Cassidy's Kids

CHAPTER THREE

“GOT A MINUTE?”

Ellie didn’t even bother looking up. “Go away, Chelsea.”

“Who was that man who just left here looking like his mother had died?” the reported asked, plopping down in the seat Sloan had just vacated.

“No one.”

“You sounded pretty upset for talking to no one,” Chelsea said.

Glancing up from the needle codes she was trying desperately to concentrate on, Ellie stared at the auburn-haired reporter. Only a year or two older than herself, Chelsea had the eyes of an old woman. A green-eyed avaricious old woman. And unfortunately they were pinned on Ellie.

“When are you going to give up and go away?” Ellie asked, too weary to deal with the Chelseas of the world today. The woman had been hounding the clinic since baby Cody had made his debut. And when she couldn’t get fresh leads on the baby, she turned her roving eye on Ellie, looking for a way to prove the charges of nepotism.

“Sounded like there might be some more abandonment going on.”

Chelsea would stop at nothing, it seemed, to get a story. To validate her existence, Ellie thought nastily.

“Not by anyone here,” Ellie hated herself for rising to Chelsea’s bait. “If you want their story, you’ll have to go see their mother in New York.”

“Still, it did sound as though you knew the man rather well, and that he wanted something from you.”

Ellie bit her tongue.

“That’s got to be the most gorgeous man ever to step foot in your office,” Chelsea baited her, refusing to give up.

“He’s a friend from high school,” Ellie said, exasperated. “Period.”

Crossing one shapely leg over the other, Chelsea nodded, letting the subject drop. “Heard from any of your brothers lately?” she asked.

“I see two of them right here every day,” Ellie replied, relaxing a bit as Chelsea reverted to the cat-and-mouse game the two of them had been playing for the past month.

“What about the third—Jake, isn’t it?”

Ellie smiled. “Haven’t heard from him.”

Chelsea sat forward, elbows on her knees. “So who do you think fathered that poor baby?” she asked, eyes intent.

If the reporter hadn’t had her teeth sunk so fiercely into Ellie, Ellie would almost have admired her. Chelsea was intelligent. Beautiful. And tenacious. She didn’t give up. Ellie liked that in a person.

But her teeth were snapping at Ellie—and at the helpless, innocent child Ellie had spent half the night holding. Suddenly the game had changed. The rules were different. It wasn’t just the clinic’s reputation, the family’s reputation that was at stake.

“You stay away from that baby, Chelsea Markum. He’s an innocent child whose life you could permanently affect by your purely fictional innuendoes.”

Blinking in surprise, Chelsea sat back, then stood up. “I’m just looking for the truth, Ellie. I have no desire to hurt the kid.”

“Right.” Ellie stood, too, signaling an end to the unwanted meeting. “Stay out of our lives, Chelsea.”

“I’m not the one who chose to live such a public life, Ms. Ellie Administrator Maitland. Maybe you better think about that one.”

The reporter’s last shot hit Ellie in a sore spot she’d been nursing since she was a child. It had been one of the biggest ironies of her life to be born into the socially prominent Maitland clan. She’d never had the chance to just be the plain Jane she really was. From the moment she was born, she’d had the family reputation to live up to. And it hadn’t taken the young Ellie long to figure out that, for her, that was an impossible task.

Her own goals were another story. They were something she could—and did—live up to. Something she could count on. Her goals were realistic, and meeting them brought her peace, if nothing else.

ELLIE WAS JUST PACKING UP for the day, earlier than usual since this was her night at the university, when she had another visitor. A welcome one.

“You in a hurry?” her older sister Abby asked, leaning against the door frame of Ellie’s office.

“A little,” Ellie told her, but she’d take time, anyway. She could always be a minute or two late for the economics class. She’d read a couple of chapters ahead, anyway.

“Was that Sloan Cassidy I saw leaving earlier today?”

Knowing better than to play dumb with Abby, Ellie nodded. But she didn’t want to talk about Sloan.

“The same Sloan Cassidy that you spent so many months refusing to cry over during high school?”

Trust her sister to have such an acute memory. Abby, who was an obstetrician at Maitland Maternity, was one of the smartest women Ellie had ever known.

“That’s him,” she said now, trying for a nonchalant smile. If she acted like she didn’t care, no one else would.

“What’s he want?”

“Help with his kids.”

Abby nodded, her eyes narrowing as she watched Ellie. “Your help?”

“Maybe,” Ellie answered evasively. She didn’t like the sudden light in Abby’s eyes. Didn’t trust it. Her sister might be intelligent, but she was also recently engaged and a bit loony with love.

Hoping to help Abby see sense, Ellie told her about Sloan’s divorce, his current problem, and the impossible and completely inappropriate thing he’d asked of her.

Abby smiled, straightening in the doorway. “So you’re going to help him?”

