Free The Baby Invasion (Destiny Bay-Baby Dreams) by Helen Conrad

of his bitterness had hit her physically. There was barely concealed raw emotion behind his casual attitude. She had an urge to comfort him, but she knew without being told that he would hate that right now.
    “So you see,” he was saying, “I know all there is to know about kids.”
    She nodded. “I—I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
    “Sorry?” His laugh sounded almost like it had before he’d started on this touchy subject. “Don’t be. I learned early what some men only wish they had before it was too late. Better to happen when you’re young and still have a way out, than when you’re older and you’ve made a commitment for life.”
    His smile was perfectly friendly, yet Cathy felt as though she’d been slapped in the face. She knew he was warning her. Don’t mess with me, honey.   I’m never going to change.  
    But she didn’t feel warned. She felt challenged. She wanted to shake him, wake him up, to prove him wrong.
    But there wasn’t time for that now. She had other goals at the moment, other considerations to deal with. She took a deep breath and smiled back.
    “But you do know what you’re doing around children. So you’re perfect,” she said sweetly. “You’re just what I need.”
    The wariness came back into his face. “What are you talking about?”
    “Could you... would you consider taking care of some of these kids while I go to Lake Tahoe for a few days?”

CHAPTER FIVE:
    Just Like Old Times

    He kept his face very still, but Cathy thought she detected a flash of pure panic in his eyes. He didn’t say a word, but his hands on the table spread and tensed against the butcher-block top.
    “It would only be for a couple of days,” she hurried to add. “I... I assume you won’t be going out on another flight for a while. Don’t you pilots get big hunks of time in between trips? I’ll drive my van up. I could leave right away and be in Tahoe by noon tomorrow. Then, if I find what I’m looking for, I would be back on the road by evening.”
    “And when do you sleep?” he pointed out edgily.
    “Oh.” She thought fast. “Well, maybe I’d have to wait until the next morning to start back. But I would be back late that evening. And I would come right over and get the babies.”
    “Would you?” His eyes were glinting dangerously and his tone was sardonic at best.
    “Of course I would. You’d hardly have to spend any time with them at all. Just…just two days and two and a half nights.”
    “Of pure hell. Shoot, I’d do that for anyone.”
    He wasn’t buying, that was for sure. Cathy sighed, giving up. It had been a long shot from the get go.   She was going to have to find someone else to take care of the kids while she was gone.  
    But who? It wasn’t as if she had family around or friends who didn’t work.   She’d only lived in Destiny Bay for a few months and hadn’t had time to build a community of friends as yet.  
    She sat across from Scott looking wistful, her shoulders hunched, and he felt remorse. But not enough to offer to do the unthinkable. A surge of annoyance flashed through him.  
    “Are you going to explain to me why you’re having this sudden urge to take a vacation?” he asked evenly. “It seems like an odd time for it.”
    “Vacation?” She stared, then realized what he meant. “Oh, no, it’s not that at all. I want to go up to Tahoe to look for April.”
    “Ah.”  
    Well, that made it a little more understandable. But only a little. He looked at her blankly and then asked, slowly, “Okay. I’ll bite. Why Lake Tahoe?”
    She gripped her hands together and took a deep breath.   “I have a theory. I think she may be there, maybe even staying at the Wild Horses Casino.” She shifted in her chair. “You see, on Saturday evening, before I had even begun to really worry, there was a phone call.   I picked up the receiver and said ‘hello.’ There was no answer. But I could tell someone was on the line.”
    “You think it