Free A Baby Changes Everything by Marie Ferrarella Page A

sorely tempted.”
    â€œVanessa.” There was a warning note in Gabe’s stern voice.
    She flashed him a tight smile. “Sorry, I’m not at my best with veiled accusations of murder thrown at the people I love.” Her hand tightened around the keys she’d never put away. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I was, as you so expertly noticed—” she aimed the words at Andrea “—on my way out when you rang the doorbell.”
    After a moment the woman turned and walked to the front door. But Gabe hung back a few steps. His eyes met Vanessa’s.
    â€œI’m just doing my job,” he told her.
    â€œI know.” Opening the door, she allowed the detective out and watched her as she walked across the driveway to their car. “Too bad you can’t get to pick your helpers in this case.”
    She saw a hint of a smile on Gabe’s otherwise stoic features. It was easy to see that he didn’t disagree with her.
    Â 
    Less than half an hour later, Vanessa brought her car to a halt in front of Savannah and Cruz’s house. She was still stewing about Gabe and Andrea’s visit as she got out. How could they possibly think her father had anything to do with the dead man? As straight as an arrow, he’d be the first one at the sheriff’s office if he even remotely knew anything. Not only that, but he’d call a family meeting to inform them.
    Since no such meeting had been called, she was confident that it was just some freak accident of nature that someone bearing the same birthmark as her father had washed up on their shores.
    Truth was always stranger than fiction, right?
    Raising her hand to knock on the front door, she heard a crash and a scream. Both came from inside the house.
    Not standing on ceremony, Vanessa quickly turned the knob, opening the door. Her heart was in her throat as she surveyed the living room.
    Her eyes riveted directly on Luke. Her godson had a frayed beige towel tucked into the back neckline of his shirt, like a cape. His feet were on the floor and his body was surrounded by a coffee table. The one that had, until five seconds ago, a glass top.
    He appeared unharmed and definitely not as upset as his mother. It was obvious that he had gone through the table while executing some complicated flying maneuver in his alter ego as a superhero.
    Savannah looked as if she was about to break into as many pieces as there were glass shards on the floor.
    Rushing in, Vanessa pulled out her cell phone. “Do you want me to call for the paramedics?”
    â€œAunt ’Nessa!” Luke exclaimed with glee, apparently completely unmindful of what he’d just done and how close he’d come to slicing himself open in over a dozen places. The boy started to turn toward her.
    Savannah grabbed his shoulders, holding him in place. “Stay still,” she ordered. One wrong move on his part and his legs would wind up being lacerated from all sides.
    Her heart pounding in her chest, Savannah took a quick inventory of the situation. As fantastic as it seemed, it looked as if, so far, Luke was completely unscathed by his newest adventure. She sighed. She needed eyes in the back of her head with this boy.
    Vanessa had rushed to the child’s side. “Listen to yourmother, Luke, and keep very still.” Biting her lower lip, she looked at Savannah, almost afraid to ask. “How bad is it?”
    â€œThe kid has a charmed life,” Savannah said. “I don’t see any cuts.” Unable to remain inert for more than the count of two, Luke began to move again. “Stay perfectly still, Luke,” she repeated, then added, “like a statue,” for good measure.
    His dark eyes were dancing. “What kind of statue, Mama?”
    â€œThe kind that doesn’t move,” she told him, barely managing not to snap at him. Her nerves were far more frayed than the edges of the towel her son had appropriated for his