“No.”

“Oh.” Her older sister frowned. “Why not?”

“I don’t have time.” Ellie stated the obvious, leaving the less easily explained for herself. “How’s Marcie and the baby?” she asked quickly, shameless in her attempt at diversion.

It was a testimony to how much in love Abby was that she allowed herself to be diverted. “Great,” she answered with a grin. Abby had delivered her soon-to-be sister-in-law’s baby the week before. “They’re both home with Kyle, driving him crazy.”

Ellie had heard that Abby was spending all her free time at her fiancé’s house, as well. She’d never seen her sister so happy.

And as she went off to night class, she felt a little happier herself. It had taken Abby thirty-two years to find her happiness. Ellie still had lots of time.

SLOAN WAITED until the next morning to call her. But only because it took him that long to trust himself to do the right thing. He had to apologize. He’d had no business going to her—a Maitland—for help. She’d caught the fallout from a moment of weakness. And there was no excuse at all for the bullheadedness that hadn’t allowed him to accept no for an answer.

But he was done with that now.

“Ellie, it’s Sloan,” he began as soon as he heard her voice on the line. “Wait!” he said a little too loudly. “Don’t hang up, I just want to apologize.”

“Apologize?”

She sounded as though that were the last thing she’d expect from him. “For imposing on you. I had no business bothering you with my problems.”

“Apology accepted.”

If he’d been hoping she’d changed her mind, he’d been a fool. But it wouldn’t be the first time. Especially not where Miss Ellie Maitland was concerned. The woman made him crazy.

“Did you find a baby-sitter?” she asked, when he thought she’d probably hung up.

Tempted to just put an end to his misguided scheme, he almost lied to her. Almost.

“No.”

“Oh.”

There it was again. That note of longing in her voice. An echo, he was certain, of the longing he’d seen in her eyes as she’d gazed at his adorable little hellions. Not that he trusted his judgment where Ellie was concerned. He was probably making it all up.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help, Sloan, but you came to the wrong person,” she said as the silence grew too long again. “I know nothing about raising children.”

If only her excuse was valid, then maybe he’d be able to let go. If only he didn’t remember how grateful she’d been when he’d saved her from herself ten years before. If only he didn’t remember the life he’d discovered all cooped up inside her. If only he hadn’t kissed her that one time and ruined an incredible friendship…

“You’re a natural with children, El. As I recall, you spent more of your teenage years with little kids than you did with your peers.”

Sloan winced at his own words. What an incredibly asinine thing to remind her of—the fact that she’d been such a wallflower, she’d had to baby-sit to get out of the house. The worst thing was, she’d thought the fault had been hers, when, in fact, it had been exactly the opposite. The fault had been that of the ignorant and immature jerks in high school who hadn’t been able to see past the baggy clothes and glasses to the shapely body and quick mind they’d hidden.

Only Sloan had seen. And Sloan hadn’t been worthy of her incredible gifts.

Still wasn’t.

“Yeah, well,” she said after another long pause. “That was a long time ago. I’ve forgotten most of it.”

Ariel’s cup of milk hit Sloan in the head and burst open, spilling the thick white liquid down the side of his face and into the phone.

“What was that?” Ellie asked, just as Sloan cursed a blue, though whispered, streak.

“Ariel’s counterattack for my having strapped her in her high chair,” he said, as Alisha wound up, too. “No!” But as always, he was a fraction of a second too late. Alisha’s aim wasn’t quite as good. Her cup bounced off the cupboard before splashing milk all over the floor.

“I have to go, Ellie,” Sloan said, beaten, attempting to wipe the milk from his ear.

“Yes, well, bring the kids to the clinic until you get a sitter, Sloan. Beth would be happy to have them in the day care.”

“Thanks,” Sloan said, ringing off just as a soggy piece of toast hit him in the chest. He didn’t bother explaining to Ellie that he didn’t need a baby-sitter. He needed a savior.

ELLIE DECIDED TO WALK home for dinner. The ten blocks between the clinic and Maitland Drive, where she grew up, weren’t nearly enough to clear her mind, but the fresh October air invigorated her body. And the time alone was a balm.

An unfamiliar car was parked just down from Maitland Mansion’s drive. Not that Ellie minded, but she had to veer around it. Only mildly curious, she continued through the black iron gates and slowly up the drive. She hoped Jessie, their cook, had made something light for dinner. Ellie didn’t feel much like eating, and Megan was sure to notice if she just picked at her food.

Not for the first time, Ellie considered moving out, getting a place of her own.

She never would have noticed the woman partially concealed by the bushes on the west side of the four-story mansion that was her home if it hadn’t been for the rays of the setting sun reflecting off the camera lens. Chelsea Markum.

Unfortunately for the rabid reporter, Ellie was in the mood for a fight.

