lights forming huge, raging stallions lit up the sky, even in daylight, beckoning all comers.

“Pull into the ten-minute zone,” Cathy said optimistically. “I’ll run in and see if she’s registered here.’’

She kept her fingers crossed as she passed through the huge room full of chrome slot machines and green felt tables. Heading for the registration desk, she started to feel excited. If April were listed, and here, their troubles would be over.

“April Meadows?” The bored-looking clerk flipped: through the registration book. “Sorry. We have no one here by that name.”

“Please,” Cathy put her hand out to hold the page open on the dates of the last weekend. “Could I look?” She smiled her sweetest smile and the young man frowned, but grudgingly shoved the book toward her.

“I’m not supposed to do this,” he told her in a low voice. “Hurry up. If my boss sees you...”

She hurried up. There was no April, no signature that looked familiar. “Thank you.” Heart sinking, she pushed the book back to the clerk and turned to start away.

“Oh!” She turned back. “She might work here. Are you sure you don’t recognize the name?”

He shook his head and pointed toward the end of the hall. “Try Personnel.”

“Thank you.” She hurried to the door and found it slightly ajar. “Hello?” she said as she pushed it open.

Inside the little office she found two pretty, heavily made-up young women working at typewriters. They looked up expectantly as she entered.

“Hi.” Her best smile got a workout again. “I’m looking for a friend. Her name is April Meadows. I thought she might be working here. Can you help me?”

“April Meadows?” one young woman repeated, shaking her head. The other pulled out a roster and ran her finger down it before saying, “Nope. Sorry. No April Meadows works here.”

Cathy’s gaze was riveted to the roster. She wasn’t sure just why, but she had a feeling— “Could I take a look at that list?”

The book was quickly pressed to the woman’s chest. “No,” she said sharply. “That’s illegal. You’re not allowed to see it.”

Cathy looked from one to the other. Something about their attitude, something in their eyes... Suddenly she knew they’d heard the name April Meadows before. They were holding out on her. Frustration welled inside her.

“Listen,” she said, leaning forward earnestly. “I have to talk to April. It’s so important. Can’t you please tell me where she is?”

They both shook their heads, their faces hostile.
 

“Sorry,” said one. “Like I said, we don’t know her.”

Cathy sighed, straightening. She would have to come back later and try again. She turned to go, then looked back.
 

“Well, if you do happen to run into her, will you tell her Cathy Feenstra is here? And she’s got the babies.” Their faces didn’t change. With a shrug and a rueful smile, she left.

The afternoon was quickly turning into evening. Everyone was tired. Tempers were wearing thin. They’d tried four motels. No one would accept two adults with six children.

“There are families who really do have six children,” Cathy fumed as they rode down the street, searching for yet another motel to try. “What do they do when they go on vacations?”

“They call ahead for reservations,” Scott said caustically. “And then they lie.”

Cathy turned to look at him. He’d been growing more and more morose. She wished she knew what she could do to fix whatever was wrong.
 

Was it her? Or even more likely, the many, many children that came attached to her? She wasn’t sure, but she wanted to find a place to stay quickly. At least then he would be able to rest.

“Why don’t we try that, then?” she suggested. “Stop at a phone booth and I’ll call motels. That way they won’t be able to see how many children we have with us.”

He was shaking his head. “I know what we have to do,” he said wearily. “We should have done it from the first.”

He pulled into a side street and turned the van around and started back the way they’d come. “I told you I have family up in this neck of the woods. I didn’t tell you I have a sister right here in Tahoe. She and her husband run a motel. They’ll give us a room.”

“That’s great.” She left the question unspoken— why hadn’t he mentioned it sooner?

But he answered anyway. “I was hoping to get through this without letting my family know I was up here.” His grin was just this side of apologetic. “That was silly, of course. Margy will adore the kids. She’s got about five of her own.”

He pulled up before a tidy little motel of about thirty units. Though modest, it was clean and brightly painted. He turned the engine off and sat staring at the office.

“How long has it been since you last saw her?” Cathy asked.

He shook his head. “I haven’t seen her since the last time I left. But she’s kept in touch. She’s the only one who writes to me. Every Christmas.”

Cathy kept very still, letting him work out his emotions by himself. She understood now a little more of his anger, his turmoil. She’d put him in a position where he had to face things he’d managed to ignore for years. Things he would just as soon forget—that on top of too many babies. No wonder he was gloomy.

He started to unbuckle his seat belt.
 

“Do you want me to go in with you?” she asked.

He flashed her a quick smile, then leaned over and touched her lips softly with his index finger.
 

“Thanks,” he said. “But this is something I’d better face by myself.”

She watched him walk to the door of the office and go in. Sighing, she turned back to her children. Beth was playing “Here Comes the Bee” with Beanie. Barnaby was staring out the window. The three babies were squirming, getting ready to fuss again. She hoped Scott had a nice reunion with his sister. She also hoped they would all get a room for the night. She was ready to drop.

Scott returned ten minutes later, and at his side was a woman in her early thirties who looked very much like him. Cathy got out of the van to meet her.

