Baby in Her Arms by Judy Christenberry Read Free Book Online Page A

weekends. Eight o’clock is their starting time and they expect you to provide everything.”
    He didn’t get much sympathy from Maggie, who was still playing with Ginny. “Child care is always expensive.”
    “I don’t mind the expense, but I don’t work an eight-to-five job. And I’m not going to give it up.” He realized he was clenching his teeth and that Maggie was staring at him.
    “You’ll have to have someone who lives in.”
    “I tried that. The only two I could find insisted a two-bedroom condo wasn’t large enough to accommodate them. They wouldn’t share a room with Ginny.”
    “Maybe you could find a small house.”
    “I don’t want a small house. I like it here!” he insisted, challenging Maggie with his stare.
    Ginny whimpered and buried her face in Maggie’s hair. She immediately turned her attention to the child. Josh didn’t like being ignored, but it gave him time to compose himself. After all, Maggie hadn’t asked him to make changes. The circumstances were demanding it.
    “I guess what you really need is a wife,” she said as she soothed the baby, still not looking at him.
    “No! A wife expects too much. The only way I could marry would be as a...a business agreement.” He’d spoken from the heart, but considered his words with his mind. “Hey, that’s not a bad idea. A marriage of convenience. I could find someone who needed a place to live and—”
    The phone rang.
    “Yeah?” Josh listened as one of his commercial clients gave him directions for an emergency trip he needed Josh to take. He completely forgot about the two females on the sofa as he grabbed a pen and made notes. “Right. I’ll have him there.”
    He leaped from his chair and headed for the bedroom to grab a jacket and some spare money.
    “Where are you going?”
    He came to an abrupt halt. “Damn! Maggie, I have to go. I don’t have anyone else to do this job. Both my guys are already on assignment.”
    Silently she stared at him, her hazel eyes large.
    “Look, I’ll be back this afternoon, late. I have to pick up a witness. It’s just a couple hours’ drive. I’ll take the guy to court and come straight back here. No later than three or four, I promise.”
     
    “I don’t know, Kate. Actually, I’m getting a little worried. He said he’d be back by three or four and it’s almost seven now.”
    “He’s taking advantage of you, Maggie,” Maggie’s sister Kate protested over the phone. “Just because he did a job for Pop doesn’t mean you owe him anything.”
    “I know. But I volunteered, and Ginny is such a sweetheart.” Maggie paused, trying to think of a way to explain to her sister. “If it were Nate, would you want me to abandon him?”
    “Of course not, honey, but you worry me. You’ve always cleaned up my messes when you should’ve let me suffer the consequences.”
    “You didn’t complain when Sister Mary Agnes couldn’t figure out who’d papered the convent when I swore you were with me.”
    Kate chuckled. “I know. You were so saintly, she couldn’t believe you’d lie.”
    “She was always too harsh in her punishment, or I would’ve told on you myself.”
    Kate chuckled again. “Don’t give me that tough talk. I know how soft your heart is.”
    “Yeah, I guess so,” Maggie agreed with a sigh. “But Kate, Ginny really needs me. She... she calls me Mama.”
    “Oh, Maggie, see, that’s what I mean. You’re not her mama and it’s going to hurt when you have to leave her. I don’t want you hurt.”
    “This may be my only chance to be called Mama.” That was the core of Maggie’s heartache. She wanted a family, a child. But she never attracted men, or, for that matter, met men other than those she worked with. And she would never date someone in her own office.
    “That’s a ridiculous statement,” Kate protested.
    Maggie could hear her sister’s famous temper in her words. When Kate was riled, it was best to stay out of her way. “Now, Kate, I’m just