Creeping slowly up behind her, Ellie ran through possible options for dealing with the determined woman. And froze when she caught a glimpse of Chelsea’s prey: baby Cody was lying on a quilt in the middle of the downstairs living room, his little legs dancing in the air. Chelsea’s video camera was pointed right at him.

“No!” Ellie sprang forward without thinking—an action as unlike her as the karate chop she landed on Chelsea’s shoulder, causing the camera to slip from the startled woman’s grasp. As the camera hit the ground, the film compartment fell open, spilling the video tape onto the ground.

Ellie stepped on it.

Her “Leave him alone” came out in a whisper as she looked down at what she’d done.

Chelsea, obviously as shocked as Ellie, stared from Ellie’s face to the ground and back again, speechless. “You…you…”

“Just take the camera and go,” Ellie said, tired and disarmed by actions so completely out of character. “I’d tell you you were trespassing, but you already know that. It’s against the law,” she heard herself continue. “You know that, too. Don’t make me call the police.”

“You can’t hide this thing forever,” the reporter said, picking up her camera. “Sooner or later we’re going to find out who abandoned that baby. And when we do, you’re going to wish you’d been a little more cooperative.”

Watching the woman stride purposefully down the drive, Ellie figured she should be upset by the veiled threat. Maybe she was.

At least she now knew who the unfamiliar car belonged to.

“HERE’S HOPING we’re nobodies tonight,” Megan told her twin daughters as they followed her into her bedroom suite to watch the ten o’clock news that night. The practice had become almost a ritual over the past month as they’d seen their name smeared across the state.

Baby Cody was asleep in his crib, his nurse in her room close by.

“You don’t think she got anything today, do you?” Beth asked her mother, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the television. Newly engaged, Beth was admiring the diamond glittering on her finger.

Megan, dressed in a silk dressing gown that only emphasized her tall, regal stature, settled on the couch and shrugged. “We have no idea how long she was out there before Ellie caught her. She may have had more than one tape.”

“The bitch,” Beth murmured under her breath.

Ellie smiled at her twin, enjoying, as always, Beth’s outspoken nature. Beth called it like she saw it. Ellie saw it, but hardly ever called anything.

Having gone back to the clinic after dinner, Ellie had just arrived home moments before and was still in the blue suit she’d worn to work that morning. She joined her mother on the couch.

“At least we weren’t headlines,” Megan said during the first commercial break.

Beth, her PJ’s a pair of men’s flannel underwear and a T-shirt, nodded. “Yeah, if she got anything good, we’d have been headlines.”

Ellie had to agree. She asked her mother about the presidential battle that had made the headlines, and while Beth went into the bathroom, the two of them discussed politics until the news was back on.

They made it through the second commercial break, and Ellie breathed a sigh of relief. It was stupid, really, for her to be worrying about the effect all of this was going to have on the baby boy sleeping not too far away, especially after an entire month of ignoring his existence. Still, she couldn’t seem to help herself. She felt suddenly protective of the little man—and concerned about his future.

Preparing to excuse herself, Ellie stood before the news was even over. It had been a long day; she was tired and had a load of homework to do to prepare for class the next week.

“…And now, with more on the Maitland baby scandal, we turn you over to Tattle Today TV reporter Chelsea Markum…”

Ellie froze.

“…You can’t be an Austinite without being familiar with Maitland Drive, or with the maternity clinic for which the family has gained international recognition.” A picture of Maitland Mansion flashed up on the screen, followed by another of Maitland Maternity Clinic. “But how long has it been since anyone has taken a look behind the family’s public facade to find the flesh-and-blood people living within?

“Interest in the family has been rampant ever since the appearance of an unnamed Maitland heir on the clinic’s doorstep last month. And though we’re no closer to finding out who the baby’s father is, we’ve discovered a few other secrets the Maitlands may prefer to hide. Why is it that twenty-five-year-old Ellie Maitland, toting only a bachelor’s degree, was appointed administrator of the world-renowned clinic? Nepotism you might ask?”

“I guess I pissed her off.”

Megan grasped Ellie’s hand, pulling her back down to the couch. Beth scooted over and leaned against Ellie’s legs. Ellie concentrated on keeping her dinner down.

Chelsea continued, airing previously taped interviews with a couple of the clinic’s business associates. Both of them men; both of them over fifty. Neither of them bothered to hide their disdain at the thought of taking their business to Ellie.

“I had occasion this week to discover a little bit more about this mysterious young woman who has single-handedly taken on the overwhelming responsibility of seeing to the safe running of a clinic whose clientele includes some of the world’s most famous mothers and babies.”

“You are pretty awesome, El,” Beth said, smiling up at her.

Megan squeezed the hand she still held.