“You’re Margy,” she said with a smile before anyone had a chance to introduce her. She put out her hand. “I’m Cathy Feenstra, forever in debt to your brother for all I’ve put him through these last two days.”

Margy’s answering smile was warm. She took Cathy’s hand and shook it. “Scott’s told me all about your problems. You must be exhausted. Come on in. We’ve got two empty adjoining rooms that will be perfect for your crew.”

Relief buoyed them through the next hour. Scott helped change all the babies and settle them into their fresh clothes. Margy loaned them cribs and insisted on taking the dirty clothes to wash in her own machines. When they had all the children bathed and fresh-smelling again, everything seemed better.

“She’s nice,” Cathy said as she lounged on the bed with Pink in her arms with a bottle. She watched Scott wrestle Beanie into his jumpers.

“Who’s nice?” he replied without looking up.

“Your sister. Aren’t you sorry you wasted all these years?”

He looked up then, and he wasn’t smiling. “I didn’t waste any time at all,” he said coolly. “Things happen when they’re meant to happen. I’m not a family-oriented guy, Cathy. Let’s both keep that in mind.”

She felt properly put in her place, so she dropped the matter. But when Margy stopped in to invite them all to dinner, she gave Scott a significant smile.
 

“See?” it said. “She’s darn nice.”

They ate in Margy’s kitchen at a long table groaning under a mountain of food. Margy’s children ranged in age from thirteen to five and they took Cathy’s under their collective wing right away. Margy’s husband, Sam, was a large, gruff man who looked upon his family with bemusement, as though he weren’t quite sure where they’d all come from. But Margy took charge and kept things organized.

The noise level rose steadily, with squeals gaining high decibel limits, but through it all, Sam seemed merely puzzled and openly affectionate. Cathy saw that even though Scott winced now and then when a scream of laughter reached the upper ranges, he took most of the mayhem in good stride. She was proud of him.

She got up to help Margy with the dishes while the men took the children to the living room to play.

“I’m glad you and Scott have had a chance to see each other again after all this time,” she said.

Margy gave her a fleeting smile. “It has been a long time,” she said. “When Scotty left, I was the next in line for the job as head nanny and bottle washer.”

Was there an edge in her voice? Cathy couldn’t tell for sure. “I’m sure you resented his leaving.”

“Yes. I did for a while.” She smiled as she started the sudsy water. “But I got over it. And then I left myself, when my time came.” She began scrubbing dishes and handing them to Cathy to rinse. “Once I’d gone through it myself, I lost all my bitterness toward Scotty.”

Cathy hesitated, wondering if she had any right to get involved in this. After all, the things Scott had told her he’d told her reluctantly. And when you came right down to it, what did they have between them? One episode of lovemaking in the woods? A very temporary commitment to help?
 

She felt so much for him, but she’d had no evidence he felt anything at all for her, other than physical attraction and a vague sort of friendship.

Maybe she was being too hard on herself, too hard on him. He’d warned her from the first, hadn’t he? He’d never lied, never tried to hide his feelings and his lack of interest in children. If she was busy falling in love with him, it was purely her fault. It didn’t give her a claim to his life, or even to discuss him with his sister.

So she hesitated. But looking at Margy’s open face, hearing the affection she had for her brother in her voice, she found herself blurting things out anyway.

“Scott seems to think that his whole family hates him,” she said suddenly, then looked quickly at Margy to see how she’d taken the charge. “I mean, well... maybe not ‘hates’ exactly...”

Margy touched her arm and shook her head, a sad smile on her face. “I have to admit, there is still some feeling of resentment in the others. They seem to think that he rejected them and it’s up to him to ask to come back to the family, not up to them to beg him to do it.” She shrugged. “People and their pride. You know.”

Cathy nodded slowly.

Margy brightened. “But he’s here now. And if I can swing it, things are going to change.” She reached out and gave Cathy a hug. “So here’s a big thank-you for giving me back my big brother.”

Cathy laughed and hugged her back before returning to her drying job. “You know, it seems odd that Scott remembers all the hassles with the children in your family and it turns him off to having kids of his own, and yet you, who were next in line for all the chores, ended up having a big family of your own.”

“It is funny, isn’t it? He remembers things as being bad, I remember them as being good,”

Cathy looked at her in surprise. “But...wasn’t your mother sick all the time, and didn’t your parents’ marriage break up... ?”

“Yes. That was the bad part. But there was an awful lot of good. With so many children under one roof, there had to be! There were fights and disasters and visits to the teacher for consultation. But there was also the laughter, the joy, the togetherness—the feeling of being snug in the middle of so many people who really care about you. I’ll never forget that.” She laughed. “And you may notice, I’ve tried to recreate it, to a lesser degree, right here in my own family.”

“Yes, I can see that.”

Margy looked at Cathy. “I want to take him home to Reno to see my mother and Jim and Frank, two brothers near our ages. Will that be all right with you?”

Cathy was stuck with her mouth open for an embarrassingly long time. “I...I...of course, but Scott doesn’t ask me for permission. Margy, we barely know each other.”

Margy blinked. “When did you meet?”

Cathy felt herself turning crimson. She felt like an interloper. “Night before last.”