With a photo of Ellie as backdrop, Chelsea Markum continued. “What I found wasn’t all sunshine and roses. The Maitland Maternity administrator isn’t always as caring and concerned as she would have us believe. A childhood friend—a very handsome, single male childhood friend—approached Ms. Maitland earlier this week, desperately in need of help with his motherless twin babies…”

Ellie’s hands and feet began to tingle as Chelsea described the scene in her office with a completely uncomplimentary slant. She could hardly hear the reporter for the roaring in her ears. She’d gone to bed, was having a really bad dream.

“…while this may not be much in and of itself, when coupled with last month’s abandoned baby, one can’t help but wonder if, contrary to their PR, turning their backs on children in need is a family trait—”

“No!”

Ellie and Beth stared as their mother jumped up and, none too gently, turned off the television. “She’s gone too far.” Megan’s words were clipped, furious, and she began to pace her suite.

Megan’s reaction scared Ellie more than anything the reporter had said.

“Is it true?” Beth asked after a couple of moments.

Ellie felt, rather than saw, her mother’s feet still.

“Sloan did come to my office,” Ellie said. But she hadn’t been as heartless as Chelsea Markum had painted her. Had she?

“And you refused to help him?” Megan asked quietly.

Looking up at her mother, Ellie wondered if this was the time when Megan would actually show her disappointment in her next-to-youngest daughter.

“I told him he could bring the babies to Beth until he could find a sitter.”

“If all he needed was a baby-sitter, why’d he come to you?” Beth asked.

Ellie’s gaze bounced between her mother and her twin. How could she help them understand what she didn’t really understand herself? “He said he needed me, that he didn’t so much want someone to watch the babies, but wanted to learn how to look after them himself. That’s not something you have someone teach you,” she said, looking at her mother beseechingly. “It’s just something you do.”

“Unless you don’t know how,” Megan said softly. But her eyes were filled with compassion, not blame. “Looking after children came naturally to you, sweetie, but you’ve been around babies all your life. And grew up with brothers and sisters. What kind of example did Sloan have?”

None. Unless you could call a womanizing absentee father and an alcoholic mother role models.

Beth hugged her knees up to her chest, facing the couch where Ellie still sat. “He’s got one hell of a lot of nerve coming to you,” she said.

Ellie wanted to think so. She sat on the edge of the couch, her hands clasped between her knees.

“And yet, who more natural for him to come to than the only person who’d ever taken the time to get to know the boy inside the man?” Megan said. “Especially a woman who’s a natural with children.”

“I haven’t held a baby in more than ten years,” Ellie said. And then remembered. At least, not until a couple of nights ago. But one night of baby holding didn’t count.

“Caring for children is not something you forget,” Megan said gently.

“You think I should have told him I’d help?” Ellie asked, feeling like a little girl again, not wanting to disappoint her mother.

“Not necessarily,” Megan replied, surprising her. “I’m just not sure I understand why you didn’t.”

“Because the jerk broke her heart!” Beth jumped up and faced her mother.

“They were friends, Beth. It’s not his fault Ellie fell so deeply in love with him.”

“That’s ancient history.” Ellie stood, too. She wasn’t going to have them all feeling sorry for her again.

“Then why’d you say no?” Megan asked again.

“I don’t have time.”

The excuse embarrassed Ellie even as she said it. She was busy, yes, but if no one else knew that she kept herself busy on purpose, Megan did. Her mother knew how much extra work, over and above her duties, Ellie had been doing at the clinic.

Moving toward the bedroom half of the suite, Megan pulled down her comforter and fluffed the pillows on her side of the bed. “Life’s short, El,” she said.

Ellie’s gaze wandered over to the side of the bed that had remained undisturbed every single night since her father’s death. It was almost as though the empty space offered some kind of comfort to her widowed mother, a testimony to the man who still owned the empty places in Megan’s heart.

“You think I should help him,” Ellie said.

“I don’t,” Beth protested. “At least, not if you don’t want to.”

“I think you should do what you feel is right, Ellie. Just make sure you know what it is you really feel.”

Her mother made it sound so easy.

CHAPTER FOUR

TIPTOEING PAST the nurse’s open door, Ellie slid into the nursery, unable to fight the urge to make this nocturnal visit. She hadn’t seen baby Cody up close since she’d held him the other night. But since she’d caught Chelsea spying on him, she’d needed to connect. To assure herself that he really was just fine.

To find out why he was pulling at her all of a sudden.

He didn’t have any answers for her.

“I have to help Sloan just to shut up the press, to protect the family’s reputation,” she whispered softly to the sleeping baby. Cody found the excuse so flimsy that he didn’t even bother to acknowledge that she’d spoken, she thought wryly. Not with so much as a puckering of his baby brow. “Okay,” she continued softly, “part of me wants to help him.” She held her breath, waiting to see if the announcement garnered any reaction. It didn’t.